Hello Everyone, I was wondering if someone could help me with a small problem I'm having. I purchased a male Veiled Chameleon from FLchams a while ago and he is 6 months old now. The problem is he runs to the bottom of his enclosure at the mere sight of anyone. It's so bad that if I open his cage to do spot cleaning he will dive off of his umbrella plant and hit the ground which is not good at all. I would like to be able to handle him some what safely in the event I have to take him to the vet and not stress him out as much as possible. I have been leaving his enclosure door open when I'm in the same room with him and he does seem to be a bit curious and has even ventured out of it and onto the door of the enclosure, but if I get out of my chair he bolts for safety again. I was also thinking of getting some feeding tongs and horn worms and trying to feed him that way so he associates my presence with food? Does anyone have any other suggestion on how to make him a little less afraid of me? Thanks Guys!
Terrified Veiled
- Thread starter hhggyyt
- Start date
laurie
Retired Moderator
I think you letting him out of the cage is an excellent idea. Is there anything close so that he could crawl off his cage door and explore?
The hand/tong feeding is also a wonderful ice breaker. Just keep in mind SLOW, slow, and slow. If you even think the word fast you may scare him.
The hand/tong feeding is also a wonderful ice breaker. Just keep in mind SLOW, slow, and slow. If you even think the word fast you may scare him.
RFWildlife
New Member
I am a newer chameleon owner but this is what worked for me. Mine was doing the same thing when I first got him. This will take time, but it is working for me. I tried the tongs scared the heck out of him. What I did was put his feeding dish close to his favorite hangout spot. I keep a strict schedule morning feeding time is the same time everyday. I first got him used to eating out of a cup. He would scramble down to his hiding spot after a few min of me being well away from the cage he would come up and eat. The time it took to climb back up got shorter daily. When he finally would run back up as soon as I closed the door I started leaving the door open same process. Next the door open and I stayed by the door. Then hand part way in the cage. Then hand near the cup. Then I discovered his love of horn worms. Second time feeding horn worms he would eat them out of my hand. Lately if he gets scared when I am messing around in his cage he runs to the vine closest to my face. I am working on getting him to climb on my hand but am taking it slow so he does not revert back to his old ways. The other thing I have found is he will still run if anyone but me is in his cage. I believe mine will never like to be out on my hand, but want to get him some what used to the idea to make cage cleaning, and vet visits less stressful.
did this ever end up working for you?
