A chameleon who acts like dog and cat
- Thread starter dodolah
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DarkRapture
New Member
wow what a unique relationship! love bite, huh? sounds interesting, lol!
wezeman512
New Member
i have noticed with my veiled that he only hisses at other people and not me, and whenever someone else is in the room he hides in the plants but when its just me hes absolutely fine
Eric Adrignola
Avid Member
Most chameleons are that way to a degree. My male veiled tries to shoot his tongue at me every time I pass. So used to me feeding him, in fact, that he'll try to shoot his tongue at a female I introdue to him - before he switches from "feed" to "mate" mode. He thinks I'm offering him food.
He's mellowed out really well. For the first several years, he was a complete jerk.
My melleri, however, is one of "those" people talk about. The species is known for being personable - more so than other species. Not all are that way, of course. But some are. Ardi is my show chameleon. I use him in demonstrations and educational events, as he'll perform in front of crowds.
In a strange room, with over 100 people watchign and moving around, he'll rarely turn down a cricket. Last year, when I did a presentation for th eNC museum of Natural Sciences, Ardi even ate from a little girl's hand - with 20 or so kids surrounding him.
He does often exhibit a stress pattern when I first take him out, but he calms down after I've held him a minute or so. He recognizes me, and clearly "knows" I'm safe - so he has a more relaxed color.
The fact that reptiles can recognize individuals the way they do is facinating. Ardi doesn't really care for other family members, but he likes my daughter, because she's fed him.
I think he's approaching 3 years old now.
He's mellowed out really well. For the first several years, he was a complete jerk.
My melleri, however, is one of "those" people talk about. The species is known for being personable - more so than other species. Not all are that way, of course. But some are. Ardi is my show chameleon. I use him in demonstrations and educational events, as he'll perform in front of crowds.
In a strange room, with over 100 people watchign and moving around, he'll rarely turn down a cricket. Last year, when I did a presentation for th eNC museum of Natural Sciences, Ardi even ate from a little girl's hand - with 20 or so kids surrounding him.
He does often exhibit a stress pattern when I first take him out, but he calms down after I've held him a minute or so. He recognizes me, and clearly "knows" I'm safe - so he has a more relaxed color.
The fact that reptiles can recognize individuals the way they do is facinating. Ardi doesn't really care for other family members, but he likes my daughter, because she's fed him.
I think he's approaching 3 years old now.
Quite amazing information we learned here!
As far as the chameleon irrationalities are concerned, you mentioned the chameleon trying to squeeze himself in small gaps whereas he can shoot a cricket down from far away with extreme accuracy; or being stressed by the presence of crickets.
I suggest a theory that would need validation of course, but it could explain what happens
As their eyes are on a binoccular vision "mode" when trained at the same target for both the left and right eye, like in hunting "mode", they have full 3D vision and can perfectly assess distances and sizes. But a small gap between branches, when close enough to the animal, gets outside of the binoccular area of vision, and isn't percieved in 3D any longer - this is due to the fact that eyes are positioned laterally on the head and there is a dead angle between the focal distance and the chameleon where 3D sight is compromised.
A cricket passing by on one side of the animal is also hard to evaluate in distance terms; and some insects do bite or sting: it could trigger a defensive reaction when the animal has trouble assessing the size and distance of anything alive next to him.
Horses work a bit the same way with their almost lateral eyes: their 3D vision is quite impressive, I've seen them assess distances to a small branch and avoid it with one leg when getting there; but the dead angle causes them to scare off when getting close to, say, obstacles, where they suddenly cannot see the obstacle as well when it gets close, and they suddenly stop, throwing the rider in the bushes This restricted 3D-vision area is the reason why problematic or very fast horses are often ridden with the head tied low down to avoid their assessing greater distances and running with more confidence.
Maybe this could help elaborate the ideas and find a more zoological explanation to their sometimes odd behavior.
As far as the chameleon irrationalities are concerned, you mentioned the chameleon trying to squeeze himself in small gaps whereas he can shoot a cricket down from far away with extreme accuracy; or being stressed by the presence of crickets.
I suggest a theory that would need validation of course, but it could explain what happens
As their eyes are on a binoccular vision "mode" when trained at the same target for both the left and right eye, like in hunting "mode", they have full 3D vision and can perfectly assess distances and sizes. But a small gap between branches, when close enough to the animal, gets outside of the binoccular area of vision, and isn't percieved in 3D any longer - this is due to the fact that eyes are positioned laterally on the head and there is a dead angle between the focal distance and the chameleon where 3D sight is compromised. A cricket passing by on one side of the animal is also hard to evaluate in distance terms; and some insects do bite or sting: it could trigger a defensive reaction when the animal has trouble assessing the size and distance of anything alive next to him.
Horses work a bit the same way with their almost lateral eyes: their 3D vision is quite impressive, I've seen them assess distances to a small branch and avoid it with one leg when getting there; but the dead angle causes them to scare off when getting close to, say, obstacles, where they suddenly cannot see the obstacle as well when it gets close, and they suddenly stop, throwing the rider in the bushes
This restricted 3D-vision area is the reason why problematic or very fast horses are often ridden with the head tied low down to avoid their assessing greater distances and running with more confidence. Maybe this could help elaborate the ideas and find a more zoological explanation to their sometimes odd behavior.
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