Taming(chams)

[offspring]

I was wondering if someone could tell me how to tame a male veild chameleon. Its 2 1/2 years old and 21 inches long. I've only really taken him out before when i clean his enclosure. I want to be able to handle him without him getting angry or stressed. Can any body help??
-Dan

[beth wallbank]

there is no special trick to 'taming' any reptile........reptiles train us. Chams are solitary animals, and very few 'like' to be touched at all, never mind looked at.

[Charm_Paradise]

Dan-

Good luck! LOL Male veiled chameleons when adults are know for having a temper/attitude. I have found the trick with my panthers is to give them there space and try hand feeding there favorite food. Get them to think when you come around it means food time. After every time you hold him give him a treat, now as you may know chameleons are more of a display animal, and some will take to being held better then others. I have a WC Ambilobe pardalis that seems to love being held, I put my hand in the cage and he comes right to me and crawls on my hand with no hesitation. We have a routine and I keep my part of the deal by feeding him after every time I hold him, which is mostly moving him from inside cage to outside side cage. But this is all done at an early age, so it may be close to impossible to do at this age. Hope this helps!

[offspring]

ya thanks alot hes spoiled though i have a huge tank for him and hes still a gerk to me. yesterday i brought him outside to clean his tank and the second he seemed to like to be handeld i put him on the ground and he went up a tree in 3 seconds me and my frend(reptilez) were searching for an hour but we found him. but thanks for the info

[Charm_Paradise]

Dan-

Tanks are bad for housing chameleons in! I hope you mean all screen cage!

[offspring]

ya i know,
I meant i have a reptarium(mesh cage).

[reptilez]

Ya,
that was a funny day
-Reptilez

[Trace]

i put him on the ground and he went up a tree in 3 seconds me and my frend(reptilez) were searching for an hour but we found him.

I'm sorry, I'm coming into this thread a little late here... but did you leave your chameleon outside unattended while you cleaned his cage? Or did you just put him on the grass and he sped off while you were watching him?

You are VERY lucky that he did not get eaten by any neighbourhood wildlife (cats, dogs, raccoons whatever) or injure himself in any way. I guess that's a lesson learned not to bring him outside anymore without him being in a cage.

Trace

[offspring]

no when i brought him outside my friend (Reptilz) was watchen him whil i cleaned out my tank next to him but he put him on the ground i dont no why. But dont worry im not doin that again.

[Trace]

Phew! I'm happy he didn't get lost or anything terrible like that!

Do you put your chameleon outside for the summer? They really like it and there is nothing better than real sunlight for healthy growth. If you do, just make sure to put him and his reptarium in a shady spot so he doesn't get sunburned!

Cheers!

Trace

[offspring]

ya i did that when i brought him out

[dank7oo]

i had the same problem as you .. my vieled is only 16 inches long, but looking at him you would think he was mearly 2 feet ... i NEVER touched my cham after 6 months of owning him, and not until 2 years later did i have the urge to do so ... we made the rare attempt, but that pissy old fruit wouldnt budge ...
about 2 months ago, i got reinterested with my chams, and decided to devote a lot of time and effort in fixing my veileds cage up properly, and decided to purchase 2 dwarf panthers ... this was the beginning of my handeling my vieled
i hooked up with **************/.ca (needless to say they arent nice like snakes members) and asked if there were any rep owners in ottawa because i was interested in meeting them ... steve, a member here and on ************* answered my call, and told me about his smakes ... when i told him i had chameleones, he told me that trace, who also lives in ottawa, had tons of chams, and frequented ssnakess.com and i could try and contact her there ...
we got talking, and this was about a week after one of my dwarfs laid her eggs, and the day after i met trace, she came over and helped me to incubate (the eggs werent fertile after all) ... she saw my viled and wanted to see if he was healthy, reached in a pulled him out ... i was shocked that anyone would go near him, and just pull him out, but she did it with only a his outta my monster ...
for the next week or so, i made attempts to take out my viled, by luring him into a feeding container and pullingin it out, or by waitingtill he was near the zipper of my reptarium, and then tried to let him climb onto my hand ...
after a week of being unsuccessful, a just did what trace did, put my hands in and pulled him out ... he didnt even hiss - i guess my grumpy cham wasnt so bad afterall ... i think my male vieled has a beeter temper than most, so thats why i thin i have an easy time handeling him now
best of luck, and dont worry too much about getting bitten .. i heard that its not TOO painful - LOL

(sorry about all the spelling and grammat mistakes ... i tend not to proofread anything i do)

[offspring]

im afraid of taken him out becouse chams can easaly get stressed and go off there food but some dont. but i dont use a feeding dish i lay the crickets on the mesh and he runs around and catches them so i cant try doin that thing with the feeder dish but ill keep tryen. Thanks for the info

[geckoguy157]

where gloves when you are handling him lol i have a litle male growing up olny about 12 or 13 inches and he will bit me any chance he gets i dont think there is a way to realy calm them down its more them being stressed out than agressive

[Charm_Paradise]

Hi-

Gloves are not a good choice, they will only cause more stress to the chameleon.