"Friendliest" Cham?

[ajacobson]

Hope this is in the right place.

In your opinion....which chameleon is the "friendliest"?

 

[pssh]

Probably Jannb's two, dreamforthedead's Mia, or tiff's Tommy.

 

[SpinyFranky]

Probably Jannb's two, dreamforthedead's Mia, or tiff's Tommy.

Is that what you were asking?

If you mean species wise.... well its a gamble.

Veiled's are known to be feisty but ive seen some veiled sweethearts. Panthers are known to be docile but my Ambanja is a tough guy until you get him out of the cage, while my Sambava is an all around sweetpea.

Its luck of the draw ide say as to if a chameleon is "nice" or not.

 

[dreamforthedead]

Probably Jannb's two, dreamforthedead's Mia, or tiff's Tommy.

You don't need to call me dreamforthedead my name is Ashleigh. Mia is very friendly, she's a yemen.

 

[ShaunaLynnA]

It all depends on the chameleon to be honest. You can have a nice on or a mean one. I don't think there is really any species that is the friendliest!

 

[thechameleon]

like what other people say, it depends on the chameleon. if you're lucky, you can get a nice one. if you're not, you may have to live with a mean one. i have a female veiled that hates people. every time he sees someone's hand he will either hiss at it or try to bite it. i heard that pygmys are usually not agressive, but i never had any experience with them so i don't really know.

 

[veildowner]

its pot luck basicaly i have a panther whos friendly and climbs on the cage door hen he wants come out for a wonder. and i have a veild who kicks off hissing and biting, it all depends on the cham witch ever you choose

 

[Jono]

From my fairly limited experience (in terms of variety) I would say dwarfs because at least half of the ones I've come across in the wild will readily climb onto you and all of the ones I've raised from birth will redily climb onto most people. Not so much out of 'friendliness' I think, more out of curiosity and having no instinctual 'danger' triggers relating to humans. The main reason I think my captive breds are eager to climb onto people is because the enjoy the warmth of out hands. They will usually climb on and sit quietly for a few minutes warming there stomachs before setting off again to explore.

I would guess the bigger species would be prone to being eaten by monkeys and apes and thus may have more of an instinctual aversion to people although as Jan's etc. show this is nothing that can't be changed if the animal is treated with love and respect from an early age.

I think the golden rule here is if you never make the chameleon do something it does not want to on its own (i.e. scare it) there is a good chance it will not associate you with danger and thus be more inclined to tolerate or even enjoy your company. However, as with people, some are just born grumpy and wont like you no matter how you treat them

 

[ajacobson]

I kind of figured I would get these answers, I was just curious if people would say any one particular breed. Jono thanks for your answer, it was pretty insightful

 

[jaglon53]

Panthers and Veileds oh my

I have had ten male veileds and out of the ten I have had one that that was nice. I have had many female veileds and out of the twenty some veiled females ive had three that were very aggressive. As far as panthers go ive had about 38 males and only six were aggressive but got tame over time. No chameleon is meant to be handled but I find if you dont handle them for the first month or so and just consistantly go in the cage with food. They notice you as a source of food and eventually warm up to u no matter what there original disposition is.

 

[jannb]

I try to give all my animals a healthy and happy life. I try to keep my animals as healthy as possible by providing all the correct lights, food, supplements, outside time (which I believe to be very important) and regular health check ups by their vet. I have found that my chameleons like to explore and not be caged up. If I put them in a cage they turn dark and when I take them out they turn beautiful bright colors so we don't use cages. My chameleons are just like any other animal I've ever had and like to be well taken care of, loved and treated with nothing but kindness. I have two veileds....one male and one female.

 

[jamncristian]

ive heard oustalets chameleon often being called gentle giants

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

As far as species stereotypes go I'd say I've heard of oustalets being friendly and meller's are sometimes nice. Alot of my panthers are very aggressive but there are a few that actually like me. Over all I'd say pygmies are the friendliest because I have only been bitten by one ever out of the 25 or so I have kept/keep. Every single one of my panthers has bitten me, usually when they were in the mating mode or gravid though. But 5 or 6 of them actually do "like" me. The other 15 or so are either indifferent, super scared, or highly aggressive. All of them will handfeed however.



Justin



EDIT: Like Jann said free ranging will get them used to you more. My free ranged panthers are generally less aggressive and/or nicer.

 

[sandrachameleon]

All of my current panthers tolerate handling. But only one could be classified as "friendly" and of course none of them are actually friendly. They dont have the same emotional responses as people. The less stress you put them under, the less they associate you with negative, the more tolerant of your presence they will be.

 

[ajacobson]

I can't even get Thomas to come out of his cage for free-ranging...maybe when he is bigger. I'm pretty sure he's not a fan of mine though..

 

[jannb]

Leave his door open and put a large plant of tree in front of the door where he can walk out on to it. From a distance keep an eye on him and he'll be out on the tree in no time.

 

[ajacobson]

Leave his door open and put a large plant of tree in front of the door where he can walk out on to it. From a distance keep an eye on him and he'll be out on the tree in no time.

Ooh, thanks for the advice, I'll have to try that out. I'll have to lock up the other animals first though.