interesting things to do to enjoy your cham?

[Mountain Dragon]

I'm sorry, I'm not understanding what you're trying to say.

I've never advocated unnecessary handling or suggested chameleons have a 'need' to be held.
On the contrary, I have suggested to a few people looking for that to consider a bearded dragon instead; they tolerate handling much better.

Consider the 'handleability' scores in Clint Laidlaw's videos.








I don't find one for Veiled Chameleons, but there are enough folks here that know they can (generally) be the least amicable of the three.

Lol I worded that so badly, I’m going to start taking time writing my stuff. My apologies. Yes Veiled chameleons can be the least holdable chameleon I agree with that. I’ve seen many videos of mad veileds snapping at owners. So what I was trying to say I still can’t word it right is… most, 90% (not an actual factual percent, just an educated guess) of chameleons of all species do NOT like being held. But there are some that like being held for example Van (casket case’s chameleon), Yoshi my chameleon (both veileds), one misskitles chameleons (I think panther and I think jack) love being held and there’s many more can’t remember off the top of my head. That doesn’t mean we should be putting them on the wheels of our cars or bringing them to petco or walking them around the block. It means we can enrich them with a plant table or a tree or a free range. But most chameleons don’t like being held so it’s the oddballs that do and are rare. And I totally agree with you Chameleon even if they like being held shouldn’t be handled as much as per say a beadie.

 

[Mountain Dragon]

Here’s what miss skittles said about hers and I’m positive her cage is correct. By the way this is all respectfully im just trying to show my side

Missskitles- “Then there is my panther, who just can’t get enough of being held. Pretty much as soon as he knows I’m in the room, he starts rushing over to the front of his enclosure. As soon as his enclosure door opens, he’s climbing on me. If I don’t take him out, he’ll screen climb his door. If I’m sitting on the floor giving my beardie some free roaming time, he’s wedging himself as low in his enclosure as he can possibly get, usually needing me to rescue him. He’s just happy to sit on my hand and stare at me or occasionally climb to my head.”

 

[MissSkittles]

Yes, my Jack is an oddball and wants nothing more than for me to hold him. The other day when I was sitting on the floor, he actually gave his head some abrasions climbing low in his enclosure to reach me. Each chameleon, like us, is different. I have tried to accustom my veileds to handling and it’s just a no go, with varying levels of tolerance for each of them. I do try to handle each of them, if only for a few seconds a couple of times a week and each responds different. Grumpy is ok once on my hand. Stella remains out for blood. Hammlet freaks out and has once thrown himself off my hand to get away. The veileds will come running to the front of their enclosures when they see me, but it’s in hopes for food. I try to respect all of them and their unique tolerance for handling. They all trust me, but don’t necessarily like me.

 

[Mountain Dragon]

I think chameleons literally all have different personalities and some tolerate handling, some like handling, some love it, and some absolutely hate it. But most just tolerate it

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Missskitles- “Then there is my panther, who just can’t get enough of being held. Pretty much as soon as he knows I’m in the room, he starts rushing over to the front of his enclosure. As soon as his enclosure door opens, he’s climbing on me. If I don’t take him out, he’ll screen climb his door. If I’m sitting on the floor giving my beardie some free roaming time, he’s wedging himself as low in his enclosure as he can possibly get, usually needing me to rescue him. He’s just happy to sit on my hand and stare at me or occasionally climb to my head.”

Yes, my Jack is an oddball and wants nothing more than for me to hold him. The other day when I was sitting on the floor, he actually gave his head some abrasions climbing low in his enclosure to reach me. Each chameleon, like us, is different. I have tried to accustom my veileds to handling and it’s just a no go, with varying levels of tolerance for each of them. I do try to handle each of them, if only for a few seconds a couple of times a week and each responds different. Grumpy is ok once on my hand. Stella remains out for blood. Hammlet freaks out and has once thrown himself off my hand to get away. The veileds will come running to the front of their enclosures when they see me, but it’s in hopes for food. I try to respect all of them and their unique tolerance for handling. They all trust me, but don’t necessarily like me.

All due respect, Ol' Mr. Grumpypants exhibits almost identical behaviors (charging the open door, running up my arm trying to get to my head, climbing the screened door...) yet I would interpret them quite differently.

They want out, yes, but beyond that.... He'll tolerate being on my hand for a few seconds—usually with some chameleon juggling involved. He'll even tolerate some light gentle petting (that's not going to come out right no matter how I phrase it ) He sort of trusts me—I still get the gape every time. I always allow him to take the lead. I can tell whether he wants the plant table or back in his home by the direction he reaches for/lunges.

I can only speculate about his motive(s), but I expect it's just to get to the plant table and the prospect/possibility of freedom, new horizons (The Bear Went Over the Mountain), or nookie.
That last one is a powerful instinct and motivator.