veiled chameleon hissing

[thejewgo]

hey whats up
i recently moved my veiled chameleon to his larger enclosure, hes roughly 3/4.5 months, i had originally arranged it with a bunch of sticks, plants (pothos) and artificial ones, and other stuff to climb on, but later realized i needed more greenery in the cage, its hard to maneuver and put everything in there and its in need of cleaning so i go to pick him up slowly to put him in a free range or anywhere while i fix it real quick but whenever my hand approaches him he hisses and gets his mouth close almost striking at my hand but not biting, i understand they are very territorial, im not sure if he hates me lol but i do treat him good, but any solutions as to what i can do?

 

[Kate]

He probably likes his viv the way it was, thank you very much. Chams don't like change mine sulks when I change his dead plant for a live one but it has to be done. Give him time to get used to his new environment and offer hand treats and hopefully he will love you again.

 

[Chameleonsinc]

Veilds are known to be "feisty" they are very territorial over their cages. But this in no means represents his attitude twords you! I've had both male and female veilds that hissed, gaped and tried to strike at my hands whenever i got near them when inside their cage. A quick scoop up from underneath, to pick them up, and it's, "oh hi, daddy, how are you doing?" although your mileage may vary. I have 3 males who would rather eat my hand than any bug I'm offering while their in their cage, but the moment their outside, they, for lack of a better term... " cuddle" it's far too sweet for words. We give these creatures far less credit than they deserve, IMHO. They are display animals, but many seem to adapt wonderfully to being social if we're willing to work with them.

 

[thejewgo]

So what should I do along with being patient

 

[KingJulian]

I would suggest associating your hand with food...teach him that when your hand comes in the cage, he's going to get something in return. It took a good 2 months to get my cham completely comfortable with handling, but now I can walk up the cage and he comes right to the front and climbs onto my hand. It takes patience and lots of work. There will be days where he just doesn't want to be messed with and you have to respect that. Good luck and I hope your cham becomes more friendly

 

[ChameleonSolo]

They dont really seem to like being handeled so i usually stay away from holding. I dont really care if mines aggresive to me because i wont be holding him.

 

[thejewgo]

Thanks for the replies, I do understand some of them do not like to be handled and others it takes time, but I jus want to put more greenery and arrange it in a way that he could climb and hide and such, but it's difficult with him in there as I'm gonna be doing a lot of moving around and stuff, I don't wanna freak him out with the movement n whatnot so I have a free range and separate terrarium he could be in while I work on his enclosure