Confused!! Handle or not to handle your cham?
- Thread starter gingie
- Start date
Julirs
New Member
I currently have 20 adult chams and a few babies. Most of them I have raised from hatchlings or young babies.
Leon-my first cham is predictably "friendly", meaning he will readily come out of his cage and will not hiss or bite.
My 2 10 month old Panther females will not hiss or bite, but will not readily come out of the cage.
My 4 and 5 month old female veileds will readily come out of the cage and do not hiss or bite. I don't expect that to last.
My MBD rescue male Panther does not hiss or bite-but he has to see me as the food source since he is exclusively hand fed, and he cannot get around well on his own.
Everyone else will readily come to the front of the cage to be handfed, none of them really mind me cleaning out their cage messes, but if I try to even act like I might grab them, they will hiss and some will lunge.
I raised all 68 of those baby Veileds(summer 2008) on the dining room table, regularly cleaning and handling them. I currently have 3 of the males still, NONE of them are handleable. Over time they just became typical males, becoming territorial and huffy.
They all have different personalities and trust levels. Please don't think that BECAUSE you handle them alot, they become more tame. Like anything else, they get used to it and it becomes less of a threat. I always tell people to gain trust through handfeeding-these guys, like all reptiles, are just really into food
. When they see you as food or transportation they see you as less of a threat, and as less of a stress-inducer. However-they DO NOT LOVE YOU, THEY DO NOT WANT TO HANG OUT WITH YOU, THEY DO NOT WANT TO SLEEP IN YOUR BED. They simply deserve respect for what they are.
Leon-my first cham is predictably "friendly", meaning he will readily come out of his cage and will not hiss or bite.
My 2 10 month old Panther females will not hiss or bite, but will not readily come out of the cage.
My 4 and 5 month old female veileds will readily come out of the cage and do not hiss or bite. I don't expect that to last.
My MBD rescue male Panther does not hiss or bite-but he has to see me as the food source since he is exclusively hand fed, and he cannot get around well on his own.
Everyone else will readily come to the front of the cage to be handfed, none of them really mind me cleaning out their cage messes, but if I try to even act like I might grab them, they will hiss and some will lunge.
I raised all 68 of those baby Veileds(summer 2008) on the dining room table, regularly cleaning and handling them. I currently have 3 of the males still, NONE of them are handleable. Over time they just became typical males, becoming territorial and huffy.
They all have different personalities and trust levels. Please don't think that BECAUSE you handle them alot, they become more tame. Like anything else, they get used to it and it becomes less of a threat. I always tell people to gain trust through handfeeding-these guys, like all reptiles, are just really into food
. When they see you as food or transportation they see you as less of a threat, and as less of a stress-inducer. However-they DO NOT LOVE YOU, THEY DO NOT WANT TO HANG OUT WITH YOU, THEY DO NOT WANT TO SLEEP IN YOUR BED. They simply deserve respect for what they are.Similar threads
