How to trust

[hayden]

How do you perfect your chameleon to trust you? When I take Valcron out of his cage he seems to enjoy it as we'll as me a little bit more. But however when I do go to bring him out he really doesn't like me. He will eat out of a cup but not my hand. And I have to search for him to get him to climb on me( moving relatively slow). I put a few plants in my room for him to chill and play when he is out. He knows its me cause I'm the only one who is really around him. But he is skiddish with me still. He always has food and is in perfect temp. I like warm when im home so my room is at about 75-80 degrees normally. Any suggestions to help?! Here's some pictures of my 2-3 month old veiled including set up. I'm buying wood bars and vines for him and hanging them up today for more exploration

 

[laurie]

I would try to gently put a stick in for him to climb on, then take him out of the cage.

 

[ChameleonMom]

How long have you had him? He looks very young and just may need a few weeks of quiet time to relax and get used to his surroundings!

 

[hayden]

I've had him for about a month and a half? He loves his home. Has a bed time spot and knows where his food is

 

[ChameleonMom]

Okay, he's been with you long enough to feel comfy in his home....some veiled's just need time to trust. I am very assertive with my chams and don't really give them the choice to be shy as I am very hands on with them. In the morning I will open the cages about half an hour into 'lights on' and gently stroke them under the chin. I talk to them all the time and sometimes I don't even touch them - just talk and 'coo' at them. Funny enough they respond to my voice - my old guy will turn his head this way and that, much like a dog will when you talk to it...its cute! Over time they have come to know I'm the link between food and no food, so we have an 'understanding'! lol

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

I would try and lower your ambient temp in your room. 70 is good. 75-80 seems to high to me.

Some chams really feel comfortable with the stick method that Laurie mentioned. I have a panther Cham who despises it. He must think it is a snake because he puffs up huge at the first sight of the serpentine dowel hahaha.

Each Cham is different. And they are shy by nature. You will just need to take your time and be patient. When I first got chams, I heard stories on here about chams running to the screen to be let out. My first two were not like this, quite the opposite. I worried that I had done something to scare them into their defensive behavior. One of them calmed down with age, even though he prefers not to be held. I had to learn patience because I wanted to have them out on me all the time. When I started learning more about them, I started allowing them to make the moves, with food being the great motivator.

I stated using supers. My chams go crazy for them. Try this the first meal of the day when they are hungry. Put a worm on the flat of your hand and present it slowly. Usually they will be a bit nervous of the situation but should settle in a couple mins. What their eyes, if they are scanning for an escape route, you probably moved to hastily. If they slowly become interested in the bugs movement and then fixate, you have made good progress. I just kept doing this, luring the lizard more and more onto my hand. All but one of my chams will hand feed but that doesn't mean they will come onto your hand. Just be patient and never get frustrated and force them into anything they don't want. Slow and steady. And young chams do mature and become more chill.

 

[hayden]

Well unfortunately he is to small for supers. Don't want him to choke but soon it will be his treat for behaving! Haha but maybe the more I take him out my help?

 

[Lathelia]

Well unfortunately he is to small for supers. Don't want him to choke but soon it will be his treat for behaving! Haha but maybe the more I take him out my help?

You can try mealworms. They are pretty much like superworms, just smaller.

 

[hayden]

I've tried that he ignores it because of my hand. If its in a cup and he is slightly hungry he will easily go for it