He wants OUT!

[EatYellowSnow]

Hi,

I have a 6 months old male panther chameleon set in a glass terrarium about 50x50x60cm in size. Recently (about 2 months ago) he started to look around more and at the moment he spends much of the day looking through the glass at close distance and trying to "get through" or climb on the slippery surface. Once I open the terrarium, he sometimes nearly jumps on my hand and starts crawling on top of my shoulder.

I am aware its probably just natural curiosity but I just want to ask if its completely normal, as I mostly saw chameleons that were rather lazy, spend most of their days basking and if they ever get on your hand, they would just sit on it calmly, while mines running all over it. I am planning to get him a bigger (higher) terrarium very soon but hes still pretty small so it shouldnt be the issue that hes depressed in the small space, right? I also make sure he has more than enough water and food. Maybe the glass is teasing him, or the reflections? Unfortunately I can hardly change that. The terrarium is also on the floor at the moment, so maybe hes nervous about being too low? Is there a way to calm him once I have im on my arm, so he doesnt run around like crazy? Thanks for your opinions!

Marketa

 

[Zephalia]

My advice would be to move him to a larger enclosure. My cham. did that in his 18x18x24 a lot. He would wander the outside of the cage, peering outside. I believe it was not a large enough space for him and he was moved to his larger enclosure around 6 months old. Now he does not pace and look about the room eagerly but is much more content perching under the basking light and sticking to the vines.

I would also raise that up off the floor. They feel safer and more at ease when they are the higher point in the room. That could also be causing him some anxiety and restlessness.

Each cham is different and mine likes to explore more vs. sitting in one place. I think that is normal behaviour and there isn't much of a way you can train him to sit still.

 

[jrath]

In my experience, it's the glass.
Chams just don't understand why they can't walk right through it and it can stress they out a lot just trying to figure it out. If you stick with a glass cage then tape paper on the sides and it will help, but without covering all sides he will still probably do it.

 

[Psychobunny]

He wants out because he is in a small glass box.
Chams need plenty of well ventilated space