Scared?

[sebastianthechameleon]

I have an 8 month old veiled. He has a varied diet of crickets and worms. I got him only 4 months ago. After 4 months of extreme social activity, my chameleon's happiness dropped. He is always stressed and always on the lookout. I want to do my best to make my chameleon feel safe and healthy. I have heard of methods to fixing this: such as hand feeding and spending more time near the reputation. He is always so frightened. This morning i tried to hand feed him a worm and he hissed. This was his first time showing aggressive behaviors. I wanted to ask if i am doing anything wrong. He gets all his supplements when expected and has a normal sleep and eat schedule. Any info would help. Thanks!

 

[jajeanpierre]

You are not going to be happy with what I have to say, and I am sorry to be blunt, It seems you have basically forced yourself on your chameleon and he's now grown up enough to say enough is enough. Babies tolerate a lot without complaint, but it doesn't mean they like it. It is only when they get bigger that they start complaining. Back off and let his stress levels drop. I treat my chameleons as if they are tropical fish--look but don't touch. They can be very engaging even if you don't touch them. Others on the forum insist they can be handled. Maybe some can, but yours is telling you in no uncertain terms you have crossed the line.

 

[brownie64]

Your cham has reached the teens so to speak in the chameleon world. Give him some space they usually chill out a little as they mature. You need to let things be on his terms when he comes out, or weather or not he climbs on you, don't force it it will only lead to stress. And like was mentioned he may never want to tolerate your company. I have had chams that were very tame with tolerating me, and some that would bite my fingers off just because only time will tell. Hope this was helpful.

 

[sebastianthechameleon]

Thanks so much for the supplies. This started a couple weeks ago and i havent handled him for almost a month. I was told that i am not supposed to handle the chameleon unless its for medical reasons or i need to clean the reptarium. Since i got him 4 months ago i only handled him less that 8 times. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Remkon]

I think autocorrect is killing sebastianthechameleon's writing

You're welcome for the supplies, I'm still wondering why one would need 250 pink toilet seat covers tho...

OT: With the amount of people regularly handling their cham on this forums alone I can see why people would start expecting theirs to end up like that too.
Some will say their cham will come running to them once they open the door of the enclosure thinking the cham wants to play outside rather than thinking there's something wrong in the enclosure that makes him want to leave.
It could well be that some chameleons like to benefit from the advantages of being on their human and will tolerate handling very well.
But part of it is also that humans just like to believe that a chameleon will feel the same emotions as humans do while they are totally irrelevant to an animal that lives a solitary life and doesn't care for it's offspring.

I think a 'tame' chameleon has just learned that you're not a danger to him and being on the warm body of a human is a good way for him to stay warm.
On top of that it will also protect him from predators what's a nice bonus when you're outside of your safe zone...

 

[Smeagol JS10]

My cham is 4 months old. I handling once a day for him exposed to sunlight. For now he's on my arm and is quiet when I stroke with swab in your head. Sometimes it gets angry , with a dark color and strong ... so do not get caught.