my veiled has an attitude problem

Ashleyth87

Ashleyth87

New Member
So, I've had my male veiled for about a month and a half, he's healthy, eating well and growing very quickly. He's already double the size from when I got him, brighter and stronger looking. Now, I've tried feeding him by hand about every other day. I feed him in the morning before I go to work Every day and I always slowly present the food slightly under his level so he doesn't feel threatened and I get the same response every time, puffed out throat quick retreat and sometimes hissing. I don't try for long because I don't want to stress him out. I've got him to climb on me maybe twice because he was attempting to escape me when I tried to feed him and he went out the cage door so I put my hand in his path to catch him. I just want us to get to along :(. Any advice? Weather is starting to get wArmer and id love for him to be ok with going out on the porch with me to get a little natural sun light. Another thing is he hates being misted. I even use hot water and test it on my hand first to make sure it's always nice and warm for him. Advice?
 
Both mine have little attitudes. Only in there home though once they are out they are perfectly fine.
 
do you think if I can get him to crawl on me again I could try feeding him by hand once he's out and calmed down? I just hate to stress my poor little guy out.
 
This is what I get.... That's a peice of banan btw, I usually try bugs but he's not into fruits and veggies yet so I'm trying to introduce some, I thought if he smelled it he may like it.
 

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mine won't eat from my hands but, once she is out she is fine. I am new to the cham world and have done a lot of research and get a lot of good advice from members of another group as well. With my female I just let her come to me at her own pace. I also did not want to stress her out. She still hisses at me but she will walk on to my hand.
 
I appreciate the advice, it makes me feel a little better that it's not just my veil that's sassy. I mean all in all, as long as he's healthy and has a nice home I'm good. My next Cham will be a panther I'm sure but currently I have no space for another Cham cage at the moment.
 
Mine is getting worse and worse
Somethings won't even eat from cup until I'm gone
I attribute it to lots of space and not coaxing him closer for hand feeding more often than not
 
Hi
My Veiled is now 6.5 months old. He seems to now see his enclosure as his space (territory) and will hiss and try to bite when he is in it. We discovered that he does like to come out and is perfectly friendly when out. He likes to come out on his terms so we open his door and place a lime bush about 2.5 feet tall on a chair in front of the opening. We then leave him and watch TV in the same room. Within 10 minutes he is out on the bush and looking round. Once out he will hand feed and walk onto our hands quite willingly. He likes to climb up and sit on our heads or my wife's glasses. He only seems to defend his space. You may have luck with this method but as with all things chameleon pacients is the only way.
 
Darwin does this exact same thing! i just got him to eat out of my hand for the first time yesterday, and I've had him for over two months. He was free ranging and when he seemed comfortable, I held a Cricket in my hand. once he saw it, he puffed up as normal. then he slowly moved towards it and in a split second the cricket was gone. I've learned it just takes time, he has quite the little attitude.
 
I also have a very crabby veiled, hes about a year and a half old now.
His grip alone can draw blood, he is so big. He tries to kill me for the crime of putting bugs in his bowl. I accept that he is a "look don't touch" animal :) It's just the way some are :)
 
Ashleyth87 said:
This is what I get.... That's a peice of banan btw, I usually try bugs but he's not into fruits and veggies yet so I'm trying to introduce some, I thought if he smelled it he may like it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the picture. That clears up a lot of questions I was going to ask. Apologies in advance for the clipped tone. I'm tired and late to go somewhere but wanted to write this. Understanding the nature of chameleons--what they are and what they aren't--is so important for the health and happiness of your pet chameleon. You will be happier with your pet when you understand what it can and cannot give you, too. Win win all around.

Okay, let's be clear: Chameleons don't ever have attitude problems. They are not mean. They are not nasty. They are simply chameleons exhibiting chameleon behavior.

Can they be difficult to handle? Yes. Can some always be terrified of their owners until the day they die. Yes. Will they bite and attack out of fear? Again, yes.

Let's just analyse your picture and let's not put any motives or try to figure out what the chameleon is thinking. Let's simply look at the behavior that is being presented.

I see a chameleon that is puffed up. It is looking not at the food item but at your hand about two inches behind the food, the area around the thumb and first finger. The chameleon's left arm is raised. Your hand and the screen seem to be blocking any escape routes. Your hand is within what appears to be one to two inches of it's body. The chameleon appears to be leaning away from your hand and the screen is preventing it from leaning further away or escaping. There do not appear to be any escape routes other than over the hand.

Based on experience, I've found that the raised-arm posture shows a chameleon that is afraid and stressed of something very close to it. Leaning away is also associated with fear. From experience, I've found fear triggers that puffed up behavior. So does territorial aggression between chameleons.

Just from the picture, it appears to me you have trapped a frightened animal between the screen and your hand and it has no escape. It is exhibiting classic fear behaviors--puffing up, arm raised, leaning away and if the screen weren't there, I would also expect escape behaviors.

Now, with all that going on, do you really expect it to take a food that it isn't particularly fond of and eat? Occasionally, extremely stressed animals will eat but the norm is for the stress hormones to suppress appetite.

Hand feeding chameleons is not like hand feeding a mammal. They have an incredibly long tongue and that is what they use to put the food in their mouths. They actually don't like to eat food close to their faces and they don't like to just use their mouths to pick up food although they can learn to eat without using their tongues, but it seems to not be something they prefer to do. They seem to have trouble using their tongue on prey that is close to their faces and will arch up to get distance between the prey item and their face.

To get your chameleon to hand feed, reduce the stress and fear levels in the animal--in other words, get out of its personal space. Chameleons are usually quite easy to read when they are stressed. They change colors or shapes. There is no missing a puffed up animal. Whenever you see your chameleon even start to puff up--they might do it by just starting to throw the throat spikes forward--back out of their space.

Hand feed from a distance. Hand feed food items that are highly desired like green bugs. Start with a hungry chameleon.

One other thing, I don't know if chameleons can smell anything. I have my doubts they use their nose for much other than breathing. I think their nostrils go straight down to front of their mouths, not leaving any room for whatever organ is in a nose that detects odors.

All the best.
 
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