ways to tame your cham

[CDON]

Hi I have a 4.5 month old male panther and I have had him for 9 days now. I tried today tovget him out but he freaked out and gaped and ran away. I know people say to hand feed but he won't for me yet he just hide behind his branch. So what are some ways to get him out without him freaking out and stressing and how to get him to trust me?
Thanks

 

[NHenn]

Lots of love and patience.

I know it sounds like a bad answer but it is the truth. For the most part no chameleon will trust you at first and it will take time to gain it. Hand feeding is a great way to speed up the process. I would continue to try hand feeding and more than likely eventually he will surprise you and eat from your hand.

 

[CDON]

Ok thank you I will continue to try hand feeding and hope he will go for it

 

[Big Gulp]

Keep in mind that your cham may never be receptive of you.

I have an almost 1 year old male veiled, and he hates my guts no matter how much I try working with him. Anytime I go near him he either headbutts my hand repeatedly or tries tearing my fingers off.

 

[CDON]

Well let's hope that is not how my guy is

 

[SilverWolf]

This may sound cruel, but it won't hurt him. As long as you give him plenty of water still, he can go a day without food. The next day, hold the food in your hand, and his hunger will act as an incentive to take the food from your hand. If this doesn't work (which it should) then try cup feeding, and then eventually after he takes food from a cup, hold the cup in your hand and see if he takes it that way. Work with this, it will potentially take days and days, but eventually he'll probably warm up to you. Plus he's a panther.

I say to try giving him a day without food, but I cannot stress enough, give him WATER EVERY day. And don't go more than one day without any food. In the wild chameleons obviously may go a day or two without any food, as feeding them with a specific schedule like we do is a bit unnatural. This is why it is okay to go a day without feeding him, but I wouldn't extend that any further.

edit: Oh and lastly, once he starts taking it from the cup in your hand, or straight from your hand if you're at that level, try holding another hand in front of him, slowly, with no movement. Your arms will ache and go numb, but he just might walk right on your hand to reach the food if the food is far enough away from him, but where he can still see it. Especially if he didn't eat the previous day. This is what I did with my chameleon, and now he walks on my hand a lot more frequently.

 

[CDON]

Ok I will skip today and try to hand feed tomorrow. He has done the hand in the cup feeding once but won't do it anymore I will try. Thanks

 

[junglefries]

You have the perfect age panther. Just relax and let his good disposition come to you. He is new to his surroundings and freaked out. They are timid to begin with at that age. When he hits 10 months plus or so, 99% chance he will be the cuddly cham that you see others with. Just be patient and consistent with your forays into his domain. Try and keep to a routine. Once he feels comfortable, and settles down, he will tolerate you.

 

[CDON]

Ok thank you for the help. I will be patient and try to get him to hand feed

 

[xephyr17]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T9M9awL7qM

That's a good video on how to tame them. He's talking about "aggressive" chameleons which may not be the case in your situation, but you could give those tips a shot.

I've been doing it for the most part and it's working out alright. He ate out of my hand for the first time after having him for 2 months just a couple days ago.

 

[NHenn]

This may sound cruel, but it won't hurt him. As long as you give him plenty of water still, he can go a day without food. The next day, hold the food in your hand, and his hunger will act as an incentive to take the food from your hand. If this doesn't work (which it should) then try cup feeding, and then eventually after he takes food from a cup, hold the cup in your hand and see if he takes it that way. Work with this, it will potentially take days and days, but eventually he'll probably warm up to you. Plus he's a panther.

I say to try giving him a day without food, but I cannot stress enough, give him WATER EVERY day. And don't go more than one day without any food. In the wild chameleons obviously may go a day or two without any food, as feeding them with a specific schedule like we do is a bit unnatural. This is why it is okay to go a day without feeding him, but I wouldn't extend that any further.

edit: Oh and lastly, once he starts taking it from the cup in your hand, or straight from your hand if you're at that level, try holding another hand in front of him, slowly, with no movement. Your arms will ache and go numb, but he just might walk right on your hand to reach the food if the food is far enough away from him, but where he can still see it. Especially if he didn't eat the previous day. This is what I did with my chameleon, and now he walks on my hand a lot more frequently.

This might be good advise for an older chameleon and one that has been in their current environment for a longer period of time. However, since he is still young and you only had him for 9 days please do not take him off food just to force hand feeding. Again, lots and lots of patience is the only answer.

 

[CDON]

Ok thanks for the vid I will try that technique

 

[Zephalia]

This may sound cruel, but it won't hurt him. As long as you give him plenty of water still, he can go a day without food. The next day, hold the food in your hand, and his hunger will act as an incentive to take the food from your hand. If this doesn't work (which it should) then try cup feeding, and then eventually after he takes food from a cup, hold the cup in your hand and see if he takes it that way. Work with this, it will potentially take days and days, but eventually he'll probably warm up to you. Plus he's a panther.

I say to try giving him a day without food, but I cannot stress enough, give him WATER EVERY day. And don't go more than one day without any food. In the wild chameleons obviously may go a day or two without any food, as feeding them with a specific schedule like we do is a bit unnatural. This is why it is okay to go a day without feeding him, but I wouldn't extend that any further.

edit: Oh and lastly, once he starts taking it from the cup in your hand, or straight from your hand if you're at that level, try holding another hand in front of him, slowly, with no movement. Your arms will ache and go numb, but he just might walk right on your hand to reach the food if the food is far enough away from him, but where he can still see it. Especially if he didn't eat the previous day. This is what I did with my chameleon, and now he walks on my hand a lot more frequently.

Not cruel at all and will act as incentive for your chameleon to feed instead of worry about who is holding the food. And I agree with the statement that patience is key. They adjust, slowly.

 

[CDON]

Ok I will try this

 

[SycoSquirl]

My veiled hated me for a few weeks, but then he started to really get sick and lost his fighting will which made him easier to handle to get to the vet. Now He is doing better, and will occasionally get grumy and pretend to try and bite me but I just keep going and put my hand under his legs and lift up, as soon as my hand is under him he calms down and will stay calm while holding him. So just work with your cham and get them used to you. Usually chams just pretend to want to bite you as a defense mechanism, I have only been bitten once and that was because I was forcing my guys mouth open to give him medicine and he chomped down on my thumb, didnt hurt too bad so just get used to yours and it will work itself out