hanldeing help

[peterm15]

i have a veild cham... he hisses alot when i go to handle him so i really cant pick him up.... he is prob about 8 months old and eats and everything fine hes about 6 in(body) long... does anyone have any suggestions on how i can make him handleable

[Manitoban Herps]

After a couple months of being born, veiled's start to get aggressive. If you keep on handling him/her she will just get stressed, and maybe die.

Chameleon's are for looking not handling.

So there is no suggestions.....but you can 't say these aren't great display animals?

[peterm15]

oh i have a great display animal alright.... in its 150 gallon screen tank. lol... the interior is natural looking moss hanging for branches and stuff... there is soon to be real plants along with fake ones for more cover... and hes only in like 1/3 of his cage right now.... im also looking into trying to find a way to make the outside look like your looking into a tree or something.... look natural too eh. i would like to but i dont need to handle him all the time... just long enough to transport him or put him in a temp tank so i can clean the real one... just like that..

[HeatherRose]

If I go into my chameleons' cage, he'll hiss at me. Usually I let him eat some mealworms out of my hand, and then let him walk onto said hand. After I give him a 'snack', he doesn't hiss or even change his colours, he seems pretty tolerant of me. I ONLY do this when I NEED to take him out, for showers or vet trips and the like. So if you NEED to take him out, you could try this, but otherwise chameleons aren't really handleable pets :(

[peterm15]

ya ive tried that but alternating hand so im gonna try your way.... veilds stop eating when there not hungry right...cause he seems to be getting really fat the last few weeks

[dank7oo]

Lies ... all lies. :D Chameleons are all different and to make a generic comment as to say they are not handleable is ignorant (no offence Heather ... ) My chameleons are all handleable. I put my hand in the cage and they have no problems with my picking them up. The only one who hisses is the biggest pansy ever and he wont bite ... he will just nudge me with his nose. Hissing and biting is not something that is easily fixed with chameleons (if it is even possilbe). If your cham is biting I would just let him be. But if it doesnt ... what harm is handleing once in a while (or daily .. you know :D)?

Jason
(the stealth one)

[HeatherRose]

but otherwise chameleons aren't really handleable pets

Don't make me come over there Jason.

I was super careful not to say "Chameleons are NOT handleable," and yeah, I've met some chameleons that are pretty handleable. GENERALLY, they're not. If Peter's chameleon hisses and snaps when he tries to handle him...then...he would appear to be...NOT handleable, wouldn't he?

[peterm15]

ya someont at a vet one time had one that when you walk by it would stand on its hind legs and look all sad and reach for you... as soon as you got close enough and let him know it was ok he would climb on you and just keep climbing. then as well my old teachers son has one that sits on your shoulder during dinner and any time it can... it doesnt even care who you are...

i know some not extreemly handleable but i just wanna know how i can make mine handleable

ps he has never tried to bite or even change colour when he hisses

[dank7oo]

If you REALLY wanna handle him ... put on a a baggy shirt and let then cham bite the shirt sleave and then carefully slip your hand underneath him belly and pull him out.

Jason

[DragnDrop]

Originally posted by dank7oo
If you REALLY wanna handle him ... put on a a baggy shirt and let then cham bite the shirt sleave and then carefully slip your hand underneath him belly and pull him out.

Jason

Pull him out????? How not to make friends with a cham.
The general accepted method is NOT to pull the cham. You patiently nudge him onto a stick or finger, but you do no PULL. That's too much like being yanked by a predator, guaranteed enough stress to take years off his life.

[dank7oo]

Maybe pull was the wrong word ... but I thought say slid the hand underneath was a sign of gentiality (is that even a word). Sorry I wasnt clear in my explanation.

Jason

[peterm15]

thank you....and thanks for clearing up the pulling part

[Collide]

if your cham is pissy leave him be. your just gonna stress it out more only handle like Heather said when it is nessesary. I am sorry but i do think that the more u handle your cham the more stress it causes the cham to indure. There is the odd cham that is friendly but i would definetly say that it is not a good thing to keep handeling a chameleon that does not want to be handled.

[dank7oo]

I totally agree Brandy. Well said :)

Jason

[peterm15]

the problem is i cant even handle him when its nessessary... i cant handle him at all.... hell hand feed hell even walk onto my hand as long as one foot or his tail is attached to a branch... but as soon as i go to move him he freaks hisses and runs back into the cage tripping over himself( its actually quite funny)

[K1LOS]

yup, sounds like you have a pretty normal chameleon alright. My nosy be is not a fan of leaving his cage. Once you get him out though he is just fine. Like somebody else mentioned, all you can do is try and guide him on to your hand. Remember that chameleons like to climb upwards so put your hand on an incline infront of him and nudge him from behind. Thats what i do. Takes a little bit of patience but it works. It takes LOTS of patience if he is on the other side of the cage cause he'll just grab another branch on the way out! Other then that, there isn't much you can do.

Geoff

[jjaj02]

My veiled doesnt mind being handled at all. There is once in a while that she does try to get away when I put my hand in there and then I leave her alone. But most of the time its almost like she really likes being held. She doesn't like being petted though. Ive never had a problem with her hissing or biting.