Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering what you all think are the friendliest, least skittish cham species. I work at a pet store & we have 0.2 Jacksons and 1.1 Veiled. I have noticed the Veileds are way more "laid back" than the Jacksons. When I go to pick them up when I clean their tank, they usually turn a brighter color & seem to enjoy hanging out on my hand, whereas the Jackson's do the opposite, turn really dark & try to run away. Is this the way it is, or does the friendliness & personality of chams vary w/each one depending on it's care & all? I had a customer come in & tell me he has 2 Panthers & they always hiss at him & try to bite, but his male Jackson "loves to be out of its tank & on [his] hand." I thought handling chams is not a good idea?

Also, I cannot find anywhere that says what the lifespans of chams are, it seems that they can live anywhere from 2-8 yrs depending on their husbandry & diet, is that true? Any of you have long-living chams?
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Danielle
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1.0 green water dragon (Dragon)
0.4 leos (Yoshi, Slizzard, Cream, Pokey)
0.1 GG beardie (Sobe)
1.0 blue anole (Tiki)
1.1 bettas (unnamed)
1.0 Rhod. Ridgeback dog (Titan)
~My Pets~

My personal favorite chameleon is the Fishers cham, B.Fischeri multituberculatum. I have had mine for 5 years now as a wild caught adult. Out of the 8 species of chams ive had he is the most hardy and "friendly". Altho my female of same species cannot be handled. Also in my opinion it all depends on the way the chams were raised not species as to their temperments. I believe handling chams should be done at the will of the cham not forced by the keeper.

usually it is the jax that are less aggressive and its the veileds that lunge and hiss....your's may not have come of age yet

i don't think any cham wants to be lifted off his branch for any reason and pretty much any species is going to get mad for the disturbance

no, chams should not be handled, however, i have a jax that walks onto my hand whenever he is misted...he reaches out for me then rubs his eyes and mouth on my hand...then he drinks...when he's done i put him back on his branch or he turns around and does it himself

8 is probably pushing it for lifespan...i think i read that the longest on record lifespan of a veiled is 9 years

Chams are really individual. I wouldn't say any are "friendly" in the sense that they want to socialize with you. They are simply not social critters. Say rather that some tolerate handling better than others. The cham who turns brighter colors when handled is exhibiting stress, not happiness. A really happy cham is most often quiet colored not bright. Chams learn that being picked up often means a ride to a favorite sunning spot or potted tree in the house or a change from a too small cage. There are a lot of people who assume their cham enjoys being carried around on a shoulder or hand. Probably not totally true. If a free roaming cham actually choose to walk over and climb up on me and sit, I would call that friendly. If a cham climbs on me to get out of the cage for a stroll, it's not quite the same thing. There can be mellow handleable veileds, nasty panthers, calm jax, and just the opposites. My B. fischeri multi for example was just the opposite...very snappy, stressy, and easily pissed. My veiled could be handled by anyone. I had one super docile melleri who did occasionally use me as a basking perch and another who was totally evil.