Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My adult male veiled is not very nice at all when it comes to people. He hisses, rocks, flares his neck, rolls/unrolls his tail, gapes, and lahes out to take a chunk out of me whenever i try to handle him (not very often at all, not even once a month).

He used to hand feed every day about 2 months ago, then we had a bad experience when he got out while i was cleaning, he fell to the floor from sticks i was holding 2 times and almost broke his jaw (he had a bad bruise for a couple weeks but was always eating without problem). He has only eaten about 3 bugs in the last 2 months from my hand.

Just now, he went for a stroll and i welcomed the tought of him roaming around on me or in my room. I was putting superworms on the screen for an afternoon hunt, and he decided to get out. He slowly creeped to the top of the open door and climbed along the top of it, by now i was watching and had a hand in front of him to get on. He wasn't interested in my hand and went down the vertical frame of the door, then decided to go back. He was rushing for some reason and grabbed his hind leg with his front, and fell. I don't see any signs of broken bones and he appears to be in good shape. He crawled next to a large wooden box i use for storage and for holding misters/supplements etc. I tried to go around him and chase him away from going behind it but all i got was some hissing, gaping, flaring, bright colours etc. He was mad. I went to the other side of the room as not to freak him out, and he decided to hide behind the box. I got mom and dad to help, i blocked off a path to his cage, and we removed the box from the corner. He scurried into the corner and cornered himself, and he wouldnt move. I tried to put sticks behind him to scare him into his cage, I tried a vacuum cleaner extension (not on the vacuum) i tried a lot of things. I got a good idea to put a small box on the end of a hockey stick and put the box on him. He sure didnt like the box and grabbed it, hissed at it and writhed inside it when i put it on top of him. I slid him along the smooth tile floor to the entrance of his cage, lifted the box, and put him inside. As of now I don't know how he's doing, im leaving him alone for a half hour or more so he can calm down and bask a bit.

My point is, how does everyone go about handling their pesky chameleons? I do not want to hurt him by grabbing him with gloves and definetly dont want to use a net. Any suggestions?

He is also below eye level (I was in the middle of making a stand when he decided to take a stroll), could that have anything to do with his behavior? HE grew up below eye level as well. Any connection?

Thanks everyone!

I think one moral to this story is to not let your Chameleons roam around in
non-Chameleon settings. You never know what they're going to get into, or fall off of, or eat, or whatever. Unless they're in a tree or something, you obviously have to be very careful when they are out of their cage.

In my opinion, Chameleons aren't pets for handling. I don't know why people think they are and insist on treating them like puppies or Iguanas. I know some keepers violently disagree, but when I first read Philippe Vosjoli say Chamelons were "display pets", I took it to heart. I only handle mine when I absolutely have to. I think it's healthier for them. Not to mention, most Veileds are especially vilolent towards their keepers except in rare instances. In my honest opinion I think a Chameleon will always see you as a predator. Some may become a little "tame" and allow you to hold them without getting super angry, but I don't see how any Chameleon can develop a dog-like relationship with an owner. They just aren't smart in that way. Reptiles have comparitively small, simple brains. They may do things that might give one the impression otherwise (I can hear it now - "my Veiled loves to watch TV and always winks at me when I feed him!" But I really think people mistake trivial behaviors for "affection" or something. That is just my opinion as I'm sure there are those who violently disagree and will undoubtedly offer up some hate towards me. I think no matter what, Chameleons will always see humans as just another giant animal that wants to eat them if given the chance. They just become used to having you around and feel less threatened over time.

You may want to get some gloves to wear when you handle him. If you poke giant protruding objects at him and scoot him around in boxes it will probably just cause him more trauma. I would get some gloves and gently approach him and pick him up. If he bites you, so what. It won't hurt through the gloves. Eventually he may recognize that you mean no harm, by handling him and not hurting him. But if you crouch over him with objects and bring in family members (more predators) it probably only further freaks him out. Also, I would really limit his roam time indoors unless it's in a tree. The ideal roaming should be done in small trees outside on days of agreeable weather.

That's just my two cents! Best of luck.

>>You may want to get some gloves to wear when you handle him. If you poke giant protruding objects at him and scoot him around in boxes it will probably just cause him more trauma. I would get some gloves and gently approach him and pick him up. If he bites you, so what. It won't hurt through the gloves. Eventually he may recognize that you mean no harm, by handling him and not hurting him. But if you crouch over him with objects and bring in family members (more predators) it probably only further freaks him out. Also, I would really limit his roam time indoors unless it's in a tree. The ideal roaming should be done in small trees outside on days of agreeable weather.

I agree with this, and my parents were not in view of him when they wree there, my dad was behind the box when he was lifting it and got out of there as soon as he put it down. Mum was taking my place when i ran to get a box.

I really didn't want it to end up with me doing the box thing, and i will try the glove thing more.

