New to Chameleons. ?advice?

HydroCarbon

HydroCarbon

New Member
Hi everyone,

My 4month old Ambilobe Panther Chameleon "Hydro" is showing up tomorrow morning and i'm very Excited. I purchased him from Screameleons and I also got their "ultimate setup kit" up, running and ready to go for my new little buddy. I've got 1/4" crickets (which he's been eating already) and i'm going to "gut load" or feed the crickets some dark green lettuce and carrots 4-6hrs before I feed my Chameleon. Humidity is constant and at 40%. I've got the cage well off the ground and high for him in a separate room from my boxer dog. He will be Isolated for several week to ensure he acclimates properly to his new home. I read a good Thread here about preparing for your new arrival. It had a lot about Diseases and other good information. I've done extensive research about the Ambilobe Panther Chameleon and I just want to hear from some people who already have one.

About me:
I'm huge in Saltwater aquariums and I grow tropical corals as a hobby and side business. If you know anything about saltwater tanks then you know it takes a lot of patience, money, and attention. So i'm ready to devote the same amount of time and attention to my new little buddy. I've successfully kept a Green Iguana for 9years. My Iguana (Zelo, she passed) was extremely tame. I was able to take Her with me everywhere including the beach and on my dogs back for walks. It took a lot of dedication and time in the first year of Zelo's life to make sure she'd be a friendly Iguana.

So here's my question for all you experts on here.

who has experience with raising a very friendly, docile, happy chameleon and what did it take? Once he acclimates to his new home exactly how often can I (or did you) take him out of his cage? I know Chameleons are naturally mellow but I want to give this guy the best life ever.

Thanks in advance for any all the help/advice you guys can give. I'm excited about starting this new adventure with my Chameleon :)

-Aaron
 
HydroCarbon said:
This is crazy. Over 40 views and no advice? did I do something wrong?
Click to expand...
No, you did not do anything wrong ;)
Just have a bit of patience :p

HydroCarbon said:
Hi everyone,

My 4month old Ambilobe Panther Chameleon "Hydro" is showing up tomorrow morning and i'm very Excited. I purchased him from Screameleons and I also got their "ultimate setup kit" up, running and ready to go for my new little buddy. I've got 1/4" crickets (which he's been eating already) and i'm going to "gut load" or feed the crickets some dark green lettuce and carrots 4-6hrs before I feed my Chameleon.
"Lettuce" has little nutritional value.
I would recommend reading sandrachameleon's blog, its the best for anything to do with gutloading, which is a VITAL part of keeping a chameleon healthy :) https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/
Humidity is constant and at 40%. What are you using to measure this? Is this ambient in the room? I would recommend you try to keep the RH above 50% I've got the cage well off the ground and high for him in a separate room from my boxer dog. He will be Isolated for several week to ensure he acclimates properly to his new home. I read a good Thread here about preparing for your new arrival. It had a lot about Diseases and other good information. I've done extensive research about the Ambilobe Panther Chameleon and I just want to hear from some people who already have one.

About me:
I'm huge in Saltwater aquariums and I grow tropical corals as a hobby and side business. If you know anything about saltwater tanks then you know it takes a lot of patience, money, and attention. So i'm ready to devote the same amount of time and attention to my new little buddy. I've successfully kept a Green Iguana for 9years. My Iguana (Zelo, she passed) was extremely tame. I was able to take Her with me everywhere including the beach and on my dogs back for walks. It took a lot of dedication and time in the first year of Zelo's life to make sure she'd be a friendly Iguana.

So here's my question for all you experts on here.

who has experience with raising a very friendly, docile, happy chameleon and what did it take? Once he acclimates to his new home exactly how often can I (or did you) take him out of his cage? I know Chameleons are naturally mellow but I want to give this guy the best life ever.
Chameleons have variable personalities, just like people. So its just the luck of the draw when it comes to that. ;)
I would recommend not handling him for any reason for at least two weeks.
After a few weeks, you can try offering him a cricket by hand.
Eventually, he will take it.
After a few weeks/months of hand feeding, he should not be very skiddish of you(again, this is variable).
You can maximize your chances of him being calm around you, by simply not giving him any reason to think you are a threat. Dont force him to be handled if doesnt want to, and getting him to associate you with food and water can help with this..
Thanks in advance for any all the help/advice you guys can give. I'm excited about starting this new adventure with my Chameleon :)

-Aaron
Click to expand...
Really, I would not expect to handle the chameleon much, especially not at first. I only handle mine when I have to move him, but he isnt bothered by it a bit.


