Excited but want some advise!

[RubyLee]

Hi,

I'm new to the forums, I've been looking into getting a reptile for some time, and after a visit to a local gardening centre/reptile dealer (lovely relaxed place with some very happy helpful people), I've got the Cham bug!

I've yet to buy because I've got a few questions for some of you more experienced owners!

From what I've read on these forums there is a mixed reaction towards handling Chameleons. When we arrived at the dealer we were handed 2 chameleons to hold whom were very friendly and were climbing all over us. We instantly fell in love with the idea of colourful, interesting lizards sitting on us and eating out of our hands. As these are captive bread by the dealer she's handled them all daily and they all seem extremely friendly. They are Veiled Chameleons which seem to be the most aggressive?! but these guys were lovely, sitting happily on our heads. We are both aware that a Chameleon doesn't love back but we'd both like something to generally sit around with.
I wondered what you're thoughts were? As the chameleon is only around 5 months old, we didn't want to buy a docile lizard which goes feral a few months later during it's teenage stage.

Any advice?

We're going to go to the breeders at the weekend again, and see how it reacts with us and maybe make a choice of which chameleon seems friendliest..I'm just cautious considering the comments about veileds..

Other than that I'm prepared to take on the chameleon as a pet and have got a lot of info from these forums already!

 

[hbskeet]

You need to watch the early signs. As babies some chameleons start to puff, hiss, and gap at a young age. Some even try and bite. This is obviously the sign that that chameleon is going to be aggressive for the most part. My female panther is about 5 months and has started to puff up when she sees my hand in the cage but never hisses, gaps, or tries to bite. She still climbs onto my hand and calms down. It normally happens when I move my hand fast in her cage. If the chameleon is docile at around 5 months then you should be ok for the most part. Obviously they are animals and anything can change but the earlier you get them and the faster they get use to you the best chance you have.