Complete Newbie Question Number One

[feranaja]

Ok - first of all it is great to have found this forum and be able to pick the brains of so many experts. I am a canine nutritionist and have extensive experience with dogs, and some with horses and cats as well, but reptiles I am really in need of help. I have two ball pythons, one very old bearded dragon who has been a great pet and easy keeper, and yesterday I purchased my first chameleon, a baby veiled, and now I am unsure about a few things. This forum is very helpful already but one thing I am getting conflicting advice about is handling.

So this little guy is hissing at me and seems frightened, but my instincts have been to let him climb up my arm (which he happily does) and let him get used to me. I'm reading that this species is not really ever happy to be handled and is often aggressive, even with diligent and non frightening handling. The store people are saying to handle him daily and let him get used to me, but some websites are insisting this may actually make him ill. I'd like to start out here by asking, what's the real deal with handling? Should I aim for some every day so he's calm around me? Leave him alone? When he's fullgrown, will he be safe to take out? I'm very committed to giving this (adorable) little monkey a good life either way, but I just want to know what's best.
Thanks in advance, I really appreciate it.
fera

 

[pssh]

My advice is don't handle more than once a week unless he voluntarily climbs onto your hand when it is held at the entrance to the cage. However, he will probably always do that unless his basking spot is above your eye level (which it should always be.) so get it up high, and if he still comes out tonyou then let him.

However, most do not tolerate handling at all and would rather be left alone except for food and water. Stress kills, and handling can cause stress.

 

[smpliprfct]

IMO i think the general rule is to look but not touch - chameleons are display animals - besides when necessary such as cleaning or a vet visit. That doesn't mean there aren't exceptions - many people here on the forums have friendly chams that LIKE to be taken out. At the same time many have the opposite, chams that hiss and puff and will never like being touched. So at first i say don't handle unless needed and as the little guy grows you can get a better understanding of their temperament.

 

[PantherFan]

IMO, some chameleons are just snarky by nature. I agree that attempting to handle 1x per week is your best bet, but I've had chams that NEVER warm up to being handled. I never really bought/bread a cham with the intentions have holding them all that much. For me, their beauty is in watching them do their climbing, basking, and hunting in as natural an environment as possible. Good luck with your menagerie!

 

[feranaja]

Thank you guys so much, my BPs love to come out and so does my beardie...not daily but they seem curious and happy, and my beardie loooves a little head rub (he lets me know when enough is enough). I don't *need* my cham to be a lap dog (have a few of those as it is) but if he could learn to not be upset by handling that would be good too.

 

[xanthoman]

patience is the key. some chams never do become accustomed to being handled, others just take time, i have had some fairly nasty chameleons that became fairly receptive a year down the road, that being said, some handling techniques work better than others, and the less you stress them out while handling, the more likely they are to become accustomed to it. there is a two part demonstration vid in this thread on how to minimize the stress while handling a chameleon. https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-handle-chameleon-18438/index7.html even still, you need to have reasonable expectations. its not reasonable to expect that your cham will ever become as sociable as a bearded dragon, its just not the chameleon way