crabby chameleon

[nhayes1]

trying to figure out my new male panthers behavior.......I have read some searches on behavior and was wondering if people could discuse how thier "teens: (5 + mo) attitude was and how it changed (or didnt) as they grew up. I am nearing 3 weeks of having gotten him and thinking he was not handled much. Most of the time he doesn't seem to like me very much..... taking him out is never easy. He is usually all puffed up.....and today he was striking at me like he was trying to scare me. Ive only taken him out for cage cleaning maybe 5-6 times and was hoping he would be getting a little more use to me ...... Could this be normal behavior and has a chance of being friendlier in time or is this a sign he will be a crabby chameleon.

 

[Gensen]

Each is different!

Every Chameleon is different. But what you are describing is "normal" behavior.... you have not had the Cham very long and handling at all is really not recommended until your Cham has had a few weeks to settle in the you need to have patiernts and work slowly with your guy. Hand feeding is a good way to "warm up" to them and gain their trust IF they will hand feed (note there are some risks associated with this so you may want to search on it). Not all Chams will hand feed both my guys are the same age, one will hand feed and the other no way! So each is different.

Some Chams are freindly others simply are not. That is one thing you have to know when buying a Cham is you almost have to say to yourself "I am going to be ok with this guy nice or not" it's a dice roll as to which you'll end up with.

But have patients and give him time to really settle in. Then if you want try hand feeding. You can also try to put a stcik in his cage and see if you can get him to walk on the stick as a means of getting him out rather than forcing him.

Good luck!

 

[pssh]

You should always expect chameleons to be aggressive. To Be people tolerant is by far the minority. Don't expect too much. He might change, he might not. Mine stayed scared of me for a really long time. Now he doesn't care and sometimes hitches a ride. No special technique or tricks. I just left him alone and he decided when I was a non-threat. He's not normal though. He's very very small.

I don't really recommend trying to make him 'friendly.' He'll figure it out, food helps though.

 

[nhayes1]

your absolutely right...... he's beautiful no matter how crabby he is

 

[chamfan23]

i have a 4.5 MO

i have had my panther male for about a month and a half and he's the same way, a little crab. but at the same time i like his disposition, because he shows a lot of personality. He likes me to put crickets on the screen near him, but he wont hand feed. And he hates when i put a stick in his cage to get him out so i can clean it, but unless he likes a poopy cage he will have to get over it.

 

[leo]

Try to make him associate you with food, like hand feeding. This way he'll realize he needs you because you feed him and won't consider you a threat. It takes time, and sometimes they'll remain to be agressive no matter how much you try so don't beat yourself over it. Another thing you also have to remember is that you don't wan't to stress him out constantly because it's bad for them. Hope this helps and good luck!