Really bad situation

Brown

Brown

New Member
My cham is about 4 months old and has been in my possession for a little over a month now. He's been eating crickets no problem and even meal worms out of my hand. I wanted to be able to hold him so today i felt bold. I put my hand in slowly so he could climb onto it instead he climbed onto the outside of the cage. I was scared he was going to fall so I put him on my arm to put him back in the cage and all of a sudden he fell off of my arm. I reacted quickly and caught him before he hit the floor. :eek: My heart was jumping out of my chest. My Cham hissed and bit me, not hard but i felt it and probably deserved it. I felt so bad for him. Idk how to get him to warm up to me. I just want to have a good relationship with him :(
 
Handfeed is always the key for me. Once they assosiate you with good things you are on the way. That said some never really warm up to people.
 
Situations like that can destroy trust... My guy has always been a nice guy. Some... not so much. I hand feed my guy waxworms once and a while as a treat, but I don't think that's the reason. Every day, I'm always in his cage doing something. He comes up to the front and starts changing bright colors! He's gotten so used to me and really no one else. As long as your cham sees you often and knows you're a nice guy he'll warm up to you :D hand feeding is a great way too. My guy climbs on me frequently too... handling will tame them as long as you're patient ;)
 
I went really slow with my guy and when I finally started taking him out, would take him to a window with sun coming through or put him in his free range spot so he associated me handling him with nice places and more freedom.
 
Hoj said:
Handfeed is always the key for me. Once they assosiate you with good things you are on the way. That said some never really warm up to people.
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i feed him crickets. It seems impossible to hand feed a cricket to him. The only thing that has been successful is feed him mealworms from my hand.
 
No sweat it was your first attempt and likely both were nervous so it was gonna go that way. :)

If he will not hand feed then use tongs and hold it down and slightly off to the side from his front mouth. Giving him the height advantage. You may have to hold it there for a cpl minutes but most likely he will take after some patience. If you cave he wins :) and he is training you.

Like others said once he is used to you feeding him directly move on to things like just holding 2 fingers out to him slowly and below his front foot. Do not try to push yourself under him. Just hang there a few then slow pull away. Do that once a day at least and sooner or later he will respond positively. He just has to get used to seeing you and your hand as no threat.

But soon as you take that step it will unfold like this attempt if you take it much further. Slowly pull hand out and let him walk from hand to hand for a bit if he wants then put him back in.

Its baby steps but it works.
 
I put my crickets in a plastic cup and feed Angel that way. I really never had a issue with her. My little boy, Ringo will not do that. He took 2 falls onto concrete in 1 day when I was trying to bring him back inside from being outside that day. Since then he really does not want anyone close to him. So I dont mess with him very much. But try a cup to see if that works =)
 
Firstly, this is not a really bad situation - he'll get over it :) A little surprise is part of life, he wasn't hurt at all. Neither of my Chams like to be handled - that's just they way they are ( I'm pleased they haven't bitten me, but previous lizards have). As others have said take everything as slow as you can and let them go at their own pace. I have been a bit impatient with my monitor as she has been so nervous and I expected to have as good a bond as my previous monitor. She is over a year old now and this week has been a breakthrough for us, just because she will come when I rub my fingers (all she wants is food :)).
Patience is key, setbacks will happen occasionally. Don't get downhearted, keep up the attempts even though it might lead to nothing more than him tolerating you looking at him. You can't hurry love, you'll just have to wait http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ7uXX9K7Sk
 
Great responses. Thank you all for the advice. I will take it slower and try to earn Henry's trust. :)
 
My 4 month olds always start to go crazy for grub-type food at that age.

Silkworms, ONE waxworm, phoenix worms, or some green caterpillars from the lettuce patch (beware you need to know which ones are nontoxic!).

Food is also key. Although between 2-4 months I hold them as much as I can and end up with all tame chameleons.
 
My first chameleon's name was Henry :)

I didn't read the whole thread, but a simple way to (hopefully) earn his trust is to use the hand feeding to your advantage. Right now I would let him be alone for a few days and then start hand feeding again. Once he is doing that without hesitation, go ahead and use your other hand between him and the food. You want to use it as a bridge. Keep the food far enough away that he has to come close to your "bridge" hand to get it. When he is comfortable doing that, go ahead and make it so that he has to touch or grab the "bridge" to get the food. Eventually he should be comfortable enough to climb right on and sit like a happy camper for food. One day he may even voluntarily climb onto your hand without food to hang out.

Also associate being handled with great things like sunshine and free ranging. Many chameleons will figure out that hands are a good thing and bring treats.

One more thing, I would use small superworms, silkworms, hornworms, etc instead of mealworms all the time since they are really fatty and have a lot of chitin. If you only hand feed his favorite foods, he will (hopefully) get used to it even faster!
 
Brown said:
Awesome thanks again. Yea my sister called him Henry and it stuck lol
Click to expand...

Lol, my brother named my Chams because I told him he couldn't and I eventually gave in - now I think they suit them :)
 
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