Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a very healthy 7 month old male vield chameleon. over the last two months he has beome obsessed with the front glass of the vivarium. He paws at it constantly. I htought it was his reflection so we put card up and covered the glass he stopped for a little while but just began clawing again.
I then thought he was trying to escape so figured something was wrong inside the viv. His temps and humidity are perfect and he has many places to get up out of view etc and climb high he has a live ficus plant also. The size of the viv is 5ft hight by 4 ft width by 2and half almost 3 ft deep.
He is however not a friendly character he stresses being handled and does give a good bite, hisses and displays etc so i dont handle him unless is nessesary. I have not experianced this obsessive behaviour with any other chameleon any ideas how to stop him before he damages his claws???

Also any ideas how to condition him to myself so he not so fearful of people i treid tasty chameleon treats such as wax worms etc, hand feeding but to no avail. Just so he doesnt stress so much?. Open to ideas from those with more experiance.

I know that some people have kept chameleons successfully in enclosures with glass long term and I have kept them successfully myself on a temporary basis in glass tanks (hatchlings) the fact is that generally speaking chameleons just don't seem to get the concept of glass and unless you are talking about a really large enclosure (modified bay window or sunroom.) You will run into this type of problem or others. If this is a custom built enclosure I would suggest replacing the glass with screen hardware cloth or 1'x1/2' welded wire. This should eliminate the problem provided your enviromental conditions really are all good. Chameleons are also not really considered a hands on type animal and the fact is you will most likely have to accept the fact that your chameleon is meant to look at and not touch. There are always exceptions of course but they are just that, exceptions.

Dont use a glass enclosure chameleons hate there reflection it stresses them out thats why he is pawing probably

its not a complete glass viv its only the doors that are glass. But i think its not so much his reflection even when we place something there to stop his seeing it he still paws like he trying to get out. Im not sure i had a chameleon before in the same enclosure and i didnt have this trouble. The tank is huge so i cant think its too small for him. He always paws in the same place also if that helps.

He may be obsessed with trying to escape to someplace else in the room. Can he see other animals in the room? How high is the cage? Sometimes chams get stressed when they are too low to the ground and they can see some tempting higher places outside their cage. Chams are individuals. He may just refuse to accept the boundaries of his space. One suggestion. You could anchor some type of mesh to the inside of the glass panel so he can climb it instead. Try flexible polypro or woven netting from a hardware store and tape or glue pieces of it to the doors. It might give him more routes to travel in his cage and helps him get rid of that energy. Also, at 7 months his hormones are kicking in. He may be a pissy adolescent with nothing to do. He may mellow out a bit as he gets older but don't count on it. You are doing the right thing by offering treats. Keeping your activity to a routine he can count on, giving treats, and learning to accept him is about all you can do.