Does he hate me?

[AdeleRoseG]

so we've just got our first Veiled chameleon, He's about 7 months and after researching for months and setting up his vivarium for a week and making sure everything was perfect we got him the Saturday just gone. I've read a lot of threads already on here on how to settle in a chameleon and I know it's early days but I just have this feeling he hates me and will do forever, every time I go near his viv he goes from his happy green to developing his dark green stripes and spots, I haven't touched him at all, but all on the drive home on sunday he saw me because my husband was driving and I had to hold the see through box he was in, will he now forever associate me with this bad experience? on Sunday I wanted to see if he would hand feed so I got a waxworm in my hand and tried it, he took it straight out my hand, so I thought that was promising, he did it later on that day (I know I shouldn't feed him too many wax worms) and he took it out my hand again.
tried it on monday and he ran away, so I gently removed my hand and shut the screen door, same again today, he just runs away from me and turns his 'pissed off' colour.

He's in our living room so is in a high trafficked area, people will always be walking by and he can see me sitting on the sofa from his vivarium, however he is higher than me due to having a cupboard underneath his vivarium so he is looking down on me.

What do you think I should do? he's eating and drinking just fine and all the temperatures/ humidity are spot on, I feel like i shouldn't have tried the hand feeding and I'm hoping I haven't ruined everything, especially as he's older and not as forgiving as a baby (which initially I did want but there were no males at all)

any advice is greatly appreciated!

(Also It's worth adding I know some Chameleons are just not very sociable and that's just who they are, but I would also like to add he never hisses, puffs up or tries to bite me)

 

[JaguarShark]

Well, I have heard of much, much angrier chameleons than yours. Rest assured that he does not hate you, and will almost certainly get over the drive very quickly.
As you know he will take a little while to settle in to a new home, but the hand feeding is a promising thing (now try it with crickets or roaches instead of those fatty worms ).
You have got him at an awkward age, just ready to go into his angry, hunger strike "teenage" phase so if he hated you then there would be aggression from him rather than just nervousness.

Patience is the only advice you seem to need right now as long as you have read the caresheets and stuff on here already.
If you want more reassurance you can post pictures of him and your setup.

 

[Graves923]

Definitely needs time to adjust. Do you have a photo of the enclosure? Generally, more foliage for him to hide in will help him feel more safe and less skittish. My veiled is just over 6 months old and still tries to avoid being seen after having him for the last 3 months. When I first got him he always changed to dark colors when I would look in at him. Now, he just rotates along the vine hes on to get out of my line of sight with no color change.

Patients is key. Try to ignore him while doing cage cleaning and try not to make direct eye contact for too long.

 

[EveryGreen]

i would like to say my cham was the same around a month after i had him, but hes in my room so hes only used to 1 person that being me. hes normally not angry he just looks at my hand with his both hands up in the air when i get him out. he only has tried biting me 3-4 times the year iv had him and has hissed at me around the same number.just let him get used to being around people and after about a month he should be fine where he is. and you are lucky he hand fed. even if he does run away just keep trying until, again he gets used to your hands

 

[EveryGreen]

Well, I have heard of much, much angrier chameleons than yours. Rest assured that he does not hate you, and will almost certainly get over the drive very quickly.
As you know he will take a little while to settle in to a new home, but the hand feeding is a promising thing (now try it with crickets or roaches instead of those fatty worms ).
You have got him at an awkward age, just ready to go into his angry, hunger strike "teenage" phase so if he hated you then there would be aggression from him rather than just nervousness.

Patience is the only advice you seem to need right now as long as you have read the caresheets and stuff on here already.
If you want more reassurance you can post pictures of him and your setup.

and yea i agree on the roaches. use something healthier

 

[jajeanpierre]

@AdeleRoseG I wouldn't go as far as putting such a strong emotion as "hate" on the simple brain of a chameleon. If a chameleon can hate, they can also like or love and I don't think they think that way. They tolerate you. They learn you are not much of a threat and they might even look forward to your presence because you bring food.

The quickest way to settle him down and get him relaxed around you is to make him feel safe. Block off his vision of activity on at least three sides of the cage so he doesn't feel he has to always bee on guard. You might even block off most of the front.

Don't be surprised if he always thinks of you as the enemy. They aren't cuddly pets that form any kind of emotional bond with anything. They don't develop bonds with their young or their mates so it seems inconceivable that they would form one with a human.

 

[Branman]

I have had a similar experience to you. My make veiled chameleon didn't like me near his cage. Every time I walked within 3 feet of his cage he would turn black and defend his territory. But when I would open his cage and showed him food, everything was back cool. But he just didn't like me going near his cage unless I have him food. I always ignored it cause he eventually got somewhat used to me walking around his cage. But he would still be angry when I got too close haha. They also have their good days and bad days like people do. Some days he was awesome and would let me look at him and climb on my hand, then the next day he turned into the devil and turn black and do everything he could to scare me. But give him time. They have attitudes just like we do. So some days he will be good and some days he will be bad. It's nothing to be scared about.

 

[AdeleRoseG]

Thanks for your replies, I'll link a photo in another post
just an update:
He's eating from my hand/ fingers again and today he came to the front of the vivarium and put his hand on mine, almost climbed on my hand, I didn't force it but then he darted his tongue out at my thumb so I'm guessing he just thought I was food, I gently tucked my thumb slowly under my hand and he changed his mind and climbed off so I shut his vivarium door again and left him be!
seems promising, I know hate was a strong word, his mood has definitely improved, he's a nice green now and he's exploring his home more and more every day, I can definitely see he's becoming more confident!

 

[AdeleRoseG]

@Graves923

 

[JaguarShark]

Looks good .
I would put a few more thinner branches in there (think about the comfortable size for his feet). He might prefer the thicker ones, but giving him choices is what it's all about.
Also, he is not 7 months old. He looks to be around 4 months old to me.

 

[AdeleRoseG]

@JaguarShark Thank you! I'll get some more this weekend
and to be honest it wouldn't surprise me, the place I got him from looked horrible, they were also keeping him in a tiny vivarium that you would put a baby snake in, I honestly thought of it like we were rescuing him, when I rang up and asked about the chameleons they had they told me it was "Too soon to tell wether they were male or female" and I had to explain to her how to sex them, so it honestly would't surprise me if they got the age wrong!

 

[xrowdac]

Loving the CAGE..

 

[AdeleRoseG]

Loving the CAGE..

Ah thanks, managed to get some real plants in there too, which is a big deal since any plant I own dies within a few days

 

[xrowdac]

can u make a more closer full shot...