am i right not to handle them?

[suzanne]

every where i read about chams says you shouldn't handle as this causes much stress to them etc but everyones pics show chams out and about on people, walking round their rooms etc.. am i doing the right thing in not attempting to pick mine up ,our veiled hates us trying to pick him up now, our little female isn't keen either it scares her, and my two new panthers are still a bit scared of me so haven't even attempted it, should i, do you think i always thought chams were like pictures to be looked at only!

suzanne

 

[Marc10edora]

I only handle mine when I transport her for cleaning or taking her to the outside enclosure. As much as I want to hold her, I know it is best for her to be left alone.

 

[Vampire.queen]

It´s individual- my chameleon doesn´t feel stress or something like that when I handle him. He even wants to be taken to my hands! He usually comes closer to the entrance of his terraria and waits for me to come to take him. Then he climbs up on my head or shoulder and watches what´s happening around. Or I give him on a plant by the window. He loves it....

 

[Jewel]

Suzanne you are right, it is not good to handle them, and it does stress them out. I only take mine out when I am cleaning their cages or if they had to be taken to the vet. While mine are out when I clean the cage is when I will take the opportunity to snap off a few pictures. Basically they hate to be touched or even looked at and this can cause them a lot of stress which is not healthy for them at all and can shorten their lives.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Suzanne,

You may find that as your chameleons age, they change their attitude towards being handled. I usually only take mine out to move them to their outdoor enclosures on the weekend. As they have aged, I've watched them change from extremely fearful to aggressive to something closer to neutral and finally something looking like excited anticipation. They recognize me as the big stick that transports them outside and will tolerate me to that end. There's no guarantee that your critters will mellow-out but it is fairly common with veileds and even more so with panthers. I'd suggest following the course of not forcing the issue with your critters but just do what you need to do and see what personalities finally come out by 2 years old. It may feel like a long time to wait for an outcome but as humans say: "Time flies when you're having fun" and chameleons say: "Time's fun when you're having flies"

 

[Marley]

If anything my veiled loves to be handled, every time i open the cage for feeding she will go to my hand and stay there for as long as she likes.

 

[Brian S]

Chameleons DO NOT like to be handled. If they come to you, they have figured out that somethign that they need or want comes from being handled. I challenge those who claim their chameleons like being handled to do nothing but handle the cham when you take it out. Don't offer it a snack, Don't take it to its basking cage, don't give it a showers. JUST hold it. See how long it will come to you after it doesn't get anything out of it.

 

[Marley]

Chameleons DO NOT like to be handled. If they come to you, they have figured out that somethign that they need or want comes from being handled. I challenge those who claim their chameleons like being handled to do nothing but handle the cham when you take it out. Don't offer it a snack, Don't take it to its basking cage, don't give it a showers. JUST hold it. See how long it will come to you after it doesn't get anything out of it.

I dont give my cham anything, she sits on my shoulder while im on the computer, nothing benefits her. She sits happily.