Holding of my Chameleon

[Spags]

My little girl will NOT let me hold her. Obviously that opens up a number of problems as far as vet trips and weighing goes. HOW IN THE WORLD DO I DO IT AND WHERE DO I START. BTW i mean beasie as a little nickname not an insult XD

 

[camillethecham]

My little girl will NOT let me hold her. Obviously that opens up a number of problems as far as vet trips and weighing goes. HOW IN THE WORLD DO I DO IT AND WHERE DO I START. BTW i mean beasie as a little nickname not an insult XD

My little stubborn cham does the same thing! She seems so petrified of me, I was told to get a stick/branch and have her climb onto it and take her out that way. I try to avoid grabbing her directly due to stress.

 

[NERVOUS]

Ohh, I share you pain... I've been trying to 'tame' my Cham by handling him daily for the past week, but it's like pulling teeth every time I try to get him out of his enclosure.

In either case, I use a handheld branch to get him out. I place it near him until he climbs on it, then I try to maneuver him out of the enclosure. 7 out of 10 times he 'escapes' by climbing off the branch. I just keep at it until I get him or he gets visibly upset... At which point I leave him alone.

Best of luck!

 

[martinlemus]

I was try to wiggle a branch or my finger on his hand. works every time !

 

[Clint526]

I must get the tamest Chams out there, it's hard for me to even get mine even the least bit fired up. I do handle daily and hand feed offer though. My male will even chill on my shoulders as I do chores around the house.

 

[bryantt]

My little girl will NOT let me hold her. Obviously that opens up a number of problems as far as vet trips and weighing goes. HOW IN THE WORLD DO I DO IT AND WHERE DO I START. BTW i mean beasie as a little nickname not an insult XD

So is she hand feeding? How old is she and how long have you had her?

 

[Spags]

So is she hand feeding? How old is she and how long have you had her?

Yes i hand feed her. I have had her for 10 months and has let me hand feed her for 7 of those months

 

[bryantt]

Yes i hand feed her. I have had her for 10 months and has let me hand feed her for 7 of those months

I would continue to hand feed only.

The process of gaining a chameleons trust isn't a fast one.

My veiled would hide just ar the sight of me. But now its a very different story!

I started by getting a chair and sitting at his vivarium with the doors open for at least 10-15 minutes before feeding. (for a few weeks)

Then would continue to sit at his viv but would introduce my hand into the vivarium at the same level as my Cham but the opposite side. (again few weeks)

Once I could see my cham was at ease with my hand being in his environment I would put my hand closer to him (in his path way) and spray the vivarium with warm water. This usually got my cham moving, naturally he'd try walk across his cage but my hand would be in his path which after a few hesitant attempts eventually hed walk over. * AT THIS POINT I DID NOT ATTEMPT TO HOLD HIM*

After a week or so of doing this very other day, eventually I would raise my hand once hed walked across it and then put him back almost instantaneously. Once I could tell he knew I was no threat I practiced the same method and took him out of his vivarium slowly building up the time I would hold him only being a few minutes or so...

To ensure being taken out of his viv seemed like a positive action, I brought him a safe plant/tree to perch on in my living facing the window so he could watch the world go by.

This seemed to do the trick as now hes incredibly tame, even waits at his doors to be taken out to roam.

Even now he's very friendly and would quite happily perch on my shoulder for a long period of time contently. But I usually only hold him to take him out of his viv and put him back!

Hope this helps it worked for me! sorry for the long winded message lol