Help. How can I tame shy and scared juvenile chameleon

[emenemy]

It has been 4 months since I bought my panther chameleon at the store. They said she was 4 weeks old when I bought her and well started.
I followed the instructions posted somewhere here about giving your chameleon a new home.
So gave her a month without touching and handling. Only gave her feeders on a feeding cup.
She is very healthy but very shy and scared and only eats when im away and everytime i come near her, she hides at the back of the vines and foliages and never eats.
There is that one time she hisses and lunge at me when I'm trying to put my hands near her attempting to put my hand under her chin.
I think there is something wrong about how I took care of her.
I never should have gave her feeders on a feeding cup
I tried giving her feeder by hand but she ignores me and scurry away.
I am very patient with her, until now because it been a while.
There must something wrong how I took care of her.

Please help. I need your advice

Thanks

 

[Carlton]

It has been 4 months since I bought my panther chameleon at the store. They said she was 4 weeks old when I bought her and well started.
I followed the instructions posted somewhere here about giving your chameleon a new home.
So gave her a month without touching and handling. Only gave her feeders on a feeding cup.
She is very healthy but very shy and scared and only eats when im away and everytime i come near her, she hides at the back of the vines and foliages and never eats.
There is that one time she hisses and lunge at me when I'm trying to put my hands near her attempting to put my hand under her chin.
I think there is something wrong about how I took care of her.
I never should have gave her feeders on a feeding cup
I tried giving her feeder by hand but she ignores me and scurry away.
I am very patient with her, until now because it been a while.
There must something wrong how I took care of her.

Please help. I need your advice

Thanks

Some chams are just shyer than others. She's still young, and younger chams often feel more vulnerable. I don't think you have done anything wrong necessarily. Maybe if you describe your setup we could make suggestions for helping her feel more secure. Feeding her from a cup wasn't wrong at all. Is there a lot of activity around her cage? Can she see other animals? Maybe there isn't enough hiding cover in her cage? Is the cage low down to the floor? These things can contribute to shyness. One way to help her transition to taking a treat from your hand is to offer her a treat in the cup she's used to...but you are holding the cup in your hand.

Hang in there! Don't get discouraged. She may get a little bolder once she's grown, but again, sometimes individual chams just won't thaw towards people. Hard to predict and it doesn't always mean you did anything wrong.

 

[urawrath]

please fill this out so we can make sure there is nothing wrong with your setup

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[emenemy]

Hello Chameleon Masters,

sorry for the late reply

Master Carlton, Thanks for the very good input. Yes, she sees other animal than myself, is my dog which I believe is not visible in her line of sight because I placed my 18 x 18 x 36 screen cage in my 3' table. And also yes, there is a lot of hiding places in her cage, I have combined the artificial and natural plant (dwarf umbrella) which has pretty good foliage for her to hide.
I did try to hand feed her with her cup but she freezes, backs up and hides away so I have no chance but to put the cup and stay away from her cage.
when I'm away from her cage, I peek outside my room and she slowly goes to the cup and eat feeders and scurry away. whenever I'm near she always hides and freezes there.


Master Urawrath

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Female, 5-6 months old, 4 months in my care.
Handling - As I mentioned, She always backs up whenever I lay my hand infront on her
Feeding - four mealworms (her favorite) two times a day. three times a week with multivitamins plus calcium and one day with multivitamin plus D / calcium.
Supplements -three times a week with multivitamins plus calcium and one day with multivitamin plus D / calcium. ReptiCalcium with D, Exoterra Calcium, Exoterra multivitamins
Watering - Yes, I do see her licking the dew on the leaves and the cage.
I used the reptirain and safetyfirst humidifier.
Fecal Description - Seems kindly normal droppings white tip with dark ends
History - Bought from LLLReptile store (picked up). said it was a Male but I found out it was a female thanks to the masters from chameleon forums.
two months old from their care. bought it november 22 last year.



Cage Info:

Cage Type - 18 x 18 x 36 tall Screen Cage
Lighting - I used National Geographic™ Solarheat Mercury Reptile Bulb 125 watts from 7:00 to 5:00
Temperature - I have a temp and humid combo for measurement. 90-95 basking and 75-80 for ambient. depends on the weather sometimes I turn off the lamp when the weather temp is 100 because I lived in California .
Humidity - I used safety first 360 cool mist humidifier
Plants - I using Live Plant (Dwarf Umbrella) and Artificial Plant and Vines
Placement - My Screen Cage is placed on a 3' tabletop near the open screened window. I say maybe 5-7' from top cage to ceiling
Location - I lived in California Orange County


Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.

As of now, my chameleon is still shy and scared. my guts tempt me to get her exchanged. But NO!, I must be patient with her.

 

[Devokid]

With food. Hand feeding is your best trick.

 

[sinbad]

I would try to feed her crickets with feeding tongs, they are more active and may get her attention better. This is how my cham got to know me better and eventually let me handle him. Let her taste them first to understand they are food. I think it would be okay to let her go a day without eating if she refuses to eat the crickets from the tongs, try again the next day and she may go after them if she is hungry enough.

My cham would only eat them if I stuck them on the screen door and he would hunt them down. Eventually I introduced the cup to him and let him eat while it was in my hand, and after countless times of insisting (and moving very slowly) he finally started to eat from my hands- with the tongs. Now he is really confident!

I attached some vines to his screen door, when the door opens it lets some vines out, he would not go near them at first but now loves to go to these vines when I open the door. Hope this advice helps! Im still very new at this but this is what has worked for me!

 

[cristinaharn]

I did try to hand feed her with her cup but she freezes, backs up and hides away so I have no chance but to put the cup and stay away from her cage.