I really only want to handle him when it is necessary, like for cleanings. I have only ever cleaned the very upper parts of the cgae once or twice, but the bottom is always clean. Nothing touches the top, so i don't worry too much about it.
The only reason i was letting him come out of the cage was becuase he has shown signf of wanting to explore many times in his life, recently however he has been fine, not much scratching at the cage at all, maybe every 2 weeks when he is cooling down he will scratch for a monute or two and then forget about it to return to his basking perch.
Not once did i take my eye off him when he ran away fom the cage, at least until he went behind the box, which i knew was safe because nothing else was behind it.

By the way, every now and then ( 2 or 3 times a month) my cham scratches at the top on the enclosure at the basking light, is that anything weird?

thanks for your help.

I think they scratch/paw at the cage sometimes as a general sign of unrest. They are probably testing the surface to see if they can get through.
If your cage conditions are correct, and he can be comfortable there, he will "claim" the area as his and probably spend most of the time perched higher up.
If he paws at the bottom or is very restless a lot of the time, there are probably conditions in the cage which are making him uncomfortable. My Jackson's spends most of the day perched high up in the tree, either under the basking light or off to the side, and when I approach sometimes he will do his territorial
"head-jerking", saying that the place is his, and he digs it, and to leave him alone!

Veileds are just very aggressive Chams. Just take it slow and easy and eventually he will probably accept you easier. Also, I've read that looking a reptile in the eye is a direct threat to them. Try looking down or off to the side when handling him. I know it sounds silly, but I've heard this from several experts. This is submissive behavior (not looking them in they eye) and they may not feel as threatened.

That is very interesting, I have noticed that a lot when feeding/handling/cleaning, he will be very slow to eat or move around unless i am doing something other than looking at him. He doesn't care what i'm doing, be it misting or doing my homework, as long as my head is turned to the side or if i look in another direciton.

I agree with you jacksonsrule. I have only handled my chameleon twice, one was the day when i was putting his cage together. He was very calm and rested on my shoulder most of the time, but when I removed him from my shoulder and put him into his encloser he opened hsi mouth at me. The other time was when i took him to the vet. He was veyr calm at the vet's office. From the attitude he exibits when I handle him, I believe that because he was exposed to people most of his life, admiring him in the pet store, he is alittle friendly with humans (but he still is like any other creature, always causious and aware that anything could eat him).

Anyway, here is an interesting excert from a book a purchased before I got my chameleon. The book is called "Essential Care of Chameleons" it is written by Phillippe de Vosjoli. Here is the passage under specific Veiled Chameleon Care.

"If you want a pet, raise a veiled chameleon in an enviroment with human activity, such as a kitchen, and interact with it frequently, starting when it has a body length of about two inches. This means taking the time for two or three short (5-10 minutes) sessions to get it to climb on a finger, hand-feed, permit its carrying , and climb from hand to hand. As it gets larger, starting with a body length of three to four inches, allow it to rest on your shoulder for more extended periods of time."

This Excert is saying that veileds can be trained to be a more "human friendly" pet. Hoever, in many different articles and books I have read on veileds, most tell me the exact opposite, that handling veileds to often, even when they are young, causes stress. I am still not sure what to believe, but it is interesting to hear different perseptives on the chameleon handling issue.

Anyway Chunks_89, I hope your veiled is okay
-phibia5

The concensus of the experts is that chameleons are strinctly "look but don't touch" animals. The Vosjoli & Ferguson book is about 10 years old at this point. That's VERY old when it comes to knowledge of cham husbandry.

As for the original question: How densely planted is the cage and how big is it? The bigger & more densely planted, the beter. And, of course, the higher up the better.

You did mention one thing that worries me: you said he grabbed his hind leg with his front foot. If that starts to happen with any frequency at all, you need an immediate vet visit complete with bloodwork. That's a VERY serious symptom of underlying problems and often precedes death. I'm not saying that seeing it once means you have a problem. But if it becomes more frequent you need to panic.
Ed

That was the only time he has ever grabbed on and tried to walk. He does it other times but knows what he is feeling and looks for another thing to grab on to. The cage is currently on the floor and way too low. I am making a stand right now because i only recently found out the necessity of keeping chams up high. I just have to drill everything together, i have already cut the lumber.

thanks for the help everyone!

Another quick option to gloves. If he gets somewhere you really need to pick him up fast, just plop a towel or a shirt over him. He can't see you, he can grip the cloth, it won't hurt him and you won't have to squeeze him. Just lay the bundle in his cage opened, and let him crawl out by himself. Done!

I have a veiled chameleon and he is the total opposite of mean. In the last 3 months of owning him, I have only heard him hiss once, and that was the first day I got him. I never force him to come out of the cage, I just put my hand out and he will usually climb up it. The funny thing is that he will climb up too my shoulders, then go to the top of my head and hang out there as I walk around the house. He seems to enjoy it, so I am not going to worry too much.