Chameleon On A Leash!!!!!!!!

[reyesjoshuacruz]

Question?:
Is it cruel to have your chameleon wear a leash?
(i attached a pic, of the leash i'm refering to)

I personally never saw anything wrong with the idea, but my wife thinks it is very cruel.

I put a leash on one of my chameleons when I let him free range on guva tree right outside my apt window on a perfect day to safely bask and enjoy the breeze, higher then he gets to perch otherwise. I attach the leash to him and the tree to make sure he doesnt run off, I check on the slack and adjust when needed to make sure hes not tangled or hurt.
So we have three Veileds (2 fem, 1 male) varying in age aprox 18months to 3yrs, one of which doesnt seem to mind the leash at all. I atempted to SLOWLY put the leash on both fems but stop as soon as I felt I was stressing them out I stopped and never tried again. The 3y male "leaf" however allows me to put him in the leash showing no signs of stress or agressive while I tried to put the leash on. I think its fine, its not like im tieing a string to his leg or neck, he appears oblivious to it in fact but my wife strongly beleives it to be extremely cruel. What do you all think? Keeping in mind its rarely that he sees the leash.

 

[apple]

i used to put that on my iguana and would walk with him my neighbors would laugh and say nice dogg

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

Are you kidding?? A chameleon isn't meant to be walked like a dog. Grow up already.

 

[apple]

they climb so i think that leash is a no no

 

[CammieNLeno]

This is the most obserd question I have ever heard. I cant see any good coming out of putting you cham on a leash whatsoever.

Why dont you instead address your issue of potentially loosing your cham during fieldtrips outside of its cage by monitoring it a bit more closely, or some type of netting system around the outside of the tree/plant?

I agree with your wife. I dont think the issue is so much if its "cruel" id say its an issue of extreme stress to the poor little guy. Its stressfull enough to then with just light handeling!

 

[ChameleonsTree]

Make an outdoor cage. I wouldnt stress them out by tying them up.

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

apple you're funny, thanks for your opinion, as far as i know
if they can help it chams will climb to the highest point,
well i attached the leash to allow for more then enough slack for
him to reach the highest point if he wanted. i look up to the tree
from no more then 4ft away atleast every 10 min to make sure its not tight


Chameleontario, so rude, "
Are you kidding?? A chameleon isn't meant to be walked like a dog.
Grow up already."

i wrote "I put a leash on one of my chameleons when I let him
free range on guva tree right outside my apt window on a perfect day "
to make it obvious that i dont walk him like a dog..... im not using it as a novelty but
if i can use to it give me piece of mind that there is no way he can run off
while basking outside( which i beleive many people allow their chams
to do) then i will as long as he is not showing any signs of stress, which
HE DOES NOT!

CammieNLeno "I cant see any good coming out of putting you cham on a leash whatsoever. "
if hes on a leash showing no signs of stress the good things that come
out of it are him getting to free range with out the risk of getting loose,
yes it would be ideal to have screen surrounding the tree, instead of a leash
but im not there yet.

WHen i put him in the tree before the leash he always ended up in the same spot and
stayed there, with the leash attached he still goes to that spot and
still stays there, there is plenty of slack and the leash weighs nothing
i do monitor him very closely, hes prized and i still check every ten
mins or so just as i did before the leash......?

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

im feeling that my wife was right, i didnt see any signs of stress but ive read they comunicate with subtle vibrations, if they are that keen then a leash every once and a while is prob not worth the risk of even a low level stress. in all honesty when hes perched up there his colors change from drab with lots of brown, to a pleasant blue green. He feels good enough up there to take a few crickets from my hand and drink, so i thought it was ok, i wont ever do it again. looks like my wife won this one.

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

About my reply, if you don't like it, that's just too bad. That is my opinion and I'm sure many others here are thinking the exact same thing! It's animal cruelty!

