MY PANTHER CHAMELEON HATES BEING HELD

[Noah_mayfield]

My panther chameleon is adorable but he hisses at me and tries to bite me if I’m a inch away. This makes it hard to clean his cage or even hold him for a bit. I know chameleons don’t like to be held often but he is super mean. Is there anything I can do to earn my buddy’s trust????

 

[kinyonga]

He's protecting his territory...the cage.
Try taking him out of the cage by getting him to walk onto a branch that you are holding onto the other end of. Hold the free end of it in front of his front feet and see if he will walk onto it.. Be gentle and don't pull if he doesn't climb completely onto it. You can encourage him to move forward on to the branch by bringing your free hand around behind him. You may find he calms down once he's out of the cage. Don't try to touch him or anything while he's out...and move slowly so you won't scare him. You can hold an insect in your free hand to see if he will take it. That's all I would do the first time.
Let us know how it goes.

One more question...what color clothes are you wearing when you try to go into his cage? Do they have strong patterns?

 

[absolutbill]

Exactly what Kinyonga said! Take things slowly, and try to make every time you try to hold him a positive experience. I only hold mine to carry them out to the porch for some sun, which they love. Piggy-backing on her last question, do you wear a hat, glasses, have a "strange" hairstyle that might scare the chameleon? They are extremely visual, so you have to keep these things in mind.

 

[Noah_mayfield]

He's protecting his territory...the cage.
Try taking him out of the cage by getting him to walk onto a branch that you are holding onto the other end of. Hold the free end of it in front of his front feet and see if he will walk onto it.. Be gentle and don't pull if he doesn't climb completely onto it. You can encourage him to move forward on to the branch by bringing your free hand around behind him. You may find he calms down once he's out of the cage. Don't try to touch him or anything while he's out...and move slowly so you won't scare him. You can hold an insect in your free hand to see if he will take it. That's all I would do the first time.
Let us know how it goes.

One more question...what color clothes are you wearing when you try to go into his cage? Do they have strong patterns?

Thank you I will be trying it today! Most of my clothes are simple one colors things like today I had on a grey shirt when he was acting territorial.

 

[Noah_mayfield]

Exactly what Kinyonga said! Take things slowly, and try to make every time you try to hold him a positive experience. I only hold mine to carry them out to the porch for some sun, which they love. Piggy-backing on her last question, do you wear a hat, glasses, have a "strange" hairstyle that might scare the chameleon? They are extremely visual, so you have to keep these things in mind.

I don’t wear hats and my hair is spiked up.

 

[Noah_mayfield]

Exactly what Kinyonga said! Take things slowly, and try to make every time you try to hold him a positive experience. I only hold mine to carry them out to the porch for some sun, which they love. Piggy-backing on her last question, do you wear a hat, glasses, have a "strange" hairstyle that might scare the chameleon? They are extremely visual, so you have to keep these things in mind.

And thank you!

 

[McClouds]

I DONT have a cham! and I don't have any experience!, however if I was in your situation I would Give less ***** when you are cleaning his cadge . just pretend he is not even their don't show any singe of fear , and I think the taking him out on a branch and out of his territory is a good idea as well , I believe kinyoga suggested it

 

[Angelwolf]

Big fat wiggly superworms help A LOT!

 

[kinyonga]

@absolutbill said...", do you wear a hat, glasses, have a "strange" hairstyle that might scare the chameleon? They are extremely visual, so you have to keep these things in mind"...good addition to what I said!

 

[Flamegurl]

Let us know how your attempts go, since reading these suggestions i am going to try same thing. I really want my guy to like me too!!

 

[Graves923]

If you have the space and means to set up a free range area, I found that it helps the chameleon feel less territorial in the cage when they are taken out to free range regularly. I usually let my guy free range a few time per week in the mornings before I go to work.

 

[Flamegurl]

I cant even get my guy out of cage, and its been 4 weeks. He seems to be angry at me as he is either all tan and calm, or dark greyish black when i move my hand in slowly next to him.

 

[Julia777]

It's possible that the spiked hair may scare him. My birds used to get spiked hair when they were frazzled and so I presume other animals hair shifts (puffed, spiked, flattened - all of which mean different things for birds) can mean something also. So you could try approaching him before you spike your hair to see if it makes a difference. Maybe it would make no difference, but it would be interesting to find out. He's really cute.

 

[Julia777]

Sorry, I meant "spiked feather" when referring to my birds...lol

 

[Kritter]

Are you sure it’s not a female? Some of them just never like people lol

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

My female is very shy and I find that just opening her cage up lets her know that not everything outside of her cage wants to kill her. Sometimes I think she gets into her own head and ends up hiding in her plant and then coming out again later, but she is a lot less fearful since I have been opening her cage. I am thinking that maybe if you open your cham's cage he will gain confidence and trust you more. Then he might be okay when you hold him/take him out. I completely agree with everyone who said the free ranging would be beneficial.