how to make my veiled Cham trust/like me?

Not sure how to respond to that one. They are animals. How does a chameleon act like part of the family. What other "animals" are part of your family.
My cat would love to play with my chameleon.
 
So my house is going to be a more natural environment then a cage I have set up.
I am sure if it was up to mine chameleon and yours they would rather be in the wild and my fish would rather be in a pond.
So what's the point-should we not keep them
 
alan marz said:
Not sure how to respond to that one. They are animals. How does a chameleon act like part of the family. What other "animals" are part of your family.
My cat would love to play with my chameleon.
Click to expand...

They are animals, but my cats are certainly family members.
 
I am no expert but when we handle boy George we leave it totally up to him if he comes out or not we place our hand slowly on one of his branches and it is upto him if he comes to us. Now we have noticed when he wants to come out he will scratch at the sides of his vivarium
 
alan marz said:
Not sure how to respond to that one. They are animals. How does a chameleon act like part of the family. What other "animals" are part of your family.
My cat would love to play with my chameleon.
Click to expand...

Cats and chameleons do not mix. I've seen chameleons injured and killed by cats on here many times. I have a senior dog and it took me two years to fully trust him with my chameleons. He was young when we first started out with chameleons. I also have a Cuban Knight Anole, red foot tortoise and a box turtle. My animals are family and treated like family. I interact with them daily. They run errands with me go on vacations and celebrate holidays with the family. You can see pictures of some of them (present and past) enjoying family time in this older thread in post number 45 and 46.
 
My original point was that some people on this forum make it seem like a chameleon is going to be cute and cuddly and though all may
be cutie not all are cuddly, and when a new person gets one and its not, they are disappointed.
I have tried to handle my guy lovingly and with patience. I can get him on my hand but it stresses him out. He is much happier if not handled.
As far as fearing all day-He is only fearing when I try to handle him. Otherwise he is just hanging out soaking up the sun.
I am sure if you were kept by a 30 foot giant who looked totally alien to you, and you weren't quite sure if he was feeding or just feeding
you to fatten you up to eat later, you would show some fear. Maybe I just have a smart chameleon.
.
 
jannb said:
Cats and chameleons do not mix. I've seen chameleons injured and killed by cats on here many times. I have a senior dog and it took me two years to fully trust him with my chameleons. He was young when we first started out with chameleons. I also have a Cuban Knight Anole, red foot tortoise and a box turtle. My animals are family and treated like family. I interact with them daily. They run errands with me go on vacations and celebrate holidays with the family. You can see pictures of some of them (present and past) enjoying family time in this older thread in post number 45 and 46.
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Unless you have a big old lazy cat like mine. Bumper is 19 years old now but he has never chased or killed anything in his life even when he was a kitten. He just never knew that being a cat he was supposed to. My chams free range also and my male panther likes to walk around on the floor and my cat just can't be bothered..Lol! I certainly wouldn't trust just any cat and I would never suggest that anybody should trust their cat with a chameleon but I have no worries about him. I guess there are always exceptions. Like you, Jann, my pets are a members of the family and my chams get handled a lot and are well adjusted to the other animals and people in the house. I like that you and I don't treat our chams like fish :)
 
alan marz said:
My original point was that some people on this forum make it seem like a chameleon is going to be cute and cuddly and though all may
be cutie not all are cuddly, and when a new person gets one and its not, they are disappointed.
I have tried to handle my guy lovingly and with patience. I can get him on my hand but it stresses him out. He is much happier if not handled.
As far as fearing all day-He is only fearing when I try to handle him. Otherwise he is just hanging out soaking up the sun.
I am sure if you were kept by a 30 foot giant who looked totally alien to you, and you weren't quite sure if he was feeding or just feeding
you to fatten you up to eat later, you would show some fear. Maybe I just have a smart chameleon.
.
Click to expand...
That's like any pet. Even some cats and kittens that look cute an cuddle would be glad to scratch your face off if you picked them up. Some animals like to be handled more then others including chameleons. My panthers free range so they get petted with a little scratch under the chin a lot. My male panther doesn't love to be handled but he tolerates it and he does get squished and cuddled even though he lookes annoyed. My female panther is more skittish but will tolerate handling so I can put her on their tree outside. I had a male Jacksons Cham, which also free ranged, that loved to be handled. All chameleons are different. I'm one of the people on here that believes chameleons have personalities and aren't meant to be placed on display in a cage.
 
JaxyGirl said:
That's like any pet. Even some cats and kittens that look cute an cuddle would be glad to scratch your face off if you picked them up. Some animals like to be handled more then others including chameleons. My panthers free range so they get petted with a little scratch under the chin a lot. My male panther doesn't love to be handled but he tolerates it and he does get squished and cuddled even though he lookes annoyed. My female panther is more skittish but will tolerate handling so I can put her on their tree outside. I had a male Jacksons Cham, which also free ranged, that loved to be handled. All chameleons are different. I'm one of the people on here that believes chameleons have personalities and aren't meant to be placed on display in a cage.
Click to expand...
They are also not meant to be pets.
 
JaxyGirl said:
How do you know? Have you ever tried it? Do you free range your chameleons?
Click to expand...
I know they are not meant to be pets because they are wild animals. I do have one as a pet. No I do not free range my chameleon because I have other animals that could cause harm to him.
 
I let him out of his cage when I can. He climbs between his plant and his cage under watchful eye. The minute I take my eyes off him he tries to climb to
the top of his cage. His lights are up there and if not turned off we have a problem. When you free range your chameleon do you watch him 24/7.
I know if I didn't he would eventually get hurt. I know they poop in the same place most of the time, but not always. Don't think I would like to
find one on my keyboard or worst. Right now I have him in a 24 x 24 x 6ft cage and he has been outside 24/7 for the last 2 months.
He seems quite happy. The only time he stresses is when I try to handle him, so I don't anymore.
 
Virgil1972 said:
I know they are not meant to be pets because they are wild animals. I do have one as a pet. No I do not free range my chameleon because I have other animals that could cause harm to him.
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If your Cham is wild caught I would absolutely 100% agree it is a wild animal. now days if we get our chams from a breeder most babies have been born in captivity and are 5 generation plus and have been raised in cages from day one so they aren't quite as wild as one may think.
 
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