not liking this.

[alexyboo909]

Po still hates me , a lot. I'm getting really tired of it to be honest. I do everything right but I think it's just how she is. She bit me today and I was unpleasant.

Any ideas on what I should do guys? I'm desperate .

 

[fluxlizard]

What were you doing at the time you were bitten?

 

[danibug23]

chameleons do not like people. they are not supposed to. i have a male veiled that won't even let me go into cage unless I'm getting his food dish and then if i want to get him out for cleaning i have to use a glove. nothing really you can do.

 

[okiroo]

this is not a dog. you cant just expect the animal to love you. it may get used to you, it may not. if your going to get rid of it because you dont like the personaiuly i suggest you put it for sale here so someone who will care for it gets it.

have you tried freerangeing, handfeeding? ect. dont handle her too much. you may make it worse my consistantly bothering her. leave her alone and let her come to you.

 

[thatoneguy]

haha thats sad im sorry. did it hurt? there is a way you can attempt to warm her up to you. try hand feeding her. if all goes well after a while she start letting you handle her. you cant force yourself on her tho.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Unfortunately this will probably not change. Chameleons do not bond to their owners, and they don't feel lonely or happy to see you or anything because they're reptiles. They see you as either a threat or a non-threat and that's all. Some will tolerate handling because they do not see you as a threat. But some will never see you as anything but a threat, no matter what you do, and will always be scared of you. Your chameleon is actually scared you're going to hurt her so she is trying to defend herself. There is probably nothing you can do to convince her otherwise and she won't grow out of it. My veiled has been with me for 3 years now and he is still convinced I am the devil incarnate. I only ever open his cage to give him food so you wouldn't think he'd feel that way, but if he doesn't run to hide from me he lunges and will actually bite me. I have a panther who wants to crawl on me each time I open his cage and he is quite friendly. But I know plenty of people who have unfriendly panthers too. The species doesn't matter, it's just their individual personalities. And you can't change that.

If you're looking for a reptile to cuddle with (like Pascal in Tangled), you need to get a bearded dragon or a ball python. A chameleon is not the cuddly type. Sorry.

 

[CaptainMorgantown]

My chameleon isn't aggressive towards me at all, but she will not let my boyfriend get anywhere near her. She puffs up and hisses and everything.

 

[alexyboo909]

Don't get me wrong I wasn't expecting a reptile to be cuddly, I'm not stupid. I'm just getting agitated because I put so much money into her and she's the devil.
I was reaching into her cage for her bowl and she came out of nowhere and bit me. oh and trust me , I've tried it all. free ranging, hand feeding, leaving her alone for days and then the repetitive handling method.


sadly I guess I am thinking of selling her. But I'm not sure I even want to do that. I put so much time and money into her and I would be worried about her going to someone who doesn't know how to take care of her.

Just something I'll have to think about I suppose.

 

[ChameleonFan1989]

alexyboo909 no offence but did you research about them regarding temprement, many chams do not like to handled, because we see posts of chams like panthers and a few occasions of veileds allowing you to pick them up, some are simply are more tolerant of you doesn't count as actually likeing it.

If you do sell her, you could regret it and do it simply out of frustration. Everyday my veiled who passed would lunge at me, hiss and try and bite but I simply didn't think "He's nasty, I'm going to sell him" because that's just how chams are. Simply acknowledge this is how she is and admire the beauty of these animals

 

[alexyboo909]

She likes to run around and is quite happy until she see's me or notices that I'm still around. I suppose I'm most upset because she used to be friendly and have no problems with handling but it's just been getting worse and worse.

oh ha and here's an example of her happy until she realizes I'm near her

 

[alexyboo909]

alexyboo909 no offence but did you research about them regarding temprement, many chams do not like to handled, because we see posts of chams like panthers and a few occasions of veileds allowing you to pick them up, some are simply are more tolerant of you doesn't count as actually likeing it.

If you do sell her, you could regret it and do it simply out of frustration. Everyday my veiled who passed would lunge at me, hiss and try and bite but I simply didn't think "He's nasty, I'm going to sell him" because that's just how chams are. Simply acknowledge this is how she is and admire the beauty of these animals

I've had her for a few months now and I was just getting discouraged because she's been getting meaner. It's true though that I didn't know they'd actually bite and hiss until she did it to me. I thought they were just slow peaceful chams... wrong.

