Handling

[Ellron]

Around the forum and the web I see tips for handling chameleons.
This video helps: http://screameleons.com/How_To_Handle_Chameleons.htm, but in my cage their are a bunch of places for the cham to run.
Can someone do me a huge favor and describe how they negotiate getting chams out of the cage when they have tons of foliage to hide in?
A video would be AWESOME!
Thanks guys.

I know chams aren't animals to handle, but the rare occasions they need to be handled, I want to know how.

Thanks again.

 

[JohnnyD]

I sometimes take out the whole plant the chameleon is sitting on and then clean out the cage. It stresses them but not as much as handling them.

 

[Ellron]

Alright, Thanks for the tip!

 

[gpmo]

Sometimes our Veiled won't walk onto my hand and i resort to a long bambo stick. One or the other works. Grasping them around the body is generally not the best thing to do, I prefer to just guide them onto bamboo or coax them onto my hand with food.

I do feel kindof bad leading them on with a carrot on a stick so to speak but i do let them have the tasty snack as soon as they are free and clear of foilage.

Gpmo (him)

 

[TRohr]

I've had my veiled for about a week now, and I have handled him every day once a day.... Not a long time, but my little Gratch warmed up to me pretty quickly. I have quite a bit of foliage that he can latch on to too.

Generally I put my free range tree, and anything else I need- mister, crickets, plastic tub, etc.- out onto my back patio. I leave the backdoor open, head down the hall, slowly walk into my cham. room, slowly ease up to his cage, slowly open the door, and slllllooooooooowly ease up under him. If he tries to back off in the other direction, I lightly and slowly block him with my free hand then push him backward a bit. He definitely doesn't like being cornered, but he's not cornered for long. I immediately take him outside to the tree, release him, and run back inside. I generally watch him from a window for a good 15-20 minutes before I ease outside again to feed him snacks.

Now I walk up, open the cage, stick a finger under his belly, and up he comes green as can be. Pretty sure he's associated the wonderfully warm weather, good food, and tasty water with my monstrous hand :]

 

[gpmo]

Oh ya TRohr made me remember, i always come up from underneath with my chams and gently lift upwards if they dont walk straight on.

Gpmo (him)

 

[Ellron]

Alright, thanks guys.

 

[legacy115833]

hey ellron how do you handle your free range humans? do you house the males and female together or do you find the males get too aggressive

 

[Ellron]

hey ellron how do you handle your free range humans? do you house the males and female together or do you find the males get too aggressive

It can be a pain sometimes. The males do get a little aggressive at each other, but they tend to leave the lone female alone, most of the time.
Sometimes they fight over the basking lamp even though there are four.
They always thing that the basking spot is better under a lamp they don't have.
Sigh...
At least we have enough food to go around.

 

[krbshappy71]

Thank you for posting that link! I have not been handling mine, he still has me scared off when he opens his mouth. The video really helps, my attempts were making things worse.

 

[Ellron]

Thank you for posting that link! I have not been handling mine, he still has me scared off when he opens his mouth. The video really helps, my attempts were making things worse.

Sure thing, Screameleons has lots of good advice on their site.

 

[carol5208]

I have only had my cham (a panther) since April and we handle him everyday! We take him outside on our patio twice a day for free range. He does not like to be cornered in his cage but what we find to be successful is to open the cage door, let him climb on top of the door, and then I put my hand up to him. He usually will climb right on and I think he associates that with going outside. If he does not climb on right away, I sometimes put my hand gently under his chin and then he climbs on that way. I am very fortunate I guess cause we handle him every day, twice a day and he never opens his mouth, or hisses. He is a friendly little guy. i guess I am lucky in itself that he will climb on the door, as I have read some chams hide in the cages but not this fellow!

 

[mokhok]

My chameleon is quite aggressive for his age, (6-7 months) and certainly does not like leaving his cage. he will back away and be shy and hide in difficult places when i put my hand in. when i put something other than my hand, such as a stick for him to climb out on, he will puff up and hiss and bite the stick and get black spots all over. im not sure why, but my chameleon is terrified of sticks. once he is outside of his cage, he becomes a nice bright green and likes to crawl all over lots of things. its getting him out in the first place, thats the problem. because he is so difficult to get out of the cage, i cannot take him outside as much as i would (or he would) like.

 

[trouty65]

Hi all, we have had our female Yemen for a week today and she is 7 months old.
She was handled regularly by the seller who has reared her from 4 weeks old.
She has settled into her viv very well and seems to be very happy.
We has no trouble getting her out for the 1st 3 days and then on the 4th dy she became very hissy and did not want to leave her viv so i left her be.
I think she must have just been having an off day as the next day again she was a little hesitant coming out but once out she shows no sign of stressing and seems very relaxed.
I was blown away last night she fell asleep in my hand while i was gently stroking her under her chin
I now move to the viv very slowly and put my hand in very slowly and come up under her where she will climb up onto my hand ( thanks sreameleions for the very helpfull video)
I dont have her out for very long but i am in total awe at how beuatifull she is
What an amazing thing of beauty she is. This was originally for my daughter but i have fallen in love with her. I never thought id ever say that !! never before being a retile lover. But she is awesome !!!

Thanks

Paul

 

[SpinyFranky]

The key is just letting them see whats going on at all times, that way the are calm and wont feel spooked by a random monster hand randomly grabbing them.

Though if you have a chameleon that just doesnt like you or being held, then your S.O.L. But if your chameleon will tolerate just move your hand slowly and always let them see whats going on.

If he runs away, its because he doesn't trust you or doesn't want to come out.

Always approach slowly and from the front towards the face. I usually angle my hand to approach under the chin and with my index slowly push my Sambavas chin up a little, he gets the message and grabs on with his front two feet. i pull away slowly and he climbs up onto me. Though sometimes the tail is wrapped around a branch still.

Practice makes perfect, but being slow and respectful will help avoid nasty bites!

Though I lucked out and none of mine are biters, the Sambava just sticks the chin out at me and I get the hint. My Ambanja will gape, but neither of them lunge or strike.