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

if i was walking him like a dog then your opinion would matter.... it was a mistake, i get it. would you respond to someone that wasnt dusting, or using a water bowl for hydration, or not gutloading? i didnt want him getting loose so i tried it. give me a break, i was asking for advice just like anyone else on here that was making a mistake. you think anyone that owns a cham would go through all the trouble of caring for one and then do something to purposely stress it out? give me a break

 

[pohchunyee]

it is better to develope a hat/cap tingy with a stick in the middle.... for chameleon when we take them out on a walk!

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

if i was walking him like a dog then your opinion would matter.... it was a mistake, i get it. would you respond to someone that wasnt dusting, or using a water bowl for hydration, or not gutloading? i didnt want him getting loose so i tried it. give me a break, i was asking for advice just like anyone else on here that was making a mistake. you think anyone that owns a cham would go through all the trouble of caring for one and then do something to purposely stress it out? give me a break

If you were walking it, I'm sure you wouldn't make it very far as I know how cautious they are.
The fact of the matter is you had it on a leash, stressing it out. Enough said. I'm glad you admit you were wrong in doing this and will put an end to it all.

 

[lbesok]

lol Poh, do you have a hat as described? I think my cham's would love it, on top of my head is their favorite spot!

 

[reyesjoshuacruz]

leaf by the way is by far the strangest chameleon i have ever encountered. i've had him less then one year, bought him off a guy living on a boat with his brother,i dont know the verbage but his parents and grandparents were captive bred , apparently pick of the liter.i drove 7hrs to get him and hes MASSIVE. His colors are very strange, my profile pic is of him. whats the deal with his colors?

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

Cool down everyone, reyesjoshuacruz just "asked" a question
Personally I don't think that a veiled cham will "understand" the concept of a leash
They'll spend their time trying to get out of it or get hurt when they hold
onto a branch for dear life if you try to pull them down.
I've thought about something like that years ago and decided it wasn't the best move.

Having one leashed with a ball of yarn attached will make it easier to locate a "lost" animal high in a tree
but getting them down will still require methods other than pulling and tugging.

and btw, your animal looks fine (considering the pict)
the veilds are being developed to express different color schemes.
but he looks rather dark ... not too happy.

 

[DkRhodes]

leash or not ,it's still subject to predators

 

[ChameleonsTree]

it is better to develope a hat/cap tingy with a stick in the middle.... for chameleon when we take them out on a walk!

I think you should have to wear the same hat so your chameleon wont be alone when he dies of embarrassment.

 

[Mintglow]

I had the most hilarious image in my mind of someone trying to walk a chameleon like a dog... with the chameleon doing his little "back and forth" leaf dance every step of the way on the sidewalk.

No, I would definitely say it's not good. Chameleons don't like to be touched, especially on their backs, and I would imagine that a leash would be very uncomfortable to them. Some lizards are just better suited to that sort of thing, whether it be in a tree or on the sidewalk.

And the rest of you, come on. He obviously cares, or he wouldn't have asked, and now he knows not to do it again.

 

[Dankmeleon]

i don't think this is such an absurd idea, I think its better than not letting him go in the tree at all and much like chameleons get use to being handled, he'll probably get use to it...the only concern i'd have is of him getting tangled and stuck in direct sunlight but since your checking very often thats not the biggest concern....you have to accept that there are a lot of jerks on this website, for someone to bark GROW UP YOU DON"T WALK a chameleon like a dog...that is just a jerky thing to say, chameleons are owned by a lot of people that are like that, but most of us just like to watch things thrive...i for one don't see any problem with the idea except there is a better idea, which is to build a very large frame out of one by 2's (extremely easy just make sure to get plans and make exact measurements because its easy to get mixed up once you start) and then stapling pool screen around it and placing a 30 dollar ficus tree inside it, problem solved


but i will admit the thought of a leashed chameleon is kind of rediculous, i'm just not going to jump all over you and be an ass, like people on this forum love to do

 

[Dankmeleon]

leash or not ,it's still subject to predators

I certainly agree, its subject to snakes, predatory birds, not to mention falling and saddaming himself