Do you have supplements for your feeders?

What type of enclosure will you be housing him in?

What type of lighting are you using?
 
HydroCarbon said:
Hi everyone,

who has experience with raising a very friendly, docile, happy chameleon and what did it take? Once he acclimates to his new home exactly how often can I (or did you) take him out of his cage? I know Chameleons are naturally mellow but I want to give this guy the best life ever.

Thanks in advance for any all the help/advice you guys can give. I'm excited about starting this new adventure with my Chameleon :)

-Aaron
Click to expand...

In terms of raising a friendly chameleon, there are several things you can do. But as previous posters have pointed out, chameleons definitely have personalities, so you never know what you might end up with.

- Get the chameleon used your presence. This largely depends on where it is in your house. You don't want it in such a high traffic area that people are constantly walking past it and there is constant motion and chaos. At the same time, you don't want it isolated to the point where it never sees people. I usually have mine next to my desk, but not by the door. So he's used to seeing me come and go, and sit in the room.

- Handfeeding is the best way of socializing your chameleon. In my experience most young chameleons aren't very shy and will readily hand feed. It's best to get them used to this while they're young. Expect your chameleon's willingness to hand-feed to diminish as it gets older. From what I've seen, they tend to begin asserting their independence and get territorial around the 6-8 month mark. Once they start doing that, they become uncomfortable with you standing in their space, and are less likely to hand feed. When my last Panther was 8 months old he went off handfeeding entirely and it wasn't until he was a year old that we were able to get him to do it again, and then he readily hand-fed for the rest of his life.

- In terms of handling I don't recommend anything more than what's necessary to clean the cage, or perhaps take him outside for 20 minutes to get some sun. Some people here have been able to "train" chameleons to climb on their arm by enticing them with food.
 
Hello Aaron, welcome to the forum :) I think you had few responses because it looks like you are really on top of this one already. My questions would be similar to Solid Snakes.....vitamins, lights, etc.
My advice is also to check out sandrachameleons blog because variety of feeders and gutloading are all good fun. The best commercially available gutload I have tried myself is Repashy bug burger, but even so extra fresh fruit and veg are good. My favourite gutload items are butternut squash and dandelion leaves because they have high Calcium content.
Anyway, hopefully you'll get more responses when you post us some pretty pictures of Hydro.
P.s. my chams are veileds and they 'tolerate' me, they don't want to be friends so I don't have much advice for you on that....just be patient and don't pick them up from the top like an Iguana :D
 
excellent advice everyone! Thanks. much appreciated. I'm gonna read up on Olimpia's blog and sandra's blog.
 
so on "much ado about chameleons" I read about daily activities done with the care of chameleons. it said they mist for 15mins/5mins/ then 20mins through out the day. All the research i've been doing says do not mist more than 3 times a day for 30seconds each time. Is this cause my Cham is still very young?
 
HydroCarbon said:
so on "much ado about chameleons" I read about daily activities done with the care of chameleons. it said they mist for 15mins/5mins/ then 20mins through out the day. All the research i've been doing says do not mist more than 3 times a day for 30seconds each time. Is this cause my Cham is still very young?
Click to expand...

You will find a different schedule from just about everyone you ask. This is because how much you mist depends on things like:
- What species you keep
- The cage they live in
- Your climate
And so on. If you live in a very dry climate like Arizona, you may need to mist more to get the humidity to be at a good reading. While if you keep chameleons in a glass terrarium, you wouldn't want to mist very long unless you had drainage, or you'd end up with an aquarium very quickly! So it really depends.

Personally, I don't think you should mist for anything under 3 minutes, at least. 30 seconds for me is too short, but lots of people recommend this and it works for them. If you find that your chameleon's urates are white, then he is hydrated and you don't need to change anything. But mine thoroughly enjoy longer misting sessions and like sitting in the spray, just soaking. That's why I don't mist less than 5 minutes. And I do at least one much longer misting to really shower them down. In a nutshell, I believe in "rain showers," not mistings.

If you mist for 30 seconds, I would still do it more than 3 times a day. Maybe 4-5. As long as the cage has time to dry up before the next misting.
 
