Aggressive Male Panther

[odduc748]

So as the title says, I have a very aggressive male Panther.

First of all, anytime I open the cage door to clean or throw in some crickets roaches, worms, etc., he will get his body really thin and try to 'hide' in place. Then, if I get within a few inches of him with my hand, he will puff up, hiss and open his mouth. If I try to move closer, even in a very slow and predictable way, he will lunge at me and try to bite.

This morning, I went to hand feed him as he has been taking wax worms from my hand. But, I wanted to introduce him to superworms. I had one on a set of feeder tongs and slowly moved it toward him. As I was about 2 inches away, he suddenly attacked the worm and bit down so hard that I had the tail section of the worm left in the tongs as he angrily gobbled the top half. He actually bit the thing in half!!!

I will also try to coax him onto my hand by laying it flat in front of him. Again, he puffs up. But, he does not hiss and when I try to move closer and he just runs away.

I do know that chameleons, in general, do not like to be handled. But, it is necessary sometimes.

He has been this way since I received him as a baby. Now that he is getting bigger, I wonder if I'll ever be able to handle him without gloves. Those serrated teeth might draw blood.

Any suggestions?

 

[Starman]

To me this sounds as defensive behavior, opposed to aggressive. Especially since you said that he becomes really thin and tries to hide when you approach him.

He probably lunges at you because he sees this as a last resort to scare you off. There is little benefit in him attacking you for the sake of attacking.

By flinching or drawing back your hands you might reinforce the idea in his mind that all this defensive display works to scare you, which might lead him to keep doing it.

My panther used to puff and hiss when he was smaller (never bite) when he was younger. The way I overcame this was by trying to get him to associate me with food, by hand feeding and even keeping my hands in the cage when I cup fed him.

I also approached him very slowly from below and placed my finger under his chin and lifted to sort of force him to come on my hands.

Obviously there is no guarantee that this will work for your panther, since each animal is different. But I think it's important not to confuse defensive for aggressive behavior.

 

[Carlton]

To me this sounds as defensive behavior, opposed to aggressive. Especially since you said that he becomes really thin and tries to hide when you approach him.

He probably lunges at you because he sees this as a last resort to scare you off. There is little benefit in him attacking you for the sake of attacking.

By flinching or drawing back your hands you might reinforce the idea in his mind that all this defensive display works to scare you, which might lead him to keep doing it.

My panther used to puff and hiss when he was smaller (never bite) when he was younger. The way I overcame this was by trying to get him to associate me with food, by hand feeding and even keeping my hands in the cage when I cup fed him.

I also approached him very slowly from below and placed my finger under his chin and lifted to sort of force him to come on my hands.

Obviously there is no guarantee that this will work for your panther, since each animal is different. But I think it's important not to confuse defensive for aggressive behavior.

I agree with this. A truly aggressive cham would not try to hide or run away. He would have turned very brilliant colors, lunged toward you coiling and uncoiling his tail and biting. This little guy sounds very defensive.

To see the difference, try watching a video of two males fighting.

 

[Devokid]

Yeah, he is scared of you. In addition to the continuation of hand feeding him, there are a couple things that could cause this.

1) How is the foliage in the cage? Can he hide behind leaves to get out of site or is hiding behind sticks his only hiding spot?

2) Do you grab him to pull him out of the cage or do you let him crawl onto your hand? Grabbing always results in an upset chameleon, even from my super tame guys.

3) Is there a cat or a dog that it can routinely see?

 

[odduc748]

Yeah, he is scared of you. In addition to the continuation of hand feeding him, there are a couple things that could cause this.

1) How is the foliage in the cage? Can he hide behind leaves to get out of site or is hiding behind sticks his only hiding spot?

2) Do you grab him to pull him out of the cage or do you let him crawl onto your hand? Grabbing always results in an upset chameleon, even from my super tame guys.

3) Is there a cat or a dog that it can routinely see?

1) There is plenty of foliage and hiding spots in his cage. Sometimes I have to carefully look through just to find him.

2) I have never grabbed him from over the top of him. In fact, I've only ever held him twice in the 6 weeks I've had him. The only way I try to handle him is on his terms by being very gentle and predictable with my movements.

3) No dog or cat in my household.

Additionally, I have visual barriers on either side of his cage so that he doesn't ever see the female Panther or any of the geckos.

BTW, my female is very docile and sweet natured which is a stark contrast from the male.

Bottom line is that I leave him alone, for the most part, other than staring at his awesome coloration. But, I will need to remove him occasionally.

 

[spawn]

I had a large oustaleti male that never ever got used to me. He bit me, and didn't let go. It was nuts. It never became docile. But that was a WC. Some chams just do not warm up to people.

One thing other people have recommended is getting gardening/leather gloves if you must pick him up/move him. That way the claws also don't leave a mark.

 

[odduc748]

I'll need a good set of gloves anyway for handling my leachies when they are fully grown. My biggest leachie is already a bit grumpy when I need to move her and a full grown leachie can have a powerful bite. Of course, I'd prefer to avoid gloves. But, they may be necessary.

I'll continue to work with my grouchy male Panther and, maybe, he will calm down over time.

Thanks for all of the input.

 

[Carlton]

I'll need a good set of gloves anyway for handling my leachies when they are fully grown. My biggest leachie is already a bit grumpy when I need to move her and a full grown leachie can have a powerful bite. Of course, I'd prefer to avoid gloves. But, they may be necessary.

I'll continue to work with my grouchy male Panther and, maybe, he will calm down over time.

Thanks for all of the input.

How old is your panther now? Many go through a "terrible teens" phase but mellow out again after they reach maturity (and they realize they don't have to work that hard convincing the world they are the best).

 

[odduc748]

He is only about 4.5 months old. So, he should calm down with time. At least, I hope so...

 

[Starman]

That's still pretty young so he will not be very big yet. It's quite likely he will calm down a bit once he gets a little bigger and gets the idea that he can hold his own a bit better.