Nacho - First Glance in the mirror

[bigant25]

Nacho is almost 6 months old! , his hatch date was june 22nd

his new thing is always trying to break out of the cage everytime open it now!


guy used to be scared of his own shadow!, also his first look in the mirror, he got fired up red!

just wanted to share, thanks

 

[ZiggyStardust]

Lovely chameleon, but you do know that seeing his own reflection will stress him out, as he will think that he is looking at another chameleon?

It is really best to try and minimise the stress that chameleons undergo to a minimum.

Honestly not a criticism, but not something that I would do.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

You have a very handsome young man there. He is sure to be even more stunning as he continues to mature.

My guy is SOOOOO chill that he NEVER fully fires up. He will change the bottom half of his body when it is time to "play" with one of my females, but never fires completely.

 

[bigant25]

Yes I was aware, this was the first time that i put him in front of the mirror to see how he would react / i kept him there for about 10 secs and he fired up then i placed him back in his enclosure, i wont make it a habit. Although i did hear that it can help stimulate sexual maturity and also can (in theory) even help them develop their brightest colors to display if they see a rival male (or themself in the mirror) from time to time. im not sure if that theory really holds any water with the true experts, however i can see the logic it that

 

[ZiggyStardust]

My honest belief is that you should keep chameleons by causing them as little stress as you can and that they will develop their colours naturally without using any artificial means.

Obviously, everyone is different, but I can say that I would never cause my chameleons any undue stress, and let them develop themselves without outside interference from me.

 

[ChamDE86]

Yes I was aware, this was the first time that i put him in front of the mirror to see how he would react / i kept him there for about 10 secs and he fired up then i placed him back in his enclosure, i wont make it a habit. Although i did hear that it can help stimulate sexual maturity and also can (in theory) even help them develop their brightest colors to display if they see a rival male (or themself in the mirror) from time to time. im not sure if that theory really holds any water with the true experts, however i can see the logic it that

I agree with this completely. As long as you're not holding him there for a long period of time, it shouldn't have a major affect on him stress wise. I'd imagine they compete for females out in the wild all the time by firing up against another male.

 

[bigant25]

@ChamDE86 i think you are correct !

also my Cham is alone from 8:30am-6:00pm While im at work, im home with him for only a few hours a day and then its lights out, he lives a stress free (boring life) if you ask me, i think thats why he (only recently) trys to come out of his cage and free range all the time now since i let him free range on the towel rack in the shower a few weeks back. I keep handling to a minimum ASPCA need not get involved lol just joking around

 

[TreyLcham]

My cham doesnt even react ehen he sees a mirror or even another cham, he just kinda goes on with his business like it never happened. My theroy is that he knows that its a mirror of him self because when I ased the breeder about it he said that his dad was the same was and so on and so forth

 

[maya2]

There are some amazing points being made in this thread.

Chameleons definitely get fired up in the wild, it's how they developed this amazing ability. It's communication. Nothin more natural.
On the other hand, I want my chameleons life to be better than it would be in the wild. Honestly, I've spent so much time and effort getting my chameleons to feel comfortable with me that I would be scared getting either of them fired up would cause a negative association with myself.

Now, back to Nacho - He looks like a super hero! Ready to take on anything

 

[bigant25]

Thanks @maya2