How to avoid "1 step forward, 2 steps back"

Ares05

Ares05

Chameleon Enthusiast
Amaro is chillin on his free range. I normally get hissed and lunged at while taking him out of his cage, but he adores his free range and calms down quickly once on it. I offered some crickets by hand, didnt want it (to be expected).I accidentally dropped one on his leaves, and as I was picking it up, he took it.So apparently he will take them if I injure the cricket (so it wont jump around) and sort of scoot them around near him with my finger. He took about 11-15 from me just now. This is absolutely mind blowing to me. Hes only taken one cricket from me ever. I obviously have to put him back at some point, but I dont want to go back to square one by having to pick him up and put him back. What do I do?
 
Lore him onto your hand with a cricket. My guys only get superworms when i need to bribe them to go home or take meds.. so when they see a superworm they come running to me for it.
 
Sorry wasn't completely clear, he wont take them from my hand pretty much at all. He has before, but he wont today. It took him a month to even let me look at him, another to let me move around him, and this month we are working on hand feeding. Slow process.

I will keep trying, but I really dont want to have to force him off.
 
How long have you had him? If he's relatively new with you, it might take some time to get used to the routine.
 
If your free range includes a plant/tree you can pick up, once he is on that, just pick up the plant and hold it in front of the entrance of his enclosure until he voluntarily climbs off.
 
I have had him for 3 months now.


The tree is super heavy, but I can scoot it over there.
 
You're doing great for 3 months! Took me 5 months of working with my panther to get him to climb out onto me on his own. I made sure to never force him out or back in. Always on his terms and at his pace.

Yeah see if that works. Otherwise I'd suggest coaxing him onto a stick. But sometimes my cham would freak out more over the stick, so use your best judgement.
 
Ares05 said:
Amaro is chillin on his free range. I normally get hissed and lunged at while taking him out of his cage, but he adores his free range and calms down quickly once on it. I offered some crickets by hand, didnt want it (to be expected).I accidentally dropped one on his leaves, and as I was picking it up, he took it.So apparently he will take them if I injure the cricket (so it wont jump around) and sort of scoot them around near him with my finger. He took about 11-15 from me just now. This is absolutely mind blowing to me. Hes only taken one cricket from me ever. I obviously have to put him back at some point, but I dont want to go back to square one by having to pick him up and put him back. What do I do?
Click to expand...
Is the free range movable ? Mine is ( a big Hibiscus ) . We scoot the hibiscus up to their enclosures . Then Move the Hibiscus to their favorite basking watching the World spot . Then they do the work coming in and out . That’s for whom do not like intruders .
 
Oh no, he hates me. I still cant get right up close to his cage without him leaning behind a branch, or a nice big hiss. He doesn't come out on his own. Its a big ordeal to try and gently put my hand under where he wants to go so he'll climb onto me. it takes FOREVER! All to just weigh him. He is likely weary of me because I had to open his mouth a give him meds for coccidia. Makes sense that he is distrustful.

yes my free range is moveable

He was trying to climb on my closet doors and I started to slowly scoot the tree, so I just put my hand in front of him as he was stepping outwards. Slowly walked over to his cage and he climbed back in. Hopefully I kept him calm enough so he registered this as a good experience. He is now going over to his basking spot.

The fact that he even ate while out of his cage is honestly amazing to me. He's currently puffing up at me on his basking spot, showing me who's boss, lol.

If he gets coccidia again at any point, Im gonna be pissed. All those plants and branches down the drain, along with the bonding back to square one.
 
Ares05 said:
Oh no, he hates me. I still cant get right up close to his cage without him leaning behind a branch, or a nice big hiss. He doesn't come out on his own. Its a big ordeal to try and gently put my hand under where he wants to go so he'll climb onto me. it takes FOREVER! All to just weigh him. He is likely weary of me because I had to open his mouth a give him meds for coccidia. Makes sense that he is distrustful.

yes my free range is moveable

He was trying to climb on my closet doors and I started to slowly scoot the tree, so I just put my hand in front of him as he was stepping outwards. Slowly walked over to his cage and he climbed back in. Hopefully I kept him calm enough so he registered this as a good experience. He is now going over to his basking spot.

The fact that he even ate while out of his cage is honestly amazing to me. He's currently puffing up at me on his basking spot, showing me who's boss, lol.

If he gets coccidia again at any point, Im gonna be pissed. All those plants and branches down the drain, along with the bonding back to square one.
Click to expand...
Condo aggression very typical behavior not seen so much outside of their condo . .

Our Frances was a beautiful bad A** in her condo , RULES galore , never to be broken . Oh and her Queen Quarters ( basking area ) was absolutely off limits ALWAYs don’t even look at the queen while in her quarters .

However once out of her condo she was an beautiful BAD A** Angel . Ofcourse she needed NO help out or in !.
 
Oh I totally read it backwards... sorry about that. Clarice is like that. A superworm ALWAYS lures her out, but Im currently out of them. So i just pull my sleeves over my fingers and scoop her up. I try to let her see them, but then I move quick to touch her front arms. That tends to distract her enough to get my hand in there before she lunges (or retreats).

Using sticks scares her really badly so she other comes willingly or not. Wont make a difference in how much she hates me
 
Thats what I try to do. I try and put my hand out in front of him and kind of nudge him on. if that doesntwork, I just try to gently but quickly scoop him up to make it as quick and least stressful as possible.
 
Even looking at Coda changes her entire mood lol, I can’t even feed her without her climbing away and going to her favorite hiding spot. In my mind she is still recovering from her pet store PTSD so I cut her some slack ;) :p
 
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