How do you increases the chances of friendly over grumpy?

[Quantum Mark]

Hello!

As some of you will know by now, I have my first cham maturing at a reputable UK breeder and will pick him up in a few weeks. He's a blue-barred ambilobe and will be about 12 weeks when i collect him.

I've read about chams that are grumpy and some that are friendly but little about whether its possible to raise a cham to be towards the latter. Is it dependant on things you do while raising them or just how they are naturally?

Ive read that handling for a short amount of time each day and always hand feeding can help as they'll assosiate you and your hands with food which is good. Is there anything else you can do to encourage a friendly cham as they grow up? I'd really like a cham that didnt start kicking off as soon as I enter the room!

 

[Sang]

i gotta be honest,

I did not hold my cham every day, I did not hand feed.

Now i have 1 panther , my first is the absolute BEST panther i have ever seen doesn't get mad, doesn't hiss, doesn't lunge nothing, it takes seeing the dog to make him mad...

i have had little contact with my animal except to examine and weight them 2x a month.

my female panther is a bit aggressive, but i expect that of any lady trying to be handled, she will not do anything to me once i have her out. and is fairly calm, she does however show her stress colors instantly.


and i just got an adult male veiled today, meanest SOB i have met yet.. whats that my hand is getting far to near...better his gape and chomp the S outta his hand...


3 animals, all the same treatment, 3 different personalities.

 

[Quantum Mark]

i gotta be honest,

I did not hold my cham every day, I did not hand feed.

Now i have 1 panther , my first is the absolute BEST panther i have ever seen doesn't get mad, doesn't hiss, doesn't lunge nothing, it takes seeing the dog to make him mad...

i have had little contact with my animal except to examine and weight them 2x a month.

my female panther is a bit aggressive, but i expect that of any lady trying to be handled, she will not do anything to me once i have her out. and is fairly calm, she does however show her stress colors instantly.


and i just got an adult male veiled today, meanest SOB i have met yet.. whats that my hand is getting far to near...better his gape and chomp the S outta his hand...


3 animals, all the same treatment, 3 different personalities.

How old was the veiled when you got him? Is he just a baby or is he older and maybe it was the way he was raised?

 

[Dez]

I have 2 male panthers.. both i have had since babies..
One is sweet and mellow and the other is an attacking spaz. The only difference is that the mellow one is a little older...

I also have 2 veiled chameleons both from the same 'family' One is curious and friendly (when he wants to be) and the other one was very shy and hated to be looked at...

Its really luck of the draw...

 

[writh]

Well I've had mine for little over 5 weeks now and I've hand fed her a lot but I know she doesn't like to be handled. She is in the corner of my living room there's a lot going on sometimes but she don't seem to mind it. I think some chams might just be unafraid of people although wouldn't hurt to try and see if you can train yours.

 

[CNorton]

My mean panther turned nice over several months when I started to hand feed him only that which he would eat right away. The first 4 months I would jaut throw the bugs in and be done with it. Now I can do both and everytime my dude will come to the door and crawl onto me if he can get closer to the bugs. If you really wanna break his mean streak, try going a week without food then hand feed him. I tried this technique after hearing from a few other keepers and it works great.

Hope this is helpful! Let us know!

-Chad

 

[chameleonman57]

It might sound weird, but i like to talk to my cham and don't make big or quick movements by your cham so they know not to be scared of you.

 

[ohiohousewife]

I talk to mine too. I try to reassure him I am not going to try to eat him. Doesnt help. He still hates my guts, but it makes me giggle every time.

 

[jake01]

My ~1 month old veiled is getting friendlier, I also watched proper handling technique and now my cham rarely tries to get away when I want to handle him or move him to his free roam schefflera.

Speaking of the free roam schefflera today when i came home for lunch and put him on it, i went inside to use the toilet and make a sandwich, came out, and the little bugger had climbed out of the plant, and either climbed off the table or FELL off it and onto my backyard floor. I felt really bad and quickly scooped him up and back onto the tree. I have no idea what happened but hope the guy didn't fall . From now on i'm supervising him better when he's free roaming outside on his schefflera. I almost lost him it was scary .

