Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male veiled who is 15 months old and looks the picture of health. I am stymied by his recent behavior. For the longest time he would see me and dive to the bottom of his cage.
Then, occasionally for about a week at the time he would swell up like an old toad and turn 15 different colors at the sight of me. Now he does it all the time and has been for about 3 weeks now. Other people can go into his room and all he does is turn to look at them while displaying normal "at ease" colors...BUT, if I go in the room he does the swelling bit, turns fantastic colors with blue spots, stretches out his tail with a small curl at the end and does the cha-cha. Now if that weren't enough he also hisses, gapes and charges me. What the heck is going on? I am the only one who feeds him, sprays the cage and cleans it. I don't handle or tease him....is it just hormones and, if so, why just me? I have to admit that he is majestically amusing in this state BUT I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO DESERVE IT!!!!!

Can any of you think of any reasons for this?

This is interesting... I dont know if any of this could help... but 1 do you wear red alot? I've herd somewhere that red stresses them out. I dont know if thats just a rumor or what, I think it might be because of it was true then the poor tamatave's would be stressed all the time being mostly red and green.

Another thing, do you aproach him faster than everyone else?

Or perhaps ... are you misting him with cold water? he could associate you with fridgid water... who knows...
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.1 Veileds
1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

Hi, Jovana. No, I never wear red and always make sure that the water in the spray bottle is hot so it will at least be warm when it may chance to hit him. I have tried entering the room slowly or even just standing at the doorway...one look at me is all it takes for the threatening dance. I may have to just chalk it up to his particular personality - a nasty, little s.o.b., lol! However, I would sure love to know what he is thinking.

Marilyn

HAHA wouldnt we all love to know what they are thinking. Has he always been like this? or did he change when he became adult? veileds are funny arnt they
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.1 Veileds
1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther

i saw a show on lizards a while ago and this man had iguanas and he said they if they(males) are never shown another male of the smae species they end up thinking that they are people or the poeple are trying to take their space.. in other word the iguanas would get very mad at the sight of the owner and try to chase the own out of the iguanas territory.

now im wondering if you could som how get your cham on a stick and take him to a mirror or get a large mirror for him to look into. I just wonder if this would settling him down some and let him know that you are not the person or thing he should be attacking.

Just a thought that may work..

it work for the iguanas.....and i think every one here knows chams are smarter the iguanas....hehe

The one idea I have is that he recognizes you as a frequent intruder to his space (regardless that you are a GOOD intruder). He feels comfortable enough with you that he doesn't just panic, but he's starting to assert himself as the king of his domain and because you still "invade" his territory on a regular basis he's starting to tell you off. And, every time you leave (when you are done with your chore) he thinks he won the encounter. Once he gets past his hormone surges he may calm down again somewhat.

Carlton, I think that you and Chamsrcool may be right. I showed him the mirror and he came down to it like greased lightning, mouth agape, tail thrashing and hissing. He actually tried to grab the mirror! *rolling on the floor* I swear he turned a few more colors that I haven't seen before! It is apparent that he does see me as an intruder! Thanks, people, it never occurred to me that this might be the case. It is up to me to just accept and enjoy him the way he is.

Marilyn

At least we can enjoy the beauty even though it is a bit inconvenient. Who ever said they were convenient? I have a rescue toucan. He is gorgeous, cantankerous and a real character. My convenience is the farthest thing from his little mind so every time I clean his 8'X 8'X 4' cage and pick up the surrounding mess I just have to remember why I love him.

Do you have any pix of him? Would love to see. Are most of your rescues from owners who "discard" them for some reason? Are toucan's avaiable as pets?

>>At least we can enjoy the beauty even though it is a bit inconvenient. Who ever said they were convenient? I have a rescue toucan. He is gorgeous, cantankerous and a real character. My convenience is the farthest thing from his little mind so every time I clean his 8'X 8'X 4' cage and pick up the surrounding mess I just have to remember why I love him.
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

This is not a cham topic (again)but adopting a parrot or large bird is very difficult. You will have to attend classes for around a week plus visit the bird every day - no matter if you have to drive 100 miles each way. THEN they have to come and inspect your home and IF you are accepted they do followup visits. These are general rules. I want to adopt a grey but I live in Kentucky and there are no rescues around me. I forgot..you also have to reimburse the rescue for any vet bills they may have incurred with the bird. You know how much exotic vet bills are.

