My female cham is terrified of me

[olliethedwarf9]

Zelda is about 8 months old, and she is absolutely terrified of me. When she sees me putting food in her cage, then she lightens up and gets a little curious. She's only hissed at me a couple times, but mostly she climbs like hell even when I open the cage door. I've thought about hand feeding her, but I don't want to stress her out too much. She's fairly happy most of the time. I just want to be able to handle her occasionally. What should I do?

 

[Elizadolots]

Hi!

Welcome.

As my chameleons hate me, I don't suppose I'm the best person to advise you. But hey, I'm here, I'll give it a shot. My first bit of advise is: she might never be cuddly. It's a real hit and miss thing, you don't know what personality your chameleon might have and you might just have one that will never be friendly. You don't take your fish out to hold them do you? So, maybe your chameleon is in that class.

However, many here have suggested you can slowly seduce your chameleon into being at least tolerant by hand feeding and being very, very patient. So, steel yourself to hold the bug in your fingers and get a very comfortable position because you might need to hold it for a few minutes and see if you can get her to eat out of your hand.

 

[laurie]

Your Cham is about 8 months old? How long have you had her? Sometimes they take a good bit of time adjusting. But if you have had her a month or two then we will talk about other possibilities. Has she ever been more friendly than she is now? At 8 months she could be carrying infertile eggs, does she have a laying bin? What kind of food do you feed her, does she like any food more than others? If she does skip feeding her for a day, then offer her favorite food from your fingers.

I have no idea how much you know about chams, I am just tossing out a few ideas for you. If you need a care sheet I can get you one or a blog that will provide lots more info. You tell me what you need and I will do my best for you .

 

[Psychobunny]

Do you have her in a place where she can see you every day?

Do you feed her same time every day?

It can take some time for them to get used to you and learn to associate you with food.
Every time you put your hand in her cage, have a little something to offer that she likes.
If she will not eat out of your hand, show her the food and let her see you put it in her feeder bowl (if u use one).

What ever you do, dont stick your hand in there and try to get her to climb on it if she is backing away.

Usually, getting them to take the food from your hand is the first step, asside from having them not flee in terror at the very sight of you

 

[zisforjake]

I have a question to go along with this as well that might also help..

I have not picked my chameleon up or got it to step on my hand, I feed her about 3 crickets a day by hand with no problem except her shying away at first. Should i wait till she takes the first step or should i just go ahead and pick her up by sliding my had underneath her and lifting?

Any advice?

 

[olliethedwarf9]

Your Cham is about 8 months old? How long have you had her? Sometimes they take a good bit of time adjusting. But if you have had her a month or two then we will talk about other possibilities. Has she ever been more friendly than she is now? At 8 months she could be carrying infertile eggs, does she have a laying bin? What kind of food do you feed her, does she like any food more than others? If she does skip feeding her for a day, then offer her favorite food from your fingers.

I have no idea how much you know about chams, I am just tossing out a few ideas for you. If you need a care sheet I can get you one or a blog that will provide lots more info. You tell me what you need and I will do my best for you .

I've had her for almost 7 months.
She's always been extremely shy, but as far as friendliness she hasn't changed. She's just skiddish.
She has a laying bin. It's a big plastic planting pot, and the sand is about a foot deep and about a foot in diameter. She's been eating like crazy though.
I give her gutloaded crickets, dusted 3 times a week, meal worms 2 times a week, and occasionally wax worms. She likes live crickets the most, but I don't think I'd be able to keep it on my hand long enough for her to eat it. I might try meal worms.

 

[olliethedwarf9]

Do you have her in a place where she can see you every day?

Do you feed her same time every day?

It can take some time for them to get used to you and learn to associate you with food.
Every time you put your hand in her cage, have a little something to offer that she likes.
If she will not eat out of your hand, show her the food and let her see you put it in her feeder bowl (if u use one).

What ever you do, dont stick your hand in there and try to get her to climb on it if she is backing away.

Usually, getting them to take the food from your hand is the first step, asside from having them not flee in terror at the very sight of you

Yeah she can see me everyday from some parts of her cage that she hangs out in.
I don't usually feed her at the same time everyday. Is that something I should do?