Anyone experience an extremely scared Chameleon?

[LuisMerc]

I’ve had my female Panther Chameleon for about 2 and a half months now. She’s EXTREMELY scared of everything. Shes super healthy tho. Shes a great eater, sheds fairly quickly and stays hydrated. I used to handle her at least once a week to take her outside to get sun, Until she literally jumped out of my hand and luckily landed on the soft rug. She gets so scared she just stares into my eyes and doesn’t even pay attention to where shes walking. She doesn’t try to bite, open her mouth or anything when i did handle her, shes super nice. Since then i leave her completely alone. When i feed her she will grab the crickets , but she will not eat it until nobody is looking (she actually looks halarious when she does it). Has anybody experienced this before? Im sure it may be perfectly normal but im not sure. Shes 8mo old, is it something maybe she will grow out of?
thanks in advance.

 

[DeShawni Green]

Are these pics recent? Just asking cause this does not look like an 8mo old panther...

 

[LuisMerc]

Are these pics recent? Just asking cause this does not look like an 8mo old panther...

Exactly what i thought as well. Because when we got her from the breeder, eggs hatched end of September ‘19. But i have a male panther whose batch hatched in October ‘19 and hes twice her size.

 

[Grayson Payne]

Exactly what i thought as well. Because when we got her from the breeder, eggs hatched end of September ‘19. But i have a male panther whose batch hatched in October ‘19 and hes twice her size.

I agree. She looks pretty small to be 8 months...

 

[DeShawni Green]

Its good she is eating, and hopefully drinking plenty too... but she does seem very small. Glad to hear you have another healthy male, so you probably have the correct equipment: Good UVB source, adequate heat/basking zone, some calcium without D3 dusted on food daily, along with some dusted vitamins once a week or so.

Just make sure she is well fed and hydrated.

I will also note that the cricket she is eating looks a bit big, you might want to switch to a slightly smaller cricket until she grows a bit...and just feed her more smaller ones.

 

[MissSkittles]

Aww...pretty girl! Some chams are secretive about eating. Mine have no problem with that, but are secret drinkers. I would say just go slow with her and work on building up trust, letting her see that you won’t harm her.

 

[Grayson Payne]

Aww...pretty girl! Some chams are secretive about eating. Mine have no problem with that, but are secret drinkers. I would say just go slow with her and work on building up trust, letting her see that you won’t harm her.

My chameleon has mood swings. He drinks while I’m standing there one day and won’t the next day ?

 

[LuisMerc]

Its good she is eating, and hopefully drinking plenty too... but she does seem very small. Glad to hear you have another healthy male, so you probably have the correct equipment: Good UVB source, adequate heat/basking zone, some calcium without D3 dusted on food daily, along with some dusted vitamins once a week or so.

Just make sure she is well fed and hydrated.

I will also note that the cricket she is eating looks a bit big, you might want to switch to a slightly smaller cricket until she grows a bit...and just feed her more smaller ones.

Yes i calcium dust her without D3 almost every feed, with D3 twice a month and Multivitamins twice a month. She’s small but seems healthy. I just don’t understand why she’s soo scared. My male panther and Jacksons aren’t like that at all. Just curious if anybody has experienced this lol i appreciate the feedback, ima find smaller crickets in the bin forsure

 

[LuisMerc]

Aww...pretty girl! Some chams are secretive about eating. Mine have no problem with that, but are secret drinkers. I would say just go slow with her and work on building up trust, letting her see that you won’t harm her.

Yes thank you. Definitely still working with her. Sometimes i can get her to feed right off the tongs but she will not chew if you look at her? cricket will stay squirming in her mouth lol im just worried about how scared she gets when i get close by or try to handle her to take her outside.

 

[MissSkittles]

Yes thank you. Definitely still working with her. Sometimes i can get her to feed right off the tongs but she will not chew if you look at her? cricket will stay squirming in her mouth lol im just worried about how scared she gets when i get close by or try to handle her to take her outside.

To gain the trust of my chams, I put a silkworm on the back of my hand and slowly offer it to them. Make sure your arm is supported the first few times as it may take a while. Patience and perseverance.

 

[LuisMerc]

To gain the trust of my chams, I put a silkworm on the back of my hand and slowly offer it to them. Make sure your arm is supported the first few times as it may take a while. Patience and perseverance.

I tried this just yesterday but she will not take her eyes off my face. LOL i will try to capture it on video. She thinks im going to eat her or something

 

[AmandaS]

I tried this just yesterday but she will not take her eyes off my face. LOL i will try to capture it on video. She thinks im going to eat her or something

Do not make eye contact when doing this. Look at the feeder or turn your head away.

 

[LuisMerc]

I will give it a shot. Thank you