Will I ever hold my little guy?

[julianfremaint]

My panther is about 5 months old. I haven't bothered him TOO much about handling. I offer him my hand a lot and he doesn't have interest. I couple times where he step on and I took him out he was scared out of his mind. He was spazzing out and he try climbing on the outside of the screen. He almost made it to the top of the cage before I grabbed him. I quickly put him back in and he dropped of my hand and fell to the bottom of the cage. Did I wait too long. Will I ever hold my little guy? How should I go about handling him?

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Be patient and don't give up. Try offering his favorite treat by hand everyday. He may eventually become comfortable with you. On the other hand, he may not, not all chameleons tolerate being held. Of my three, only one handles any handling.

I try to interact with my 6.5 month panther everyday. I will take him out of his cage almost daily and let him climb on a free range tree, or just let him sit on my hand for a few minutes. He is never out of his cage for very long, usually no longer than 5-10 minutes, and then back in his cage. He has still only climbed onto my hand on his own once, but he does not run from me when I go in to pick him up.

When I do pick him up, I just gently lift his head up under his chin, with a finger or two, and he will start to climb onto my hand. From there he just comes right out of the cage.

 

[julianfremaint]

Bump. Any advice?

 

[Denverbug]

Try letting him free range. Set a plant in front of his cage with a pathway. Let him come out on his own. My guy doesn't like to be touched but the more he's out of his cage the more relaxed he seems. I certainly hope there is no time table for getting our chams to tolerate a little handeling. I got mine when he was six months old and have had him for about five months. He's still just as grumpy as can be. If there is a time table I missed the boat long ago. But like I've read a million times on this forum and have to keep reminding myself, time and patience.

I feel my guy hates me as well. I try not to take it personally lol.

 

[reptoman]

Bump. Any advice?

Hand feed by holding a cricket or silk worm loosely with your fingers. Do this the first thing daily so your hand becomes something less threatening. At 5 months you should not expect him to climb onto your hand willingly. Panthers usually come around closer to a year old. If he gets used to you hand feeding it will speed up the process but never chase him down and grab him. That will undo all your effort to alleviate his fear. He wil come around with time but remember that these are stress proned animals and it's better to have a healthy chameleon that likes his environment enough to show defensive territorial behavior than a stressed out animal that scrambles to get out of his cage at every opportunity. Good luck!