Tutorial: How to handle and tame a chameleon

[Persnickety Parson's]

I've gotten a few requests for a video about that. Unfortunately my MistKing is already set up... soooo it'd be really hard to film that. Maybe if I get a new system one day. I do have a video already on how to set up a MistKing timer because that stumped me when I was first setting it up.

Well time to buy a new system, why because I said so.

It's time to learn tree frogs, darrt frogs, and toads now.

 

[Gingero]

Seems like a good enough reason haha

 

[Prince of Duval]

If memory serves me right, you just got your guy this last week... I'd give him at least 2 weeks to settle in and then start just hanging out by his enclosure so he can start to trust you. Then you can try cup feeding and go from there.

Thank you. I will try that. I already know I’m stressing him just putting his feeders in, setting up his dripper, moving his thermometer around, cleaning his poop, and trying to find the little guy just to make sure he’s ok. Fortunately, I’ve been able to keep the three little kids and dog away for the most part.

 

[Alagarde]

How is this fear conditioning? Fear conditioning is

"Fear conditioning is a type of classical conditioning that involves pairing an aversive stimulus (such as an electric shock) with either a neutral context (such as a location) or stimulus (such as a tone). This results in the expression of a fear response in the presence of the context or stimulus alone."

So explain to me. What location am I associating with fear and using what stimulus?
I simply nudged him onto my hand and put him on a plant in the sun. Then, he associated me with the freerange. This is positive reinforcement, not "fear conditioning".
Now he climbs on my arm at any occasion. How am I getting him to willingly climb on my arm using fear?? All he wants to do is go on the freerange, and now he associates me with it.

This is not positive reinforment and would be considered negative reinforcement with your hand coming towards him being the adversive stimulus. By moving your hand towards him he tries to get away from it causing him to walk on your hand. Positive reinforment is when you reinforce the desired behavior your looking for. If he walls on your hand and you give him a hornworm for instance.

 

[PabloTheCham]

This is not positive reinforment and would be considered negative reinforcement with your hand coming towards him being the adversive stimulus. By moving your hand towards him he tries to get away from it causing him to walk on your hand. Positive reinforment is when you reinforce the desired behavior your looking for. If he walls on your hand and you give him a hornworm for instance.

So tell me. How is he supposed to walk on my hand without me putting it there in the first place? I am reinforcing this behavior of walking on my hand by taking him to his freerange.

 

[Alagarde]

So tell me. How is he supposed to walk on my hand without me putting it there in the first place? I am reinforcing this behavior of walking on my hand by taking him to his freerange.

You have to think of it from the animals perspective. He sees a hand coming towards him so he going to move away from it. He does not know that if he walls on your hand you're going to free range him. Positive reinforment is a way to train an overall behavior with tiny approximations.
Theres a variety of ways you can train the behavior with positive reinforment. You could bait the chameleon by putting a reward in your palm. If he walls onto your hand then he gets the reward. You could approximate each step he takes by giving him reinforment. You could even use negative reinforcement moving your other hand causing him to go into the other hand and reinforcing him.
You cannot say that freerange is positive reinforment for your cham initially, its reinforncing to you.

 

[PabloTheCham]

You have to think of it from the animals perspective. He sees a hand coming towards him so he going to move away from it. He does not know that if he walls on your hand you're going to free range him. Positive reinforment is a way to train an overall behavior with tiny approximations.
Theres a variety of ways you can train the behavior with positive reinforment. You could bait the chameleon by putting a reward in your palm. If he walls onto your hand then he gets the reward. You could approximate each step he takes by giving him reinforment. You could even use negative reinforcement moving your other hand causing him to go into the other hand and reinforcing him.
You cannot say that freerange is positive reinforment for your cham initially, its reinforncing to you.

So when a foreign object approaches a chameleon, they move toward it? He could have easily gone the other way, hissed, and puffed up.

 

[PabloTheCham]

Yes, at first he didn't know he was going to the freerange. I would coax him onto the hand and we would go to the freerange. Ever since he associates me with the freerange. Maybe it was stressful for the first two days, but now that he knows... By the way, the first few times, he never displayed signs of stress. He has always been a docile cham.

 

[Alagarde]

Yes, at first he didn't know he was going to the freerange. I would coax him onto the hand and we would go to the freerange. Ever since he associates me with the freerange. Maybe it was stressful for the first two days, but now that he knows... By the way, the first few times, he never displayed signs of stress. He has always been a docile cham.

Thats great!

I was just trying to help you with training terminology, I train animals for a living so i really enjoy talking about stuff like that.

I just got mine and im starting to build my relationship with him. Its going to be slow going lol

 

[PabloTheCham]

Thats great!

I was just trying to help you with training terminology, I train animals for a living so i really enjoy talking about stuff like that.

I just got mine and im starting to build my relationship with him. Its going to be slow going lol

Yeah... I just ended up with a really docile cham. Most chams won't do what mine does, they are the creature with the overall s***tyest attitude... Especially if it's a male. Good luck with yours! hand feed as much as possible and go from there!