my female veiled REALLY hates me :(

italian chameleon

italian chameleon

New Member
....she can't even stand my presence in the same room where her cage is (my bedroom). she was improving and becoming slightly less shy (almost hand fed her a couple of times, ALMOST) then, 4 days ago I mistakenly left her cage open and she got out and then got very upset when I caught her and put her back in her cage. she used to eat a lot (10-12 circkets a day plus extras like grasshoppers and worms) but since "the accident" she stayed hidden and only ate about 2-3 crickets!!
today I put a big polystyrene panel in front of her cage so she doesn't see me and she ate 8 crickets . I didn't actually see her eating but I saw that her cup is empty now that the lights are off (it's 8 pm here) .
Normally she would hide when she sees me too close to her cage ( like when I put the cricket cup in) just to come back a few minutes after to eat and bask and do all her cham things. she usually allows me to watch her from a distance without getting stressed, but not anymore :eek: :( .
I'm not into handling chameleons a lot or petting them or other silly stuff like that but I'd just like to be able to see my cham without causing any stress...perhaps hand feed her sometimes like I do with my male...you know, the usual stuff?
I'm not asking much after all :eek: ? she's such a drama queen, what can I do?? is there any way I can "win her back" ?? :( :confused:
 
As she was starting to come round, before her escapade, she will more than likely come round again. Just give her time, treat like you've only just got her again. Time and patience and when she realises you aren't a baddie, she will probably be ok again. Kath.
 
hi! thanks for your answer!
the problem is that if I "ignore" her she'll never get used to me ! I bet that as soon as I remove the cage cover she'll be all stressed again. should I think about moving or refurbishing her cage at this point? this is a pic of the cage before I put the polystryrene sheet in front of it, any suggestions/advice will be immensely appreciated:
25i6ur8.jpg


P.s on top of this, my male saw the female when she escaped and now he's restless, going up and down his cage looking for her. :eek:
 
My veiled chams go through "moods", I leave them alone as much as I can,
but they see me several times every day because they are in my living room.

I also continue to open the cage for feeding, and will leave my hand in the cage for a minute or so, not moving, just flatten my hand, like I am offering
them to climb on it. Maybe a favorite food item on my hand.

Keep away from them, several inches, and they will look at my hand, and the
bug on it. They may hiss and back away, or snap it up and then back away!

Just keep up the friendly gesturing, and let them see you every day.

If you have a free range, they will likely want to come out and play on it.
They just dont want to climb on you to get there.
I have my guys trained to know that they need to get on my arm if they want the free range.
Their attitude will eventually change, and they will get on my arm to get where they want to go. They may not like it, and grumble the whole way, and give me the stink-eye, but they know they need me as their "bridge".
 
Psychobunny said:
My veiled chams go through "moods", I leave them alone as much as I can,
but they see me several times every day because they are in my living room.

I also continue to open the cage for feeding, and will leave my hand in the cage for a minute or so, not moving, just flatten my hand, like I am offering
them to climb on it. Maybe a favorite food item on my hand.

Keep away from them, several inches, and they will look at my hand, and the
bug on it. They may hiss and back away, or snap it up and then back away!

Just keep up the friendly gesturing, and let them see you every day.

If you have a free range, they will likely want to come out and play on it.
They just dont want to climb on you to get there.
I have my guys trained to know that they need to get on my arm if they want the free range.
Their attitude will eventually change, and they will get on my arm to get where they want to go. They may not like it, and grumble the whole way, and give me the stink-eye, but they know they need me as their "bridge".
Click to expand...


thanks for the input Psychobunny, I think this one will require a lot more patience and effort to be tamed. I have been too lucky with my male, he ate is very first hand fed cricket in my car when I was taking him home from the reptile show where I bought him :p

anyway here's a pic of my little drama queen right after she escaped. she didn't give me the time to put her back in her cage, she litterally jumped there seconds after I took this picture.

wvvdb4.jpg
 
Last edited:
Give her time

My veiled hates me taking her pic. The first time I tried to video rec her she turned brown and ran for the hills I didn't know she could move that fast. She stayed angry for a week I left her alone as much as possible just to put worms in her bowl and fill her dripper. She came back around, and let's me hold her and take her out now but after being stressed it takes time for them to get over it
 
Ya I know how you feel, my female veiled hates me at times. I started to work on that and found out she is cage aggressive, once she's out she is a sweet heart. I started bribing her with hornworms and silkworms. Just give her time sometimes I could bring her out with no problems and sometimes not.
 
hi! Yesterday I tried to show her my male veiled. she was calm until he moved forward, when he started getting closer she started hissing and I divided them. the male didn't even care about her hissing he was going straight at it, but I guess the female is not ready yet. when can I try again? is 2 weeks enough time to make any difference?
 
I get impatient, but I have found that every week or so works for panthers. I would assume it is similar for veileds, maybe someone with veileds will respond and give you a more definitive answer.
 
could it be that she is not mature yet? she should be almost a year old now but she spent the first few months of her life in the hands of people who didn't have a clue about how to keep her. in fact, even though she should be fully developed, she doesn't show any yellow or blue color yet!:eek:
I hope I can breed her soon, but I don't want to force things... this is becoming a bit frustrating now :(
 
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