Need some advice with a baby veiled 2,5 month boy

[bugagasashka]

Hey guys!

Me and my boyfriend got a baby veiled chameleon from FLChams a week ago. His name is Rango, he is about 2,5 months old and he is beautiful! We are newbies when it comes to owning a chameleon so I did some research on this forum and read a bunch of threads/posts on tips with handling. I started trying hand feeding him by holding a cricket or a mealworm on my hand in the mornings when he is hungry. He shows some interest but he never goes for it. I read one of the tips that you can put a little stick to make a bridge between the chameleon and my hand and I tried doing that today for the first time and he started hissing and he was trying to bite the stick!!! This is the first time he has ever done that. I completely understand all chameleons have different personalities and some tolerate handling but some want nothing to do with it, but we really don't want him to hiss and try to bite! We want to be able to handle him at least once in a while so he will be fine and less stressed when moving, etc.

Please help! Any other tips or advice on handling and how to stop the hissing? How do I let him know that this is not okay?

 

[leslievilarino]

I have read that if they arent going for the food when when hand feeding to stand directly behind the worm or cricket

 

[Kclarke02]

First off I don't think you can teach your Cham that his natural defense mechanisms "is not ok". It takes time and patience to get them used to you. I've had my female little over a month and she is still somewhat weary of bein handled but gets better every time. It took several tries over about a week to get her to eat from my hand. It takes patience and trust on their part. Hang in there tho, it's totally worth it!

 

[Virgil1972]

I week is a little soon to be trying to hand feed. I would wait another week or two to let him get more comfortable in his cage. Getting your cham ready for handling can take a long time. Start with hand feeding, then after doing that for a while then hand feed but keep your hand farther away so your cham has to come closer to your hand to get the food. Then after doing that for a while try putting the food up on your arm so your cham has to crawl up your arm to get the food. Using food that your cham really loves will also help. Do not force handling on your cham because that can undo everything your trying to do.

 

[guanagator]

This is a months long process with most chameleons and patience is key. You need to build trust, whenever the chameleon shows fear back off immediately. Hand feeding will happen quickly but building up to him actually walking onto you takes much longer and some never will.

Be still, don't make eye contact, and wait it out. Once you've fed enough variety to see what yours really likes those are what I would try offering to hand feed.

 

[bugagasashka]

@guanagator @Virgil1972 @Kclarke02 @leslievilarino thank you so much guys! I really appreciate your help. We will be more patient and give him some more time and we'll take baby steps with hand feeding and handling

 

[Shilohpsu]

The hissing and opening of the mouth means that your Cham feels threatened. They view their cage as their territory/safe space. A big human arm, hand, a stick approaching them can be intimidating and basically scares them. Then they do the hissing and opening of the mouth as a defense mechanism like kclarke said. I would slowly introduce your arm into the cage and leave it there for a mins until your Cham stops puffing up and returns to normal. Then you know that they don't feel threatened anymore and they'll start to get used to it. After they're used to your arm and hand, try holding a cricket about 6 inches away. The best time would be in the morning 10-15 minutes after turning on the lights. This will give the Cham time to wake up, yawn, bask a little. I heard that they're typically hungry when they wake up in the morning. Good luck and be patient.

You are correct about chams having different personalities. I bought Herbert as a baby from petco. The guy at the store told me that his cage mates were removed to ensure that they were getting fed because Herbert was eating all of the food. I felt good about trying to hand feed him a cricket on the second day that he moved into his new home, because I knew that he loved food. In less than a minute, this happened, and we've never had any problems hand feeding him since.



Forgot one piece of advice when it comes to handling. Try opening the cage door and letting your Cham come out on his own. Then after he's already out of his cage/territory, try to slowly move your hand in front of him and get him to grab your hand/fingers, then lift him up. As Hebert got older, he became more territorial of his cage. But if he climbed up on top or somewhere out of his cage, he would let us handle him without puffing up, hissing, and pretending to bite. He's about 11 months now and will come to the door of his cage and wait for us to open it every time he sees us. He always comes out and we still don't have any problems handling him and hand feeding him.

Also here is something else to keep in mind. They grow fast! We started out with a 16x16x30" reptibreeze chameleon kit. Herbert out grew it within 5-6 months. We then got him a 24x24x48" reptibreeze cage, which is an acceptable size for an adult veiled Cham. In hind sight, I wish I would've started with the larger cage.

 

[bugagasashka]

The hissing and opening of the mouth means that your Cham feels threatened. They view their cage as their territory/safe space. A big human arm, hand, a stick approaching them can be intimidating and basically scares them. Then they do the hissing and opening of the mouth as a defense mechanism like kclarke said. I would slowly introduce your arm into the cage and leave it there for a mins until your Cham stops puffing up and returns to normal. Then you know that they don't feel threatened anymore and they'll start to get used to it. After they're used to your arm and hand, try holding a cricket about 6 inches away. The best time would be in the morning 10-15 minutes after turning on the lights. This will give the Cham time to wake up, yawn, bask a little. I heard that they're typically hungry when they wake up in the morning. Good luck and be patient.

