How smart are chams?

[webghost]

So having my Jackson for a little over 2 months, I was just curious if they are conditionable? In other words do they realize that we are feeding them and so we are not a threat? Or they just not realize the presence of a loving owner..

Considering I never handle him and the only time I open the cage is to feed him so do they link opening the cage door and seeing me to a good response or are they not capable to put two and two together and realize.

Reminds me of the experiments Pavlov conducted hehe.. Would love to hear your thoughts

 

[ChameleonNerd]

being generally "nice" and loving to your chameleon would help any chance you have of having a good pet - owner relationship. there's no way to guarantee trust though

 

[Solid Snake]

Mine are genius.
My panther knows he is not allowed near my jacksons cage. Now, he doesnt actually "know" this I dont think. But he realizes that if I am around, and he goes near it, he will be apprehended, and placed back on his free range, as far away from her cage as possible. If I peek in the room, and hes on his way over there, he will quickly turn the other direction. As soon as I leave, he will turn right back around.
Any animal(ok most any) can be "trained" through a food reward system.
Its my opinion, that after being in close proximity with a human for an extend period of time, a chameleon will decide that you are not a threat, and thereby focus their attention on other things. Provided you do not give them a reason to think you are a threat. Thus creating "trust".
Chameleons are not smart enough to understand what a water-sprayer is, but they are smart enough to know what is about to happen when they see it coming. They do not understand what you are, and why you provide food, but they can understand that you do not pose a threat, and to expect food when you are around.
I hand feed. If I raise my hand near my panther for any reason, he points at it and searches for food, weather I have any or not. Weather its chow time or not.
I do not believe you could teach one "tricks". Per say. But some have taken this further, and wiggled their fingers at the chameleons before they feed them. The chameleons learned that wiggling fingers means that food is coming. I actually tried this with my jackson for awhile. She seemed to catch on after a month or so, but she would never come closer to me for the food.
These are just my opinions and experiences.

 

[pssh]

They are capable of learning things and remembering them. They can become more comfortable with a certain human or two. They can actually recognize different people. Hand feeding and handling to take the animal outside to the sun are good ways to attempt to build trust.

One of my panthers, who passed away, remembered that a pipette meant water time even though I hadn't done it in a good larger part of a year! He immediately ran down and opened his mouth for the water like he had done previously.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

I'd say pretty smart, Karma seems to figure things out quickly. I hadn't use a pipette before and when I dropped 3 drops from it he automatically started slurping from it, probably mostly from seeing moving water. I just need to teach him that he cannot infact eat a cat that is around ten times his size, no matter how delicious it looks.

 

[pssh]

He tries to eat them? Or is he just so upset that he shoots at them? My veiled shoots at cameras when he gets really upset.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Oh he never shoots, he just turns his head toward them and tries to sneak to them like he does his prey. Like he's some tough guy haha.