Social Chameleon?

[Julirs]

I am well aware that chameleons are shy and solitary and don't like to be held. My husbandry is good. It seems now that Leon the Veiled Chameleon at 18 weeks of age, who is used to being hand fed silkworms, wants to come out on to our hands and arms when we open the cage. He turns bright colors and "appears" to like the interaction. I am sure we are just a food source so to speak, but trying to clean up the cage, etc. is getting hard! Does anyone else have a Cham like this? I am afraid to put him in another plant for fear of escape.

 

[Laragail]

from what i can tell that seems to be pretty common with young cams.

they progressively get more pissy with age.

 

[Gizmo]

One of my panthers does the same. It started at just shy of 6 months -- with that first inkling of a testosterone surge -- the urge to roam to find a mate. Now that he's used to being out and about for a few minutes most days, he'll get very agitated if I'm in the room but don't let him out to patrol his extended "territory". I guess I'd offer that as a cautionary tale - watching a burly chameleon get uber-frustrated tring to force his cage door open when you can't explain "not right now" is a sad thing.

 

[FaunaBgirl]

Ah.... so Fractal IS horney. I thought that's what was happening. I really gotta get him on a plane to visit Lola. LOL

 

[Chameleon Kingdom]

One of my breeders is like that. Sitting Bull can't stand being in his cage!! Every morning when I go to care for my chams, he's always ready to come out and hang out. Sometimes he wants to just sit on my shoulder, other times he wants to roam. I think for the most part, chameleons don't like human contact, others tolerate it, and once in awhile there's that small few who seem to enjoy human contact. Enjoy your baby!!!

Cyndi and John
Chameleon Kingdom
770-485-6528

 

[Julirs]

He is roaming for sure! Looking for something-climbing upside down on top of the cage, all over the bottom, up the sides. Hate to tell him I am not getting him a girlfriend but a new Oustalet's that will be here in a few days. Oh how I wish I had more room-I think I would be happy taking care of a houseful of different Chameleon personalities!

 

[MWheelock]

It is curious the individual personalities you see in chams.

Manga will come out of his cage only if I am in the office at my desk. I will keep his door open when I'm in my office and he will come out and climb down to see me. He does not seem afraid. He also does not really like to climb on top of the cage to look around.
He will not do this if any of my other staff open the door for him...curious.

He does not like to be touched though and still gets very pissy when I have to move him for any reason. He is also not very fond of hand feeding.

I agree that most chams don't like interaction, but I'm no longer surprised or dismissive if some owners say that their cham likes them...it very well may be true.

Matthew

 

[kinyonga]

I have seen quite a few chameleons behave differently to different people.

There was a graceful chameleon that I was looking at in a store one day. Nobody would let me handle her....but I finally convinced them that if I couldn't handle her, I wouldn't buy her. I couldn't understand why they were objecting to me handling her...she was quite peaceful with me...until the owner came in and she immediately flared up at him, rocking back and forth, lunging at him and changing colors.

Another graceful female I bought hissed and lunged at me. She wouldn't calm down with me. Another person I know was able to handle her with no problems....so I let him have her. I didn't want her to have to live stressed out all the time.

I have had several chameleons that were quite tolerant of handling...sat on my shoulder. If I passed one of them to another person, they would immediately head back towards me. Maybe they looked at me as a "safe haven" and the other person as "unfamiliar territory"?

Henry was a terror of a veiled. Even if he saw me outside his cage, he would have a hissy-fit. If my hand came into his cage, he would run after me and would have bitten me if I hadn't moved. If I took him out on a branch, he would run along the branch until he reached my hand and bite. (I was always ready for him (I wore a longsleeved sweat shirt and pulled it down over my hand), so he never actually got to bite me...thank goodness!

I have never had one that would tolerate being touched or stroked.

 

[Julirs]

Leon now thinks this is a daily routine! He drinks from the spray bottle, and then climbs over to the front and out if I let him. Today he was content to just sit on my arm for 5 minutes and wasn't too happy to be put back. I also noticed that if I wear black he will puff up like a beach ball, so I went and put a light sweatshirt on and he deflated. Weird chamelon! My Oustalet's is coming Tuesday and I hope he is as mellow as this Veiled.

 

[Kent67]

My first panther, maaaaaaaaaany years ago, was a wc nosy be male. I used to let him free range my bedroom when I was home and he would frequently come to me, climb up my leg, and hang out on my shoulder or head while I was sitting at my desk. I also had to be careful with him because he learned that fluids were in large glasses on my desk and would try to stick his face in to get whatever I was drinking at the time!
BTW, what are the details on your oustaleti? Male/female, cb, etc? I've had a couple pairs over the years and always thought they were really cool animals and pretty hardy too. I've always thought of them as sorta like a larger, less colorful panther. If you're buying an import, they are frequently full of parasites, including subQ worms. In my experience they all went through deworming just fine though. As for personality, of the 5 that I had over the years, only one of the males was shy and didn't take to human contact well at all. Have fun!

 

[Julirs]

hairfarm67--The Oustalet's is a captive bred juvie male. I am thoroughly interested in personality over looks and am really excited about him. Were yours on the larger end and what size cages did you use?

 

[Kent67]

oustalet's

I don't think you can go wrong with a cb male. You will be very happy, I'm sure. Be prepared though, of all the chameleon species I've had the Oustalet's seem to have the largest appetites! I had both the larger and smaller morphs but the biggest male I ever had was only around 20 inches. I kept them in cages from 3' tall by 2'x2' for a single female up to a 6' tall by 3'x4' cage for a large male.

 

[Tobykun]

My 1 year old veiled, Toby, is extremely social. He will wait by the cage door to be let out in the afternoon. As soon as the door opens, he's practically leaping out.

I have a short youtube video of him. Please ignore the fact my boyfriend thought it would be humorous to burp while I was filming Toby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZANqZGWl3GM

 

[FaunaBgirl]

Great stories in this thread.
Some days Fractal wants to play and others, just seeing me too soon gives him "big face."
Today I redid his cage and it was harrowing so he's back to his goth dress of stress. :{
Hope he wakes up in a better mood and color tomorrow.

 

[Julirs]

I was wondering if this was just a phase, but Leon is still very social, wanting to come out daily. I even went and got him a tree that he could hang out in on the porch, but the minute he sees us close he reaches his hands up like a baby and seems content sitting on our arms or shoulders. I hate to tell him he is not a person! I did order him a big boy cage just in case he felt his other one was too small. At 5 months he is nearly 6 inches snout to vent.