how can i start handling my cham?

[amanda509]

ive had him for a week and he is settling in nicely, he eats from a cup, but not from my hand just yet. he is soo skittish when it comes to me attempting to handle him, sometimes if i reach in and move a leaf out of the way that was near him, he leans wayy to one side and tries to hurry away. and if he does tolerate my hand, ill put a finger under his chin and he looks at me like im crazy and tries to crawl on everything BUT my finger.. id like to get him into his free range for small periods at a time, but its impossible if he wont let me handle him and im worried if something medically needs done (assisting in shedding or maybe a vent wipe) i wont be able to do it help?

 

[camimom]

Try encouraging him from behind.
Place one hand under his chin, and the other behind his butt. slowly urge him forward onto your hand.
If that doesnt work.
get a long stick, hold it infrot of him and urge him from behind onto the stick (that you are holding) then if he is on the end of the stick, aim it downwards a bit, so that he has to climb up the stick and he will eventually get on your hand then your arm etc.
hope that made sense.

I would also get some hornworms.
My kids love them! and they are the ONLY food that my guys will eat when being hand fed.

You can also try hand feeding.
Place a bug on the palm of your hand, fingers flat and together. then hold about 4-6 inches from his face and wait. and wait. and wait.
or you cna try cup feeding him but with a twist. SInce I free range my Veiled, and before i had a bug holder, I would use a solo cup fillled wtih bugs, and hold it infront o fhis face. the crickets would move, and he would eat. eventually he realized that my hand brought food.

he still is a grumpy butt, and he sometimes hisses at me, he even bit me a few times (not hard, just a love bite) but usually he just begrudgingly climbs on my hand when i offer it.

 

[amanda509]

Try encouraging him from behind.
Place one hand under his chin, and the other behind his butt. slowly urge him forward onto your hand.
If that doesnt work.
get a long stick, hold it infrot of him and urge him from behind onto the stick (that you are holding) then if he is on the end of the stick, aim it downwards a bit, so that he has to climb up the stick and he will eventually get on your hand then your arm etc.
hope that made sense.

I would also get some hornworms.
My kids love them! and they are the ONLY food that my guys will eat when being hand fed.

You can also try hand feeding.
Place a bug on the palm of your hand, fingers flat and together. then hold about 4-6 inches from his face and wait. and wait. and wait.
or you cna try cup feeding him but with a twist. SInce I free range my Veiled, and before i had a bug holder, I would use a solo cup fillled wtih bugs, and hold it infront o fhis face. the crickets would move, and he would eat. eventually he realized that my hand brought food.

he still is a grumpy butt, and he sometimes hisses at me, he even bit me a few times (not hard, just a love bite) but usually he just begrudgingly climbs on my hand when i offer it.

ive tried urging him from behind, but he HATES when i touch him period, haha. i tried before and everytime i barely touched his butt, he turned his head like he was gunna bite me, but i dont think he was going to..just a threat i suppose. he has never been aggressive though, has never hissed or bit. and as i said, he eats out of his cup (indeed a solo cup), even when i hold it, so hopefully he eventually associates me with food ive offered hornworms, but he seemed uninterested, but of course he was still settling in, ill have to order some more..ill have to try the stick idea though

 

[Miss Lily]

It is still early days for him Amanda! Amy took her first food from my hand after 5 days, but wasn't really happy with coming out for a good few months. You may have to start off slowly and work your way up - start by offering food on your hand (remember to hold still and be patient). Any sudden movements will startle him. Once he is taking food from your hand move the food further and further away so that he has to step onto your hand tin order to reach. That's where having a very long tongue is a pain, lol!

Also, as Carol says, the distraction technique works well, but I think it may be a little too early for that just yet seeing as he only just about tolerates your hand. I personally wouldn't go with the stick approach - I have tried putting a new stick into both Tommy and Monty's vivs and they reacted very negatively and stressed out and I only just tried putting the stick in a place nowhere near them! After that I tried to get Monty out to put the stick in, but he just dropped straight down into his plant and scared me as much as I scared him, lol! Now I always remove them first before making any changes. They accept new things much better if they are put in when the cham is out of the viv. They will eye it suspiciously for a while, but won't stress like they would if they were in the viv when it was added. Monty loves his new stick now, even though he was rather wary of it to start with.

 

[amanda509]

It is still early days for him Amanda! Amy took her first food from my hand after 5 days, but wasn't really happy with coming out for a good few months. You may have to start off slowly and work your way up - start by offering food on your hand (remember to hold still and be patient). Any sudden movements will startle him. Once he is taking food from your hand move the food further and further away so that he has to step onto your hand tin order to reach. That's where having a very long tongue is a pain, lol!

