Handling tips please?

[Scotty]

Hi all,
New to this site and chams....although I have many herps for many years, both dragons and morelia. I absolutely love these guys or atleast my little man, a male veiled nearly 3 months old named "popeye". I hope this is original, is it?
I got him from a breeder when he was only 4 days old, absolutely tiny and now he is growing like a weed, he sheds regualry and seems to be in good health. I have just move him into a bigger enclosure, he's a little cofused, but he's eating which is reassuring!
This site is awesome a wealth of knowledge and i'm glad I found it!!! I have seen some great clips of people feeding their chams by hand, at what age should you start to handle them, and what duration etc should you do this, to get them to a stage when they do accept you to offering them food by hand. I don't want to stress him out but i'm sure that with consistency and a little patience this is achievable.
I know they arent a specie that likes to be handled, but I do want a pet like my others that do tolerate and interact with me and/or my kids.
Any info or techniques from you learned people would be unreal...
Thanks in advance..
Kind Regards
Scott.

 

[Tygerr]

at what age should you start to handle them, and what duration etc should you do this, to get them to a stage when they do accept you to offering them food by hand. I don't want to stress him out but i'm sure that with consistency and a little patience this is achievable.

You don't need to 'handle' them in order to get them to hand-feed. As you said, all it takes is a little consistency and patience. But you never have to touch the cham...
Just move slowly and deliberately around the cage. Try to keep yourself lower than the cham, and don't get too close to him at first, so that he gets comfortable with your presence there. Once you've achieved that, it shouldn't be too hard to get him to come and take a wriggling mealworm from your outstretched, open palm.
Read this article on the Chameleons! E-Zine: http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/jan2003/hints/hints.html. It answers a question about hand-feeding.

I know they arent a specie that likes to be handled, but I do want a pet like my others that do tolerate and interact with me and/or my kids.

They don't like to be handled, so if by 'interact' you mean be carried around on your shoulder, or sat on your lap while you watch TV, then a chameleon is the wrong pet for you.
But they will tolerate some handling. I think it's best only to handle them when absolutely necessary, like when taking them outside to get some natural sunlight in an outside enclosure/perch, or when doing regular health checks or for trips to the vet, or when you need to do a thorough cleaning of their cage.
Any other time, they might tolerate the handling, but they certainly won't enjoy it.

Good luck with your cham. It sounds like he is doing well so far.

 

[Scotty]

Thanks for the reply Tyson...
Should I start to adopt this method now with the feeding by hand that you advise ie with him only being 3 months old, or should I wait a bit?
No, I never thought the cham was a pet I could pat while watching TV... lol, although i think some people might!
Yeah mate, he is doing fine and i'm relishing this new species to the collection.
Any other techniques would certainly be welcome.
Cheers...

 

[Hempa]

I agree with Tygerrs answers.

But if you get your cham to eat from your hand you can use that to get your cham out of the cage. I do it like this:

1. Put your hand under the spot your cham is sitting. (do this slowly so he doesnt move away)

2. Offer him a cricket with your other hand. When you get his attention and he starts to move towards the cricket you move it away from him (a little bit at a time). He will now probably step on to your hand to reach the cricket.

3. When he is sitting securely on your hand you let him have the cricket and take him out.

I hope you understand what I mean

 

[Scotty]

Hempa,
Understood lol..
Cheers...

 

[Scotty]

My little "popeye" is growing up!
Today I tried to offer him a cricket by hand and he puffed up and hissed...quite amusing, this is the first time he has done this,they grow up fast don't they!
I pulled out, as he was obviously stressed, how should I continue with this method of trying to accustom him to hand feeding, perservere or what?
Cheers guys.... any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Hempa]

It was good that you understod my last input. I was referring to my bad english, just so you know!

I think you did the right thing when you backed out. Follow the tip where you stand behind the cricket so your cham can see you and the cricket at the same time.

Also make sure the cricket can move a little bit so it can catch the chams attention.

But have patience. Veiled are known to be feasty (can you say so?) eaters so I think you will succeed.

 

[LEIGHS0101]

handling

Hiya,

Lots of people say that chams don't like to be handled but Pedro, my male veiled chameleon, loves to come out of his viv. He is fully grown now so his claws can scratch. His viv is in the living room and I work from home so he is used to noise and people. He happily feeds from my hand and often wants to come out... he makes it obvious when he wants to explore sometimes hes not in the mood so I don't stress him out by trying to force him. If I put my hand out he will climb on if he wants to.

I have recently aquired a new female who is not so friendly. She clearly hates being handled and hides allot. She was brought up somewhere where I don't think she was handled very often. She is more in the vain of what people usually say.

I think its all about them being used to you from a young age and letting them decide when they want to be handled.... and to be honest I think them wanting out is more about getting to somewhere high more than wanting the company of a human, hence they will always go towards your head.

I have babies at the moment and they are more than happy to come out to play. If you have a young chameleon then getting them used to being handled now will make life allot easier for you if you need to take a trip to the vets or want to help with shedding or just to get a closer look.

In short, let them get used to having you around and let them choose when to come out and when to feed from you... if they don't do it first time just leave it and try again later.. it will happen.

 

[Ash]

I'm trying to get my baby Panther to get used to me.

He eats all the time from my hands, and now I'm trying the method of putting my hand out so he has to climb on it. He comes out every now and again, but tries to get on my head and fails seeing as he can't grab hold of my hair

My Veiled Chameleon on the other hand was getting good, he was sat on my hand eating for about 5 minutes then all of a sudden puffed up, hissed, and went to his mad colours. Very strange

Ash

 

[Scotty]

Hiya,

Lots of people say that chams don't like to be handled but Pedro, my male veiled chameleon, loves to come out of his viv. He is fully grown now so his claws can scratch. His viv is in the living room and I work from home so he is used to noise and people. He happily feeds from my hand and often wants to come out... he makes it obvious when he wants to explore sometimes hes not in the mood so I don't stress him out by trying to force him. If I put my hand out he will climb on if he wants to.

I have recently aquired a new female who is not so friendly. She clearly hates being handled and hides allot. She was brought up somewhere where I don't think she was handled very often. She is more in the vain of what people usually say.

I think its all about them being used to you from a young age and letting them decide when they want to be handled.... and to be honest I think them wanting out is more about getting to somewhere high more than wanting the company of a human, hence they will always go towards your head.

I have babies at the moment and they are more than happy to come out to play. If you have a young chameleon then getting them used to being handled now will make life allot easier for you if you need to take a trip to the vets or want to help with shedding or just to get a closer look.

In short, let them get used to having you around and let them choose when to come out and when to feed from you... if they don't do it first time just leave it and try again later.. it will happen.

Thanks heaps for the reply everyone .

My boy is coming on 3 months now, so I interpret from your comments that this would be a good age to start to get him out of his enclosure and also trying to feed him by hand?
When you say "come out to play", do you let them roam around the house, outside or what? Sounds pretty cool!
Off the topic a little, at what age do veileds start to show their true colours? I know it's their mood etc that drives this change, but there obviously has to be an age when they are at that stage? I cannot find any info on this topic?
Cheers guys, I can't get enough of this site and learning from you guys....to my wifes dissapointement!!!

 

[Marc10edora]

I only handle mine about once every two weeks. That's only when I'm taking him outside in the sun or if I need to do some major cleaning. My only advice is to get some leather gloves and have a lot of patience. Sometimes it takes 20-40 minutes for me to get my cham out without pissing him off a whole lot. Don't pull him off his branch. Just let him walk on to your fingers on his own.