Best age to tame chameleon.

vladdimir26

vladdimir26

New Member
Hi! It's me again with some questions about chameleons :) I am planning on getting a veiled chameleon for christmas and I was wondering whats the best age for a chameleon to start liking handling or tolerating it better because I am planning him on letting him out of the cage and letting him free roam around the house (with my undivided attention of course) and handling him for good amounts of time. So I was wondering what's the best age to "tame" your chameleon. Baby? Juvenile? Or adult?:confused: Please reply please and thanks for taking the time and reading my forums :D
 
vladdimir26 said:
Hi! It's me again with some questions about chameleons :) I am planning on getting a veiled chameleon for christmas and I was wondering whats the best age for a chameleon to start liking handling or tolerating it better because I am planning him on letting him out of the cage and letting him free roam around the house (with my undivided attention of course) and handling him for good amounts of time. So I was wondering what's the best age to "tame" your chameleon. Baby? Juvenile? Or adult?:confused: Please reply please and thanks for taking the time and reading my forums :D
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Any age is fine, it depends on your cham's individual personallity, I'd start young, just don't keep stressing him too bad. I have a Senegal who loves being held by anyone so I don't need much patience but you might.
 
I've always started young, when I got them at 2-3 months old. The nicest male I have tolerates handling and is a pleasure to take to public events, but he never loves it. I let him roam the house and he enjoys that, but he doesn't love being on my hand, these animals tend to be shy and secretive. That being said you may be able to get yours to tolerate handling but I still wouldn't have him on me for hours and hours, you know?

Some will never get nicer though. I've had two that were just not nice, and did not ever tolerate me. So each animal is different with how they react to you.
 
Olimpia said:
I've always started young, when I got them at 2-3 months old. The nicest male I have tolerates handling and is a pleasure to take to public events, but he never loves it. I let him roam the house and he enjoys that, but he doesn't love being on my hand, these animals tend to be shy and secretive. That being said you may be able to get yours to tolerate handling but I still wouldn't have him on me for hours and hours, you know?

Some will never get nicer though. I've had two that were just not nice, and did not ever tolerate me. So each animal is different with how they react to you.
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Thank you Olympia....I allways tell people that I deal with is to treat chameleons like "fish" cool look at but don't "play" with....stress will kill your animal...if you want something to tame...get a dog!
 
KarmaChameleon1337 said:
Not all get stressed. That's the point of taming.
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I don't want you to think I'm bashing on you and its obvious that you love your Chameleon...but think about this....your sitting in your house and some monster thats 1000 times bigger than you comes and picks you up and takes you out to show its other monster friends...how would you feel???!!!!!!!
 
Well, unfortunately not all chams get used to handling ever. But some do w/ time. Hand feeding them seems to help this along with some chams. My jackson has accepted hand feeding since the first week I got him (he is 8 months old now) but still will NOT let me handle him. Another thing is veileds seem to have more of a "tempermant" than others
 
They are all different, but they are much less likely to want your undivided attention than most animals :). Veileds seem to be less friendly than the other types of Chams most commonly kept, but all the ones I've had were tolerant of occasional handling. I think as long as you don't pester them, and always move slowly around them they quickly get used to the idea of having you around. Mine very rarely approach me, but also rarely try to run and hide now. I've handled them from around 2 1/2 months old (the first time was just to get them home and photographed, so it doesn't count). It's important to leave them alone and let them settle in for around a week when they first arrive so they are more comfortable. I do like to hand feed them, but only take them out if they are going in the Sun, or I'm cleaning and rearranging things. Really I think as little handling as possible is best, but you might get lucky and find a Cham that wants to approach you..................
 
eriksorg said:
I don't want you to think I'm bashing on you and its obvious that you love your Chameleon...but think about this....your sitting in your house and some monster thats 1000 times bigger than you comes and picks you up and takes you out to show its other monster friends...how would you feel???!!!!!!!
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As I said, that is the point of taming, so they get used to you and trust you. If they're used to you and trust you then holding them is no problem at all. OP just make sure you wash your hands before you handle him.
 
The Luie and Camille babies were friendly from the moment they came out of the eggs. I would clean the bins daily and pick up each one and move it from a dirty bin to a clean one. They loved coming out and it only took a few days untill they were reaching for me to take them out every time they saw me.

Here's the Luie and Camille babies. Check out the video.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/couple-pics-short-video-babies-39891/

If you want a friendly chameleon I would start with one that comes from a very small time breeder or just a keeper that allowed their pets to breed. These kind of keepers have probably had more time to spend with the babies that a big time breeder with 100's of babies so the cham you buy will be use to being held some.
 
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My veiled will openly run to the front of the cage when I walk in the room or open the cage to clean or mist, but I'm not so Naive to believe he actually wants to come out and see me and be handled. He probably knows it means hes either going sunning outside or about to go in his tree.
 
It depends mostly on the personality. However, the best ways to get a chameleon to tolerate you are to:

hand feed
cup feed
Free range
use slow movements
interaction


It is never guaranteed that you'll have a chameleon who tolerates you.
 
i have a male panther who was always skittish but i got to the point where i could hand feed and pick him up. lately, he wont hand feed at all and its a "B" to even try and get him out. my female on the on the other hand will go out of her way to take a cricket from me as well as handle her. Just after my experiences with chams, i do feel if they have a sweet setup then just let them stay comfortable where they are. maybe a routine pet here and there, but no need to take them out unless you have to or want to bring them outside. they are so such more rewarding to look at than handle and freak out..its liek you spend all this hard work making them happy then you try to mess with them and your back at square one again..
 
jannb said:
The Luie and Camille babies were friendly from the moment they came out of the eggs. I would clean the bins daily and pick up each one and move it from a dirty bin to a clean one. They loved coming out and it only took a few days untill they were reaching for me to take them out every time they saw me.

