Taming Help

[ukulelecham]

Hey there!

Okay so I've had my chameleon for about 5 months and Ive been hand feeding him mealworms and spending a lot of time around, he will grab onto my hand with his lil hands, and ive attempted to take him out a few times. I'm trying to figure out how to get him out of his cage because ive seen a lot of people take their chameleons out of their cages who've had them for a shorter time then i have. Whenever I try to take him out he hisses and lunges - do i push through this and try to take him out still? or do i leave him be? I feel like whenever I leave him because he's hissing im never gonna be able to take him out. i dont know, advice? How do i take my chameleon out for the first time?

 

[jannb]

Hello and welcome to the forums. Mealworms are not the best feeders for chameleons, Try some super worms, silkworm or horn worms. Since he's use to hand feeding, show him the worm but not to close. Hold the worm above your other hand and as he starts up your fingers then move the worm up your arm toward your elbow and he may just walk right on to you. You may have to try it a few times but hopefully it will work for you.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

Chameleon's seldom "tame". They can become more tolerant and realize you are not a threat. By and large chameleons tolerate, but don't enjoy handling and veileds are among the least friendly chameleons. While the suggestions above may help for getting him out of the cage and better used to you, I'd suggest you mind his hissing, as my veiled can and will bite, hard, if I "push" past his hissing. If he is hissing, he is threatened and stressed. Chameleon are individual and the keepers handling adult veileds with ease are much fewer than those able to handle them when they are tiny and fearful. An older veiled feels more confident and therefore they become more offensive/aggressive.

 

[jannb]

Chameleon's seldom "tame". They can become more tolerant and realize you are not a threat. By and large chameleons tolerate, but don't enjoy handling and veileds are among the least friendly chameleons. While the suggestions above may help for getting him out of the cage and better used to you, I'd suggest you mind his hissing, as my veiled can and will bite, hard, if I "push" past his hissing. If he is hissing, he is threatened and stressed. Chameleon are individual and the keepers handling adult veileds with ease are much fewer than those able to handle them when they are tiny and fearful. An older veiled feels more confident and therefore they become more offensive/aggressive.

I've been keeping veileds for quite sometime now and never had any of those experiences. I do free range so that might be why they never become aggressive. I did once have a Panther that came to me around a year old and terrified of everything and I use the worm trick that I shared above. Once out of the cage he was much friendlier. Yes, he was left with me in a cage. After doing this for a month or so and taking him outside while he was out for some natural UV he started being very nice. We set him up on a free range and he lived to be over 6 and was friendly the rest of his life.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

I've been keeping veileds for quite sometime now and never had any of those experiences. I do free range so that might be why they never become aggressive. I did once have a Panther that came to me around a year old and terrified of everything and I use the worm trick that I shared above. Once out of the cage he was much friendlier. Yes, he was left with me in a cage. After doing this for a month or so and taking him outside while he was out for some natural UV he started being very nice. We set him up on a free range and he lived to be over 6 and was friendly the rest of his life.

I'm not disbuting your experiences, but I think your experiences are among the minority and can give unrealistic expectations to someone keeping their chameleons in a more typical/caged manner. I've had friendly chameleons that definitely were outgoing and social, but it's important to establish this as an indictable personality trait and not something you can hope to create from an ill tempered veiled. My veiled is in an enclosure larger than your free ranges ( I base this on the ones that consist of a hanging plant and a plant saucer above ), I take him outside, I hand feed him, I've coaxed him onto my hand with treats and once the treats are gone, he goes back to hissing and biting. I expected this, so I don't try to force anything on him. This is typical of most veiled keepers, in my conservations with many. Your personal situation is unique and not going to be the experience most people have.