What does a straight tail meen?

[AndrewWelch]

I've notice that my new veiled cham has been having a straight tail every now and then while looking at a relflection of himself. I'm guessing that its because he thinks its a contender and is in attack mode or something? I'm really afraid of him getting really stressed out because of the glass enclosure, but then I've had people tell me that it cant be a real huge problem.

 

[AndrewWelch]

I put my hand over the reflection and he saw that it wasn't real and I think calmed down a bit because he loosened up and got a bit darker.

Maybe thats all you have to do is try to show them its not real and they will figure it out?

 

[lindawaz]

as much as we believe in our Chams I don't think they are that smart. If the reflection is stressing him out I believe it will always stress him out

Maybe when they get their big boy cage you can get a screened one to avoid this

 

[AndrewWelch]

as much as we believe in our Chams I don't think they are that smart. If the reflection is stressing him out I believe it will always stress him out

Maybe when they get their big boy cage you can get a screened one to avoid this

What if I put something over the sides and just leave the front exposed? Will that help the reflection?

 

[lindawaz]

if inside the cage it can not hold the water- bacteria. Or entice you boy to eat it.
Otherwise it would not hurt for now.
Eventually you will need to get a bigger cage for him the screen is the best option. Some people use the glass because of where they live. You don't have that problem. Maybe one of them will be on later and tell you more on how they do it.

Your guy got darker? was he near his basking light when he did this cause usually that means they are cold and trying to absorb more heat

 

[AndrewWelch]

if inside the cage it can not hold the water- bacteria. Or entice you boy to eat it.
Otherwise it would not hurt for now.
Eventually you will need to get a bigger cage for him the screen is the best option. Some people use the glass because of where they live. You don't have that problem. Maybe one of them will be on later and tell you more on how they do it.

Your guy got darker? was he near his basking light when he did this cause usually that means they are cold and trying to absorb more heat

Well I live in Washington State where it's cold 80% of the time so I don't have much choice to have a glass cage, as to wire he would freeze.

As he walked away from the reflection he got darker again, and it might be because he was going towards the heater. Not sure.

 

[Olimpia]

Chameleons don't have their tails curled all the time, it's like any limb they move it around and stretch and curl and stretch. If they're walking around and not threatened they will have it stretched out. They coil it more often when they're stressed or afraid, it's to make them look bigger. If it got darker because of your hand it actually got stressed by seeing your hand, not relaxed.

I really doubt that your chameleon has an issue with his reflection. Mine used to sit in front of the windows for hours looking out when they were free ranging. You're probably just suffering from the very common I'm-a-new-chameleon-owner-and-everything-seems-new-and-terrifying syndrome

 

[heartben]

if it makes you feel any better, my cham walks around with his tail totally straight out every so often. i think its cool.

 

[AndrewWelch]

Chameleons don't have their tails curled all the time, it's like any limb they move it around and stretch and curl and stretch. If they're walking around and not threatened they will have it stretched out. They coil it more often when they're stressed or afraid, it's to make them look bigger. If it got darker because of your hand it actually got stressed by seeing your hand, not relaxed.

I really doubt that your chameleon has an issue with his reflection. Mine used to sit in front of the windows for hours looking out when they were free ranging. You're probably just suffering from the very common I'm-a-new-chameleon-owner-and-everything-seems-new-and-terrifying syndrome

I'm afraid your right. My mom came home with some greens for him and I washed them and put them in his cage as fast as I could because he was running low on crickets and I thought he was going to die xD. I know he's fine and should be healthy I'm just stressing out because he's my first cham lol. Plus there are so many things that are un healthy for him that people told me all at once and that really scares me too because its so much to keep track of. lol. I need to relaaaxxx...

 

[AndrewWelch]

if it makes you feel any better, my cham walks around with his tail totally straight out every so often. i think its cool.

Yes, that does have me a bit relaxed, lol.

 

[SonTigerPantherCham]

while in motion, a straight tail acts as a balancing tool as well, just a little piece of silly trivia

 

[WOLVERINES135]

I'm afraid your right. My mom came home with some greens for him and I washed them and put them in his cage as fast as I could because he was running low on crickets and I thought he was going to die xD. I know he's fine and should be healthy I'm just stressing out because he's my first cham lol. Plus there are so many things that are un healthy for him that people told me all at once and that really scares me too because its so much to keep track of. lol. I need to relaaaxxx...

Haha, youre not the only one, i feel the exact same way, the very first one I got was really stressed out and the guy swapped me, being as nice as he and gave me the best of the clutch that he was going to keep, so i feel a bit better but am still quite stressed out and worried Im not doing something right.

 

[JonRich]

while in motion, a straight tail acts as a balancing tool as well, just a little piece of silly trivia

lol, you beat me to it! My Cham ,if he is on the move he will hold his tail straight . It acts like a counterbalance (like if you were to tightroap walk and hold your hands out side to side.).

I also think it's cryptic when around straight leaves/objects. They even do a "swaying in the wind" movement to mimic a wind-blown tree/branch/vine/leaves etc

 

[antithesis123]

One of my Females gets a straight tail when she's trying to hide herself- She looks like she's trying to be a stick! It's the most interesting thing!

 

[ChameleonsInMyHouse]

as mentioned, most likely used for balance.
chameleons dont really straighten their tails for defense either. when my chameleons puff up and flatten their bodies, their tail curls fully in to give them more deffinition.

chams also start to curl their tails when they are being cautious.

they possibly could curl their tails to add a slight weight in the mass of the body for extra support on smaller or larger vines, when mating, when sleeping.

 

[sdheli420]

as much as we believe in our Chams I don't think they are that smart. If the reflection is stressing him out I believe it will always stress him out

Maybe when they get their big boy cage you can get a screened one to avoid this

sorry to disagree about the intelligents part, but my chams are pretty damn smart...as for reflections in mirrors and stuff, thats just stressing your cham out..my chams seem to know their reflection (they have no change in attitude when they see it, matter of fact they still look me in the eye in the mirror)

 

[Kekallus]

I'm afraid your right. My mom came home with some greens for him and I washed them and put them in his cage as fast as I could because he was running low on crickets and I thought he was going to die xD. I know he's fine and should be healthy I'm just stressing out because he's my first cham lol. Plus there are so many things that are un healthy for him that people told me all at once and that really scares me too because its so much to keep track of. lol. I need to relaaaxxx...

I have my first Cham too. Almost everything he does freaks me out. No matter how much I’ve learned I still think that I’m doing everything wrong.
I use his coloring to really gage how he feels, neon green awesome. Dark green or dark spots, stay away

 

[kinyonga]

This is an old thread @Kekallus . It's best that you start a new one.