Marilyn

Hi Marilyn (haven't seen you around for awhile - did you winter over any caterpillars?)

As for my toucan question I am not interested in one (my 4,6 and 8-leggeds are enough! LOL) was just inquiring as I didn't know they were even available (legally).

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Hey, Lele. It's been a tough winter. My elderly aunt, whom I was taking care of, died in early December and then a month to the day she died my mother in law passed on. Dealing with closing accounts and all the legalities has kept me hopping but we are all doing well.

No caterpillars to winter over but as soon as I get back from Puerto Rico (my uncle's 90th birthday party!) I am ordering silkworms for my chams so please expect my pestering you for information. My daughter and son in law who are avid herpers are coming with me and we plan to identify as many herps and birds as humanly possible. One of my great hopes is to capture and photograph a Puerto Rican boa (Epicrates Inornatus)

By the way, could you please tell me how to upload pics to the forum? I got one in the photo gallery but as to forums I am clueless.

Hope you are tolerating this winter well!!

Marilyn

Gee, sorry to hear of your losses

As for pix...if you already have one in the forum you should be able to post it in the body of a message. In the message edit window scroll all the way down and you will see "Select Image from Photo Gallery" click on the arrow and choose your photo. Another way is to go to the gallery, bring up your photo, right click on it, choose "properties," hi-lite address/URL, right click, copy, go to message body back here, type what I put in bold except without the quotes:

""

but the first way is a lot easier! If you want to post more than one photo in the same message you need to do it the second way.

lele

>>Hey, Lele. It's been a tough winter. My elderly aunt, whom I was taking care of, died in early December and then a month to the day she died my mother in law passed on. Dealing with closing accounts and all the legalities has kept me hopping but we are all doing well.
>>
>>No caterpillars to winter over but as soon as I get back from Puerto Rico (my uncle's 90th birthday party!) I am ordering silkworms for my chams so please expect my pestering you for information. My daughter and son in law who are avid herpers are coming with me and we plan to identify as many herps and birds as humanly possible. One of my great hopes is to capture and photograph a Puerto Rican boa (Epicrates Inornatus)
>>
>>By the way, could you please tell me how to upload pics to the forum? I got one in the photo gallery but as to forums I am clueless.
>>
>>Hope you are tolerating this winter well!!
>>
>>Marilyn
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

You'll hardly ever find toucans up for adoption. Very few are produced in captivity, a couple hundred are imported each year at most, they are quite an investment and most keepers have them in aviaries rather than as pets. CB hand raised babies make really nice pets, but if one just didn't turn out the way the keepers wanted it often gets added to someone's aviary collection instead. The jerk who marketed and sold my bird to his original owners lied and said he was tame. No way. He beat up their other bird, could not be approached, and I suspect they were overwhelmed with his mess, noise, and normal male belligerent nature. I've worked with wildlife rehabbers and had a pretty good idea what to expect from him in terms of personality, have a lot of patience (he doesn't jab at my face anymore), and we get along very well now. Its like having a raven in the house. So, I have my dog for contact, my python for herp interaction, the chams because I am fascinated by them, and the toucan for hilarity and beauty and to give him an understanding home for as long as he needs it.

...I would love to come meet all your critters! (and you
You have my email, could you send me a photo of the toucan??

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

I pretty much take rescues from owners who either buy on impulse and then regret it, or take animals from rescue organizations. My dog and python were from organizations. The plea for rehoming the toucan came from a post on a bird keeping forum. He was sold as hand raised and when they got him home found he was completely wild and aggressive. I've had him about a year and a half. He won't get very tame but at least he's calmer, seems happy, and I don't demand that he be anything but himself. Yes, toucans are available for pets, but are extremely expensive if cb. Most species are listed on CITES so are not imported, but a couple still are including mine. CB toucans can cost anywhere from $3000 to $8000. If anyone wants more info about them go to http://www.emeraldforestbirds.com. I can't seem to attach pics to the forum, so I could send you one via my yahoo account if you like. Just email me if you'd like.