A Social Chameleon?!

[Mew]

Some of you may be familiar with my rampant threads trying to gain information about my new jackson, Merlin. He's doing fine except he appears to have injured himselfhttps://www.chameleonforums.com/jackson-developed-brown-lump-over-one-his-spikes-118313/. Merlin has been with me a week now, and one odd thing has been that he has been climbing down to the bottom of the enclosure and clawing at the walls. I opened the door and he hastily climbed up my arm and onto my shoulder, where he hung out for around 10 minutes. I then put him back in his home with some crickets, which he devoured happily, then after around 10 minutes resumed attempting his escape. humidity is at 73 (I JUST misted), he has a 5.0 uvb and his basking spot is at 82.7. Is he just exploring and this is just one of his new home phases, or should I be worried?

 

[deadhd5]

What is your cage size? Can you post pictures? A lot of the time they are bored with a limited or too small enclosure.

It may be that you just have an adventurous chameleon. Some seem to be shy and prefer to be in the same spot all the time and others seem to have a need to explore all the time ( I have both).

 

[Mew]

I have a 12x12x18 at the moment, and am upgrading to a 24x24x36 probably next weekend. I took him out yet again and now he seems to just want to sit by the door and survey things. I work at the store I purchased him from, and I took him out of his little cup they airmailed him in. He wouldn't leave my hand to get into his pet store display, and I fell in love with him. When he was home the first time he kept crawling out of his kirtter keeper to explore while we set up his home, so he definitely has an adventurous past. What worries me is the sudden need to explore.

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I know it's rather small, as I said I'll be upgrading him soon hopefully.

 

[Mew]

I've come to the conclusion that Merlin is a spoiled brat >.> I left the room for 10 minutes as an experiment, as I noticed he was looking directly at me whenever he was walking at the glass, and he was up on his vine relaxing, and then began to walk down and paw at the glass. Don't get me wrong, I love that he's social I had a veiled for 3 months (had to give him to a good home because I moved from Washington state to Arizona and didn't want to put him through that) that would hiss at me any time i put my hand in her enclosure.

 

[Carlton]

I'm pretty sure he's wanting more and a different type of setup. Your current one is fairly restricted. When he has more space to meet his needs at particular times and also has more visual escape cover he may settle down more. Upgrade him as soon as you can. When you move him he'll explore and be restless for a while just because of the change, but more space is a good thing for him overall.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

He may be trying to find better places to feel safe. If he goes on the vines in his cage now he is surrounded by nothing but glass and air. As prey animals chameleons need to feel safe and not vulnerable to a predator easily spotting them or swooping in to eat them. Right now anywhere but the bottom is very exposed. If you can add a plant to the middle, or even on the outside of the cage sides to make him feel like he's not so exposed he will feel much more comfortable. As you know, that size cage is too small for him now.

 

[Carlton]

I've come to the conclusion that Merlin is a spoiled brat >.> I left the room for 10 minutes as an experiment, as I noticed he was looking directly at me whenever he was walking at the glass, and he was up on his vine relaxing, and then began to walk down and paw at the glass. Don't get me wrong, I love that he's social I had a veiled for 3 months (had to give him to a good home because I moved from Washington state to Arizona and didn't want to put him through that) that would hiss at me any time i put my hand in her enclosure.

Well, I wouldn't interpret it as spoiled...after all, a cham wants what it wants when it wants it. They don't know anything different and simply don't care what grief it causes for YOU!

Hissing when an "intruder" sticks a hand in their space is totally within the range of normal veiled behavior. Some individuals are more turfy than others. Now if a veiled lunged at me ready to clamp down on my hand that would be on the more extreme end of the spectrum!

 

[julies liam]

this is my encloser and he as happy as can be xx

i have a 7 nearly 8 month panther and he is very happy in his encloser temps alright ect, but he asks to come out at least twice a day i get him out and he just climbs around on my net curtains, or he just wants the front undone. i think you just have a happy chameleon that wants to be with its owner like i have...nothing wrong with that

 

[Mike Fisher]

He may be trying to find better places to feel safe.

My thoughts exactly. Especially foliage to hide behind while basking. He may want to warm up but doesn't feel safe to do so.

