Friendly chameleon hack? Or bogus?

[ChameleonClem]

When i got my first chameleon we decided to get a male and female (they were hatchlings) and separate them when they were older. And they loved being handled every-time i opened the door they'd ignore the food and come running up my arm (over the cricket and on the tweezers lol!) unfortunately they eventually died because of a light ishue (id perfer not to talk about it they were my babies)
Maybe months later i decided to get another one; a male hatchling all by his little self. When i opened the box he was in, he was asleep. And i woke him up trying to open the bowl to free him, and honestly im not sure if this is why he hated me lol(think this had something to do with it?) But obviously he was not friendly. ( i never forced him onto my hand or anything unless i was cleaning and i was very slow and careful) He hated me, and everyone. Me being slightly less, he unsuccessfully tried on many occasions to bite people, Not that i wanted them to mess with him. Hed hiss at me but hed never bite. Just walking by the enclosure would cause him to puff and turn stressful colors. LEventually i decided to give him to someone who had a "chameleon room" which was a mini jungle for them. I decided this because feeding became extremely stressful for him. And since crickets always managed to escape i didnt like to leave them in there with him.

Ive included a photo of the (older/stress colors) cham i was just speaking about..

And martha, one of the original pair here (younger/ mouth open)

Now i know chams are the poster child for cuddles(not)
But what i wanna know is, do you think raising two together was the secret to friendly chams? Or Just chance?

P.s. I am aware that keeping adults together if a bad idea

 

[Andee]

Definitely not the secret. The fact that they rushed out, especially if they were being kept together at the time, makes me think they were stressed by each other being in the same cage. In fact the picture of the female makes it look as if she was far too old to be housed with a male... she looks around 4 months? She could easily become gravid at that time. Generally veileds can be hit or miss. But they do best, especially the grumps when they are allowed to free range for at least one hour every day.

 

[ChameleonClem]

Definitely not the secret. The fact that they rushed out, especially if they were being kept together at the time, makes me think they were stressed by each other being in the same cage. In fact the picture of the female makes it look as if she was far too old to be housed with a male... she looks around 4 months? She could easily become gravid at that time. Generally veileds can be hit or miss. But they do best, especially the grumps when they are allowed to free range for at least one hour every day.

I never thought they were being stressed because they were almost always green, i thought they became gravid at 6 months? But your point still stands. I was actually building another cage to separate them at that time but then i lost them I free ranged them alot so i think thats an exelent point i never thought about that. Just that they liked to be out so i let them out. They never avoided my hand or each other, in fact they honestly seemed to ignore each other. ill definitely keep up with free range if i decide to get another.

 

[Andee]

Free ranging isn't a bad idea, you can also do it 24/7 if you get the set up right. If you don't have lights on them and free range a lot of people can free range perfectly fine for 2 hours or so without any issues. you can also make a connecting free range to their cage and usually chameleons go back and forth to bask etc. Females have been shown (even though the one I know about was never introduced to a male) to get egg bound as young as four month. The one I am specifically talking about got so egg bound her organs were being compressed by the amount of eggs she was carrying. She didn't even look gravid sadly. The person only realized after he did a necropsy. 5-6 months is more normal. But younger is not unheard of.

 

[ChameleonClem]

Free ranging isn't a bad idea, you can also do it 24/7 if you get the set up right. If you don't have lights on them and free range a lot of people can free range perfectly fine for 2 hours or so without any issues. you can also make a connecting free range to their cage and usually chameleons go back and forth to bask etc. Females have been shown (even though the one I know about was never introduced to a male) to get egg bound as young as four month. The one I am specifically talking about got so egg bound her organs were being compressed by the amount of eggs she was carrying. She didn't even look gravid sadly. The person only realized after he did a necropsy. 5-6 months is more normal. But younger is not unheard of.

Wow so young That was definitely my mistake, i think she was three to four months in that photo. I dont have a good place to setup free range and since i have dogs i would usually just put the dogs in another room and open the door and let them explore, under my watchful eye. If the windows were open id take them over to the windows and let them enjoy the sunshine and breeze on houseplants. And since if i walked away theyd usually attempt to follow me id let them climb on me. Where they went was completely up to them as long as it was safe. After an hour - hour and a half theyd make their way back and id shut the door and let them out again later or the next day. Id also take the cage out and put it half sun and half shade when it was the right temperatures out.

 

[Andee]

Hour and a half isn't a bad time in my opinion during the day. And a free range can just be a fake tree. Especially if you are just doing it for a couple hours. Free range them on the fake tree for an hour or so. Put the dogs in the other room during said time. That way if you get a less friendly guy, he doesn't have to be attached to you while he's enjoying his time out. It will often make grumpy chameleons easier to deal with.

 

[joshuadh2310]

You know I wonder about the dog thing because one time I had my girl out and my moms pit bull came running in and was so interested in my girl all up in her face and everything and she wanted to climb on him like he was a friend lol. Obviously I did not let her and got the dog out of the room after I let him see what she was as he is very curious but I have never had my girl hiss or bit or anything . I know this is unrelated but I just wanted to share lol. Also you should listen to andee as she has very great advice

 

[Andee]

There are those few incidents where chameleons and dogs get along. But yes it is always better to be safe than sorry.

 

[ChameleonClem]

You know I wonder about the dog thing because one time I had my girl out and my moms pit bull came running in and was so interested in my girl all up in her face and everything and she wanted to climb on him like he was a friend lol. Obviously I did not let her and got the dog out of the room after I let him see what she was as he is very curious but I have never had my girl hiss or bit or anything . I know this is unrelated but I just wanted to share lol. Also you should listen to andee as she has very great advice

My dogs dont really care about my chameleon except for the boxer whoch is fine but hes 90 pounds and very much a puppy lol! I just didnt want to take the risk. better safe than sorry.

 

[joshuadh2310]

My dogs dont really care about my chameleon except for the boxer whoch is fine but hes 90 pounds and very much a puppy lol! I just didnt want to take the risk. better safe than sorry.

i agree lol my moms dog rarely comes over to my house but he is a 95 pound pit bull and very sweet and curious but yeah they were like friends lol.

 

[ChameleonClem]

i agree lol my moms dog rarely comes over to my house but he is a 95 pound pit bull and very sweet and curious but yeah they were like friends lol.

Big dogs are the sweetest. I dont think my boxer would ever hurt it on purpose but hes a kisser, and i dont think a little chameleon would be amused as far as im concered, he can enjoy the chameleon behind the safety of the cage. The only problems ive had with dogs is i used to have my chameleon cage on the floor and my king charles spaniel would try to eat them through the cage. Youd think we had drugged him the way he went up and tried to eat them! Hes not the sharpest tool in the shed

 

[EveryGreen]

honestly ill give it to you, my veiled doesnt like being held but he also it used to humans being in my room and all. and ill just say you are very lucky to have had baby chams that run up on your arm. its not that that one has a problem or anything its that they have personalities. for example some like being sprayed and some dont (like mine) just try and work with him and dont worry to much and try to enjoy him.

 

[ChameleonClem]

honestly ill give it to you, my veiled doesnt like being held but he also it used to humans being in my room and all. and ill just say you are very lucky to have had baby chams that run up on your arm. its not that that one has a problem or anything its that they have personalities. for example some like being sprayed and some dont (like mine) just try and work with him and dont worry to much and try to enjoy him.

They certaiy all have unique personalities! Ive heard all kinds of peoples theaories these last few days but it certainly sounds like free range and continuious trust building are the best methods.