Having Trouble Taming

S

Shelby_joness

New Member
Hi guys!

My name is Shelby and I got my chameleon from a friend about two weeks ago. She is a veiled chameleon and probably only a couple of months old (my friends got her from petsmart). They didn't want her anymore because she is "aggressive." I wouldn't even call her aggressive because she doesn't go out of her way to attack or hiss, but she won't let me get near her. I need to at least be able to get her out of her cage to clean it sometimes, but I would really love to get it to the point where she will climb out on my hand like other chameleons do.

I haven't tried hand feeding because as soon as I open the cage door she either runs or rolls over on the side of her vine so that I can barely see her. If i put my hand by her she hisses and lunges. What are some good ways to start to tame her before I even try hand feeding? And once i do start hand feeding should I use crickets or worms?

Any help would be great, thanks!
 
The best thing for her right now is some time to adjust to her new surroundings. It is possible that she may never actually willingly come out of the enclosure. It will be beneficial for you to be able to observe her closely at some point so you can visually check for any health issues, but for now just let her be. Just remember that she is just doing what she is supposed to do. After some time she will come to recognize you as a source of food, and then she may not be as defensive. Just take it slow for a while and when the time is right you can try hand feeding if you want to.
 
I'm not an expert, and i know it is counter-intuitive, but the more cover they have, the more confident they will be. So more hiding places = better viewing IMO. good luck!
 
Spend time in the room but as far away as possible doing something quiet like reading or homework. Try to move slowly when you do move. The more times you spook your cham the longer it takes for them adjust. Like said above more cover will make them feel safer faster.
 
Shelby_joness said:
Hi guys!

My name is Shelby and I got my chameleon from a friend about two weeks ago. She is a veiled chameleon and probably only a couple of months old (my friends got her from petsmart). They didn't want her anymore because she is "aggressive." I wouldn't even call her aggressive because she doesn't go out of her way to attack or hiss, but she won't let me get near her. I need to at least be able to get her out of her cage to clean it sometimes, but I would really love to get it to the point where she will climb out on my hand like other chameleons do.

I haven't tried hand feeding because as soon as I open the cage door she either runs or rolls over on the side of her vine so that I can barely see her. If i put my hand by her she hisses and lunges. What are some good ways to start to tame her before I even try hand feeding? And once i do start hand feeding should I use crickets or worms?

Any help would be great, thanks!
Click to expand...
After letting her settle when hand feeding slowly moving your hand to her with food on it when she rolls to the other side just stay there and let the feeder move around you hand she will see this and want to eat use different bugs find what she likes most and use that one for hand feeding only so she sees she gets treats from you this is what I've been doing and my little man is coming around now hope this helps
 
ChamLB said:
Spend time in the room but as far away as possible doing something quiet like reading or homework. Try to move slowly when you do move. The more times you spook your cham the longer it takes for them adjust. Like said above more cover will make them feel safer faster.
Click to expand...
Her cage is beside my bed (it can't really fit anywhere else in my room) and she seems to be okay with it. She doesn't get scared when I move around and she's comfortable with me looking at her, I can also put my hand in the cage sometimes but once I get close she freaks. I guess it will take some time, I'm just impatient!
 
im also trying to start hand feeding but i let crickets loose in the cage and sometimes ill put a hornworm on a vine should i stop putting food in the cage so she has to come to me and eat ?
 
^ thats what I don't know. Im not sure if I should only hand feed her or free range when she wont take food from me. Right now she wont even eat from my hand but she will eat out of a small cup sometimes if I offer her food in it but other times she just looks away and leaves.
 
I do a mix. Usually I find their favorite feeder and only offer it by hand, they otherwise never get it. Sometimes I sit there 15 minutes if it's a new comer, usually I don't push it passed that. Free ranging I only do with crickets or flying insects. Everything else is cup feeding.
 
update on this as of 10 mins ago. i bought a pair of exo terra bamboo tweezers there about 9 inches long and i got them from my local petco. i used them to grab a cricket and ease it in front of her and after about a minute she took it! first thing that i have fed her besides free ranging. im hoping this will warm her up to the idea since its a wood piece and not my hand in her cage. really hoping she will eventually just take it out of my hand.
 
Tongs can/have cause serious tongue issues in the past with multiple peoples' chameleons. They end up damaging or losing the tongue completely. I use my fingers preferably because if they catch my finger I can let them draw it into their mouth and chomp on my finger without any pain coming to them and they will let go within a few seconds because they realize it's not what they want.
 
Andee said:
Tongs can/have cause serious tongue issues in the past with multiple peoples' chameleons. They end up damaging or losing the tongue completely. I use my fingers preferably because if they catch my finger I can let them draw it into their mouth and chomp on my finger without any pain coming to them and they will let go within a few seconds because they realize it's not what they want.
Click to expand...
dang thats very depressing since its the only thing iv made progress with
 
Are there any foods that can completely replace crickets? Just wondering. I have only fed her crickets and butter worms so far, which she looovved the butter worms. I know of some other worms that I can try too but my local pet store said that butter worms are the best for hand feeding? Got any other preferences while hand feeding?
 
A lot of people use roaches. I use two species of roaches and use crickets occasionally still. Isopods also do a great job at being an every day feeder. I don't think you should completely eliminate a feeder unless my chameleons can't eat it or I have an allergic reaction to that certain type (which thankfully I have no had issues with).
 
Well I don't think I would completely eliminate crickets, but I want to hand feed as much as I possibly can but the crickets gross me out lol. Its easier for me to hold worms. Im very impatient, I just want the lil girl to trust me already haha.
 
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