Chameleon Bites

[jampen]

Do chameleon bites hurt?

Do they bite and release or hang-on for awhile.

Mine is very docile and so far hasn't even hissed, but I see various post about bites and the authors sound like they are afraid to be bitten.

Obviously the larger the lizard the greater the bite force, but can a 12" lizard really hurt you, like say make you bleed?

Any pics of bite marks?

Thx JP

 

[jannb]

When one of my daughter's panthers bit me it scared me more than it hurt. Here's a link to the post and pictures. https://www.chameleonforums.com/i-got-bit-panther-29734/

 

[jojackson]

You'd be surprised how small a lizard can draw blood, but 'Hurt' is subjective.

 

[SS4Luck]

Im sure a 12" would hurt bad. My old Green Iguana bit me when she was about 10" nose to base of tail and it cut me open instantly.

 

[boneseast]

I've been bitten a few times and I don't think it hurts. Only once has he drawn blood and that's because he got almost my whole knuckle in his mouth and when I'd pulled away his little teeth just ripped up a little. Kinda like a papercut.

 

[ChameleonAyer]

I've been bit by our wild caught panthers a few times. It has always been comparable to a pinch. There are some incidents of people getting bit badly and needing stitches. Thankfully, I have never experienced a bit that bad. I suppose it all depends on the chameleon.

Here a link to one bad incident.

 

[justjumpit621]

Im sure a 12" would hurt bad. My old Green Iguana bit me when she was about 10" nose to base of tail and it cut me open instantly.

Iguanas have sharper teeth than chameleons, at least veileds thats I can tell. Molly bit me before, it didn't hurt too bad but she did have a pretty strong bite force.

 

[Pure]

As what was mentioned in that thread. You do not want to pull your hand away. Doing so usually results in a nasty gash. Their teeth, and most other reptile's teeth are razor sharp, and will slice you open if you jerk your hand away.

I used to have a nasty Tokay Gecko that loved to bite. I used to demonstrate to friends this bit by letting him lock down on the meaty part of my hand. It didn't hurt, but would leave tiny puncture marks in a perfect shape of his mouth. I would have to wait for his grip to relax some and then yank my hand out fast. If he felt your hand about to move he would lock back down. My brother tried this and messed up on the removal. He hesitated then yanked. Well he ended up with stitches.