"I would recommend reading sandrachameleon's blog, its the best for anything to do with gutloading, which is a VITAL part of keeping a chameleon healthy"

i agree with snake her blog is excellent but you dont have to keep everything listed on hand. in fact if you were to purchase such copious amounts of produce most of it would probably go to waste. just phase what you provide dont use the same 3 things over and over. but seriously seriously get some spirulina well worth it.

and let me back up olimpia on the longer mistings. i would say a minimum of 5 min personally i do 5/15/5. i also use a gallon jug with pinholes in the bottom to drip but thats only a couple of times a week, not daily.

it is up to your chamelon though. some will run from the spray and hide in a corner untill its all over. others will readily lap up the water you spray. some will perfer a dripper over a mist. and some will only lap the droplets off of the leaves once youre done.

so experiment see what he likes. some chameleons only need around a min to drink their fill, some have to see the flowing water for an extended period of time before they become interested.
 
Hey Aaron,

I'm glad you asked this question....I was wondering when somebody would post on here about friendly chameleons, as I happen to own a female veiled chameleon who happens to have an EXTREMELY social personality, and actually enjoys spending time with me (in fact, she's sleeping on my chest right now, and would sleep there all night if I let her).

I can't say there's a surefire method in taming a chameleon, but I do know that when I bought my chameleon 'Ellie' at Petco (NOTE: do not ever buy chameleons or anything else for that matter from Petco...Ellie was sick and in very poor health, and Petco did not inform me of such even though it was quite obvious just by looking at her), I was told she had arrived from a wholesaler about two weeks earlier, and had been handled and socialized quite often with their reptile specialist at the store.

It should be noted that she was estimated to be about six months old when I purchased her, and I have socialized her from day one of getting her. I worked at a boarding school with about 40-50 high school students, and brought her to work with me....during my hours, she had a roomy cage, but mostly wanted to sit atop my head in my hair when I put it up in a bun, and walk around while I took attendance, did paperwork, or worked one-on-one with students.

I did not bring her in every single day, nor did I allow the kids to hold her all the time, but they did learn how to care for her, got to see her in action eating, and turned out to be quite a therapeutic learning experience for them...they were always careful with her, and Ellie was quite content, green all the time, and happy from what I could see.

I continue to socialize with her, have the cage placed on my bedside table so she can be near me, and also by a window so she can see the outside. She actually stressed out when placed AWAY from the window, and became restless, agitated, and turned darker colors when she wasn't able to see the traffic/cars go by...extremely unusual I know, but I promise I am not making any of this up! Ellie has never bitten anyone, stranger or otherwise since I have had her, nor has she bitten anybody previously according to the pet store. She's very tame, and has quite the personality!

My point is, if you are aware that not every chameleon will be social, and observe closely to the personality type your chameleon has (friendly vs. unfriendly, biting habits, stressors, etc.) just like that of any other pet you have owned, you'll quickly gage how to best handle & build a relationship 'bond' with them through both direct/indirect contact...

Bottom line: Yes, chameleons can be quite tame, though few seem to be simply born that way...those that are socialized from a young age have potential to develop friendly personalities, and trusting attitudes towards their owners....they can recognize you through your heartbeat when you handle them, the sound of your voice, or your physical features...they are very sensitive and intuitive, so just be reasonable in not handling too much, be very attentive to their needs, likes, dislikes, etc. and see what happens. oh, and give them exercise/outdoor time/climbing room if you can outside of their cage, and DO NOT put them in front of mirrors...that is the only time I have ever experienced Ellie attacking anything was when she was on my shoulder and I was putting on makeup in front of the mirror and she lunged at it, mouth open, puffed up, and quite distressed.

But I am a chameleon owner who will tell you firsthand that yes, it is possible, and I feel very lucky to have such a social/friendly chameleon named 'Ellie' to call my own :) keep us posted on how things go, and feel free to ask more questions about friendly (or perhaps strange/unusual) chameleon habits you notice or if you are curious about other behaviors, etc.

Best of luck to you! :)

MsMilly26 and 'Ellie'
 
dekuscrub- Thanks i will be experimenting with my mister

MsMilly26- Your relationship with Ellie is what I was looking for. Some people may not know this but Iguanas are naturally aggressive and it takes a lot, A LOT of work in their first year to socialize them. My Iguana was like my best friend and went everywhere with me and never left my side. I Know Chameleons can't be handled as much as iguanas, but i'm hoping my cham (Hydro) will be similar to my iguana.

Thanks everyone!
 
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