Need some tips

Traceyd

New Member
I've had my veiled chameleon for a week now, he is almost 4 months old, he has been eating and drinking since I brought him home. He seems happy enough and is active during the day. I just have a few questions..

He has been eating crickets, and I have got some hoppers for him ( let him try one and it was gone in seconds), also have given him a couple of waxworks which I won't be giving him alot. I have also ordered calci worms.. What is another good stable for him ( silks, butter worms?)

I haven't been handling him much at all as I feel he is super nervous ( I would be if I was his size) but I do want to get to a stage where he can allow me to handle him ( if we have to go to vets, or outside if we ever get sun in Scotland, etc) what is the best way to go about it? He has stopped hiding when we are near his viv and now sits looking at us... I know they are not the type of animal that enjoys being handled but sometimes you have too.

Any help or advice will be welcomed...
 
Try hand feeding him it'll probably take a little while but he might get used to it. But also some veilds just have bad attitudes
 
Silkworms are a brilliant feeder.

Neither of my chameleons are keen on crickets at all, so my staples each week are silkworms, locust, phoenix worms and the occasional wax worm as a treat. Silkworms will however only eat mulberry chow and nothing else, so if you get some, try and get some chow for them as well, otherwise they will die within two or three days without it. I alternate the feeders each day to keep my interested in a variety of food.

Dakota is right about the attitude. I have a year old male Veiled and a four month old Panther and my Veiled is bad attitude personified. He has got marginally better in the 6 months that I have had him, but still goes crazy when a hand goes in his cage, lungeing, head butting, puffed up like an adder and hissing like a tea-kettle. As a result, I handle him as little as possible and he flatly refuses to hand feed, despite me trying every day for 6 weeks. Some of them just have very antisocial personalities and I have accepted this. He does however like to free range, so once a week I secure the front room, kick the cat out, shut all the windows and open his cage and he comes out of his own accord, mooches around my plants and soft furnishings for an hour and then goes back inside - he does seem to love that.

On the flip side however, my little Panther is as laid back and friendly as you could get.

They all have very different personalities, although Veileds do tend to be the most antisocial of the species!!
 
ZiggyStardust are Phoenix worms the same and calci worms? I've been looking into silkworms too. I'm in the uk so not too sure who is good to get them off of... I am going to keep trying with Corona the Cham. But I am under no illusions he is going to be a wee handful. That's why we picked him he had ATTITUDE! Lol
 
Hi Tracey. To my knowledge, Reptiworms, Calciworms and Phoenix Worms are all one in same and are the larvae for the Black Soldier Fly. I personally like silkworm for feeders as they are rich in calcium and also lowfat, unlike some of the other worms.
 
My veiled took about two months before eating from my hand, it was a huge ordeal.
After that he'll always eat a couple crickets or worms from my hand, but he only lets me hold him when he's already out of his cage. He hates being cooped up in there.
I'm no expert but I think I've read some other users saying that their veileds don't really like being caged up either.

Anyway, when he gets older it might be a good idea to set up an area for him outside his enclosure, a free range. I have a tall bougainvillea in my room by my window, and my veiled always puts on his happy colors on when he gets in it, and it makes him way friendlier :D
 
Try some blue bottle flies hatched from plain, un-dyed white maggots. All chameleons seem to respond well to anything that flies in my experience.
 
Thanks for all the responses. He seems to be getting braver and is allowing me to hand feed him more and be closer. We just sit with the door open checking each other out.. He is fascinating.. I will look into getting a free range set up outside his viv... Have another dilemma his dipped has stopped working and I am out all day tomorrow. Will he be alright if I mist really well in am, then have a friend must again in the afternoon? Just worries haven't left him for a whole day...
 
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