Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has any one had their cham(s) shoot their tongue at YOU when they are upset? Mine does this almost every time the camera comes out... he hates the camera. Only once or twice he has shot at my finger.

I haven't heard anything about this behavior, anyone know the reason for this (the behavior I mean)?

Heres a pic of the beginnings of a tongue-shoot.

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1.1.0 Leopard Geckos (Booger & Gimp)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Lucutis)

I dont know about why he would do that behavior, but that is an AWESOME picture!!!

Maybe your camera looks like a nice big moth or something?
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1:1 Veileds (Gene and Alis)
1:0 Sambava Panther (Knoxville)
1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
Various cats and dogs

I often have one of my bearded dragons out, sitting on my shoulders, chest, or neck. Once, while cleaning a cage, a chameleon of mine, started to aim its tounge at my bearded dragon. Never aimed it at myself or the camera though.

One of them actually seems to be quite interested in the camera.
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CANADIAN CHAMELEONS

Chams can get really interested in the camera lense. They have very detailed vision and can pick out their reflection in the lense. It can really upset them as they see an odd distorted rival. As for shooting at the camera, they may just make a mistake...seeing movement they might mistake it for an insect close up. Shiny movement within tongue range is sometimes "food".

Ahhh... that makes sense. I didn't think of him seeing his reflection in the lens. That would explain his intense agitation with the camera. Still, I don't know why he would see his reflection and then shoot at it thinking it was a bug. When he does it he is hissing and then he shoots. I guess I have a confused little guy.

Thanks everyone for your replies!
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1.1.0 Leopard Geckos (Booger & Gimp)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Lucutis)

Well, chams are not rocket scientists. I had a jax who shot at a cat's ear once. I can't think they consider that shooting their tongue is a weapon against a threat...it is too easily damaged. Maybe its a confusion of what behaviorists call "fixed action patterns". These are actions that the animal does without thinking about it first, but are not as complex as what we think of as "instinct". An example:

A mother duck is put in a box where she can hear but not see anything outside it. An unrelated duckling is put near the box and it starts calling for mom. The duck in the box reacts to the trigger and tries to get to the worried duckling. The box is removed, so she can see the duckling who was calling. But, she realizes it's not her own, and chases it away instead. The conflict is that there are two fixed action patterns working against each other. One is to defend a scared duckling. The other is to chase anything that is not her brood.