Uhh, male veiled trying to bury himself when scared

[BenjiTheCham]

So today I got him to eat for the first time out of a cup. I couldn't get him to eat from tongs (I tried but he looked at it for a few seconds and then puffed up and seemed angry) so I was happy to see him eating. I went an put some more feeders into his cup (which he didn't eat) and I must've startled him. He climbed down from his perch and started at me. I gave him some privacy and i came back and he made a hole on the edge of the enclosure for him to sit in. I watched for a little bit and he went a bit deeper and then left. He is back by the food cup now eyeing some food so I think'll he's fine now, but I have never heard of this and I feel bad that I startled him so much.

Just to clarify, he is for sure a male.. I can see the spurs on his feet. I had to check after this just to make sure that I wasn't going to have any issues

 

[MissSkittles]

So today I got him to eat for the first time out of a cup. I couldn't get him to eat from tongs (I tried but he looked at it for a few seconds and then puffed up and seemed angry) so I was happy to see him eating. I went an put some more feeders into his cup (which he didn't eat) and I must've startled him. He climbed down from his perch and started at me. I gave him some privacy and i came back and he made a hole on the edge of the enclosure for him to sit in. I watched for a little bit and he went a bit deeper and then left. He is back by the food cup now eyeing some food so I think'll he's fine now, but I have never heard of this and I feel bad that I startled him so much.

Just to clarify, he is for sure a male.. I can see the spurs on his feet. I had to check after this just to make sure that I wasn't going to have any issues

That is unusual. Give him time to get settled in...like a week or so. Just give him the feeders and let him acclimate to his new home. It’s all new to him and he doesn’t yet know that you aren’t trying to eat him.

 

[BenjiTheCham]

That is unusual. Give him time to get settled in...like a week or so. Just give him the feeders and let him acclimate to his new home. It’s all new to him and he doesn’t yet know that you aren’t trying to eat him.

Yeah, I just wanted to make sure he is okay. I’ve been moving slow around him, but I think I was moving to fast because I was excited to see him eat. He seems fine now

 

[salty dog]

He needs a space where he can be left alone & out of sight, in nature you are a huge predator, give your cham some space

 

[Lennoncham]

Are you sure it’s a male?

 

[Beman]

tong feeding is dangerous.... If he grabs the tongs with his tongue instead of the feeder and pulls back while your holding the tongs he could permanently damage his tongue to the point of amputation.

 

[BenjiTheCham]

tong feeding is dangerous.... If he grabs the tongs with his tongue instead of the feeder and pulls back while your holding the tongs he could permanently damage his tongue to the point of amputation.

Oh geez.. I thought tong feeding was okay. I won’t do it then.

 

[BenjiTheCham]

He needs a space where he can be left alone & out of sight, in nature you are a huge predator, give your cham some space

Yeah, I’ve left him alone today

 

[BenjiTheCham]

Are you sure it’s a male?

Yes I can see the spurs on his feet

 

[Beman]

Oh geez.. I thought tong feeding was okay. I won’t do it then.

Yeah I have seen a few that had to have their tongue amputated because the cham pulled back while the owner was and it totally messed them up. Fingers are safer

 

[BenjiTheCham]

Also, could this have to do with chameleon puberty? I was reading some other threads and they said something about that. I’m not sure if he would be trying to do that within the first few days of him being in my care, but who knows.

He is between 6 and 9 months btw

 

[Beman]

Also, could this have to do with chameleon puberty? I was reading some other threads and they said something about that. I’m not sure if he would be trying to do that within the first few days of him being in my care, but who knows.

He is between 6 and 9 months btw

Didn't you just get him? He is scared. Your new. The cage is new. The cup is new. The plants are new. Everything is totally new. Depending on where you got him from he may have had very little human interaction. This impacts how they respond. 6-9 months is a big age gap.

He will start going into defense posturing as he matures. It is totally different then fear. He is showing fear now and lack of feeling safe in his environment. Hitting puberty is aggressive behavior like threatening to bite and hissing at you while flashing colors to get you to back off. Letting you know that it is his cage not yours.

If you do not start slowly with him and give him the time to adjust it will take that much longer for him to feel safe.

 

[BenjiTheCham]

Hello, I know this hasn’t been replied too in a while, but I have an update on the situation.. so he has still been digging, but I don’t think it’s because he is scared. He has actually warmed up to me a lot and let me hand feed him for the first time today. So anyways, I was by his enclosure and notice that he sees something. I look and it’s just a loose superworms that got lost (sometimes he’ll get two at a time and one will go flying lol). He starts hunting for it, but it saw him and dug into the substrate again. Then he started digging and went to his digging spot and kept digging their as well. Could this be him trying to catch the superworm? I’ve never heard of chams doing this so I’m not sure.

 

[kinyonga]

Please post a photo of him.

 

[BenjiTheCham]

Please post a photo of him.

I’m assuming you mean while he is digging, I did not get one today, but I’ll get one next time I see him

 

[kinyonga]

Even just a recent normal photo of him would do for a start.

 

[BenjiTheCham]

the first one was from yesterday and the second one was from right now

also, do you think he is dehydrated? I figured I’d ask because I’m not the greatest at finding his poops inside my enclosure and I can’t tell by his eyes

 

[MissSkittles]

Can you post a pic of your entire enclosure?

 

[BenjiTheCham]

Can you post a pic of your entire enclosure?

Ok

There are a few things I am already planning on changing, such as I am buying a T5HO fixturein the next few days that fits my entire enclosure. And I will have to either upgrade or add an extension to my enclosure soon as well. I will be adding new plants too, and I have 3 cuttings near the bottom of the enclosure that will fill in good too

 

[MissSkittles]

Ok
View attachment 270522
There are a few things I am already planning on changing, such as I am buying a T5HO fixturein the next few days that fits my entire enclosure. And I will have to either upgrade or add an extension to my enclosure soon as well. I will be adding new plants too, and I have 3 cuttings near the bottom of the enclosure that will fill in good too

So, a couple of things strike me. You know the enclosure is too short for a cham. You really need to get on fixing that sooner rather than later. The other...is the substrate blocking the lower ventilation area?
I believe your guy is digging because that is pretty much all that he can do to express unhappiness with his enclosure. He’s trying to find escape in the only way he can. This is my opinion...someone else may tell you something different.
My local Petco keeps their chams in a similar size tank and with muddy substrate and no drainage. One day I was there and saw a female digging. Although she didn’t have gravid coloring, it was assumed she was going to lay eggs. Saving you the long story...that is now my Stella and she was not gravid. She just wanted to escape, was frustrated, unhappy...whatever negative feeling you want to ascribe. The only option she had was to dig.