handling...?

[tyla vancookie]

I know chams aren't the most likely to be pro handling, but I have a few questions. I got her yesterday, and I'd really like to hold her or just take her out of the cage to rearrange some things, but as soon as I open the cage she puffs up, bobs and weaves, and looks like Bruce Lee. I go to pick her up and she hisses and tries to nip me. I guess my question is, when will I be able to try to handle her without her going just all out?

 

[Jonie]

put on a garden glove if you're worried about being nipped, should'nt hurt even is she does though,

Good luck, John

 

[wheresstimpy]

just put your hand in there slowly and very gently scoop her up, be careful not to pull her away if her hands and tail are on the branch, you are going to have to do this from time to time to clean stuff so just figure out how to do it, my female still gets angry when i pull her out but she stopped biting me...

 

[sammyskate703]

My female loves to come out. Put I agree to put on the garden gloves bc I had a male before and he always went for me, but I just let him bite me and it didnt hurt.

 

[summoner12]

Chams don't like to be played with.... SO if ya need to get them out there are some tactics. The main reason she is getting mad when she sees your hand is that you are invading her space and she sees your hand as a predator. They don't like to be bossed around in thier own space but you can trick them. With my first cham, female veiled, I would put a hand behind her and another in front of her when she wasn't looking. I would then shew her and make her want to walk away from my hand and most of the time she was focused on the hand behind her and would walk out onto my other hand..... then I would just remove her from the cage. She became a lot more friendly once I got her out. As she aged she became a real bit**. her biting never really hurt but she would nip my fingers while holding her if I moved them. Some chams will learn that coming out isn't so bad and you might even take her out and reward her with something. I used to always sun my two veileds in the afternoon when I was off work at 2:30. Fred got so used to it he would ALWAYS come out. Now that I have moved and his cage is different and the room isn't the same he doesn't like to come out so easily. I think once he gets used to the room he will be more friendly.

Don't get into the habit of removing her for your own play time. Keep it to purposeful adventures.

 

[Dan]

I dunno I think every cham is different, and you just need to learn there personalities. My female doesn't like to be held, looked at, or probably even thought about. However my male loves to be held. when ever I open the cage he comes running to the front, and climbs onto my arm, he loves to hang on the couch with me and cruise my apparentment. he has NEVER puffed, hissed or nipped at me. If I am gone for most of the day and com home he will come to the door of his cage and paw at it until i bring him out. regardless, he is an animal and I do take causion to not approach him quickly with my hand because it can startle him. I think one thing that helped was that I hand feed him little "snacks" so I think he has learned to associate me with food. Every cham needs to be treated acording to their own personality, if they dont like to be handled, dont push it.

 

[summoner12]

I dunno I think every cham is different, and you just need to learn there personalities. My female doesn't like to be held, looked at, or probably even thought about. However my male loves to be held. when ever I open the cage he comes running to the front, and climbs onto my arm, he loves to hang on the couch with me and cruise my apparentment. he has NEVER puffed, hissed or nipped at me. If I am gone for most of the day and com home he will come to the door of his cage and paw at it until i bring him out. regardless, he is an animal and I do take causion to not approach him quickly with my hand because it can startle him. I think one thing that helped was that I hand feed him little "snacks" so I think he has learned to associate me with food. Every cham needs to be treated acording to their own personality, if they dont like to be handled, dont push it.

Very well said!

Sometime there are cases you will need to handle her even though she doesn't want it. That is when patience will pay off, by taking your time with her.

 

[jukeboxpunk]

my cham

Speaking of handling. Tonight my girlfriend and I were watching movies and I decided to hold the cham for a bit just to get him used to us. He seemed fine for about ten minutes walking around on our hands, not too stressed. He eventually ended up on my shoulder. I then stuck my tongue in and out looking away from him, and I shifted my head forward and backward while opening my mouth. Immediately he flared up, opened his mouth and hissed at me. It was amazing but extremely stressful for him. I just thought it was interesting to see that human body gestures mimicking a cham can spark the cham to be stressed.

 

[tyla vancookie]

Oh yeah, she's doing a lot better, she actually seems to really enjoy it now.