He suddenly hates me!

laurahlove

laurahlove

New Member
I'm like, on the verge of freaking out here. I had picked up Earl last night to show him to this lady that stopped by, and he was fine as always. Fed him some worms outta my hand, whatever, he was happy and cool. This morning, I go to get him to let him free roam on my curtains while I do school like always, and he lunges at me! I was like, what the heck? He has NEVER done that. He did it again. Not hiss, but just lunge. I fed him a mealworm out of my hand and that was fine...? I left him alone for an hour or two, covered the side of his cage so he couldn't see me, (maybe he's pissed at me? Idk) and hes making a crap load of noise rustling the leaves, which is weird cause that doesn't happen when its not covered. And I just tried again and this time he actually hissed!? :( :( did I do something? I'm so confused and sad. He always loves climbing my face and sitting on my head. Is it because it recently got cold or something? I don't know. Help!
 
How old is he?

Sometimes around 6-9 months old, veileds become aggressive. Patience and hand feeding are the only solutions I know of.
 
I agree with fluxlizard, he may just be growing up. My guy went through the same thing at about 7 months old. One day he just started to HATE me. After a couple of days he was back to normal (though he is a panther). My veiled have ALWAYS hated me. One of them would literally jump on my hand and start biting it if I so much as put my hand in his cage. It hurt even with thick winter gloves on for protection, I can only imagine the scars I would have had I not used the gloves. It was an ordeal just to feed him, let alone clean the cage.

Veiled chameleons can be VERY cage aggressive as adults. Keep working with him and he may come around.
 
He's only like, 4 1/2 months old. (That's what the breeder told me at least)

75ff5009ef45724d71e0a2afc04889c9.jpg


This was him the other day, does he look that old?

He will still eat out of my hand after he realizes there's food in it, but he still lunges toward it a bunch of times.
 
I would say around 5 months is pretty accurate. All chameleons grow and mature at different times. He is probably just going through his teenage "know it all phase". I would not worry about it, he is a veiled and may never like you again. Only time will tell.
 
Sorry Laura, but many male veileds go through this as they get older, they are generally the most antisocial of all chameleon species, although some do improve the further they go into adulthood.

My male Veiled, Ziggy, is about 14 months old now and he is not a people lizard at all - he usually puffs up, hisses and lunges at me whenever he perceives me invading his space, and as such I handle him as little as possible, to stop him getting stressed out. Having said that, there are odd occasions when he does want to come out of his viv of his own volition when he will willingly climb onto my hand, but this absolutely has to be on his terms and his terms only, for him to be comfortable.

My advice to you would be to give Earl as much space as you can, handle him as little as possible for a few months until he matures and over time you may find him sweetening up towards you again.
 
Thanks guys for all of your answers. I'm not going to try and pick him up for a few days, but guess what just happened!

My brother just walked in there and picked him up, like normal. (I'd didn't know he was doing this) No swinging, hissing, nothing. What? Then he just crawls on to my hand. On to my head. Back into his cage. I'm so confused, why was he so mean this morning and fine now?
 
Veilds can be quite aggressive, sometimes when they start to mature, they realize that they can do you harm. When I handle my more aggressive chams, I just put my hand below them and kinda tap their bum until they walk onto my hand.
 
Update: its just ME, you guys. My brother can go in there and pick him up normally like I used to and he's perfectly fine. But when I put my hand anywhere near him (and there's no food in it) he sways and hisses at me. I seriously don't get it. My feelings are actually hurt by a chameleon :(
 
Awe I feel your pain...

My veiled is about 14 months old and I love him to bits but.........he is a total asshat lol....he hisses and puffs up if I get to close to his terrarium let alone stick my hand in....if I have to take him out he is fine once he is out of his space but I can still tell he isn't thrilled with having to touch me lol.

So he is just a visual love.....he used to tolerate me but around 7 months of age he did a total flip on me and its never been the same since. I tell him how handsome he is and he tries to bite me....its a love hate thing...with 100% hate on his end hehe....

So you are far from alone *hugs*
 
Defianceofexistence said:
Awe I feel your pain...

My veiled is about 14 months old and I love him to bits but.........he is a total asshat lol....he hisses and puffs up if I get to close to his terrarium let alone stick my hand in....if I have to take him out he is fine once he is out of his space but I can still tell he isn't thrilled with having to touch me lol.

So he is just a visual love.....he used to tolerate me but around 7 months of age he did a total flip on me and its never been the same since. I tell him how handsome he is and he tries to bite me....its a love hate thing...with 100% hate on his end hehe....

So you are far from alone *hugs*
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How do you even get him out though? Cause like that's exactly how mine is, he's such a little turd when he's in there, but once he's out he's fine. But I'm so...scared to get near him, its terrifying lol. How do you do it? I tried using like a pencil or something and he got super mad lol
 
laurahlove said:
he's such a little turd when he's in there, but once he's out he's fine. But I'm so...scared to get near him, its terrifying lol.
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That is probably why it seems likes he hates you and is ok with your brother taking him out of the cage. I think he can see and sense your fear as you reach your hand to get him. Animals are very instinctive to that kind of stuff and now that he knows you will retreat when he hisses at you he will probably do it more often. Watch your brother closely as he gets him out and see his confidence as he reaches for him, eye the speed and steadiness of his hands. That is what you must also be and do, do not show fear or hesitation and be strong. Your chameleon is still young so even if he bits it won’t hurt much, it’s better to take a few bites now before he gets older, just don’t retreat or freak out.
 
So I tried using the stick method, hoping he would just climb on, no. He HATES the stick. I've never heard him hiss so loud! He hates anything coming near him unless its my hand with food in it. I have to be able to get him out in case of emergencies or something, guys! I need help here! Plus he is WAY to big for his cage and I'm going to have to take him out to put him in a new cage eventually but I can't very well do that with him swaying and hissing at me.
 
My chameleon absolutely despises the stick I use. In fact he hates anything that comes into his castle (his cage). I find the best way to get him out is to use his favourite treat (waxworms) and put it out of his reach. He'll climb onto the stick himself to get to the treats. A friend of mine just puts on gloves and grabs his chameleon with his hands but I strongly don't recommend that.
 
PattyCake said:
My chameleon absolutely despises the stick I use. In fact he hates anything that comes into his castle (his cage). I find the best way to get him out is to use his favourite treat (waxworms) and put it out of his reach. He'll climb onto the stick himself to get to the treats. A friend of mine just puts on gloves and grabs his chameleon with his hands but I strongly don't recommend that.
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Yeah, I don't think I'll be putting gloves on unless he takes to biting me. I was able to get him out today but only because I had to clean his vines that were full of crap so as I was pulling them out I just kinda put my hand under him. Its just so odd how he went from hating me, literally, from one day to the next :/ oh well
 
laurahlove said:
Yeah, I don't think I'll be putting gloves on unless he takes to biting me. I was able to get him out today but only because I had to clean his vines that were full of crap so as I was pulling them out I just kinda put my hand under him. Its just so odd how he went from hating me, literally, from one day to the next :/ oh well
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Thats good to hear, I know you love your little guy and it would of been sad if you gave up trying.
 
laurahlove said:
Yeah, I don't think I'll be putting gloves on unless he takes to biting me. I was able to get him out today but only because I had to clean his vines that were full of crap so as I was pulling them out I just kinda put my hand under him. Its just so odd how he went from hating me, literally, from one day to the next :/ oh well
Click to expand...

Mine went through this huge emotional swing as well. One day he was chill and the next he starts acting extremely aggressive. He's calmed down recently but still hates the stick. I'm still waiting for him to go back to his old self -_-
 
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