 

[sandrachameleon]

Associating yourself with food is a good plan.
I've found that the ones I've raised myself from day one are more likely to be tolerant of me than the ones I've purchased (still quite young) from others. But this may be inherited behaviour ("friendly" father) rather than environmental influence. And even among the ones I've raised from egg, all kept in identical environments, there are difference in "personality". So to some extent, its a crap shoot. Overall, More are moody than are "friendly"

 

[panthercham]

I have 4 panthers, 3 are rescues and I have had them for about a year and came to me as sub adults and don't like to be handled. They are typical "look but dont touch" lizards. They tolerate and associate me with food and the invading stick in the cage means that they get to go out on the fiscus in the real sun for an adventure while when I am cage cleaning. One would take my hand off if he could and often lunges for it and hisses and gapes.

My youngest I got from Screameleons and I purchased him at 5 months. From day 1 he has disliked being locked in his cage and I have free ranged him (he sleeps in his cage at night voluntarily) and he has a total different personality. He tolerates being handled a lot more than the other 3 and is more laid back.

I believe its the luck of the draw. I am looking at getting another cham soon and I will be blessed if he is as good natured as my youngest. Hand feeding does help and I think purshasing a cham young helps as well but in the end I am happy with 4 healthy happy chams

 

[Miss Lily]

My first veiled 'Lily' was very tame and didn't mind being handled when I got her at 6 months. The people I got her from handled her daily and hand fed her too. She was usually willing to come out once her cage was open. Amy is still learning not to be so scared of me! I swear she thinks I'm gonna eat her, lol! She is easier to handle now she's a bit bigger though and she doesn't gape or hiss at me.

The male veiled at the livefood shop (where I got Lily) is also very friendly - in fact he walked right out onto my hand yesterday when I was buying food for Amy. As much as 'luck' with the individual cham's temperament, I also think it has something to do with how you are with them and how you treat them and respect them.

 

[hallenhe]

To some extent it's random (as everybody has said). If possible (i.e., a safe area, no other pets have access, fairly low human activity), I think free ranging can really make a difference. Lots of chams are very leery of humans reaching in their cage, but seem to calm down once they're outside, and sometimes doing away with the cage altogether seems to ease that. My panther is very "friendly" (will climb on you of his own initiative, and is reluctant to get off), but this didn't come until he was big enough to leave his Reptarium and free range. I'm sure it helps that I reward this behaviour with treats, trips outside, etc.

 

[Miss Lily]

I'm sure it helps that I reward this behaviour with treats, trips outside, etc.

Food certainly helps! They are easily bribed by food! To start with, Amy wouldn't come anywhere near me unless I had food for her. I don't always have to bribe her now - sometimes she gets sunshine time or food when she's out.

 

[Quantum Mark]

Cool, thanks for the tips and opinions.

I don't have a garden in my North London flat but I do have deep window sills and massive windows so I may buy a large schefflera and sit it there for sunbathing in. Can get the windows open nice and wide for direct sunlight.

Other than that and plenty of tasty bugs I guess I'll have to hope for the best! =)

 

[Miss Lily]

Cool, thanks for the tips and opinions.

I don't have a garden in my North London flat but I do have deep window sills and massive windows so I may buy a large schefflera and sit it there for sunbathing in. Can get the windows open nice and wide for direct sunlight.

Other than that and plenty of tasty bugs I guess I'll have to hope for the best! =)

They do like to bask in the sun's heat by the window (Amy loves to bask in her cage in my porch), but bear in mind that UV rays don't pass through glass so the only thing they are getting is warmth.

 

[tkilgour]

all my panthers love me, at first as juveniles they were a little scared so I refrained from handleling them for at least 2 months. This just got them used to my routine of feeding, watering, and cleaning. Now, my panthers are several years old, some even older and they love me. They come off their perch when they see me and come out of the door when I open it and climb on my shirt. Some even like to drink right off my spray bottle. Sometimes they get nasty if you grab them from the back but panthers are pretty docile.
My panthers even expect their daily sun tanning on my knee in the summer. They just sit on my knee and bask in the rays. It is the coolest thing.

 

[wilfred]

That sounds amazing kilgour I hope I can be half as lucky.