 

[fuzzhc]

My female panther is the same. Always clawing at the glass to get out so I conducted a little experiment. I left the room for a while, came back and peeked into her enclosure without her seeing me and she was just sitting there, as soon as I let her see me she started clawing at the doors again. It was as if she knows that im the one to let her out lol. Anyways I now let her free range for a few hours a day when im back from work and the clawing stops afterwards funny thing is when free ranging she has the choice of an open cage or a tall tree with basking light but alot of the time will make her way up to the window n just chill looking outside or climb up to my head lol

 

[Lathis]

My Jax is very adventurous. His cage is huge - 2x3x6 and he still loves free range time. I think Jax need a lot of space, maybe more than we realize given that they are a smaller cham species. Getting a bigger setup will make him happier, but will probably still want to explore. Cham proof the room, provide random vines and sticks for him to climb and let him roam for as much as you can. Supervision is required as he will get into all sorts of trouble, but he will be happier and friendlier with regular free range time

 

[junglefries]

glass

My first attempts with jax were all done in the exo-terra terrariums. good for humidity, what could go wrong? Well, everything. they hated the reflection, so i painted even the sides. Reflection is still somewhat there. no to mention, fungus grew on the wood, where i couldn't see it. Even with frequent cleaning. They just don't do well in those enclosures. Please understand, i am not judging or lecturing. I tried the same thing myself. I figured that 26yrs of being around reptiles trumphed never actually having one. I even kept them at the wholesaler i worked for in the past. You simply just need a screened cage. Even then, he will probably visit the bottom at first, eventually finding a spot at the top. Now all my males NEVER come down more than 3 ft from the cage top. They never step off the plants or branches, unless i pick them up. They will thank you for it, & you will know when you see their color transformation. Just an opinion. good luck.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

What is your ambient temp in the cage?

 

[DanSB]

Another thing to consider with glass along with the possibility of reflections causing stress as mentioned above is the possibility that the barrier is not recognized and is confusing / stressful to your chams. They are most likely scratching at the glass because they don't understand why they can't just go through it. In a large well furnished glass enclosure this isn't a big issue but in a small crummy one it may cause lots of stress.

 

[fuzzhc]

Another thing to consider with glass along with the possibility of reflections causing stress as mentioned above is the possibility that the barrier is not recognized and is confusing / stressful to your chams. They are most likely scratching at the glass because they don't understand why they can't just go through it. In a large well furnished glass enclosure this isn't a big issue but in a small crummy one it may cause lots of stress.

My thoughts exactly, I have a vield in a flex which has never tried to get out.

 

[Daddio53]

My chameleon also scratches at the side of her enclosure,especially when she sees the hanging vines from a Pothos Plant next to her enclosure, or a piece of parachute cord which I have tied from plant hanger to plant hanger, etc. She just wants out to explore and find the perfect hiding place up in the plants. She is happy for hours as long as she can climb around to find, "the spot". You may notice a color change as your chameleon exits the enclosure, usually a lightening of color. Mine is a Dwarf Fischer's, and that color change is almost a white color from her belly and then she gets lighter green on top. I think the color change is a response of joy. Then as she hits the green of the plant however, she changes to a green with some patterns to mimic the leaves of the plant. When I look for her to take her temperature, she is usually right in front of my eyes, but I will look around for a bit before I realize it. She is so well camouflaged that if she doesn't move, I can hardly find her. If I spin the plant around she gets nervous that I am going to grab her to put her back in her enclosure, and she'll try to climb up the planter so I can't reach her. By the way, I use a point and shoot instant thermometer to make sure she isn't getting too cool on her trip out into free range mode. Since I tied all of the parachute cords (doubled so she has better balance control) within inches of the ceiling, and since heat rises, she is always plenty warm, about a 77.7 degree average. I always get her back into her enclosure with enough time for her to bask at least for an hour before her lights go out for the night. She used to not come to my hands to get her out of the enclosure, and I had to use a bamboo rod to get her from one place to another. Now she has no problems with me handling her, because she knows it'll get her a couple hours of free range exploration. When it's time to go back into the enclosure though, I still have to use the bamboo rod to pick her up and get her over to the branches in her "house".
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