ijmccollum
New Member
If you love him, let him be. He is no longer a "Wild" cham. He is a captive cham -- you are lucky he is sweet, and it seems naturally, so you already have instinct.
Untraining a cham
- Thread starter chamtrainer
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justjumpit621
New Member
If he is naturally a nice cham, the only way to make him aggressive is to stress him. If you want a more "aggressive" cham I would suggest buying a WC cham.
chamtrainer
Avid Member
Okay, everybody just misunderstood me, im glad i clarified myself before people started getting the wrong idea.
justjumpit621
New Member
What? Shows what you know, Pit Bulls are one of the most loving dogs in the world and are the second best family dog, second only to the golden retriever. If you want an aggressive dog, get a dachshund! They are the most aggressive dog in the world.
chamtrainer
Avid Member
Your not talking to me right. i never mentioned anything about a dog.
chamelisa
New Member
Kind of true. Our 10 lb. miniature dachshund is the alpha dog over our 65 lb. pit bull mix. But we have also witnessed a pit bull killing a dachshund. So it really depends. With dogs, I don't think you can really stereotype. I love pits very much, btw.
So back on topic, if you stop handling your chameleon and you keep him in natural, unfiltered sunlight, you might find that he gets a bit less friendly. I receive a lot of rescues and most are very handle friendly. But I keep them in the sunlight and don't handle them very much and this usually results in a feisty animal. Not always, but usually the case with male veileds.
I just figure that each chameleon has its own personality. So appreciate them for who they are.
jojackson
New Member
Chamtrainer, your lizard being male, may well develop the attitude you expect in time anyway. how old is it?
Im sure less handling will help. my bloke is around 18 months now and just lately has been displaying those natural defensive behaviours, probably inline with sexual maturity, only the last 6 months seeing sperm plugs too.
Just one note. The use of the word 'aggressive' in relation to reptiles, really annoys the hell out of me. It's not aggression in the same sense and gives folk the wrong impression.
ALL reptile behaviours are instinctive and geared to survival and defence, no lizard behaves this way 'just to be nasty'.
I understand your desire to see natural behaviour, but as others pointed out, you cant change the animal. The major point being that captivity is anything but 'natural' anyway,
if you really want to see natural, you'll have to find wild specimans.
second to that, buy more chams! each one is a little different, but all are instinctive.
Im sure less handling will help. my bloke is around 18 months now and just lately has been displaying those natural defensive behaviours, probably inline with sexual maturity, only the last 6 months seeing sperm plugs too.
Just one note. The use of the word 'aggressive' in relation to reptiles, really annoys the hell out of me. It's not aggression in the same sense and gives folk the wrong impression.
ALL reptile behaviours are instinctive and geared to survival and defence, no lizard behaves this way 'just to be nasty'.
I understand your desire to see natural behaviour, but as others pointed out, you cant change the animal. The major point being that captivity is anything but 'natural' anyway,
if you really want to see natural, you'll have to find wild specimans.
second to that, buy more chams! each one is a little different, but all are instinctive.
dreamforthedead
New Member
Aint you happy that he has trust in you?? You don't want your lovely little boy im sure there is plenty of people on here that would love him for who he is and be happy to have a friendly chameleon. My cham Mia is sooo friendly and i feel so lucky that she has trust in me i wouldn't part with her for a grumpy chameleon.
serenitystarlite
Established Member
I'll trade you my mean nasty Jasmine for your nice boy! You can't really train them either way. I've had her since she was tiny and she grew up to be really mean and wants to bite off my face. My boys that I raised from youngins are the sweetest things. Kami who was full grown and WC was even nicer. I handled them all about the same, although I stopped trying to handle Jasmine when she got big. She pinches really hard too and scratches! I've been scratched more by her than by my cats lol. Some chams get used to you and maybe even like you and some just want to be left alone. Don't try to make yours mean. He'll be stressed out and won't live as long if he's always mad. He likes you! You should feel special
dreamforthedead
New Member
He loves you, he wouldn't be friendly with you if he didn't. He would be stressed if he was aggressive and if you love him you wouldn't want that so let him be his happy lovely self.
