Handling and earning trust

[Skillfulmmd]

Hi all!

I posted a few weeks worried that my baby Panther wasn't drinking/eating but we seem to be well over that now he loves a good grasshopper and is partial to some nice gut-loaded crickets and I've seen him drinking so we are all good there.

I do want to reach out and get some advice on handling as Boris seems to be rather grumpy!

I've been trying either once a day or once every few days to handle him to varying success. The only time i've managed to successfully get him is when I took the plant he was sat on out the viv and then try to slowly and from below lift him off a branch. In his vivarium, I'm not having much luck he puffs up hisses and gapes whenever I try to pick him up.

I've watched some videos and done a bit of research and most people say to come from below slowly or use a hand to distract him but he still seems to get very angry. I guess this leaves in a situation where I would like to know the following.

1. When he is puffing and gaping etc should I carry on trying out and just commit to doing it?
2. Is it normal even after a month of trying for him to be like this?
3. I assume he is angrier in his viv as they are territorial so should I try to take him out of that first then try?

I want to build trust with little Boris but don't want to be annoying him too much or doing anything that's not right. On a side note, he lets me rub his arms and belly etc without hissing but he thinks I'm trying to get him when he gets on the defence.

 

[Graves923]

Work with hand feeding him his favorite treats. Hopefully, he will learn to associate you with tasty food and be more willing to come out or interact with you.

Overall, every chameleon is different personality and temperament wise. He may learn to trust you quickly or over a few weeks or months. Worst case, he never does.

In my experience with my veiled, he absolutely hate me and will go out of his way to try and bite me, but, he trusts my girlfriend and will hand feed from her and even climb out of his cage to sit on her shoulder while she cleans the cage or does whatever around the house...

 

[Skillfulmmd]

Work with hand feeding him his favorite treats. Hopefully, he will learn to associate you with tasty food and be more willing to come out or interact with you.

Overall, every chameleon is different personality and temperament wise. He may learn to trust you quickly or over a few weeks or months. Worst case, he never does.

In my experience with my veiled, he absolutely hate me and will go out of his way to try and bite me, but, he trusts my girlfriend and will hand feed from her and even climb out of his cage to sit on her shoulder while she cleans the cage or does whatever around the house...

He tried to lunge for me once but I was quick enough to move away. I want to be consistent and sometimes it seems like we are bonding (as much as a human and reptile can ) but other times he just seems like he is not interested. If he is gaping and puffing up should I just keep trying to get him out or stop I don't want to make things worse? I do cup feed him but havent figured out a food I could hand feed him with. Crickets and grasshoppers would just hop away and hes not a fan of worms.

 

[Graves923]

Never force the chameleon out if they dont want to come out. You'll never build trust that way. I use superworms when hand feeding. Usually if you pinch the worm and put a little pressure on its body the worm will wiggle more and you might get a better feeding response from the chameleon.

Something you can try is to use a long stick and have the chameleon climb onto that and then remove him from his enclosure on the stick. Sometimes they become less territorial and less defensive once out of the cage. Just be careful when to move your hand close to the chameleon because if he lunges, you dont want him to lose his grip and fall.

 

[Skillfulmmd]

Never force the chameleon out if they dont want to come out. You'll never build trust that way. I use superworms when hand feeding. Usually if you pinch the worm and put a little pressure on its body the worm will wiggle more and you might get a better feeding response from the chameleon.

Something you can try is to use a long stick and have the chameleon climb onto that and then remove him from his enclosure on the stick. Sometimes they become less territorial and less defensive once out of the cage. Just be careful when to move your hand close to the chameleon because if he lunges, you dont want him to lose his grip and fall.

Yeah I think that moving him from his cage makes it easier as I mentioned before the only time I've managed to handle him so far is by first moving his big plant out the cage but thats not practical so I will try the stick late!

 

[CharlieCharmingo]

Heres what i did to get Tony to put up with my antics:

Like the above mentioned I definitely tried hand feeding him. Every time I had to do something I.e. Mist or clean his cage I would give him a superworm treat. If I had to take him out of his cage I would give him this same treat before and after as well. But to get him to really trust me honestly I just spent time with him.
For example I would open his cage door and then sit on my bed and start reading. He used to be very afraid. Like if we made eye contact he would go back in his cage. So I would just try to ignore him. I did this for a couple of days and each time he would come a little more out of his cage. After each "session" I would give him a treat. Once he felt brave enough sit outside his cage I started moving around while still "ignoring him" I would clean up, fold clothes, etc. he would make himself skinny if I got too close but I would just keep ignoring him. After these times I would again give him a superworm treat. With time he started to become curious and would slowly come out of his cage and even slower OFF of his cage and I would use my fingers to bridge him across to where he wanted to get too and just let him do his thing for an allotted time before putting him back and AGAIN giving him a treat. Etc. Now I can't KEEP him in his cage. Lol.

Overall just get to know your chameleon and find out what he/she will and won't put up with. You have to do a lot of things on their terms if you want full trust. And some chameleons are just grumpy in general and might appreciate handling at all which is something to keep in mind. Best of luck.