New to the Chameleon world!

[KortkneeShayne]

Hello everyone!! My name is Courtney and I just recently (since Fathers Day) bought a male veiled chameleon off of a guy I knew from school who would breed them and raise them. He had over 15 in one room the one time I was there. Well I had gotten ahold of him because my fiancé bought 3 Leopard Geckos and said he would like a Chameleon. So I contact the guy and luckily he was willing to give up one of his last ones. He is now breeding geckos. Anyways the first 2 weeks were great with him. He was sweet and gentle, knows and listens to hand commands. His name is Kissy because he has a little under bite and it looks like his little mouth is pouting so he got the name Kissy. Anywho Kissy all a sudden has been nice and bright until you open his cage and now he's hissing and literally trying to attack me. We've checked his cage and everything is PERFECT to the T. Does anyone have any insight on this? Any opinions would be great! I want my Kissy Baby back. He would chill on the bed or in my arms , like I said he was very sweet! Now he's black at this moment and hissing trying to eat everyone lol. Please share with me anything that could help me get him back to himself.

 

[Blink]

Welcome to the Chameleon Forums, Courtney! Congrats on getting your little guy. Be sure to check out the care resources provided on this site.
First off, it is always recommended to avoid handling for the first three weeks, to allow the chameleon to acclimate to its new home. Sometimes it can take over a month for some chameleons to fully adjust to new surroundings, particularly depending on their age. Which leads me to my next question. How old is Kissy? Age contributes a lot to temperament. A lot of chameleons go through a "teenage stage" where they get more frightened and realize that they can defend themselves. You have to keep in mind that when a chameleon behaves "aggressively", they are only reacting out of defensive fear.
So, before approaching the situation and process of taming, make sure that your chameleon is completely acclimated to its new home. Once he is, you can try gaining your cham's trust by hand feeding. This is a great way to a chameleon's heart. My cham particularly loves Super worms, which I save for hand feeding purposes. Give him some time. Chances are that he won't go for the hand feeding right away. Always try hand feeding before feeding him anything else, so he is nice and hungry. Once he's more comfortable with you, he might be willing to sit on your hand while eating his meal from a cup. If so, this is an excellent way to accustom him to your hand. Remember, to a chameleon your hand is a big scary bird claw trying to grab him. You need to change his idea of your hand to "nice branch that provides food".
The next step is to set up a free-range tree next to the cage that he can climb out onto himself. If he is anything like my cham, he will be more than eager to come out. This teaches him that the outside world is good and he can get used to coming out by himself. Once he falls in love with his little free-range, you can distance the tree a little so that he has to crawl onto your hand to get out onto it.
If you need to pick him up (I highly suggest that you wait until he will willing crawl onto your hand) never grab him from above. Always lift him from underneath.
The important thing is just to be patient and give him time. Don't rush the process. It might be a long and frustrating road, but don't give up on your little guy. Hope this helps and Best of luck!