My cham wanted to see how i tasted...

[JoshCrane1]

wierd thing happened today; i put a 3" hornworm on the screen of my female veileds cage, and when i pointed to the worm she shot my finger instead of the large 3" worm. her accuracy couldnt be that off and can only attribute the action as that she wondered what i tasted like.....

she ate the hornworm after sucking on my finger for a couple seconds. startled me and the tongue def. felt weird when latching on to me.

anyone have this happen?

 

[Justin Carl]

That's why I don't think hand feeding is a great idea.
Females are the worst! They think everything is food. Hands, fingers, eyes, misting bottles, baby chameleons, etc.
If you aren't used to hand feeding and the tongue hitting your hand, then it's possible to injure your chameleon.
Sometimes people will pull away when the tongue sticks to their finger.
Then you end up with a fully extended tongue hanging from the tip of your finger and a handicapped chameleon.
It doesn't take much to pull the tongue right out of their mouth.
Another problem hand feeding might present is if they miss and the tongue stick to your finger.
Then you end up hyper extending the tongue.
If the tongue sticks and the prey(your finger) doesn't move, then the body is drawn forward.
That can result in injuries to the tongue, muscles, and other bits that make the tongue shoot.
I've had this happen with a large hornworm, trust me, it wasn't fun being forced to hand feed a angry female veiled for the following 3 days.
I was so happy when her tongue recovered and she could eat on her own.
If you plan on hand feeding, then:
1) make sure you hold the insect in front of your finger tips.
2) grab it by its legs(if it has them)
3) point the fattest part of the feeder directly at the chameleon.

 

[JoshCrane1]

great reply, i usually never hand feed her but it was her first time with a hornworm. u made some great points about tongue injuries and i will def. be considering never doin that again. thanks

 

[sandrachameleon]

At least she didnt grab your eye-ball. That's happened to a couple people (including me). It feels VERY weird!

 

[JoshCrane1]

ewww!!! eyeball!! thats crazy.

 

[Cainschams]

At least she didnt grab your eye-ball. That's happened to a couple people (including me). It feels VERY weird!

Yes its wierd and doesnt feel very welcoming. Feels like someone flicking you in the eye. I will only hand feed things I dont have to hold onto. Most of the time roaches will stay on your hand or worms. Just put in the palm and make sure they are aiming for the feeder and nothing else.

 

[ColorCham427]

One of my chams I tong feed. I wrapped fake ivy around the long tongs, and always hold the feeder by it's butt!

I've had all of my chameleons hit my hand and fingers, back when I hand fed them once in a while. Their tongues never stuck to my skin though.

 

[JoshCrane1]

i think i had some sonny's bbq sauce on my finger as well.... maybe she just wanted some bbq.lol

i have a habit of eating with my chams.lol

 

[BocaJan]

I put supers on the flat of my hand and extend it with fingers extended downward. They know what is coming and always hit the worm.

 

[wheresstimpy]

i hand feed my male all the time, we both love the bonding, i love interacting with him, and he loves the snacks i have in my hand, lol. Ive never had an issue, except my female bite me because she didn't want to be hand fed, but she does that anytime i approach her in her enclosure... ungrateful little thing, jk

 

[ChameleonsTree]

I have a female ambilobe who licks my hand everytime i hold her.

 

[JoshCrane1]

hmmm wonder why?

 

[summoner12]

hmmm wonder why?

She is tasting him. Panthers do this to 'smell' kinda like snakes

 

[dodolah]

hmmm wonder why?

as far as i know (in addition to Kevin's explanation), chameleon often rubbed its vent on a favorite tree to claim the territory -> scenting.

The licking/ tasting is chameleons way to pick up the scent. So, they would be able to know if the tree has been "claimed" or not without having to meet the actual chameleon in charge.

Your chameleon probably see your hand as a tree and want to know if it is already claimed by another chameleon (perfectly make sense since you hand feed her. Imho, chameleon associates food source as tree, since they often eat insects that crawling on the tree).