Stress? Discomfort? or Anger? Please help

[MustacheWallet]

My Female veiled has become very hesitant to me picking her up or even my hand being in the cage. When she was a few months old when i didnt know as much about cham care, i could walk over to the cage at a normal pace slide open the cage and rush my hand in and she would instantly climb onto my hand. I am in the process of building her a new enclosure and she is stuck in a glass tank. For two days in a row now she has reared up at me opened her mouth and hissed every time i get near her. It scares me mainly because she has never acted like this and i dont want her to turn into the chameleon you can only look at not touch. any input would help.

 

[bfisher31]

How often do you handle your chameleon? Are you positive that she's a female, she may be ready to lay her eggs but there isn't a suitable place for her to lay them. If you handle her often she might just want to be left alone.

 

[carol5208]

Well, you uprooted her in her normal habitat and she is probably a little stressed out from that. Hopefully when she gets back into the new cage she will settle down.

 

[natureboy86]

Many chams just plain don't like being held. It could be that she's grown out of the stage where she'll let you swoop in and grab her you know? Try luring her out with her favorite worm. That's the only way I get my guy out and onto my hand

 

[kinyonga]

May be that she is in the non-receptive stage of her cycle..producing eggs. Do you have a suitable place for her to dig to lay them in her cage?

 

[MustacheWallet]

How often do you handle your chameleon? Are you positive that she's a female, she may be ready to lay her eggs but there isn't a suitable place for her to lay them. If you handle her often she might just want to be left alone.

I am not positive that she is a female I actually was told when i bought her that she was a male but due to her not having the spur on the back legs it would be a female. I just found this out recently and have just now done research as to what is different about care for females. So regardless of a male present they will lay eggs they will just be infertile? Now does that mean i have to constantly have substrate in the cage that is good for laying eggs, and do i just remove the eggs when they are laid?

 

[bfisher31]

Yup, females will lay eggs no matter what all their life. You don't have to keep the substrate in constantly. When you start noticing weird things going on like hanging around the bottom of the cage, and acting grumpy you can put the soil in her cage for her to lay her eggs. Here is a good video for you, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5usyXP_u4Zc

 

[lancaster0861]

Man its never fun to go through a period like this with your buddy but it could be a number of things 1) she could just have grown into a big girl who is more moody now. 2) she may just be stressed from the move. Since she has been a glass aquarium she may have been looking at her reflection for a bit and that may have her on edge. Whatever it is I hope with a little patience and time she will come around!

 

[VigilantSpearIII]

Dunno... Chams get annoyed and change in mood from day to day. Really bipolar animals to tell the truth. Just keep at it, I'm sure she will come around. Make sure shes not gravid or that something else isn't affecting her.

 

[Sarahcwilson]

I noticed my guy gets kind of territorial when he's in his cage. Once he's out, he's cool, no gaping or anything. As I've added more foliage, I've noticed he doesn't react as negatively. Hope that helps.