Holding My Chameleon

[chameleons59]

Should I be holding my male veiled chameleon? He is about a year old. Sometimes he is gray in his cage unless he goes under his basking light but as soon as he comes onto my arm, he turns green. I heard if you hold them, there life shortens because stress. Is that true? He climbs all over my shoulders and arms when he is on me and his temps are around 90-100 (Getting a new bulb). Help anyone?

 

[shmeenakoz]

Is he doing this (coming out and climbing on you) all on his own? Or are you "bringing" him out against his will? The reason I ask is because some chams are just friendly and then some not so much. I had this same Q when my; at the time 7 mon. panther started to "demand" coming out. I was afraid I was causing unwanted stress for him actually running onto me! I was reassured that if he/she is the one initiating interaction to just go with it. So if this is the case…congrats you have a friendly cham! Otherwise…if your cham isn't initiating contact then yes you may be stressing the cham and this can lead to health problems. Hope this helps

 

[chameleons59]

No, some times I will be cleaning his cage and he will just start climbing on me and I definitely do not grab and pull him off his branches