Chameleon grabbing my face.

[SilverWolf]

Almost every time I feed my chameleon, I lure him on my hand with a cricket. Then after he eats while on my hand I show him the cricket container to see if he'll go for any that way. he has before, and after that I either take him out for some sun, or just put him right back and put the rest of his crickets in the enclosure so he can go hunting himself. Now I was holding him today, he was just being his normal mellow self, not eating again while on my hand though, so that's fine. I decided I'd try to take him out for some sun. Whenever I start walking, is when he tries to each up and grab something, regardless of whether or not anything's there (this is why sometimes I just have him on a stick, but he still does the same thing). ANd that happened again, so I tried holding him by my chest, so he could grab my shirt but he was facing away from my, so he wouldn't turn around lol. It was so cute but still, I had to be very careful because the poor little guy would just fall and lose his grin with just his hind legs, reaching for the sky or whatever he's trying to grab. When I put him by my face, he tried to grab it. I decided this was just too difficult so I'd just put off sunshine for another day. Besieds, it's 95 degrees fahrenheit, so that's probably too hot for him anyway. But that's not the only time this happened.

Another time, I was holding him in my room, right before feeding. Same scenario. And this time all on his own he just tried to grab my chest. He did though and tried climbing me, as high as he could. He tried grabbing my chin, which actually sort of tickled, but couldn't get a good grip (thankfully, I don't want his claws piercing my face XD) so instead he just climbed around my neck to my shoulder, and then across my arm. That's when I put him back.

Just something I wanted to share, and ask. Has anyone else had their chameleons go for their face? He has climbed my hair to the top of my head before. They just love climbing XD.

 

[unknown91]

the better question is : is there any chameleon that hasn't climbed on the head all the way to the hair ?
they all do that, and i heard it's a sign of trust. if you let them climb you, that means they trust you and you trust them.
i don't know, it can be a legend

 

[dacrazycanadian]

My guy once climbed up my face and grabbed my center nostrils and eyelid...first time I had a problem with his sharp nails. I teared up a little lol.

 

[SilverWolf]

My guy once climbed up my face and grabbed my center nostrils and eyelid...first time I had a problem with his sharp nails. I teared up a little lol.

Woah, sorry to hear that. I'll definitely take some precautions. Hopefully the only tears I may shed will be that of joy! lol

 

[RonWhitmill]

I think they generally like to be as high up as possible. They are accustom to being in the tree tops and are not usually very comfortable with other animals looking down at them. I think it gives them a sense of security when they are up higher.

 

[shmeenakoz]

My cham tries to climb up my face every chance he gets. It HURTS so I always have to redirect and give him the chance to use my hair instead. He grabbed my eyelid and lip once and that was enough!!

 

[waynek]

my quad, Steve , lives in the bay window in my living room . I also have 2 birds and he likes to socialize with them . he also likes to climb on the laptop.

 

[scerbz]

all of mine will try to climb up my face. my panthers are semi gentle, my veileds however pinch like a sun of a gun. but i feel like when they do it they are putting a claim on my head like "oh see here, i can see it all, this is my human perch, righto"

 

[SilverWolf]

my quad, Steve , lives in the bay window in my living room . I also have 2 birds and he likes to socialize with them . he also likes to climb on the laptop.

Mine climbs on my laptop too. Anytime he sees it he immediately goes for it. How strange.

 

[shmeenakoz]

oh yeah my guy loves his starbucks mug too

 

[Psychobunny]

LOL! they are amazing and curious creatures.

The other day I was in the cham room (once a living room ) working on putting together Slinky's new cage.
One of my veiled chams was out and about on the free range, which is a series of linked parrot ladders with fake vines suspended from the ceiling.
Anyway, normally he likes to hide from me, for fear I will see him and take him back home.
But I wasn't paying any attention to him, just busy on the cage.
He was so curious to see what I was doing, he climbed down, perched himself only inches from the cage I was working on, and just watched me.

The same cham will get curious with me sitting at my pc, and come along and park himself on the desk, a few inches from the keyboard, and watch intently my fingers move as I type.

Chams are so unlike any other reptile, in fact, I sort of cringe to hear them even called reptiles

So many reasons why I have fallen in love with these little creatures

 

[JosieJobo]

Earing lol

My panther used to hang from my ear as a baby but now he's too hevey but happily sits on my shoulders or head for ages, always wants to see what im doing when feeding his food and sunbathing with my cat she used to be frightened of him but now shes not bothered, hes never really mined the cat after she rubed her face all over him the first time they met, he know she wont hurt him and isn't worried now lol

 

[laurie]

When I bring one of my quads in from outside, they go hand to hand. They are on the left hand and the right quickly goes in front, then the left, and that goes on all the way back to the cage. All of them do it.

 

[croastbeast]

OK, I'll be the stick in the mud. Doesn't anyone feel they're putting their chameleons in unnecessary risk by letting them climb precariously on their head and hair, or around other pets?

Its my belief that chameleons dont have good depth perception, especially up close. Watch chameleons fumble for the branching right in front of them is rather a testament to this. So navigation unstable footing seems an especially complicated and risky maneuver. I wont potentially put my pet in harms way by the novelty of having them on my head. Theres no benefit to it, except my own personal satisfaction. And other pets, thats just risky, IMO. We have no idea whats instinctively going through any of these animals minds. Whether is be your dog, cat, bird snake, fish, whatever. You wont know until it happens.

Im not pointing any fingers or accusing anybody of anything, just feel that way myself. I feel we have the obligation to care for all our pets the safest way possible, and not subject them to unnecessary risk fr our emotional enjoyment.

FYI- I constantly have this debate with fellow snake keepers, who seemingly love to take pictures with their snakes on their face. I just dont get it.