has been chasing us to bite us for 6 months

[kinyonga]

@MissSkittles has given you good insight into this. @Tkrd69 also has hit one of the possibilities.

How does he behave towards you if you use a stick to take him out if the cage?

Do you move your hand the way you did in he video...sort of teasing him...at times?

However, once in a while you will get a veiled that won't ever get past the biting whether you're in its territory or not. I had one like that! It may have been an "alpha thing" ...he may have been determined to be the alpha male. He did turn out to be one of the best breeders I had!

I would try handling him with your hand covered by a sweat shirt sleeve (which he will likely try to bite) and see if he can eventually get used to knowing that his bite will not have any affect on you. Don't move the hand around in a menacing/teasing way when you do this.

 

[takisxx]

@MissSkittles has given you good insight into this. @Tkrd69 also has hit one of the possibilities.

How does he behave towards you if you use a stick to take him out if the cage?

Do you move your hand the way you did in he video...sort of teasing him...at times?

However, once in a while you will get a veiled that won't ever get past the biting whether you're in its territory or not. I had one like that! It may have been an "alpha thing" ...he may have been determined to be the alpha male. He did turn out to be one of the best breeders I had!

Well when i put the stick in hes enclosure start run to my hand to bite it.i change hands and i turn the stick around till i go to my yard.when i go to yard and let him free to big schefflera he calms and he doesnt act like this.but when i put him in a stick and let him inside the house(οn sofa) he continues the same motif(running to bite).sorry for my english

 

[kinyonga]

Don't worry about your English! It's fine!

Taking him out in the yard takes him out of his territory and makes him have to change his behaviour to watching for predators IMHO so then he's not thinking about biting you. This is why I asked about his behaviour when out of the cage...to see if that might be at least part of it.

Using the sweatshirt covering your arm and hand, I'm hoping it will change his behavior because he will see that biting you doesn't work...just something I've tried with a few that bite. You can offer a worm "treat" by placing it on the sleeve too.
Some never get it however.

 

[kinyonga]

Just found this and although I don't agree completely with every point...it's worth a read...
https://reptilecraze.com/chameleon-bites-do-they-hurt-dangers-how-to-stop-it/

 

[Tkrd69]

See I told you the wealth of knowledge you bring to us is fantastic. Some of this is extremely useful thank you

 

[Beman]

So first off welcome to the wonderful world of a Veiled. They can become extremely territorial of their space. Get some thick gloves. Since he has bitten once he will do it again. Try not to show fear. I swear they can tell and act up more.

Beman is like this too a point, not as bad as your boy though. Has not fully gotten a hold of my fingers yet but has grabbed my shirt sleeve. However once I get him from the cage and move away from it his personality calms like when he was younger. May or may not be the case with your male. I find Beman goes through times of extreme aggression and less depending on the season. But I have seen here with other members that end up with one that just will not allow anyone near its space.

I agree he needs more plants and the lights need to be correct. Perhaps if he has more coverage this will make him feel more at ease.

 

[kinyonga]

More sites...

 

[bruce the cham]

Also, to note his bite will hurt. You need one of theseView attachment 332064

i have that exact sighn from amazon

 

[DaChameleon66]

Maybe you should ask him nicely to stop biting you.

 

[MzLaurie11]

