Stressed or resting?

[SimonTheCham]

My veiled is abt. 3-5 months old, and we've had him for about a month now. We have handled him a couple of times, but he always is so stressed, but when the handler at the pet store held him he was bright green. Also, he's brown unless he's very VERY well hidden. Is this bad?

 

[FrankTheTank]

This is normal. Chams can be a little confusing sometimes. Bright colors can represent aggression and dark colors can be stress. But they are also bright at night. We call that Cham pajamas. They can also be dark while basking. There is an in between that is usually their relaxed state. That is where you eventually want them to be when you are holding them. They will probably still have aggression out of the blue sometimes but this is all normal. They are still wild animals. Just be patient and start with hand feeding. Build trust with your little guy so that you can reduce stress with handling. Good luck to you!

 

[FrankTheTank]

On another note if he is brown all of the time you might want to fill put the how to ask for help form at the top of this health clinic forum so we can check out your husbandry to make sure nothing is off. This way we can give you the best advice on how to keep your Cham healthy. In the mean time, you can check out the care sheets on the left side of this page