New Jackson chameleon

[Mstasel]

My son purchased a chameleon this past week. We had to research to learn as we went. He lives next door to me!

He didn't freak out when my son held him., but he acted different with me from the beginning day one.

After the first time I held him, he came to the door of the cage and climbed on my hand. He climbed up my arm. I rubbed his belly and kissed his side. Then he walked down my arm and waited for me to turn over my hand and laid down and went to sleep.

Now, every time I go to the cage he comes straight to the door and climbs to the top of my arm and won't move until I give him his kisses and rub his belly, then he goes to my hand and goes to sleep!

My son does all his feeding and care and can't understand why a reptile who is not suppose to build a bond, seems to have built a bond with me!

I usually stay cold so my Sons hands are warmer than mine. do we have an unusual chameleon or am I unusual?

 

[leedragon]

yes this is a typical begginers misstake when you anthropomorphise the animal.

chameleons do not sleep during the day. when they close their eyes in response to interaction it is a symptom of HUGE stress. it is like" If I close my eyes the danger diapers or I play dead and maybe he will leave me alone.
if he would do this all by himself that means he is ill, and need to see a vet as soon as possible.

 

[Mstasel]

He is awake all day, I go over in the evenings.

My son both hand feeds him and also makes him hunt for half of his food so he goes from the top to the bottom of the cage.

He hangs out in the back of the cage. Where the most leaves and wider branches are. He just doesn't want to interact with my son beyond feeding.

When I come up to the cage, he comes to the front of the cage. He doesn't run from me, he comes to me.

If I stick my hand in the cage, he climbs on to my hand! If I don't stick my hand in the cage, he climbs out to the top and sits there and looks at me.

If he can get on me in any way, he does every time! He does it when I change out his liner in the bottom of his cage.

I check the water level in the humidifier, check the temperature and humidifier gauge by his cage. I also mist his plant leaves 3 times a day. The water system he got at the pet store sucks, so I check that daily. My son mists him in the morning and before he goes to bed. So he is misted 5 times a day.

we have been looking for a good automated misting system online but haven't decided on which would be best.
This little guy is getting the best of the best of everything! We take our pet care very seriously!

If coming to me means he is ill, why doesn't he do all this with my son? That makes absolutely no sense!

He is eating, drinking and using the bathroom. His color, skin, eyes and toes are fine. His breathing is clear. He is active throughout the day! He has no type of swelling any where! I checked him over tonight!

If he is scared of me and stressed by me, why would he come to me on his own? That makes no sense either!

 

[Mstasel]

This was him this evening, when I changed his liner and checked his water! He climbed right on me!

 

[brownie64]

He is a nice chameleon I love Jackson's!

 

[leedragon]

He is awake all day, I go over in the evenings.

My son both hand feeds him and also makes him hunt for half of his food so he goes from the top to the bottom of the cage.

He hangs out in the back of the cage. Where the most leaves and wider branches are. He just doesn't want to interact with my son beyond feeding.

When I come up to the cage, he comes to the front of the cage. He doesn't run from me, he comes to me.

If I stick my hand in the cage, he climbs on to my hand! If I don't stick my hand in the cage, he climbs out to the top and sits there and looks at me.

If he can get on me in any way, he does every time! He does it when I change out his liner in the bottom of his cage.

I check the water level in the humidifier, check the temperature and humidifier gauge by his cage. I also mist his plant leaves 3 times a day. The water system he got at the pet store sucks, so I check that daily. My son mists him in the morning and before he goes to bed. So he is misted 5 times a day.

we have been looking for a good automated misting system online but haven't decided on which would be best.
This little guy is getting the best of the best of everything! We take our pet care very seriously!

If coming to me means he is ill, why doesn't he do all this with my son? That makes absolutely no sense!

He is eating, drinking and using the bathroom. His color, skin, eyes and toes are fine. His breathing is clear. He is active throughout the day! He has no type of swelling any where! I checked him over tonight!

If he is scared of me and stressed by me, why would he come to me on his own? That makes no sense either!

tell me. do you know anything about chameleon behavior? if so there no point in asking questions.
closing his eyes is no a positive sign at all. if you want to chameleon to live you stop doing whatever that makes he" fall to sleep" or you continue doing so until you chameleon start showing symptoms of illness due stress WHICH kills chameleons.
just browse her about sleeping during the day or he close his eyes when I pick him up, or he fell asleep in my hand.
TONS of people who everyday who get they animals dead due lack of understanding of behavior. please rethink this.

 

[Lathis]

I think this is unusual. He should not be going to sleep or pretending to on a person.

It's not all that unusual for a cham to want to come out and to use a person as an access point. Especially I. The 1 year-ish age when they are in that "teenager" phase of wanting to explore and establish their territory. My Jax certainly recognized and trusted me and my husband and would climb out on us, but he never did that for strangers. It could be that you have clamer body movements or something like that compared to your son that makes him less afraid of you.

What I wonder is that if the extra stimulation (petting and rubbing) gets to be too much for him and causes the closing eyes reaction, which is a pretty common Jackson reaction to stress. Could there be sometimes else in the environment that upsets him once out of the cage? Fans, moving things, pictures with animal faces, etc?

They are typically pretty chill little guys and usually won't huff or hiss when upset - they mighy close their eyes and hunker down instead. Jax might turn very bright green when upset too - it's very pretty and can be confused with "happy" colors. It's easy to misinterpret this behavior as getting cozy - mammals and reptiles have widely different behavior signals and it takes awhile to learn to read them.

He also may just be settling in still and need some time. If he comes to you, there's no harm in letting him climb on you. I always try to let the animal dictate the terms of interaction. You might let him climb about without the petting and see how he behaves.

Generally, something to be aware of, is that chameleons do not nap. So if you do catch him closing his eyes during the day, it is a sign of illness. Chams can be very good at hiding illness, so it's important to catch these signs as early as possible.

Also, another thing to be aware of, there is a very, very small chnace, but still a chance, that a cham can carry something infectious to a human, like salmonella or a certain intestinal parasites. Always wash your hands and no more kissing! Just in case. A lot of Jax are wild caught and sold into the pet trade - this comes with a lot of general health issues and parasites. He should go for a general vet visit and get a fecal check.

For an automated mister, I strongly recommend the mistking. Avoid the Monsoon, Reptirain, Habbamist, and the other petstore brand misters. They do not have the reliability or longevity of the mistking.

A long post, but I thought another perspective might help you out. Jax are really beautiful chams. I loved my Ferdinand to pieces - he had such a huge personality.