Also, as Carol says, the distraction technique works well, but I think it may be a little too early for that just yet seeing as he only just about tolerates your hand. I personally wouldn't go with the stick approach - I have tried putting a new stick into both Tommy and Monty's vivs and they reacted very negatively and stressed out and I only just tried putting the stick in a place nowhere near them! After that I tried to get Monty out to put the stick in, but he just dropped straight down into his plant and scared me as much as I scared him, lol! Now I always remove them first before making any changes. They accept new things much better if they are put in when the cham is out of the viv. They will eye it suspiciously for a while, but won't stress like they would if they were in the viv when it was added. Monty loves his new stick now, even though he was rather wary of it to start with.

linus doesnt mind when i do stuff to his cage, as long as im not touching him or staring at him, he thinks i cant see him so he just stays still, haha. his temp and humidity guages were constantly falling almost everyday, so i constantly had to put them back in place, and finally secured them with wire. and i have a way to take his feeder cup in and out, and he doesnt mind that and its a big red scary cup! haha. so im not sure..ill give it a try just to see how he reacts, and if its too stressful, ill forget about it for the time being

 

[camimom]

If I dont move.... that scary lady wont see me!

 

[amanda509]

If I dont move.... that scary lady wont see me!

exactly!!

 

[jannb]

Buy a tree or large plant and take him out of the cage and allow him to hang out on the plant while you watch him every second. Anytime you take him out do something fun with him like a walk around the house or the yard when the weather warms up and he'll love free ranging on a plant under your supervision. Before you know it he'll be begging to come out.

 

[amanda509]

Buy a tree or large plant and take him out of the cage and allow him to hang out on the plant while you watch him every second. Anytime you take him out do something fun with him like a walk around the house or the yard when the weather warms up and he'll love free ranging on a plant under your supervision. Before you know it he'll be begging to come out.

i have a free range set up for him already, ill have to take pics, it has a large fake tree and some real plants and stuff..its in our foyer for decoration but mom said i can put him in it

 

[K9Luvn]

Amanda my Sambava arrived Dec. 14th and I am still working with him. I have to say this last week has been the best progress so far. He still will not climb on my hand without me urging from one end to get him up to my hand... but he has made progress. Just keep working with him like the others have stated.

Mine acts like a wavy leaf... but he is now coming out to bask and enjoy the day. Also now cup feeding. He was running away so fast if I even opened the cage. So with now knowing if I pick him up that he is going to the FR area he is fine with it... sometimes gets a big tough throat look... but that is better then the mouth open and ready to attack mode.

Just keep working with him slowly, patiently with love... rewarding him every time with something he enjoys.

 

[fluxlizard]

My advice is a little different from some of the others, but I think the best way is to not handle him at all for a while, but continue to try and hand feed him while he remains in his enclosure.

Eventually with patience, he will start hand feeding. At that point continue to hand feed consistently for a few weeks.

After a while, he will begin rushing to the front of the enclosure looking for a handout when you approach.

At that point, you can extend one hand to the cage without touching him, and then bribe him to climb on to get a shot at a bug in the other.

Then you can begin handling from there.

I think if you begin by reaching in and grabbing them and pull them out and put them back, etc, it just makes them worried that you are going to touch them and slows the whole process down and makes it uncomfortable for you both...

 

[hollycham]

I have had mine for two months now and for some reason she still very hissy and turns dark colors when i get her out of his cage but once she is out she turns bright green and loves it. I cant seem to get to the point where she climbs on my hand to come out at her own will, I hate stressing her out but at the same time i want her to come out of her little cage too. Mine even hisses at me though, but she doesnt seem to stress out as much when my fiancee takes her out. He tells me it s an animal thing lol

 

[amanda509]

well, the stick idea worked, i got him to climb onto a dial rod, but he wasnt happy about it. i tried to handfeed him a cricket, but he was more concerned with trying to find ways off the dial rod without crawling on my hand, i only had him out for a minute or so, and put him back in his cage, he crawled as fast as he possibly could into his plant, and as far from me as possible and is now pouting not sure if he will fall for it again...but with my guess, he wont..

 

[K9Luvn]

Hang in there Amanda. Just give him time. He is still settling into his new life.

 

[Miss Lily]

Bless him! He may just need more time to get used to you since he's older. From what I have heard Jacksons are more 'friendly' than some other species. Monty stepped onto my finger just now with no encouragement and that was only the second time he has done that and I have had him for 11 weeks.

 

[amanda509]

Hang in there Amanda. Just give him time. He is still settling into his new life.

i know, im trying to be patient, i just hope maybe if i take him out for short periods at a time, he'll eventually realize he has never been hurt any of the times and start to tolerate it more