Why does my cham lick everything?

[KevinN1]

Hey everyone, I've noticed that a lot of times while my chameleon is walking around, he licks the vine/plant in front of him right before he takes his next step. Is this normal behavior? I'm curious to know if anyone else has seen their chameleon do this too and if you know why he does it?

 

[GrimsbyPatchwork]

Mine is called Slurp for that exact reason..he does that when he is either on new territory, or if I have just cleaned his enclosure. I think he might be testing or marking the territory.

 

[Kath44]

I've noticed George do this a couple of times. I figured it was because I'd not long misted or testing his new home out. Only had him a week.
Kath.

 

[MelissaB]

My panther does it, too. I read that it's how they check for other males marking their territory, but I don't know if that's true.

 

[chameleonowner32]

What it is they sense or smell a previos cham. Its nothing bad, rex does it to my hand every now and then.

 

[MadSince95]

OMG!! My chameleon does that!!

 

[lainezor]

This is normal, Floyd always licks the branches as he walks. I also found that my bearded dragon does the exact same thing.

 

[ridgebax1]

Omar and Clouseau both do this on occasion.

 

[xraygirl]

My panther does the same too

 

[lisagr07]

My panther foes it also but never seen my veiled do it..

 

[Kenny C]

Its perfectly natural he is just marking his territory.

 

[LLLReptile]

It's hard to say for sure why - I just searched for studies done on whether or not chameleons can smell, and it turns out they don't have a jacobson's organ. It's unlikely that they can smell at all.

Pretty sure Chris Anderson has done a lot of work on chameleon tongues and why they work...maybe ask him?

-Jen

 

[TruBlu]

so many pointless responses. ...but anyway, its normal

 

[chameleonowner32]

so many pointless responses. ...but anyway, its normal

Lol but you just posted to post. Everybody explained its normal. Smh

 

[Psychobunny]

This is another in a long list of chameleon behaviours which seem to have no satisfactory answer.

All the $$ I've spend on cham books, and still no one seems to know for sure why they act the way they do

I get way more info from this forum