Here's the Luie and Camille babies. Check out the video.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/couple-pics-short-video-babies-39891/

If you want a friendly chameleon I would start with one that comes from a very small time breeder or just a keeper that allowed their pets to breed. These kind of keepers have probably had more time to spend with the babies that a big time breeder with 100's of babies so the cham you buy will be use to being held some.
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Yep no stress there... those babies wanted to be on you!!!
 
Sorry to say that but you don't really tame a chameleon it's not a dog...
some of them are more quiet and don't hiss or bite as much as others do but that's just because they are born that way.

having said that if you buy a 2 months old chameleon you have more chances to get him used to your presence (not that he enjoys it) but you can't talk about chameleons "trusting" you there's no such thing in a chams brain!

Secondly, NEVER take youtube videos as examples of how to keep animals (especially reptiles) cause you can find anything on there and what you see it's very often the wrong thing to do when dealing with reptiles!!!

I agree with the guy who said that they are a bit like fish, cool to watch but that's it. that's not much interaction with a chameleon a part for the feeding and watering and the random photo every once in a while.

P.s in the video you linked the cham freezes as the person approach and that's a fear reaction, then when he realizes he has been spotted he just heads for the closes thing up he could find, which is something chams do even if the closest thing they find is your finger. they will climb on your finger up to ur arm and possibly reach the top of your head, not because they love you but because it's the highest point they could reach and they feel safe there.
 
italian chameleon said:
Sorry to say that but you don't really tame a chameleon it's not a dog...
some of them are more quiet and don't hiss or bite as much as others do but that's just because they are born that way.

having said that if you buy a 2 months old chameleon you have more chances to get him used to your presence (not that he enjoys it) but you can't talk about chameleons "trusting" you there's no such thing in a chams brain!

Secondly, NEVER take youtube videos as examples of how to keep animals (especially reptiles) cause you can find anything on there and what you see it's very often the wrong thing to do when dealing with reptiles!!!

I agree with the guy who said that they are a bit like fish, cool to watch but that's it. that's not much interaction with a chameleon a part for the feeding and watering and the random photo every once in a while.

P.s in the video you linked the cham freezes as the person approach and that's a fear reaction, then when he realizes he has been spotted he just heads for the closes thing up he could find, which is something chams do even if the closest thing they find is your finger. they will climb on your finger up to ur arm and possibly reach the top of your head, not because they love you but because it's the highest point they could reach and they feel safe there.
Click to expand...

Definition of tame: Reduced from a state of native wildness and shyness. Yes, you can tame a chameleon.
 
italian chameleon said:
Sorry to say that but you don't really tame a chameleon it's not a dog...
some of them are more quiet and don't hiss or bite as much as others do but that's just because they are born that way.

having said that if you buy a 2 months old chameleon you have more chances to get him used to your presence (not that he enjoys it) but you can't talk about chameleons "trusting" you there's no such thing in a chams brain!

Secondly, NEVER take youtube videos as examples of how to keep animals (especially reptiles) cause you can find anything on there and what you see it's very often the wrong thing to do when dealing with reptiles!!!

I agree with the guy who said that they are a bit like fish, cool to watch but that's it. that's not much interaction with a chameleon a part for the feeding and watering and the random photo every once in a while.

P.s in the video you linked the cham freezes as the person approach and that's a fear reaction, then when he realizes he has been spotted he just heads for the closes thing up he could find, which is something chams do even if the closest thing they find is your finger. they will climb on your finger up to ur arm and possibly reach the top of your head, not because they love you but because it's the highest point they could reach and they feel safe there.
Click to expand...

I only take youtube videos for real if they are video was taken by someone I know and can trust. The video of the babies were taken by Jannb personally... so IMO I will believe what I saw. I do not know the poster of the panther video though... so I can not comment on that.
 
I think a lot of the people against taming....have never had a tame chameleon.

Most of my chameleons are tame because I started handling at a young age. Right out of the egg.

They never developed a fear or me, my dog, or any other lizards they ever come around. During breeding season they are definitely more aggressive though, but then calm down again in the Fall.

I honestly believe taming a chameleon from a young age extends their life due to the reduction of stress.

Many people think day geckos can't be tamed, but my girlfriend can gently handle all of hers (grandis, lineatus, quadriocellata).

As long as you are diligent, gentle, and go at a slow and comfortable pace, your chameleon will be better off for it.

It's not about trust, or training them to do tricks. It's simply about reduced stress and reduced fear.
 
vladdimir26 said:
Thanks everyone for the tips. I just don't understand why some people are soooo strict about handling chameleons like it was the end of the world. Take for example this one

Just really makes me think how in the world did he tame it like that?:confused:
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There are some other vids on youtube too. Don't be fooled into thinking all chams are like that one. Taming depends on how calm and slow and careful you are, and if you have food with you and can do it at the same sort of time of day it helps for the routine :). Some chams will just be a bit badass whatever you do though, and if that's the case you just have to respect it and leave it in peace when it tells you too. It's not a question of being strict, sometimes Chams just won't let you handle them, and if that's the case it will stress them out to try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-XpFwpp4F4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BuWszVcmW8
Nearly all chams will go through a short 'phase' of being more territorial as they hit adulthood, so you have to be patient with them :)
I know you've seen some good caresheets already, but this is the best one I've found specifically for Veileds - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html
 
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