FFSTRescue
New Member
??? People are actually taking this seriously???
chamtrainer
Avid Member
Like i said, i love my cham and i have many other chams as well. I am fine with him being loving and trusting. I am talking about when he is in his cage by himself and when he spots a cricket or something. I know that i am lucky that i was able to train him, (hence my username), but i would like him to have his natural killer instinct kick in when he sees a bug of some sort.
jojackson
New Member
Are you saying the lizard is not responsive to food? Exactly how much and how often are you feeding? What are the temperatures in his cage? How old is he? Its a veiled yes?
If you are feeding more than nessesary or perhaps only feeding crickets? its possible your lizard is simply losing interest in them.
Varying the kind of bugs you offer will keep him keen.
Likewise, if your temps are too low, or ambient (air) temp perhaps, then your lizard will not be in optimal hunting mode (slower metabolism).
If you are feeding more than nessesary or perhaps only feeding crickets? its possible your lizard is simply losing interest in them.
Varying the kind of bugs you offer will keep him keen.
Likewise, if your temps are too low, or ambient (air) temp perhaps, then your lizard will not be in optimal hunting mode (slower metabolism).
AReptile
New Member
My cham actually tries to climb into the bucket now that I drop the crickets from lmao. I'm very surprised yours is unresponsive towards bugs. Mine wants nothing to do with my hand, but she has zero problems hand feeding or hunting while I observe. I think it's just their personality. Do you only free range his feeders or do you cup/hand feed as well?
Lancecham
New Member
In the wild, meals are usually far inbetween. So when they see a cricket, they will actively hunt it down to catch it(because they are hungry and they don't know when their next meal will come).
Most wild caught chams are like this once you place them in captivity. They do learn pretty quick that it is not a big deal to let a cricket go by them without snapping it up, because generally, the crickets are in tongue shot anywhere in the cage. So there is no sense of urgency anymore to quickly eat anything that goes by.
The other factor is how hungry he is. In captivity, chams get much more food in their cages than one does in the wild. So chams aren't nearly as hungry in captivity. So the sense of urgency to eat isn't as great. Chams learn that they don't have to try as hard to catch their food and will usually pick the closest cricket.
Plenty of times I have seen freshly WC chams eat the cricket they see first in the cage. Even though it may not be the closest, it is the one they saw first and are focused on it. This behavior usually dimishes as the cham acclimates and learns that the crickets really can't escape the cage.
So if you stop feeding your cham for a week(I definitely don't recommend this), you will see your cham chasing down the cricket like a wild caught.
Most wild caught chams are like this once you place them in captivity. They do learn pretty quick that it is not a big deal to let a cricket go by them without snapping it up, because generally, the crickets are in tongue shot anywhere in the cage. So there is no sense of urgency anymore to quickly eat anything that goes by.
The other factor is how hungry he is. In captivity, chams get much more food in their cages than one does in the wild. So chams aren't nearly as hungry in captivity. So the sense of urgency to eat isn't as great. Chams learn that they don't have to try as hard to catch their food and will usually pick the closest cricket.
Plenty of times I have seen freshly WC chams eat the cricket they see first in the cage. Even though it may not be the closest, it is the one they saw first and are focused on it. This behavior usually dimishes as the cham acclimates and learns that the crickets really can't escape the cage.
So if you stop feeding your cham for a week(I definitely don't recommend this), you will see your cham chasing down the cricket like a wild caught.
chamtrainer
Avid Member
He does, just when i am not arround. Like i said before, he has no problems what so ever. He will eat, just not in front of others.
Cainschams
New Member
Sell him, buy another and hope that its mean
Elisa gave good advice. If you want him to be more excited about food then mix up the schedule. Certainly dont cup feed or over feed him. If it is sub adult or adult make him go a while with no food or very little. Keep him guessing when the meal is going to come. My feeding "schedule" is all over the place for adults and they do not get over fed. All of mine are excited to eat when that time comes.
I like the pissy ones too
Elisa gave good advice. If you want him to be more excited about food then mix up the schedule. Certainly dont cup feed or over feed him. If it is sub adult or adult make him go a while with no food or very little. Keep him guessing when the meal is going to come. My feeding "schedule"
is all over the place for adults and they do not get over fed. All of mine are excited to eat when that time comes.I like the pissy ones too
chamtrainer
Avid Member
I would never sell this guy. He always eats only when im not around. He will at times have a cricket in his mouth when i step into the room. He is just shy to eat around me. Its cool you guys, and yes i do vary his diet. Thanks everyone.
chamtrainer
Avid Member
My question was really just a thought.
