Kamikaze?

[seanUTD]

So I know chams have a tendency to commit leaps of faith but do they ver grow out of this... I just made my second attempt to hold young karma and for the second time he leapt to the floor filling me with terror as his fragile little body plopped on the floor... He was a little startled (startled enough to cling to my hand) but otherwise okay... Do these guys ever grow out of that behavior??

 

[carol5208]

well, hopefully he will, but there is no guarantee. There are some chameleons that just never tolerate handling, not saying that you have one of them. He is young and you have not had him long right?, so try not to give up hope, but if he is that freaked out about it you may just want to back down on the handling. BTW, how long have you had him?

 

[seanUTD]

Week and a half or so? The only time we even attempted to handle him was when I had to fix something in his cage and we had no choice... So technically this was the first time tried to hold him to hold him... I won't be doing that again for a while /:

 

[carol5208]

Sean, I would not try to handle him for atleast a couple of weeks. Give him a chance to settle in and maybe try hand feeding him a cricket or something, but that would be the extent of getting close to him. It takes time for them to gain our trust. I am sure he will come around in time. I remember when I first got my guy, my daughter said he was a meanie and we would neve be able to hold him. Well, she was wrong, and I have one of the sweetest chams in the world.

 

[Hoj]

for the first little bit my gizmo was a bit of a leaper he never got away enough to fall but i had a few close calls. so i started to spread out a pillow or blanket so that if he did manage to jump away he would land on something soft.. just a thought

hoj

 

[Miss Lily]

Amy did the leap of faith once just after I got her! It scared the wotsits outta me! I was really wary when I held her after that. It does get easier as they get bigger - they can't run so fast then either, lol! Maybe you could go back to basics and start off with hand feeding. gradually move the food further and further away (over the space of a few weeks) so that he has to step onto you to get the food. That is what I did with Amy and it does work! You just need to be very patient (not one of my strong points!) and keep still and make no sudden movements.

This is a video of Amy's reaction when I moved my thumb quickly whilst offering her food - she freaked and I had the chin out, karate chop hand , the works, bless her! http://s596.photobucket.com/albums/...leon/?action=view&current=AmysStrop020609.mp4

 

[dodge]

Amy did the leap of faith once just after I got her! It scared the wotsits outta me! I was really wary when I held her after that. It does get easier as they get bigger - they can't run so fast then either, lol! Maybe you could go back to basics and start off with hand feeding. gradually move the food further and further away (over the space of a few weeks) so that he has to step onto you to get the food. That is what I did with Amy and it does work! You just need to be very patient (not one of my strong points!) and keep still and make no sudden movements.

This is a video of Amy's reaction when I moved my thumb quickly whilst offering her food - she freaked and I had the chin out, karate chop hand , the works, bless her! http://s596.photobucket.com/albums/...leon/?action=view&current=AmysStrop020609.mp4

mine is big and can run very fast lol, mine does leaps into cups of coffee thats when you need to worry

 

[Miss Lily]

Sounds like yours isn't tolerating being handled.

 

[allencg101]

Sean, I would not try to handle him for atleast a couple of weeks. Give him a chance to settle in and maybe try hand feeding him a cricket or something, but that would be the extent of getting close to him. It takes time for them to gain our trust. I am sure he will come around in time. I remember when I first got my guy, my daughter said he was a meanie and we would neve be able to hold him. Well, she was wrong, and I have one of the sweetest chams in the world.

i agree with carol when i get a new cham especially a baby regardless i never handle them for 2-2 1/2 weeks like she said let them chillax and get use to their new home. and deffinatly try the hand feeding my little guys love silk worms both my baby panthers and baby veiled they will come running once they see me open or grab for the container. My pandora always climbs on my hands not at first but she does now just to climb on top of my head and chill for hours at a time. if yours is a baby i strongly suggest if you do hold him when you put him back or her put him on the bottom of the cage floor and let him climb up on his own i made the mistake twice with pandora and el groucho. and they took about a foot fall so i speak from experience. good luck and keep us posted on the little critter.

 

[Silkyslim]

Sounds like my female Cleo, the first time I had to weigh her she ran off my hand and fell into my open sock drawer luckily enough. Ever since then I moved the scale closer to the cage so I can weigh her.

Keep trying to get them to snatch a snack out of your hand. Cleo is a tough cookie and wont hand feed from me in the 6 months I have had her, BUT I can trick her into hand feeding if I let my offering rest on a branch. Keep at it slowly.

 

[Carlton]

My male deremensis would sit on a hand calmly 8 times out of 10...but the other 2 times he'd go from completely calm to an inflated, roaring, monster, throw himself in the air, and land splat on a hard floor. I did notice he never did it over carpet and he usually did it in front of someone besides me for best traumatic effect.