Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello -- i'm from the tortoise forums; i own an almost-a-yearling redfoot tortoise, and i had an iguana while i was going to school. both were/are wonderful animals, in part because i aquired them young and captive-bred, and i did everything i could in order to well-socialize them.

which brings me to my question: how "social" a pet can a chameleon be? i say "social" because i'm asking in terms of reptiles; i'm fully aware that they're not like cats or dogs, but i'm not the kind of person that wants an animal for display purposes only. i've read that chameleons, though, tend to do best seen and not handled, and that they stress easily.

what are your experiences? are they really such neurotic lizards, or can they tolerate regular handling so long as they're treated gently (and i suppose being captive-born can gretly help as well)?

just something i've been thinking about. thanks in advance for any advice!

almost all chameleons are strictly show lizards, you might get the odd chameleon who are tame enough for you to handle them but thats very rare, even now if i get any of my veileds out they hate it and turn to hiss at me, the only one that doesnt mind it is my panther which i raised very very young and hes fine but it doesnt always work that way.
Good luck finding a cham which will tolerate handling if u do though.
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4x Veiled Chameleon
1x Panther
Hollie/Willow > female veileds
Carling/Houdini > Male Veileds
Louey > Panther

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Edited signature file to remove unacceptable advertising. [phw 8/7/04]

I'd say for the most part a show animal. I have some panthers though that seem to want to be held (Squishy and a couple of his brothers) and then I have some that will go out of their way to attack and try to bite. Some also panic and try to flee as fast a possible and you can tell they are not likeing the hand in their cage. Some also just puff up and gape and hiss when they see you.

I think it also comes down to the individual animal as well, as each has their own personality. For the most part many of them like to be left alone.

Nice Redfoot!

A lot of people are going to disagree with me but I handle most of my Chams on a regular basis. I say most because I have a few that if I don't have gloves on, they'll try to take a chunk out of me. I respect that and them and give them the distance they need.

Most people regard Chams as just display animals with the idea that handling stresses them. I think sooner or later you are going to have a medical problem with your Cham and need to see a vet. From the Cham's perspective the vet is going to handle it roughly. If this is the first time it has ever been handled, it is going to get stressed.

It all depends on the Chameleon. I've had a few Veileds that tolerated me handling them. They still hissed and gaped but gave up on biting me after a while. Most of my Chams are Panthers and they are much more tolerant of being handled. I would not try for a Jackson, handling them is way to stressful for them.

Try to get a young Cham and start picking him up early. I breed Chams so if there is one in a clutch that I think I am going to keep as a future breeder, I'll start handling him frequently while he is young to get him used to it. Try to associate handling them with something good. Like pick them up and put them in a tree outside. When they are about a year old they'll come to the door of their cage and crawl onto your hand. Hope this helps.

The association idea is key to a friendly chameleon I think (though I am not sure). My female veiled is not scared in the least bit of me. This might be because I hand feed her from varying distances (so my hand is close sometimes, though she knows it doesn't mean I am going to disturb her) and also because I handle her for transportation to a large ficus tree in the sun (and sometimes to show to people, though they only get to look, not touch).

Now my male on the other hand runs every which way and has even taken a few falls escaping my vulcan death grip (at least thats how he makes it out with his actions, I don't grab at all I just spread my fingers and put them at a higher point because I read chams enjoy being above all). When he is put into the large ficus he is happy/terrified. I think this is mostly due to his current caging arrangement and my inability to hand feed him (with the ficus if I get within a foot he'll run to the other side of the tree without a care that theres a tasty bug in my hand). I used to hand feed him and he used to be much friendlier. Just the other day when he was on my hand my girlfriend reached with a flat hand toward him (instead of using my verticle spread hand technique) and he lunged and almost bit her (he wasn't going to let go of me and he couldn't quite reach her). She is scared of him now.

i appreciate hearing about your experiences. sounds like they do seem to require more work/motivation to be socialized... my iguana, outside an occasional "i don't want to go back in my cage" tantrum, was great. she was frequently handled by my whole family, and was so mellow that even stuff like clipping her nails was no big deal at all. i once painted her toenails, too (i was feeling girly, heh!). my tortoise is also a sweety, and seems to be more interested in me and what i'm doing, but maybe it's just because i hand feed him a lot. he's still got a lot of growing to do!

anyway, i'd not pursue the thought of purchasing a chameleon anyway until later, when i'm living someplace with more space, plus i have 3 roommates and regular guests, and all those people means that our place can get noisy, so if there's any possibility that an animal might be high strung, i'd not do it the disservice of bringing it into an environment that would worsen that.

thanks again for your advice!