Psychobunny
Avid Member
Here is a very frequent question on this forum:
'I have had my cham now for a week, why does he/she still hide from me?"
Here are my thoughts, and it ties in with general cham taming.
First of all, many years of captive breeding does not make chams more trusting of humans, lets face it, they are pretty low on the food chain, and
you are a very large potential predator to them.
Wouldn't you run and hide from, say, 'Godzilla"??
So, depending on how your new chameleon was handled before you got him, it could take days, weeks, even months until he trusts you.
I have a 6 month old Nosy Be that is only now starting to not hide in fear when I enter the room.
I believe the reason he has taken so long to get used to me is because he went through quite a scary ordeal when I moved him into a larger cage.
That experience made him distrust me, and it set my taming him back weeks.
The first step in taming and bonding with your cham is to earn his trust.
Only then, can you move on to the next step, hand feeding.
If you cham tries to hide when you open his cage door, keep your hand away from him but let him see you.
Moving your hand to him will likely be considered an act of aggression, and if you persist, this may set you back to square one.
Even if you have a fat, yummy silkworm in your hand, don't assume your cham will just happily walk up to take it.
All he will see is your hand, getting dangerously close to him.
Your new little friend should be left alone in his cage with lots of vines and leaves to feel safe and secure.
And when I say alone, I do mean ALONE!!
For feeding, you can hang a cup feeder or you can let crickets loose in the cage so your cham can hunt them.
The day you open the cage door, and your cham doesn't budge from his basking perch, is the time you can move to the next step in taming him; hand feeding.
It will take some patience to get to that point, and there is no guarantee that your cham will ever climb on you or let you handle him.
That's the nature of these fantastic little animals
Note about free ranging:
This applies mostly to young veiled and panthers.
Do not allow your cham out of cage to free range at least until you have him/her comfortable with hand feeding.
The reason is, if they did not trust you when in their own territory inside their cage, they will likely panic and try to escape from you as fast as
possible when out of their cage.
Veileds and panther are notorious for the "suicide drop". This is a means of self defense, when they feel a threat, they will simply fall from where ever
they are and run like hell!!
When letting your cham out to free range for the first time, you can avoid a potential disaster by knowing he is not terrified of your hand
approaching him.
'I have had my cham now for a week, why does he/she still hide from me?"
Here are my thoughts, and it ties in with general cham taming.
First of all, many years of captive breeding does not make chams more trusting of humans, lets face it, they are pretty low on the food chain, and
you are a very large potential predator to them.
Wouldn't you run and hide from, say, 'Godzilla"??
So, depending on how your new chameleon was handled before you got him, it could take days, weeks, even months until he trusts you.
I have a 6 month old Nosy Be that is only now starting to not hide in fear when I enter the room.
I believe the reason he has taken so long to get used to me is because he went through quite a scary ordeal when I moved him into a larger cage.
That experience made him distrust me, and it set my taming him back weeks.
The first step in taming and bonding with your cham is to earn his trust.
Only then, can you move on to the next step, hand feeding.
If you cham tries to hide when you open his cage door, keep your hand away from him but let him see you.
Moving your hand to him will likely be considered an act of aggression, and if you persist, this may set you back to square one.
Even if you have a fat, yummy silkworm in your hand, don't assume your cham will just happily walk up to take it.
All he will see is your hand, getting dangerously close to him.
Your new little friend should be left alone in his cage with lots of vines and leaves to feel safe and secure.
And when I say alone, I do mean ALONE!!
For feeding, you can hang a cup feeder or you can let crickets loose in the cage so your cham can hunt them.
The day you open the cage door, and your cham doesn't budge from his basking perch, is the time you can move to the next step in taming him; hand feeding.
It will take some patience to get to that point, and there is no guarantee that your cham will ever climb on you or let you handle him.
That's the nature of these fantastic little animals
Note about free ranging:
This applies mostly to young veiled and panthers.
Do not allow your cham out of cage to free range at least until you have him/her comfortable with hand feeding.
The reason is, if they did not trust you when in their own territory inside their cage, they will likely panic and try to escape from you as fast as
possible when out of their cage.
Veileds and panther are notorious for the "suicide drop". This is a means of self defense, when they feel a threat, they will simply fall from where ever
they are and run like hell!!
When letting your cham out to free range for the first time, you can avoid a potential disaster by knowing he is not terrified of your hand
approaching him.
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