how to break association for food?

[roguekiller23231]

i have been feeding my chameleon by hand because he's old and his aim is not the best, so food escapes him, unless i feed him by holding the crickets/locusts close to him he would never eat enough.

now i have a problem, he has associated my hands/fingers with food, every time i go to pick him up or put my hand in the viv he trys to snap at me or eat my fingers, it's not an aggressive move because he's scared, he just thinks i'm either holding food or my hands/fingers are food.

how do i break this association?

 

[Olimpia]

Perhaps use tweezers/tongs instead of your fingers? Or wear gloves (perhaps of a bright color like blue or green) just when feeding?

 

[Dave]

Waldo (my veiled) does the same to me when he's hungry. Tongs are a good solution.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Instead of feeding with your hand, switch to feeding with a shallow dish

put gloves on your hand so they look different

how old is this chameleon? I have one that is over 7 and eats for himself fine - are you certain there isnt some other issue at play that prevents him from hunting?

 

[roguekiller23231]

he's about 4 and a half years old now, he's got a problem with his eyes where one bulges out slightly, but not all the time.

he will go for food, but he's usually 1cm or so off when he fires his tongue out, so i feed him by hand because i'm worried he might bite his tongue off, because he has on occasion missed his food and gone flying across the viv.

 

[sandrachameleon]

You might find this blog entry gives you some ideas as to cause / possible resolution for his poor tongue control:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/232-tongue-troubles.html