My Veiled Hates Me. Please Help.

abrunsen

New Member
Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon
- Male Veiled Chameleon. 5 months old. 2 months in my care.
• Handling - When I got him I tried handling him daily for 30 minutes as a couple users on the Reddit forums (I know... I know....) told me that's how you get them to like you. He wasn't ever excited about it so I would basically have to force him onto my hand. I would put one hand behind him and one in front and would get him out of his cage that way. When he was out he was mostly relaxed. Nervous, but would hangout. I did this for about 2 weeks and then I noticed he would start sprinting to cover any time I got near his cage. I have not handled him since and have made sure to move slow when approaching his cage. I also make sure that he sees me feeding him and I will watch him eat so he knows I am not trying to harm him. I was able to get him to eat a hornworm from my hand once, but other than that refuses hand feeding.
• Feeding - Adult crickets. He is eating 12 a day. I give them to him in the morning and he eats them throughout the day. Crickets are gut loaded with carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, oranges. I give him the occasional hornworm or mealworm. I plan on switching him over to dubia roaches because of the smell of the crickets.
• Supplements - Minerall Calcium (Indoor): Every other day. RepCal Herptivite: Once a week.
• Watering - Pressurized hand sprayer. Spray the leaves heavily when I wake up, when I get home from work at 5.
• Fecal Description - Poops for me daily or every other day. Solid brown poop, pure white urates.
• History - No previous history

Cage Info:
• Cage Type
- Mesh cage from DIY Cages. 2' x 2' x 4'
• Lighting - T5HO fixture from Pangea Reptile. Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 UVB T5 HO. They turn on at 7Am off at 7PM.
• Temperature - Basking spot is 84 and ambient temps are 71. I am using a 60w incandescent bulb with an 8" dome from Lowes. He is in my apartment so temperatures don't drop below 71 at night. Measuring with a probe thermometer.
• Humidity - 50% humidity levels. I use live plants and mist 2-3 times daily. Measuring with a hygrometer.
• Plants - Boston ferns and palm type plant.
• Placement - Located in my bedroom. It is near a window. Low traffic area. Top of the cage is probably 8 feet from the floor.
• Location - North Carolina

Please help, I am super bummed that he is so scared of me and I would really like my guy to hangout with me and want to explore outside his cage. I am willing to do anything to fix it.

Thanks!
 
Oh boy... not another "my veiled hates me" thread...

FYI Veiled are known to be a highly defensive and territorial chameleon. Read through Bemans blog, it may help get your cham to trust you. Just Do Not Rush anything.

In my experience, my veiled never calmed down around me. But every chameleon is different.
 
My blog is a good reference based on how I did it. But I will say that they all have their very own personalities. And just because this worked with my boy it may not work for yours. The key with what I did was patience and time. Lots and lots of patience.
 
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