Veiled being Protective and Hissing.

[Coyote4522]

Okay So I Have had my cham for awhile now and he's always been such a sweet little guy and would love to be held.

Now all of a sudden he is hissing at me and really not wanting to be held.

I don't understand his change in behavior. I haven't changed a single thing.

Help please!

 

[Julirs]

This is completely normal Veiled behavior. He may never be friendly towards you after his "teenager" transition. Most Veileds are pretty territorial and aggressive. It is nothing you did, it is just a normal healthy Veiled growing up thing. My 1 1/2 year old male Vieled is a big puppy-he is still very handleable, but my female is very aggressive IF you try to grab her, but she handfeeds and comes to the front of the cage for food anytime.

 

[SoCaliSon]

Completely normal... Most don't like to be held... and will act like little bastards whenever you enter their space. That is the typical attitude of an adult veiled. Oh yeah... as they get bigger you will learn to respect this to as they can bite the crap out of your hand of they want... Doesn't look like it would be bad... but it can hurt.

 

[Julirs]

Completely normal... Most don't like to be held... and will act like little bastards whenever you enter their space. That is the typical attitude of an adult veiled. Oh yeah... as they get bigger you will learn to respect this to as they can bite the crap out of your hand of they want... Doesn't look like it would be bad... but it can hurt.

That is so right on! "Respect THIS...CHOMP!!!"

 

[Tygerr]

I've just made a remark on another thread about the same theme...

When a cham gets aggressive about you removing him form his cage, that is not always a bad sign. It could indicate that he is content in his cage, and has become territorial about it - meaning he would resent intruders (that's you) into his cage.
When a chameleon is over eager to get out of his cage (i.e. when he rushes to you when you open the door, and is happy to climb onto you to get out of the cage), some people mistake this for their cham being friendly, but in actual fact the cham is unhappy inside the cage due to something being wrong with the set up, and it is simply eager to escape from there.

You said that you haven't changed a thing - it's possible that he has just become very used to his surroundings, and is quite happy in the cage. He may just want to be left alone. As they get older they certainly get more territorial, whereas babies are usually quite submissive when it comes to handling.
As I said in the other post: the only time you really need to handle a cham is to take them to an outside enclosure to get some natural sunlight, to do regular health check-ups (once or twice a month) or to take it to the vet.

Try to start hand-feeding him if you want more physical interaction with him. Eventually he might learn not to consider you as an intruder, but rather a provider, and he may even let you handle him again.

If he starts showing other signs of odd behaviour (change in eating habits, not defecating, closing eyes, walking on the ground) perhaps there is some sort of health problem, and in that case you'll need to provide some more information about how your cham is being kept. Use this stick as a guideline for what information you need to provide: https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Tygerr]

Oh yeah... as they get bigger you will learn to respect this to as they can bite the crap out of your hand of they want... Doesn't look like it would be bad... but it can hurt.

Quite true. Mine have drawn blood on occassion when I've been careless about it! Little V-shaped papercuts that sting like hell...

 

[SoCaliSon]

I like that explanation Tyger...Makes a lot of sense. Yeah my guy Oscar will come down to the front trynng to look all cute... You will think he wants out on your hand...but you show it to him... He will literally lunge for you to try for a chomp... He has broken the skin once or twice. He is farely new to us So I am hoping if i work with him now and then with a glove, and keep trying to hand feed he will get better.

 

[Fate X]

i got a little female veiled she hisses and puffs here chin out.
she makes a clicking noise somehow too. i hope nothings wrong with her.

 

[dodolah]

i got a little female veiled she hisses and puffs here chin out.
she makes a clicking noise somehow too. i hope nothings wrong with her.

The clicking only happened when she's mad, yes?

I remember in one of my conversation with Dr.Greek, they can click when they are being aggressive. As long as they don't make clicking or popping during normal behavior (or during sleeping), i think your cham is fine.

 

[dodolah]

Okay So I Have had my cham for awhile now and he's always been such a sweet little guy and would love to be held.

Now all of a sudden he is hissing at me and really not wanting to be held.

I don't understand his change in behavior. I haven't changed a single thing.

Help please!

Chameleon, imho, never liked to be held.
when they are little, they usually run away (or stay in your palm being extra cautious)

I think your sweet little guy has grown and now he has the gut to tell you to back off.
I always say that a pissy veiled is a healthy one.

 

[jannb]

I must have a very unusual Veiled. He's alway been a sweetie pie and I have never seen him the least bit nasty. He was about 7 months old when we got him and is 13 months now. I sure hope he never changes.

 

[leela]

Okay So I Have had my cham for awhile now and he's always been such a sweet little guy and would love to be held.

Now all of a sudden he is hissing at me and really not wanting to be held.

I don't understand his change in behavior. I haven't changed a single thing.

Help please!

i posted the same thread on here, but know one rele answered. my girl was sweet as pie then it was like all of a sudden she hated me. she recently hurt herself and now cant use her back legs well. now i have to pick her up every day for physio. i have to pick her up under her armpits. first of all she would hiss and lunge, but i got on with it and now she knows im not afraid of her, and shes fine. although i wouldnt recomend picking a chameleon up in that way unless nessasary. doesn't hurt though

 

[Catcha]

scared

My wee guy is only about 6/7 months old and only yesterday did he start hissing at me, I was so scared of him, I had to get my boyfriend to pick him off my shoulder to put him in his vivarium, before that I could easily let him crawl onto my hand and i'd happily walk around with him on my shoulder, but when I put my hand in his vivarium today I just felt so scared of him, every movement he made scared me.

I don't want to be scared of him, I love him too much, I don't know how to get over this fear, but I know he'll hiss a lot more now that he's older. someone help?

 

[kimbad93]

confused

so I resently got a six or seven month old little veiled. he was a little sweetheart and loved to be heald. now he is puffing up and releasing a little squeal. I know it means he is upset or angry. so I tried to put him down on the couch. but he insists on climbing up mu arm and sits on my head in my hair. so I assume he likes to be on my head. but wile he is up there he hissss again. I dont understand. I wont be moving or anything. he will climb up there and squeek and click and I dont know what to do.

 

[Curtis James]

The only time my veiled Cham has got real mad at me is the week of his shed( just like a girl) Jk Jk but serious he got crabby at that time then after he was his old self.

 

[Juancito]

I like that explanation Tyger...Makes a lot of sense. Yeah my guy Oscar will come down to the front trynng to look all cute... You will think he wants out on your hand...but you show it to him... He will literally lunge for you to try for a chomp... He has broken the skin once or twice. He is farely new to us So I am hoping if i work with him now and then with a glove, and keep trying to hand feed he will get better.

hahahahahahahhahahaha

 

[my sweet Picasso]

force or choice

Are you letting him decide to come to you or are you just picking him up? I am by no means an expert but I know with mine. There are times he doesn't feel like coming to me but when he wants to which is more times then not ......there is a specific branch at front of cage that he will walk to the edge of and I will stick my hand up so he can choose to reach out and crawl onto. If he doesn't then I leave him be. I was just curious

 

[marissa22]

I recently got a chameleon about 2.5 months old and will come to the edge of the cage and eat but will not like to be held or you being in her territory but, she looks at my hand when I put it in there and she looks like she wants to climb up into my hand but then will get really big and hiss and I get really scared and don't know what to do i really love her and she is so pretty and don't want to be scared of her