Have not got a chameleon, and when researching realize if they needed alot of attention? They were no posts about this so I thought I should make a thread.
I give allot of attention to my guys. They are very friendly and I interact with them everyday. When I walk by their trees they reach and grab for me. Some of them would like me to hold them 24/7 if I could. They are very content to ride around on my shoulder or head. I could never cage them nor leave them in a room all by their self.
Janns much more experienced than me so I can't argue with her, but personally I stand by telling people that are new to reptiles that most aren't meant to be picked up and interacted with because people can't read their signals. You see so many posts of saying oh my cham is brightly colored and crawling on his cage walls, he loves me. Meanwhile those are stress signals. With someone experienced that understands what the cham is conveying sure, but I think for most people hands off is better than hands on JMO.
The chameleon's husbandry NEEDS a lot of attention if you want it to do well and live as long and healthy a life as a chameleon can...however the chameleon does NOT NEED you to give it attention by holding it and playing with it. Some of them will tolerate you.....some will get used to you and use you as a tree/safe place to sit, some realize that you sometimes have food for them...some never do any of that...for real. Most hate phones and cameras in their faces. Some hate certain colors and patterns if clothing that you wear. I'm sure there are things that I have missed mentioning. You need to be able to read the signs and know when to back off and give them their space IMHO.