Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We've got a fiesty little veiled chameleon that likes to hiss, and bump her snout at anyone who comes around her territory...she's housed by herself in an all screen enclosure and is misted 2wice a day...we try to handle her a lot and she is really tempermental until she is on your hand...then she settles right down and we can pet her and talk with her and she doesn't seem to mind....

Any advice with taming down a little veiled with an attitude???

Actually! I have the picture uploaded on here already.........HERE SHE IS.....

You like making people think so why not think how you could accomplish "taming" a veild. I'm sure if you put some thought into it you could figure it out all by yourself..

LOL I think this guy is a little upset about your glass incloser debate.
All of my chameleons associate me with food thats how I tamed them. My male veiled will even climb off his cage and onto me when I open the door. He looks at me like ok wheres the crickets?
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.1 Veileds
1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

I thought petting your chams was bad and that they take it as a aggressive act.

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I don't care if people house them in boxes that's for them to work out. I figured if he wants to get others to think he should do the same when asking how to "tame" a chameleon which he would know if he spent time researching instead of trying to get others to think

for someone that comes off like he has years of experience, what kind of question is "how do you tame them"!? you should aleady know THAT answer before you get a chameleon. can you tell what i'm thinking?

dennis

I keep reptiles for fun, and because we enjoy having them in our home. We find them interesting and amusing. I don't know where I came off as an expert??? When I ask on how to "tame" a chameleon, I'm wondering if maybe anyone has tried anything maybe I haven't. I didn't know it was a bad thing to ask questions.

We've kept all types of chameleons, geckos, beardies, basilisks, a few snakes, some skinks, and a uromastyx. I have never considered myself to be an expert, or know everything. Basically I have the knowledge I've gained from many books, articles and local breeders...and even these forums.

I was reading that particular article on glass sided cages and found it rather interesting, so I decided to post it on here and let you guys have an opinion on it.

If posting an article on keeping chameleons in glass sided cages makes me sound like I "know it all", or I'm trying to be some kind of "expert". I assure you I'm not. I think you got the wrong impression.

I don't know what your problem with me is....did I irritate you with an article written by an experianced herpotologist you disagree with???

Whatever the problem may be, next time maybe instead of blatently typing out your thoughts, you should offer an opinion or a suggestion. But I doubt with that childish of an attitude you really have any opinions worth taking into consideration.

That's just my opinion, I can be, and probably am, wrong.

well if you really read all those books and talked to all those breeders and picked up info on forums like these then you would ALREADY know chameleons are "showcase" animals to be admired and not handled on a regular basis like traditional pets. i'll type my thought as i see fit, apparently for someone who likes to "...make others think" you have problems with what i think.

dennis

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you make fun of his answer when you repled to somone elses with
"do somone $hit in your cereal?"

You might want to rethink that.

anyways to avoid confuontations about articles and things dont say that you like to make people think say stuff like i want to know what you thought about this or something that doesn't sound like you wanted to create troble even though i dont think you did.

now,
Lots of veileds dont really like to be handled they just simply tolerate it and hope that you aren't suddenly going to do something bad. the best way to get them to get used to your hands in their cage has been stated already but that doesn't mean the cham will let you hold it. you might want to try first getting the cham on your had with a glove on or something so it it bitesit wont hurt the feed hand feed it. eventually it will associate you holding it with food and that is very help ful when going to vet.

like said in other mesages some(chams) will never accept you into "their" world

also for you information i am 16.

I don't understand how you can possibly interpret "I like to make people think" as a cocky, degrading, or offensive think to say.

How exactly is it that the quote "I like to make people think", make me sound like I know it all, or I have an attitude towards people whereas, I think I'm better or much more knowledgable?

Maybe it was the word: "make" as if I'm making you do something?
the word make maybe has the sound that I'm possibly forcing you to think?

Well, I don't really care, I'm here to offer advice and suggestions from my experiance and recieve it from others, not read stupid-ass replies from someone who took some kind of offense from a harmless debate. Anyway, sorry about the "16" comment, maybe I should have used the age of "8"? I was immature at 16 so maybe that's why I picked it. Basically I wasn't trying to bash the age of 16, just the immaturity of the reply. Apologies if I've offended you. Anyway, I've already got a good answer to our problem from Joe-the silkworm man. He had an excellent idea if you haven't already read it.

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I dont think you ever "TAME" a cham. It's more like they decide to either accept you into their world or not.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, R.I.P. 11/17/2003)
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Veiled - No Names Yet
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
0.0.1 3 toed box turtle - No Name Yet
0.0.1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle - No Name Yet
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

No, tame is the word I was looking for. In order for them to accept you into their world they must be at some level of tameness...the definition of tame is: To take something from the wild and bring it into a domesticated state, or to tone down. So maybe you can't completely tame it like a beardie in comparison but I know they can be toned down...I'm just looking for the best way to do it...the silkworm idea was excellent, someone had from a later post.

Don't expect to tame her completely. More handling may not do what you hope...it may stress her to the point of sickness. Get her used to the idea that you are a source of treats. Hand feed her. She'll either accept you into her space or she won't. Forcing her to tolerate unwelcome handling will keep her stress level higher and she may get even more pissy. She's behaving like most veileds. One reason keepers think their chams "calm down" once they are being held is that they freeze, hoping to go unnoticed or waiting for a chance to bolt or drop. If she lost all her stress spotting while being held maybe I would believe it. As long as she's fired up in color she is not calm, just not moving.

"Taming" a chameleon is kind of the wrong word.

I would call it conditioning.

There are great benefits in conditioning your chameleon to tolerate you. But I don't think handling is the best way to condition them.

Your job is to remove their fear of you and associate you with something they want. (Being handled is not something they desire) Food is a great association. It may take a great deal of patience to achieve this kind of association.

The complicated part: Veileds go through some different stages in their life. A few of those stages are resistant to any type of interaction.

My method: I take a silkworm and put it in the palm of my hand. I put my hand at the base of the plants and wait. When the chameleon stops eyeballing me, he may start looking at the moving silkworm and go for it. After he takes the worm, I leave my hand inside the cage, and use my other hand to reload another silkworm. My hands in his cage become associated with the feeding process. The more you repeat this process, the more your chameleon will accept you being in his cage. After a few months, there won't be any alarm when your hands are inside his cage. You taught him not to be afraid of your hands.

(I have a large male veiled that I have never been able to condition. So, just because you are ready to start the process may not mean your cham is ready to accept it.)

Just keep trying.
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Joe
- www.silkwormfarm.com

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