Taking the Road Less Traveled

[ColeCham333]

In the journey of "taming" my panther chameleon of 6 months, I have decided to take the road less traveled. That is, tame him by handling every day. I know, this may or may not work. If you saw my last post, you know there is a YouTuber you all should look up called "cavetown". He has a middle aged panther chameleon, and this chameleon loves the guy. He crawls all over him and his glasses, and the guy even rubs his cheek on the chameleon's face and sides to show affection. The chameleon doesn't appear defensive or scared the slightest bit. When I asked him how to achieve this behavior, he says ever since they got him at 5 months old, they have held him EVERY SINGLE DAY for at least 20 minutes. All chams are different, maybe his is special, but I think there is a better chance of taming mine by handling than there is of me ignoring the guy. Mine already comfortably hand feeds every day. I will update on this post every week with his progress and whether or not he is becoming tame. Wish me luck, and i hope to hear your opinions down below!!

 

[Remkon]

I doubt the road is a lot less traveled but I do also think the road is often traveled by people that don't really know what they're doing and because of that their animal will suffer or even die due to being exposed to large doses of stress.

My advise, don't force your cham period. If he wants out handle him, if he doesn't leave him. You're on the right track with handfeeding you should slowly introduce your other hand and guide him on there to get his treat.

 

[ColeCham333]

I doubt the road is a lot less traveled but I do also think the road is often traveled by people that don't really know what they're doing and because of that their animal will suffer or even die due to being exposed to large doses of stress.

My advise, don't force your cham period. If he wants out handle him, if he doesn't leave him. You're on the right track with handfeeding you should slowly introduce your other hand and guide him on there to get his treat.

I have seen multiple chameleons that have been raised this way, all have turned out to be healthy and happy.

 

[Remkon]

I have seen multiple chameleons that have been raised this way, all have turned out to be healthy and happy.

The ones that didn't turn out happy and healthy don't often get the spotlight... Unless it's on these forums in a topic like 'i think my cham may be dying'.

Anyways, just be cautious.

 

[Brokaylacham]

omg i love this Youtuber sm he inspired me to get a chameleon and like he seems pretty happy and healthy too, all though i don't hold him as much as cavetown does, i do hold him for a bit.

 

[Scottsquatch]

I'm not gonna say that you won't tame him down, but it basically goes against all a chameleons instincts to do what you are hoping for. If he starts getting very fearful and aggressive toward you I would definitely discontinue with the taming attempt. Good luck.

 

[jamest0o0]

Just realized this was from March, damn people bumping old posts. All I can say to this is, reptiles don't "love". Don't force your Cham. Stop seeing only the things you want to see. For every Cham that lived 5+ years with daily handling, a thousand or more have died.

 

[Scottsquatch]

Dang, I didn't notice that either.

 

[jamest0o0]

Haha I wrote out a large paragraph

 

[Brokaylacham]

Yeah i only do it because the guy i bought from told me to hold him every day and now he just crawls on me but i put him back after like 15 minutes because im scared it's too much for him I also take him outside so he can climb around on my trees. He also hand feeds from me.