You are correct about chams having different personalities. I bought Herbert as a baby from petco. The guy at the store told me that his cage mates were removed to ensure that they were getting fed because Herbert was eating all of the food. I felt good about trying to hand feed him a cricket on the second day that he moved into his new home, because I knew that he loved food. In less than a minute, this happened, and we've never had any problems hand feeding him since.



Forgot one piece of advice when it comes to handling. Try opening the cage door and letting your Cham come out on his own. Then after he's already out of his cage/territory, try to slowly move your hand in front of him and get him to grab your hand/fingers, then lift him up. As Hebert got older, he became more territorial of his cage. But if he climbed up on top or somewhere out of his cage, he would let us handle him without puffing up, hissing, and pretending to bite. He's about 11 months now and will come to the door of his cage and wait for us to open it every time he sees us. He always comes out and we still don't have any problems handling him and hand feeding him.

Also here is something else to keep in mind. They grow fast! We started out with a 16x16x30" reptibreeze chameleon kit. Herbert out grew it within 5-6 months. We then got him a 24x24x48" reptibreeze cage, which is an acceptable size for an adult veiled Cham. In hind sight, I wish I would've started with the larger cage.

The hissing and opening of the mouth means that your Cham feels threatened. They view their cage as their territory/safe space. A big human arm, hand, a stick approaching them can be intimidating and basically scares them. Then they do the hissing and opening of the mouth as a defense mechanism like kclarke said. I would slowly introduce your arm into the cage and leave it there for a mins until your Cham stops puffing up and returns to normal. Then you know that they don't feel threatened anymore and they'll start to get used to it. After they're used to your arm and hand, try holding a cricket about 6 inches away. The best time would be in the morning 10-15 minutes after turning on the lights. This will give the Cham time to wake up, yawn, bask a little. I heard that they're typically hungry when they wake up in the morning. Good luck and be patient.

You are correct about chams having different personalities. I bought Herbert as a baby from petco. The guy at the store told me that his cage mates were removed to ensure that they were getting fed because Herbert was eating all of the food. I felt good about trying to hand feed him a cricket on the second day that he moved into his new home, because I knew that he loved food. In less than a minute, this happened, and we've never had any problems hand feeding him since.



Forgot one piece of advice when it comes to handling. Try opening the cage door and letting your Cham come out on his own. Then after he's already out of his cage/territory, try to slowly move your hand in front of him and get him to grab your hand/fingers, then lift him up. As Hebert got older, he became more territorial of his cage. But if he climbed up on top or somewhere out of his cage, he would let us handle him without puffing up, hissing, and pretending to bite. He's about 11 months now and will come to the door of his cage and wait for us to open it every time he sees us. He always comes out and we still don't have any problems handling him and hand feeding him.

Also here is something else to keep in mind. They grow fast! We started out with a 16x16x30" reptibreeze chameleon kit. Herbert out grew it within 5-6 months. We then got him a 24x24x48" reptibreeze cage, which is an acceptable size for an adult veiled Cham. In hind sight, I wish I would've started with the larger cage.

What do you mean when you say "come out on his own"?
Rango doesn't mind our hands in the cage and we keep the cage open if we're in the room. He usually walks around his cage when it's open but he never goes out of it.

Also, our vet has a Lot of experience with chameleons and he had a large cage since his Cham was a baby, so he suggested for us to do the same. We got a large cage and build a bunch of vines and branches inside. Rango loves it. When he is not basking, he is exploring and hunting for crickets!

 

[Shilohpsu]

What do you mean when you say "come out on his own"?
Rango doesn't mind our hands in the cage and we keep the cage open if we're in the room. He usually walks around his cage when it's open but he never goes out of it.

Also, our vet has a Lot of experience with chameleons and he had a large cage since his Cham was a baby, so he suggested for us to do the same. We got a large cage and build a bunch of vines and branches inside. Rango loves it. When he is not basking, he is exploring and hunting for crickets!

Mine was the same way, but as he got older and grew bigger, he started coming out on his own. He started by climbing up on the top of his cage. Then the the top of the cage turned into anything he could reach while on top of the cage. Then he started climbing down his cage and walking on the ground to glass/screen sliding door.
So what I meant was leave the door open and he'll eventually crawl out and start exploring. If he does crawl out, then try to get him on your hand to hold him. This way you're not "invading his territory by reaching in and grabbing him"

 

[bugagasashka]

Mine was the same way, but as he got older and grew bigger, he started coming out on his own. He started by climbing up on the top of his cage. Then the the top of the cage turned into anything he could reach while on top of the cage. Then he started climbing down his cage and walking on the ground to glass/screen sliding door.
So what I meant was leave the door open and he'll eventually crawl out and start exploring. If he does crawl out, then try to get him on your hand to hold him. This way you're not "invading his territory by reaching in and grabbing him"

That makes so much sense! Interesting Ours never walks on the ground of his cage but we'll keep the cage door open more and see if he crawls out. Thank you