Strange behavior by veiled cham

[gideonus]

Mr. Worf, my 7 month old male veiled did something today that he's never done before, which struck me as really odd, or at least unusual for him. Today was a very warm day in San Francisco. In the midafternoon, I took him out on our deck. For 15 minutes was was very calmly perched on my hand, basking in the sun and looking relaxed with very nice vivid coloring. My wife then came up the stairs and quietly approached to take some pix. Almost immediately, Worf started darkening and "cowering" seemingly trying to hide behind my fingers and crouching and pressing himself into my palm as if to make himself as small as possible. Normally if he's spooked he would start moving around a flaying his front paws. I've noticed that chams will rotate around a branch to try to hide behind it and become as narrow as possible to reduce their visibility, but this was brand new. He was very calm with me, but somehow my lovely wife's approach elicited this new behavior. Any thoughts?

 

[kinyonga]

What was she wearing?

 

[dodolah]

Kinyonga has a good point mentioning about the color of the shirt. Normally, bright colors (red and yellow) can cause such reaction on some chameleons.

Another possibility is the camera she's holding.
all my chameleons hate camera.

 

[moody232002]

Mista also does this outside of his enclosure.He can be as calm as anything but if someone "invades"his space he will cower while he assesses the situation.
The colour idea is very valid as is the camera,Mista absolutely hates the camera.

 

[kinyonga]

Black or dark colors always get a reaction. Veileds will react to certain patterns in materials (worn, not just in their environment) and especially to reds and pinks.

Rapid motion may also "feak" them out.

 

[gideonus]

Worf's behavior

My wife was not wearing anything flashy or particularly colorful. But perhaps it was the camera, altho I've taken pictures of him with no problem,even up close. He didn't seem to mind. But this behavior was quite profound and the first time I'd seen it. Perhaps also it was the fact that as she approached she was quite a bit higher than Worf, and chams always like the security of being above it all.

 

[chambabysitter1]

She might have been moving a little fast for his taste as well.

Perhaps if she moves slowly next time he won't care about her presence.