I've tried touching my chams torso and he has always been jumpy or opens his mouth. I'm assuming because he thinks my hand could be a predators mouth. I was wondering, can anyone pick up their chams by grabbing them? or can anyone pet their cham or anything like that?
I just made a post about this, took me several weeks of waiting for him to even warm up to me and i have a long way to go, never grab him out let him walk on ur hand.
Also HANDFEED HIM, offer a variety of bugs on ur hand, try different things, that will establish u as a food provider and not a predator, took mine 6 weeks to finally snack out of mine. But i pet/hold my cham everyday, i feel that it helps reinforce that you are not a threat.
CauseN nailed it. NEVER grab them. They HATE that. Put your hand in front of him and let him walk onto you. You can try to handfeed, cupfeed, and free range. Those three things help A LOT in helping your cham open up to you. It'll take time, so you need to be patient.
It only took me a couple times for me to be able to hand feed him waxworms. I only let him crawl on to my hand, I've never grabbed to pick him up. He knows I feed him everyday. I have only tried to pet him with one finger on the side, back, or tail and he gets real jumpy. I haven't tried much lately but I just figured it wasn't meant to be haha but I guess I should try it once or twice when I take him out to try to give him a light pet?
but mine is stubborn sometimes, they have little personalities, mine is somewhat indignant but he shows love occassionally.
* if you want to get him in your hand be patient, but sometimes i'll provide a helping nudge from behind with one hand so that i give some incentive to choose to step onto my hand, it's better than grabbing him.
Mine started to be jumpy right when my fingers would touch him in anyway, now after handling, i can pet under his chin, which he loves...he holds his head up for me to do it, and i stroke from his head down to his back, it's great
yes... as i said creatures of habit, if they experience something enuf they'll get used to it.... or die. lol. just kidding let him get used to his environment the first month u have him, but be persistent. he will learn, offer hand feeeding every day!!!!.
Thats what I have been doing. A worm or two about every day by hand. I'll start with some one finger pets and see how he reacts. Thanks for the advice to transform a cham in to a loving one!
Mine are like puppies, they enjoy having the underside of their tails stroked, from the base to the tip in one soft motion.
I caress them on all sides, even their heads I know...im a freak
one thing ive noticed is sometimes people want to touch my cham which is fine - but they tend to try to touch him where he isnt looking and he will jump.
every time i approach him i make sure he sees my hand and where im going. he still doesnt like it but he doesnt run to hide so...thats the progress for now.
Mines kinda viv defensive. if i put my hand in i get hissed at and bitten.
if i gently lean the plant shes on out of the viv she is absoluilty fine. loves being stroked under her chin and raises her head up when she wants.
I think she sees the viv as her territory. no visitors welcome!!
I'm so jealous SonTiger!! I'm trying to work on it. Hand feedings are a daily thing now. I'll make sure he is looking at my hand when I try to pet and be persistent with it and see how he reacts after a week
when you touch their backs, its an aggressive move..thats exactly where a predator would grab them. also, take in note the color you wear when you handle them, dark colors aggitate their aggression
I must have gotten lucky with my cham, he has never been too distressed by being handled. I've done what most everyone has recommended, hand fed and never grabbed him, but since the first week i got him when he was about a month old, i've been able to guide him onto my hand. Sounds like some folks have much less agreeable chams!