Neglected as a baby

[Thehippie]

so as far as I know, my chameleon hasn't exactly had the best life before he came into my care. his last owner had him for 1.5 years and was basically a guy who had too many animals to keep up with, it was obvious he had certain "babies" and his chameleon just wasn't one of them, now the chameleon had shelter food and water but wasn't getting the time and attention he should have been getting. The guy he came from just couldn't take care of him and put him up on craigslist where I found him. Before this older guy he also had one more owner for the first 1.5 years of his life. Same story food, water and shelter but no free roaming time, no handling once a week and no socialization. How should I go about acclimating him to touch and free range without stressing him out too much? I want him to be social enough that I can let him perch on my hand while cleaning and associate myself as something positive in his life so he's not scared of me as I care about him very much.

 

[Arpretty]

Right there with ya! My chameleon has a very similar story.

I’m sure many people will have lots of great advice for you, and there’s plenty of very experienced people on this forum who will help you!

When I first got my Cham, my focus for the first month was ALL about his health and routine. My guy was a skinny, dehydrated bag of bones. It was tempting to interact with him, but he really wasnt ready and I had to keep reminding myself that I don’t know what he’s experienced, and how my actions could potentially affect him. Super important to not let temptation get the best of you

So, I started here: simply getting him on a lighting schedule (using a timer for guaranteed routine), gutloading his feeders with quality ingredients, learning how to care for the feeders properly, getting the proper supplements- using them correctly and developing a supplement schedule, getting him used to misting, and making enclosure adjustments as needed - which was a longggg process. Still not where I’d like it to be but man it takes time and money! I also got a variety of feeders to amp up his nutrition: Dubia Roaches (free sample!), hornworms, superworms, and crickets.

Literally for the first month, I just cared for him, worked on his enclosure bit by bit, and just spent a lot of time in the same room as him.

After about a month, I bought some Cham-safe plants and made sure (with trial and error) to pot them properly for his safety. I began setting them up in front of his enclosure with the door open and a vine trailing out to them. Then, I decided to set them even higher than his cage, again with vines trailing out to them. After a week or so of setting this up daily, he began to climb out on his own - very slowly. He was very scared but also curious. I left him alone when he was out - would sometimes shut myself in another room and work, sometimes hang in far corner of the room. I also set out a bowl with a couple of feeders for him to snack on and after a few weeks, began trying hand feeding while he was out.

A month later after doing the above, and now he climbs out WHILE I’m setting the vines up for him. He scratches to come out; he absolutely loves it. He’s become super confident and curious. He now eats feeders out of my hand and tweezers. I’ve only picked him up once because I HAD to, but, I really have rarely touched him. I can tell it stresses him out. So I’ll slowly work on that, but he just may never be the type to tolerate handling.

So hopefully my story can help you out a bit. I’ve received a TON of help from people on this forum. Couldn’t care for my Spyro the way I currently do without taking in their knowledge.

Patience and time are essential!!!! Good luck

Pictures:
-the day he arrived- clinging to the dripper
- 2 examples of how I set up free ranging
-now, over 2 months later (big and grumpy)