yarvy
New Member
Hello,
I got my first chameleon 3 weeks ago. She is a female veiled, about 4 months old. I try to give her everything she could possibly want: a lot of crickets, superworms, mealworms, all dusted with calcium and I mist her mesh enclosure 2-3 times a day. I have a little dripper that drips onto the top of her golden pothos plant which has a lot of leaves for her to climb on and hide in. I put reptisafe water conditioner in her water. I keep my apartment warm and she has the necessary lights. She should be pretty happy I think.
Every time I slowly move my hand toward her, she puffs up and either tries to run away or hisses at me and tries to headbutt / bite my hand if I move too close. I have gotten her out several times anyway, and I tried to make those times positive experiences for her, like I took her in my bathroom and turned on the shower really hot and closed the doors so it steamed up. I put her on a plant near the window so she can look outside and also get natural light. But she always seems stressed out and like she is looking for any opportunity to escape my hand. I would guess that she views my hand as a predator. I have tried to hand feed her worms but she never accepts them until I put them on a leaf and close her enclosure door. Sometimes when I take her out she will start freaking out, and she has fallen off my hand or arm once or twice because of this.
I understand that chameleons are generally not social animals, and they typically like to be left alone. But I also understand that their personalities differ from animal to animal, and that some chameleons enjoy handling. Have I had her long enough to be able to assume that this is just her personality, that she will probably never tolerate handling? Or should I wait longer until she is more accustomed to her relatively new environment and try again? What is the best way to train a young chameleon to enjoy being handled? Should I wait a week and try again? Basically I'm just looking for tips to getting her used to handling, or I'm wondering if I should just give up and leave her alone most of the time.
I got my first chameleon 3 weeks ago. She is a female veiled, about 4 months old. I try to give her everything she could possibly want: a lot of crickets, superworms, mealworms, all dusted with calcium and I mist her mesh enclosure 2-3 times a day. I have a little dripper that drips onto the top of her golden pothos plant which has a lot of leaves for her to climb on and hide in. I put reptisafe water conditioner in her water. I keep my apartment warm and she has the necessary lights. She should be pretty happy I think.
Every time I slowly move my hand toward her, she puffs up and either tries to run away or hisses at me and tries to headbutt / bite my hand if I move too close. I have gotten her out several times anyway, and I tried to make those times positive experiences for her, like I took her in my bathroom and turned on the shower really hot and closed the doors so it steamed up. I put her on a plant near the window so she can look outside and also get natural light. But she always seems stressed out and like she is looking for any opportunity to escape my hand. I would guess that she views my hand as a predator. I have tried to hand feed her worms but she never accepts them until I put them on a leaf and close her enclosure door. Sometimes when I take her out she will start freaking out, and she has fallen off my hand or arm once or twice because of this.
I understand that chameleons are generally not social animals, and they typically like to be left alone. But I also understand that their personalities differ from animal to animal, and that some chameleons enjoy handling. Have I had her long enough to be able to assume that this is just her personality, that she will probably never tolerate handling? Or should I wait longer until she is more accustomed to her relatively new environment and try again? What is the best way to train a young chameleon to enjoy being handled? Should I wait a week and try again? Basically I'm just looking for tips to getting her used to handling, or I'm wondering if I should just give up and leave her alone most of the time.