How do I make her love me

[Kathidavis72]

I bought a Veiled Chameleon at a pet store, have always wanted one. She was only "3 months old" when I got her and that was 4 months ago. She has NEVER let me touch her. She is content with me talking to her. The only time I have actually held her was when we moved her in and 3 weeks ago she escaped the cage and we had to catch her. She jumps, hisses, and turns an ugly shade of blackish green. So I know it stresses her for me to even try. I know she wont hurt me if she does actually "bite" me and I try not to jump or react when she does it. I do not want to stress her out so I have pretty much come to the conclusion we have a love-hate relationship and I am content to just talking to her or petting her nail when she is on the side of the cage (which she is fine with LOL). But I really want to hold her and get her out of the cage once in a while. What can I do or is she just not a "friendly" girl?

 

[kinyonga]

She will never love you...he can learn to trust you and look at you as a safe tree and source of food however. If you try to hand feed her and move slowly when doing it or when working in her cage she should be more willing to tolerate you Ned eventually walk on your hand. Not all will though because just like people they have their own personalities/temperaments. Hope thin helps!

 

[Kathidavis72]

She is definitely got a personality. Lol. She is content with our hands in the cage when we feed her and somedays she meets us at the door but she is not a fan of our hands near her. I will try doing the hand feeding maybe she will learn to tolerate me
Thanks

 

[kinyonga]

Good luck!

 

[Fchamel]

My girl Carly is the same way. Hates cameras, puffs up a lot. This is a normal attitude of veiled chameleons. Hand feeding is a great way to build a trust relationship. The longer you have your cham, the more it will trust you.

 

[Mrjamwin]

Hi there and welcome to the group. Unfortunately as you stated you have now entered into a love-hate relationship with your Cham. There is a video on youtube put out by one of our members Gingero that can instruct you how to get your Cham used to you but it will take time and patience but get used to the fact that your Cham may never want anything to do with you. Hang in there.

 

[Kathidavis72]

Oh good was afraid I was the only one with a moody Chameleon. Yoda doesnt like cameras either, but she has gotten a little better about me cleaning her cage.

 

[Mrjamwin]

Here is that video

 

[Kathidavis72]

Hi there and welcome to the group. Unfortunately as you stated you have now entered into a love-hate relationship with your Cham. There is a video on youtube put out by one of our members Gingero that can instruct you how to get your Cham used to you but it will take time and patience but get used to the fact that your Cham may never want anything to do with you. Hang in there.

I am determined to at least get her to tolerate me. She is stubborn though

 

[Fchamel]

Oh good was afraid I was the only one with a moody Chameleon. Yoda doesnt like cameras either, but she has gotten a little better about me cleaning her cage.

Nope. lol Veiled chameleons have extreme attitude ?

 

[Ramrod]

She is definitely got a personality. Lol. She is content with our hands in the cage when we feed her and somedays she meets us at the door but she is not a fan of our hands near her. I will try doing the hand feeding maybe she will learn to tolerate me
Thanks

Yeah it takes a long time for them to gain trust in you. Just move slowly around her and don't force her to do what you want.
Chams are not really a good pet to hold and play with. They much prefer to be left alone unless they decide otherwise.
Talking to them is something most of us do automatically but they really cant hear you.If you can get her to eat from your hand then you have made a big step towards trust. Good luck?

 

[Kathidavis72]

Here is that video

Thank you so much. When free roaming do they make their way back on their own? Gonna research that some more.

 

[Fchamel]

chameleonacademy.com A wonderful website for research

 

[Carlton]

Thank you so much. When free roaming do they make their way back on their own? Gonna research that some more.

Some do, some don't. I've had free range melleri who learned their way around the house quite well. They would march back to their mini-forest in the second bedroom after completing the daily "patrol" of warm sunny windowsills, plant stands, and the horrible glass fronted stereo cabinet where their rival always seemed to lurk. My biggest female preferred taking her mid-patrol time outs on the compressor housing on the back of the refrigerator...it was nice and warm there. Other free range chams didn't orient as well, especially if they wandered into a cool darker area. Brain cools down, thinking slows to nothing, and so do they. The worst spot in that house was the chilly ceramic tile floor behind the toilet...and of course that was invariably where a missing one ended up going. I had to hunt them down and retrieve them myself. If your house tends to be a lot cooler than their cage they can end up getting chilled fairly fast.

Best to first confine roaming to the area around their cage. Chams tend to stick to known safe routes, so encourage them to do so by creating one for them. Make sure there aren't any hazards before you let them wander. You don't want them touching hot basking spot fixtures, trying to climb on things that can fall on top of them, getting stuck behind or under furniture, touching room heaters or fans, falling into water, tangling with other pets, getting stepped on, etc.

As for getting your cham to "love" you, forget it. They can certainly recognize you as a trusted source of good things and allow you into their presence without a fuss, but they aren't really wired to "love" other beings or care anything about what that other being might want from them. If you want love, get a dog. You'll learn that the ultimate compliment a cham may give you is voluntarily choosing to crawl up your shirt and rest on your shoulder...when there are other places higher up they could select. If that gives you a thrill, you've officially become a resident of the cham-lover-slave-servant domain.

 

[Kathidavis72]

Thank you Carlton. I think I will wait until Yoda is a little more tolerant of me first. She let's me get close but as soon as my hand is seen she puffs and bellows. Baby steps forme and BABY Yoda

 

[Pearl Fields]

yeah its pretty normal, mine is the same, hisses and stands up on back legs and puffs if we get our hands to close (so we dont lol) fine with handfeeding though, i just cant pick him up. Not that i really want to. (tbh i am surprised how i dont even care that i cant handle him. like AT ALL)