Interacting with your chameleons

CleaTheChameleon

CleaTheChameleon

New Member
How do you guys interact with your chameleon? I noticed if you watch your chameleon for a bit every day they will get used to you being around. I just looked at her blinked my eye for a sec and when i opened up she blinked and closed her eye. It was me her me her me her and i found that Clea knew what i was doing. Maybe you guys can bond with your chameleons every day for a bit, and then leave what happened every day :)
 
Not much bonding happening here! Amy still runs away when you walk past her viv and look at her! Heaven forbid if you open her door, lol! She's not so bad with me - she runs quicker from the rest of the family!:D
 
I gave a bunch of tips to Miss Lily about handling/interacting, you should PM her to see what has worked! I think it's great to interact with your chameleons.
 
Sam loves his chin rubs...its the only way he'll let me hold him, my other 2 seem to like it when I rub their spine with 2 fingers...one on each side.
 
The only interaction my chams seem to enjoy is when its feeding time. A couple of them don't mind being handled, but I don't take them out too much. I would say Lenny, Fred and Steve are the three I handle the most.. but it isn't all that often. They show the least amount of stress when being handled. I don't pet them or play with them, they just like to climb around my arms and shoulders.

I just wanna put out a small reminder that chams are solitary animals... so interaction isn't really needed. More of the 'look but don't touch' sort of pet.
 
Fonzie is the super social one, the rest would rather be left alone. If I open Fonzie's cage to do anything, he's out at the front reaching with his front arms wanting to come out. I have a repti-vine that I put in the shower and Fonzie enjoys a shower now and then. I also take them all out for natural sun on Wednesdays and Thursdays (weather permitting). Other then that, I interact with them at feeding times.


 
Flash likes to hang out with me or my wife and gets to come out once or twice daily.
He prefers to be held on our arms or shoulder in direct sunshine when possible. :)
He likes to sit there for 10-15 minutes warming/basking in direct contact with us/our skin.
I have not tried petting him as occasionally he hisses at me when looking me right in the eye, I think to let me know he is the boss. ;):D
 
Every Cham is different. I was all freaked out because of all the stuff I read about Panthers being mean. My 1st Cham was a Senegel and he is the most docile nice cham you could ever want, but they stay very small and I wanted something with more color that I could see grow. So I ended up getting a deal on two Panthers. One Ambiole Male and one Nosy Be Female. The male is awesome. Never hisses and comes to my hand and climbs out of the cage onto me. I was worried at 1st because he is a year old and ompared to my Senegel he is a giant. Anyways he is awesome. Now the female is a different story. I never take her out. Everytime my hand goes by her she flares up that chin and gets awesome pissed off colors. Well I had to take her out and put her in a new big cage. It was interesting. She hissed and had her mouth wide open going nuts. She was sleeping though so that didn't help. Every cham is different. I'm a cham junkie now and I have only been into them for a couple months. I just want to say that I wouldn't know what to do if it wasn't for this forum!
 
My Mellers and my deremensis both seems to throughly enjoy when I spray them with a spray bottle. Its like their showertime. They position themselves with their heads up and eyes closed while I spray the water directly at them and when I stop I always get "hey, why are you stopping for? " look from them.
 
frost loves to come out when i open the cage he reaches for my hand to be place in front of his vine when i open the cage, and when i sit my hand under he just climbs aboard! he loves the sun but the heat has been giving him less time out of the cage :( .. i tried to interact with him everyday so he knows im the person who he should interact with if anyone... and not be stressed.. jekins on the other hand is still getting use to my pressence.. it just takes time
 
Thaxter free ranges (no cage; he's loose on his plants and vines) and will reach out to climb on me (or my husband, or the pet sitter, or anybody else) - probably in part because he's learned that he gets treats or trips outside when he's "friendly" (also, people are warm to sit on). He has mixed feelings about his mistings; after the first minute he generally enjoys it. He loves being outside in the sun; does not care for going back in. I've learned to avoid unintended interactions by being careful while feeding - if I make eye contact, he keeps one eye on me and won't go for the bug, so I keep my eyes elsewhere (e.g. on the bug).
 
As soon as I moved my ambilobe to a free range setup he's really taken to people. He will climb on me as soon as I reach out a hand.
Early in his life I worked really hard on food association. He was terrified of me. I think he sees me now as the moving tree that has food and therefore wants to be on that tree.
I think everyone interested in handling their chameleons or are at least getting them to a point where they are not stressed by your presence should try hand feeding. They don't "love" people, but they love to eat. It seems like a great way to earn their trust.
 
pba110 said:
As soon as I moved my ambilobe to a free range setup he's really taken to people. He will climb on me as soon as I reach out a hand.
Early in his life I worked really hard on food association. He was terrified of me. I think he sees me now as the moving tree that has food and therefore wants to be on that tree.
I think everyone interested in handling their chameleons or are at least getting them to a point where they are not stressed by your presence should try hand feeding. They don't "love" people, but they love to eat. It seems like a great way to earn their trust.
Click to expand...

i tried hand feeding but he sees me and doesnt go for it even if its his favorite
 
lol my Veiled, Barry White, is undeniably nasty - and will hiss, puff, bite, and generally try to look as intimidating as possible. I try not to handle mine much - too much stress is never a good thing. My Jackson's, Marvin, is totally chill though, as is the Oustalet's and my five Rudis babies. If they don't seem to stress too much, is it a good idea to handle them a little? Just so that they're used to cleaning/moving/etc?
 
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