EpicWin
New Member
Okay, I know this may come off sounding a little ridiculous. But then again, maybe it won't.
I was recently blessed with an adorable little Ambilobe Blue Bar, he's about 5 months old now. (August 3rd) (pic is in my avatar)
Anyway, there are times I'm feeding him or just generally picking up a little "present" or two from off the cage bottom, and while it's not EVERY TIME, there have been about 3 times that I can count, where he would flare/gape at me.
I understand. A massive being is reaching his hands into your safe environment, moving stuff around and dropping bugs in there and shaking everything as he does it...
I can imagine I'd get a little territorial.
My question to you guys is, have you ever been "territorial" back at your chameleon? Can they ever get to a point where you've "respected" their territory after flaring, so much, that he ends up thinking the entire room is his? And thus, flaring, every time you walk in?
Obviously, this would be a very dramatic thing to happen EVERY time you simply walk into a room.
He currently lives in my bedroom, it's nice and quiet in there and I don't do much except sleep and feed my cham, make sure he's okay and all his equipment is working properly.
But I don't want him thinking he can be territorial in my room. (say i sit on my bed and he decides, "I'm gonna gape at Travis now.") Cage is understandable. So I'm curious if flaring/gaping back at your cham would even have any kind of dominance/alpha effect on them, or if it's mostly situational and it happens regardless of past dominance showings?
As a little bit of a small test I thought next time he gapes at me, I'll gape back at him. So it happened, he started gaping at me and I looked him in the eye and opened my mouth a little bit. (I feel insane, admitting this in public) And to my surprise, he close his shortly after, following a few seconds of gaping at each other. Ever since then, he's seemed way more open to me and interested in what I am as another creature on this planet. I come in the room and he climbs down his branches and watches me.
He's only gaped one more time after that, when I fed him today, and when I noticed, I opened my mouth at him and held my ground (my mouth is bigger haha) and he discontinued the gaping again.
What I've never done, for paranoia that he'll start to feel like he owns the place, is leave after he flares/gapes at me. I'm scared he'll get into that habit and think he can just tell me when to leave anytime he wants. lol
Ever growing in curiosity and awe of these little creatures...
Travis & Heisenberg the Cham
I was recently blessed with an adorable little Ambilobe Blue Bar, he's about 5 months old now. (August 3rd) (pic is in my avatar)
Anyway, there are times I'm feeding him or just generally picking up a little "present" or two from off the cage bottom, and while it's not EVERY TIME, there have been about 3 times that I can count, where he would flare/gape at me.
I understand. A massive being is reaching his hands into your safe environment, moving stuff around and dropping bugs in there and shaking everything as he does it...
I can imagine I'd get a little territorial.
My question to you guys is, have you ever been "territorial" back at your chameleon? Can they ever get to a point where you've "respected" their territory after flaring, so much, that he ends up thinking the entire room is his? And thus, flaring, every time you walk in?
Obviously, this would be a very dramatic thing to happen EVERY time you simply walk into a room.
He currently lives in my bedroom, it's nice and quiet in there and I don't do much except sleep and feed my cham, make sure he's okay and all his equipment is working properly.
But I don't want him thinking he can be territorial in my room. (say i sit on my bed and he decides, "I'm gonna gape at Travis now.") Cage is understandable. So I'm curious if flaring/gaping back at your cham would even have any kind of dominance/alpha effect on them, or if it's mostly situational and it happens regardless of past dominance showings?
As a little bit of a small test I thought next time he gapes at me, I'll gape back at him. So it happened, he started gaping at me and I looked him in the eye and opened my mouth a little bit. (I feel insane, admitting this in public) And to my surprise, he close his shortly after, following a few seconds of gaping at each other. Ever since then, he's seemed way more open to me and interested in what I am as another creature on this planet. I come in the room and he climbs down his branches and watches me.
He's only gaped one more time after that, when I fed him today, and when I noticed, I opened my mouth at him and held my ground (my mouth is bigger haha) and he discontinued the gaping again.
What I've never done, for paranoia that he'll start to feel like he owns the place, is leave after he flares/gapes at me. I'm scared he'll get into that habit and think he can just tell me when to leave anytime he wants. lol
Ever growing in curiosity and awe of these little creatures...
Travis & Heisenberg the Cham
