Little Help?

[TheGreenMachine67]

I have had my veiled chameleon for over 2 weeks now. Within a little over a week, he figured there was a bigger world outside of his cage. He started venturing out when I added a few extra things to his cage. I added some stick walkways around the opening of the cage, and one day he just walked out of the cage when I left it open. I was leaving the cage open daily so he could start to get used to me. I shortly realized that I would have to get him back in later. This is where problems show up. I do everything I can to try not to stress him out or keep him from biting me. First thing I do is put on an oven mitt and a jacket so that my skin is visible, for some reason I felt like this would be less threatening to him. Then I slowly move my hand near him. I set there and wait for him to move onto my hand, but he doesn't trust me yet, but I still try to be patient. He hasn't walked on my hand yet. So what I attempt to do is put my hand underneath him (Not touching him just an inch or two underneath him). Then I slowly bring my other hand towards his tail trying to get him to move on to my hand under him. He has moved onto my hand after a few attempts sometimes. However, he has also not wanted to several other times. So what I try to do is get him to walk on a stick or something. Today I had trouble getting him in. Took me around 15 minutes, and I finally got him to walk on my hand and I put him up. He hissed and opened his mouth though. Does anyone have any tips to give about maybe easier ways of how to get him in? He loves to come out and look out my window. I think the last thing I would want to do is make him unhappy in his cage, but I have such a trouble getting him in sometimes. It also stresses him out. I've been hand-feeding inside his cage and a few times when he is out of the cage.

 

[Flamegurl]

Your lucky he is hand feeding out of your hand! Sounds like progress to me.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

I have been thinking about the bets way to handle them, but what color/pattern is the oven mitt? And the jacket as well. Bright or flashy colors freak them out. Stick with blacks/dark browns and mute colors like that. If the cham bites you, just make sure to not drop him because of the surprise and do not jerk your hand away. This is probably really hard because handling chams makes some of us a bit nervous as well You may not even need a jacket and mitt if you swiftly and calmy take them into your handles and quickly deposit them into their cage. I open my veiled's cage but she is still too shy to venture out. I usually have to take her out myself which can take a while (her cage is her happy place). I am pretty sure it stresses them out a bit less if the entire process is over quickly. Maybe try that method and tell us how it went. Good luck!

 

[TheGreenMachine67]

Thank you, Camryn for the reply. I did not think about the colors of the mitt.It'ss a bright yellow. The jacket I use is a dark grey. I'll keep that in mind to use darker colors. Handling does make me nervous, I'm sure the bite wouldn't be that bad, just intimidating on how they hiss and stuff. Quickly and calmly take them into your handles what does that mean exactly.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

It means to just dive right in and do it. I used to do the long process of getting them to climb onto your hand, which they seem to never want to do but now I just gently grab them, wrapping my fingers around their abdomen and immediately placing them onto my other hand. Then I carry them into their cage and hold them there until they climb off onto a branch. If you do it quickly they might be too surprised to bite, and it will be over so fast that the shock is mild. They will get more used to it over time.

 

[TheGreenMachine67]

I've heard that can lose their trust by grabbing them?

 

[kinyonga]

I would try not to have to grab him. Black is a threat color and red is another color they often react to. Patterns also can set them off. I don't think the yellow oven mitt if it's not patterned would be a problem. Not so sure about the coat. Reflective shiney things can also be a problem....like eye glasses, lenses, cell phones, etc.

Tour method sounds good though....holding the mitt in front and encouraging him from the back!

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Wouldn't the bright colors spook them? I saw a blog post by a vet/chameleon specialist and they said that the mute colors like black and brown without any patterns would be the most calming. Maybe it was an older post. Then what would be the best color to wear when dealing with veileds?

 

[kinyonga]

I don't know for sure what colors they will react to ..each one is different to some extend. It can even just be a different shade of a color. Sorry I can't be specific.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

No prob I was just wondering