Taming my new chameleons

J

jburleigh13

New Member
Hi Everyone,

Julie in Los Angeles here. I'm a new chameleon owner, and about a month ago, I got 2 lovely baby veiled chameleons from FLChams. I would love to get them really tame. One of them is really shy and goes dark and retreats to the back of the cage when I approach. The other is more tolerant of me. She will sometimes take crickets out of the small tupperware container I hold up to her, but sometimes she retreats too. What else can I do to get them to hang out on me!?

Thanks,

Julie
 
Try hand feeding them as they will learn to trust you. Your not keeping them in the same enclosure right? Welcome to the forums though, you will learn a ton here!
 
hello there, and welcome. There is no sure way to "tame" chameleons except by slowly earning their trust, which, believe me, can take a while. i do hope they are not housed together, as this will cause a lot of stress for them both. slowly try handfeeding, and leave them to get comfortable being around you and others. chams are not to be overhandled, nor are they really meant to "hang out" with their owners. Think of them as fish. You cant hold fish :)
 
Thanks so much for the info. I see it will just take lots of time and patience, which luckily, I'm good at and willing to do! I AM however, housing them together, as I was told to by the guy from FLChams that I bought them from last month. They're about 3-4 months old now I think. Does that mean I need a new enclosure now, or when they get bigger? They're a male and a female.
Thanks,

Julie
 
They need separate enclosures now. If not one will become dominate and the other will probably not survive. They will also mate soon and that could also kill your female. Recommended mating is after one year old.
 
Veileds - Not if you want a "nice" lizard

Hi,

Understand that Veiled's are little terrorists pure and simple.

See the pictures below.

Osama (the vieled) is trying to turn over a heat lamp which he was successful in doing thus burning my carpet.

In the other two pictures Osama thinks that the whole living room is his and chase two other large chameleons away. This is even though Ziggy (the Panther) displays Crane Style Kung Fu moves.

The really great thing about Veiled's is that they're drama queens. If they're not pissed off enough to try to kill someone or something by noon their whole day is ruined.

I can get Osama to puff up and hiss just by turning my head in his direction. After that he will readily hand feed. It's just the way vieled's are.

Good luck. You'll have a lot of fun with your veileds.

P.S. Keep them away from our airports :eek:

Happy Thanksgiving
 

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ChamAllen said:
Hi,

Understand that Veiled's are little terrorists pure and simple.

See the pictures below.

Osama (the vieled) is trying to turn over a heat lamp which he was successful in doing thus burning my carpet.

In the other two pictures Osama thinks that the whole living room is his and chase two other large chameleons away. This is even though Ziggy (the Panther) displays Crane Style Kung Fu moves.

The really great thing about Veiled's is that they're drama queens. If they're not pissed off enough to try to kill someone or something by noon their whole day is ruined.

I can get Osama to puff up and hiss just by turning my head in his direction. After that he will readily hand feed. It's just the way vieled's are.

Good luck. You'll have a lot of fun with your veileds.

P.S. Keep them away from our airports :eek:

Happy Thanksgiving
Click to expand...


oh my god lol!! I read this and I laughed so hard I cried! My veiled is EXACTLY THAT. Hahahaha thank you for making my day
 
One thing that has helped me "tame" chams is to pull up a chair by their cage, and just quietly read a book (or take a nap which sometimes happens by mistake). As they get comfortable with you sitting that close then open the door while you read. Then, as they get comfortable with you that way have a yummy treat to slowly offer. Don't start off trying to get them to hand feed - just take a superworm and place them on the screen somewhat near you so the cham associates your presence with snacks. It's a slow process and while my male panther loves climbing out on me, it's much slower with my female panther and male veiled.

Good luck and definately separate the two ASAP. They can be housed together until they are about this age, so you weren't lied to. Also, when you separate them, make sure there's a visual barrier so that they can't see each other. If you put the cages next to each other then put something between them. Good luck!
 
Thanks so much -- I still wonder why the guy from FLChams (who definitely must know this), would tell me that they would be fine together in one cage? Everything I read on the internet, including what you guys said, was the opposite of what he said. That's weird.

The female seems to be the more outgoing one, and is bigger as she gets to most of the food first. Also, since I have the basking light set up near the front of the cage, she spends more time under it than the male, who is very shy. I will try and get a new cage set up this weekend, but if I can't, can I put a second basking light in the back of the cage for the male? I might need to order a new set up online...
Thanks so much!
 
To add one thing that has helped me.

I have had my panther for about 3 months now and slow started by leaving the cage door open and hanging out near the cage as others have said here. Then started to hand feed him but "Swirlz" would just eat and still try to hide from time to time.
So now that he is more comfortable with me, I temp him with a treat after a day he hasn't eaten but I put My hand (left) out in front of his cage as a bridge to reach the treat in my other hand, which is further then my left hand. It is working great I just let him get on and off when he pleases and go from there. Hope this helps
 
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