 

[fluxlizard]

One thing that might help is to not take it personally.

Specifically- she does not hate you.

She is not capable of that level of emotional complexity.

Most specifically- she feels threatened by you. A giant reaches in to her cage and it becomes all about the basic instinct of flight vs fight, and there is no place to flee to, so she is choosing fight.

A lot of times young lizards that are aggressive mellow out with a little age and time.

My advice- continue hand feeding consistently and daily. Get a large enough cage that you can reach in and perform maintenance without cornering her into an aggressive defensive response. (I like the 175 gallon reptariums, but even a 3'x2'x2' would probably be large enough so she would not lunge at you). And patiently wait out the next several months to see if things get better with her, appreciating her beauty and perfection while you hand feed her.

 

[JackP308]

Cuddle with pythons, I think Ill take my chances with my panther pooping on my arm and dogs pfft. LOL I find most chameleons quite friendly other than vieleds actually for the most part. Even they can come around

I actually believe most of my chameleons like me

Try owning a Tokay Gecko and making one of them come around


Everything Flux said is good advice and take it for what its worth she's doesn't personally hate you. I think my veiled does but he is just a chameleon and doesn't know any better.

 

[ChameleonFan1989]

As another member said leave her be, trying to handle her to often could result in death by over amount of stress, IF you REALLY need to handle her i.e cleaning, vets or any other important reason, try and wear gloves if there is a fear of being bitten.

If I lived in th US, I would take her one for you

 

[alexyboo909]

Oh well obviously I know she's incapable of hate, it's just how I express her level of temperament I suppose. I'll keep u p the hand feeding and such. I let her free range once a day for about an hour. She has a plant to hang out in but she prefers my scarves.
I'll keep trying, I don't really want to give her up.

 

[okiroo]

Oh well obviously I know she's incapable of hate, it's just how I express her level of temperament I suppose. I'll keep u p the hand feeding and such. I let her free range once a day for about an hour. She has a plant to hang out in but she prefers my scarves.
I'll keep trying, I don't really want to give her up.

she may not ever come around, you need to be prepared for a pissy cham and not getting to hold her. all of my chams show no agression toawrds me and are sweet, one came that way and the other came mean(female veiled). after a while she calmed down and was nice. i took her out sunning gave her lots of trees and made my room pritty much hers. it may take alot for her to not be threatned by you.

 

[creddjobs]

Don't get me wrong I wasn't expecting a reptile to be cuddly, I'm not stupid. I'm just getting agitated because I put so much money into her and she's the devil.
I was reaching into her cage for her bowl and she came out of nowhere and bit me. oh and trust me , I've tried it all. free ranging, hand feeding, leaving her alone for days and then the repetitive handling method.


sadly I guess I am thinking of selling her. But I'm not sure I even want to do that. I put so much time and money into her and I would be worried about her going to someone who doesn't know how to take care of her.

Just something I'll have to think about I suppose.

DONT GIVE UP! You have came so far!

 

[alexyboo909]

I wooont. I just hand fed her some worms.

 

[coldbloodedAL]

Dont give up on her. She MAY eventually come around, just following suggested advice. If you want something to handle and cuddle with, get a bearded dragon... They are a lot of fun

 

[fluxlizard]

Oh well obviously I know she's incapable of hate, it's just how I express her level of temperament I suppose. I'll keep u p the hand feeding and such. I let her free range once a day for about an hour. She has a plant to hang out in but she prefers my scarves.
I'll keep trying, I don't really want to give her up.

Yeah- I'm actually saying the thing about hate for your benefit, not for the lizard, because even though on a logical level you understand, expressing it that way still internalizes some of that for you and you sound like you are responding appropriately to hate by expressing a bit of hurt/resentment. If you can distance yourself from the idea that it is "hateful" you will probably feel less hurt/resentment/stress about the situation and better able to take her as she comes and enjoy her for what she is rather than what you wish she was.

I would personally not free range a chameleon like this unless it was freeranging 24/7. Because getting her to the free range and back again involves interacting with her and forcing her to deal with you (and forcing her to do what you want, although we all know if she could understand, she would want to free range). But right now, she just doesn't want to be messed with, fears it, and messing with her regularly will just make her remember to be afraid she might be messed with any time you open her cage. I think you will have a better result from a really large enclosure that she never leaves until she learns you aren't a threat to her.