Hello and welcome! Your cham is in his prime to fight other males to get the girl. With none of his kind around, he still has the need to show dominance. One thing i did notice in your videos is he is not flaring the sides of his casque. This is a menacing thing they do so their head looks bigger. Like people he has his own personality so i guess you can call him a bully, but it is out of fear. Just like people. When my boy tries this with me, out of the cage he goes. so wverytime he would run towards me when i opened his cage, i woykd take gim out. Niw he is 1 and comes up high to watch he fill his bowls and just perches at the edge above me. if he is real aggressive, out the front door for a walk! Also, my last veiled would calm right down when i would hum a song very slowly. They cant hear like us but they can pick up on vibration very well. You have to find that thing that calms him down. I do agree with more plants. It maybe he is bored and like children any attention is a break in boredom. I do agree they sense fear. So one of you needs to break this cycle of chasing you with open mouth. With a heavy glove, let him bite away to show him he does no good and he is still going to be removed from his cage. You just might have to use tough love with him. Also when he tries to climb on your head, pull him down to your shoulder or hold him in your arms. Dont give him a dominent position. (His grip can break your ear cartilage, i know this from personal experience as one of mine was climbing to my head when a fire truck went by and blew its horn which is why the head is off limits. Also if my hair got into his digestive tract it could kill him)I wish you the best of luck. Whatever tact you take, must be repeated everytime till the bad behavior stops. So be consistent.

 

[Connorology]

Yikes, that is an aggressive animal. My advice based off of animal behavior in general and not specific to chameleons:

1) to deter the behavior: more cover so he feels more secure, never tease him at all for any reason, and be neutral and non-reactive when going into the cage - try to not respond in a way that makes it seem like you are retreating from his aggression (as this rewards the behavior), but do not react in a way he'll perceive as aggression either, as that will also result in more of the same. Get some cat bite gloves if you really need to, that will probably be overkill for a chameleon but they're commercially available. If you can find a feeder that he really likes as a high value treat - maybe grasshoppers or hornworms or silkworms or something like that - try to offer it to him by hand and never give it to him by anything other than hand. If he's not responding to it just stop and come back later, don't wave it in front of his face or anything that could be perceived as threatening. You could also try to use a little light (like a pen light, nothing too bright) to flash at him a couple times before a treat, basically the visual equivalent of a clicker you'd use on a dog to associate it with food/treat. I had a veterinary behaviorist suggest that to me in passing, I thought it was an interesting idea, but my chameleons have been pretty calm and I haven't wanted or needed to train them.

2) To manage (not deter or alter) the behavior, get some additional cover so he feels secure and just don't go into the cage. When you need to do maintenance stick him in a dark carrier and basically don't interact with him.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes, it's an interesting behavior pattern.

 

[kinyonga]

Good advice @Connorology!

 

[Connorology]

I should maybe clarify - as others said before me - the goal is to get him to associate you with food, so he interprets your presence as a good thing. Right now I interpret that behavior as defensive aggression, he appears to feel you are a threat. Without somewhere to hide he cannot run, so he reacts aggressively to try and chase you away.

If he has more cover then he has an option to hide instead of fight, and if he makes a positive association with you he hopefully won't feel the need to fight or flee at all.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

To those who sent me well wishes, thanks. Yeah I've been gone awhile.

As to my .02 on this pissy lizard. This is normal. Your animal is displaying the same type of behavior as an adolescent male iguana. He's ready to breed, I think this is their season? You mentioned he's never done this before but I think that was because he was too young, so it's nothing you've done.

Three suggestions: More plant cover to make him feel a little bit more safe. Your cage space is a bit wide open. Next, like any territorial animal, remove him from his familiar territory when you want to deal with it. I've had pissed off Rhino iguanas that want to fight as soon as you open the cage but then when you establish dominance and take them into a different room, they calm the hell down. In his case, maybe have a nice planted space you can take him too in another room. Last, don't feed his mean ass. That is unless it is from your hand. You can put the food in a cup and hold the cup for him. He'll possibly learn to come to you for food that way instead of trying to kill you. Based on his behavior I would lean more towards it's the raging hormones and his need to establish he's in charge and going to chase you off. So the food trick may not work. Removing him from his safe place and changing his scenery could be a better trick. Either way, you got an aggressive one. I've never liked veiled for that reason. Beautiful chams, but yeah not my type.

 

[takisxx]

Well i think now its much better.
Its about a a week who i change it but his behavior remaining the same!

 

[Tkrd69]

Looks a lot better than before. It might not change the behavior, veileds are known to be aggressive but it does give more places to hide and retreat. I hope that he calms down for you in the long run.