Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, I got my veiled chameleon last summer and he's finally reached the age where I will be transferring him to a larger cage. I heeded everyones warnings when I first got him that they were NOT the type of reptile that likes to be handled or even watched most of the time. Well, my guy has no problem if we stand around his cage and watch him,, he keeps one eye on us and the other on what he's doing. My problem is this,, I never handle him, seriously, we have a mutual understanding, he's cranky and I'm scared. It works for us. When I open his cage to feed him thats fine,, if I get too close he puffs up and hisses and strikes out,, I jump about a foot and remember my place, apologize profusely and try not to disturb him. When I clean his cage I go very slowly and wait for him to move so I can remove the plants and clean up the cage while he watches me very closely from an upper corner to make sure I don't get too close. So,,, after all that,, how the heck to I get him from his current home to his new one?? He is beautiful and thriving. Eats like a pig, basks in his own glory, explores his cage but I'm not sure about transfer him to the new cage. I was thinking of linking the two together but they won't "marry up" flush and I'm afraid he'll end up outside of the cages on top or something. Do you think it'd be too stressful for him if i put on gloves and slowly and carefully picked him up? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, L
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1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx (Angus)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Eddie)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Stevie Ray)
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Jimi)
2.0.0 Dogs (Black German Shepherd-Nicholas, Black Lab-Cooper)
1.1.0 Budgies (Kia and Simon)
0.0.25 Various Fishies (Freshwater)
2.1.0 Hubby and kids (Boy and a Girl)

I have a couple of suggestions...see if you can get him to walk onto a stick. (You don't want to pull him off the branch because you could injure his joints or even break his toes.) If he will transfer to the stick you can simply leave the stick in his new cage and take it out when he's off it.

If he's too grumpy to do that...try wearing a sweatshirt with long sleeves in addition to gloves...and make sure that you use those thick work-type gloves because he might be able to bite you through a normal pair of (winter-type) gloves. If he bites the sweatshirt, usually he will only get the shirt and you will be safe inside it.

Hope this helps!

When I had to remove my angry veiled, I put a branch inside and left it alone, came back when he was on it, and quickly, and more importantly carefully, removed it. And that was far too many commas in one sentence, and thus I apologize. Good luck!

IM not quite sure if this info will help you as it relates to a pissy mellers, not veiled cham. IT is still worth a try.

I kept mellers chams for a while and i remeber when i first got them....the female was an LTC as for the male....well he was a pissy import! How i handled him was i slowly approached the cage not making eye contact with him (it is a threat to look them in the eye). Then i would open the door and stick my arm out near him. He occasionally nipped at me, but never sunk his teeth in. The with my other hand i would be holding a LARGE cocharoach (realtive to the animals size)just out of his reach so he would have to climb on me. The large roach is what really catches the animals interest. He would slowly approach me and climb on to my arm to get it. Then i would just take him where i needed to go. If he tried to bite, then i would place a cocharoch in front of him and he would bite that.

I find this technique to work VERY WELL! It makes the trip more relaxing and the cham begins to form a little bond with you. Soon my big guy associated that when ever i came near him he would get food...and chams love BIG,MEATY bugs. Something about there large size interests them.

I really dont reccomed trying the branch idea. I had a young panther chameleon who would always try to jump off of the branch! That would really not be good at all!
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eric

>>I kept mellers chams for a while and i remeber when i first got them....the female was an LTC as for the male
How long ago was this that you had Melleri? How long did you have them? What exactly did you feed them? Could you elaborate more on your setup for your Melleri?
You mention that your mellers were pissy. Could you elaborate more on this? Were you ever bitten? How was that bite? When you say pissy, was it that they were more hissing and lunging, or were they scared. Was it the male or female? Perhaps he was displaying to you. Do you have any pictures?
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Here's an idea. Wait until he's asleep. Reach in and gently grab him behind the neck is a soft but secure manner. Disengage his legs and tail and place him in the new cage. I have a male Veiled who is a Pit Bull w/out the fur. Personally, I don't wait until he's asleep to do this. Does he get pissed? Absolutely. But, he is after all a lizard, and I don't have the time to play games with him. I take him out, place him on the back of a chair, do what I need to do in his cage, and put him back in. Does he stress? Darn right he's stressin' but the DURATION of the stressful situation is minimized. He's back to normal coloration in maybe 5 minutes.

Bill

How funny....he puffs and hisses because he considers you a threat, and it works! Amazing considering you are much bigger than he. I love vegasbilly's no-nonsense approach.

If truely afraid, open up both cages, but the two openings up together, feed and water in the new cage. He will think it is a big huge cage. The others can comment on it, but maybe keep it that way for a few days so that he can pick and choose. Eventually he will stay with the food and water.

If you decide to be brave, remember, it only hurts for a minute!

Kris
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2.1 Black Labs Tucker, Raider and Lacey
1.0 Lepoard Gecko Kumar
3.0 Horses Smoothie, Rocky and Bogey
1.1 Ferrets Tank and Ellie (The fun fuzzies)
0.1 Veiled Chameleon Pudge RIP
0.1 Snowflake Cornsnake Lucky
1.0 Sunburst veiled-No name yet

You said..."If you decide to be brave, remember, it only hurts for a minute!"...you obviously haven't seen or felt some of the damage a veiled can do when it bites! It can be pretty bad.

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I'm sure once I have suited up in my chain mail/suit of armor I'll feel very secure in the transfer! I will take all suggestions to heart and, being a parent, I will NOT take any guff from this lizard (or any one else in my house for that matter!) I think I will remove most of the plants/climbing vines out of his cage and hopefully force him onto the remaining plant and just transfer that to the new cage. I will of course be wearing a long sleeved shirt and gloves in case I need to move in to make sure he doesn't try to jump or hurt himself in any way. Wow, after all my planning it'll like only take like, 10 seconds to accomplish and I'm sure it will go fine. Thanks so much for all the input. I've got a week or so before the new cage gets here to plan my attack! L.
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1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx (Angus)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Eddie)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Stevie Ray)
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko (Jimi)
2.0.0 Dogs (Black German Shepherd-Nicholas, Black Lab-Cooper)
1.1.0 Budgies (Kia and Simon)
0.0.25 Various Fishies (Freshwater)
2.1.0 Hubby and kids (Boy and a Girl)

I was SOOOOO laughing when I read this post! My panther is still young, but he acts like he wants to EAT me ALIVE when I disturb him and recently when I had to give him oral liquids he bit me several times. I can attest that even a small nip DOES hurt. I also appreciate all of the various answers about how to move the little sh*t. I am sorry to say that I have never considered the damage I might be doing to his feet when I snag him in his cage. I promise to be more thoughtful in the future. LOlO good luck with your armor AND your transfer. Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

When it comes to being bit by an animal...well dogs, cats, horses, snakes, all can do damage, and I have been bit by the best! But still, it only hurts for awhile (even crushed fingers). Anyway, I certainly was not implying that she boldly stick her unprotected hand in there...obviously my response to her situation was in jest...
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2.1 Black Labs Tucker, Raider and Lacey
1.0 Lepoard Gecko Kumar
3.0 Horses Smoothie, Rocky and Bogey
1.1 Ferrets Tank and Ellie (The fun fuzzies)
0.1 Veiled Chameleon Pudge RIP
0.1 Snowflake Cornsnake Lucky
1.0 Sunburst veiled-No name yet