My chameleon hates me!!

[YogiGirl]

Yogi is a Nosy Be chameleon that I got back in September as a hatchling. He seems to be doing great... eats about 15 crickets a day... and is starting to show some beautiful colors, but there's just one problem:

He is TERRIFIED of me! Pretends to be a stick whenever I even look at him!

You see... we were getting along great at first, and he wasn't really that scared of me. But when he was just a few months old, he got really sick with parasites and I had to administer antibiotics twice a day and force feed him baby food for about a week. Even though I was of course just trying to help him (he did recover, and we cleared up the bugs), I think the whole thing traumatized him and now he hates me for it!

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas of how I can win my little guy back over to me...?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Dont try to force the interaction, he'll get less afraid of you in time, but its normal for them not to be "friendly" especially as adolescents

two things to try:

#1 - food treats
Give him something he cant resist, preferably something he hasnt had much before. Then after he's associated that prey with YUMMY, you can slowly hold the item out on a finger, place on a branch. Back off until he's tempted enough to eat it with you in eye sight.
Next time, dont move as far away. Eventually eating in front of you, having you around, might not terrify him.

#2 - slow acclimatize
Try sitting on the floor at a great distance, not moving. Be as unthreatening as possible. Sit still there for a long time. Do this for lengthy periods of time over a few days or weeks.
He may eventually tire of pretending to be a stick / forget you are there, and if/when he does Get up slowly. Dont move towards him, but away. Again showing youre not a threat.
Keep doing this Until the idea of you in the distance isnt disturbing.
Then move a bit closer, still low and slow. Repeat. Until seeing you in the same room isnt disturbing.

 

[jannb]

Also try keeping him out of his cage some. Buy him a big free range tree. They are usually allot nice out of a cage.

 

[YogiGirl]

Thanks so much for the tips, you guys! I haven't had time to try them yet but will this afternoon. Only problem with the treat idea is that Yogi seems to be scared to eat anything other than crickets. I've tried giving him pheonix worms and supers, but they usually crawl out of the bowl before he even tries to eat them...

 

[pba110]

any idea how he got the parasites?

 

[YogiGirl]

I have no clue... he was only about 2-3 months old when he was diagnosed, so I think he must have had them to start out with. He didn't eat that much and was a VERY slow grower at first. Just in the past couple months has he started to catch up to the size he should be for his age...