I have 2 friendly chams, because I've taken the time and worked with them. When a father and his 2 EXTREMELY respectful boys came over and were interested I used it as a teaching tool. I took them out, one after the other, and let them climb on my friends. I was there the entire time, showing them what to do, and answering questions. They were very engaged and interested. Sometimes I think we lose sight of the fact that these are creatures that most people have no experience with. If we want the general population to care about conserving the habitats that these beautiful creatures hail from, we have to actually SHOW them what it is that they are protecting. The show and tell went very well, they washed their hands afterwards, and they do not have any reptiles at home that I needed to be concerned about. I know this will rankle some on this forum that I dared to actually hold my chameleon, but to each their own.
I 100% agree with this, but at the same time this is the thought that plagues this forum. I have posted almost the exact same thing in other threads as what you just said, yet people would probably lump me in the hands off crowd. This just isn't true, it's not a black and white hold/no hold. I handle my chams, including parson's on a daily basis, and so do many better keepers than me. The point is to have experience, and to do it with purpose. It's not just an arbitrary handle or no handle. I take my chams out for sun, free ranging, to show people(in a safe way), etc. Have the handling rewarding for them and they will recognize that. I don't have veileds, but I'm confident I could free range one and keep it friendly as well. I have taken a panther that would bite me on sight to walking on me immediately when my hand is out, knowing he's going outside. My parson's even does sometimes. The reason we advocate no handling is because much more could go wrong handling right off the bat without having any sort of understanding.
Most of this forum is people that bought chams on a whim and sadly have no clue what they're doing. The chams usually don't last long. It's why we see probably the same 10 members post month after month, but hundreds show up for just a few days/weeks. It's best to not show off chams as toys because the animal is likely already suffering and they aren't going to pick up on stress signals. how many times do we see, "oh my chameleon loves me, hes bright colors when he's on me"? Most of these people bought chameleons as some unique possession of theirs to show off, and will only listen to what they want to hear, ignoring any hard advice. So imo it is terrible to just say chameleons love company because that can easily be taken as, *yay I'm going to bother my animal all day and bring it everywhere!*. It's not like people want to listen to the grumpy guy telling them not to touch their cool new pet for a few months before they know as much as they can about it.
I don't doubt for a second that Jan, Matt, and some other members here, that have been more hands on advocates, love their animals and do them right. I always enjoy reading what they have to say and I may have not always agreed, but I respect them. My main argument has been on the delivery and that sometimes we should remember, most people reading aren't nearly as experienced as most people posting.
I like the mixing species phrase... "if you have to ask, you shouldn't do it".
Definitely mean no offense to anyone! Just felt the need to clear the air on that. Can't sleep lol.
