cham question

[BenMound]

Hi Im new here and I just have a question to ask all of you i bought a yemen chameleon at least a month ago and since ive had him he has been very friendly and happy, but over the past few days he has becom very unsociable towards me, he is either aggressive or scared, he opens his mouth and puffs himself up when i go near him and he will change into a dark brown/ green colour with black speckles and other times he makes himself flat and brown and doesnt move at all. Im just wandering if this is normal for chameleon behavior as this is my first one or he/she is just maturing into an adult or if its simply to with stress and i should leave him/her alone for a while or maby because of deeper problems. He/she just shed and i thought that could also possibly cause the problem. If any one has any comments im all ears and they would be much appreciated thank you.

 

[vetdebbie]

I'm still learning with chameleons, but if he's normal in all other ways, it's probably just him growing up.

 

[SoCaliSon]

Handling a Chameleon is very stressful for them... They are really not animals to be handled and played with often, They are better just to be obsereved. Stress caused by overhandling can lead to serious health issues.

It is normal for veileds to be defensive or "hissy" when go in their cage, and experienced people will tell you...noramlly they stay like this their whole lives. Some chams do warm up to you as they get to know your routine, but I would say you shuld really try to handle your chameleon only when absolutley necessary. I love to handle my Herps also... So when I have the urge to play with a lizard I take out my Beardies. My Chams are happier when I leave them alone.

Oh.. and his reaction is stress from fear of a "Giant" entering his domain to pluck him from his perch. Leave him alone and he will stop viewing you as a threat.

Hope that Helps... Welcome to the site!

 

[Cainschams]

Most of the people on here own pissy veileds. This is probably just it growing up and claiming its territory. I have read that some chams get pissy when shedding also. I am sure you are doing your homework since you came up on this site but you should check out this care sheet written from one of our own members. http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

 

[ken2414]

my chamelen charlie does the same thing, he used to be so nice and now he very mean , he claiming his territory though

 

[AFH]

Veiled's (Yemen's) are notoriously pissy. They're not bad when pretty young, then get "I hate you and everything" like all teenagers. Some end up mad adults, but some actually calm down somewhat after a year or two.

SoCaliSon is right, handling stresses them out. It's best to leave them alone more often than not.

 

[kinyonga]

How old is it?

Why don't you know if its a male or female? Veileds can be sexed at birth...males have tarsal spurs and females don't.

 

[Hutbug]

I too have read in many places that chams should not be handled, that the stress can literally take years off their lives. There are a lot of experienced cham owners here, but when I browse the picture galleries on this site, I see chams on couches, chairs, people's arms and hands, out in the yard on unknown trees (that could be poisonous to chams), etc. etc.

So...what's up with all that???

 

[SoCaliSon]

On this site we get a lot of people who are just getting into the hobby... And looking to learn about Chams and proper husbandry, which is a good thing... Becasue there is no better place to learn this stuff than from this site. When they are looking for an answer to the a question like you will find the answer that is best for your cham. I like another regular member on the sites view on this kind of stuff... And that is once you have gained an experienced understanding of these animals... there is an element of intuition that goes into keeping them(hope you don't mind kent, but I think idea applies here. I don't push my chams... I let them eat worms from hand, and let them have there own zone... and I am carefull to read the signs of when they don't want me around. I have said before... If you respect their space and do things right... A lot of times you will end up with a cham that doesn't mind coming out onto your hand on their own. With 8 month fem Veiled... I stuck to the same routine of sticking my hand in there with some supers every once in a while... Never picking her up from her area... So she learned that I was not a threat. Until one day when she just crawled out onto my arm herself and made herself comfy on my shoulder. I fed her some worms... and let her crawl back in on her own. If you do it right you can make sure you aren't stressing your animals.

But as a general rule... You should not Handle Your Chams as frequently as you would a Beardie or a Leo Gecko because they do stress out A LOT easier. Any real research you look into will tell you the same thing... These are animals for display... not to play with. Not trying to come down on the OP... Just trying to better answer the question. .