Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey has anyone reading this ever got bitten by a veiled chameleon or know a friend who has? Horror stories would be neat,lol...but basically i'm just looking for how common/uncommon it is. I know it's possible, and that their territorial, aggressive as they age, etc etc. But would be interetsed to see if it's actually happened to someone and how much it hurts.

Needless to say i'm a little wary every time i go to clean his cage out.

Mine isn't very friendly, even at 5 months old.

Mike

Hey,

I have never been bitten by a veiled chameleon, but I have goten quite a few bites from panthers. It doesn't really hurt that bad if they let go right away. However, most of them will bite down, and then not let go! They keep biting harder and harder and squirming around. Ussually end up bleeding, but never too deep, just break the skin. Females don't hurt, but the males sometimes can (and females sometimes). But if you are confident with handling your chameleons, you will be fine. If you are very timid, and are afraid to touch him, it seems like they know and use it to their advantage! But don't worry, it doesn't hurt that bad even if they do.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

I have never been bit, but my veiled bit my mom once when she put some water in his large potho plant. It latched on, and bit THROUGH here finger nail, and she said it was extremly painful. I was on a ski trip, and never saw it. But my chameleon has come accustomed to me, only hisses when I wake him. This is actually a bad thing, because when I give him medicine via oral syringe, he never hisses and opens his mouth, so I have to force it open. They get more use to you after a few years, along with hand feeding and occasional handling (while cleaning cage, giving medicine, ect.)

Not hurt too bad - Bah!

These suckers bite harder than anything their size, aside from mammals. Usually they nip and let go, but if they are REALLY scared(you grabebd them), they'll clamp. If they're getting a big area, like your arm, they'll break the skin. If they get a finger, they WILL split your nail, or take thet ip of your finger(NOT the bone) off.

I've seen a 12" veiled chrush a full grown cicada in one bite - they CAN bite harder than any lizard of their size, if they want.

Remember, how many reptiels actually chew big crunchy insects regularly?

WOW. Maybe I just lucked out! But I was bit over 10 times, by females and males. Only 3 of the bites made me bleed(the males), but none of them hurt that bad. But maybe they weren't biting their hardest. But when they clamp down and start squirming, you think twice before you approach it that same way again.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

Eric I have to disagree with you. I've been bitten by lots of Veileds over the years. This one, "Big O" bit the hardest. He broke the skin and drew blood. At 22" and 260 grams he had quite a bite but even he couldn't hang with a 12" Tokay Gecko. There is a reason Tokays are called the "Pit Bulls of the Reptile World". When they bite, they mean business. These Geckos are lightenly quick when they go after you, sometimes they bite so fast they don't get a good hold on you, but if one ever goes after you with intent, you'll know it. Even at that, there is a couple of 12" lizards that I think could bite harder, a Cuban Knight Anole and a Blue Tongue Skink. I saw a Blue Tongue crush a wooden dowel bird perch with one bite - that's a hard bite.

Nice veiled, got any female offspring from him?

A skink would probably bite harder, but they tend to be more massive.
Monkey tailed skinks are THE worst thing to get bitten by in the lizard
kingdom, excepting the obvious, monitors and gilas...

I've had big tokays latch on - not fun, and very painful. I do think
chameleons have stronger jaws and a more powerful bite. Geckos have
bitten me more painfully, but never with as much pressure as a
chameleon. I've been bitten twice by veileds (adults, babies don't
count), both on the same day, by two different males. Iwas showing
them to my friend, one at a time, both drew blood. One bit me on my
scalp, on the back of my head, and drew blood, through my hair and
everything.

I've had a big tokay get my finnger - it hurt. I've had a chameleon bite
me through a glove, on my finger - MUCH more pressure. If he had my
nail, it could have split.

Of course, it's all opinion until someone does a study!

I will tell you that it is incorrect to state that a chameleon's bite is not
painful. The ones that broke my skin were lunging nips - left double "v"
shaped marks on my arm and head. But they didn't hurt that bad. IF
they latch on to a small part - they will heir very bad.

The most painful reptile bite I've ever had was from a golden gecko.
Really small, 8" or so, bt it got a hold of the skin in the palm of my
hand. Ohhh...that was painful.

Thankfully, chameleons are easy to handle, once you get the feel for
them. Since they are so visually oriented, you can distract them pretty
easily. I have been bit only once in 8-9 years, and it's becaus eI was
taking my deremensis for granted. They are usually so mellow, they're
impossible to get to gape at you. This oe was in breeding season, and I
tried to grab him. He bit me (lightly, didnt' hurt), and thenm jabbed me
with his horns (which DID hurt, broke th eskin in my palm).

Eric A

Hi Eric,

Big O has passed on now but I will have some of his babies hopefully hatching this month.

If I stated that a Veiled bite was not painful I don't know what I could have been thinking. They are definitely painful. That bite on the scalp must have hurt.

The Tokay bites that I remember most happened when I was bitten by one of my large males. Ordinarily he is tame and doesn't bite but at this time he was defending his offspring after I stuck my hand into his cage. I didn't know about the new baby and he really layed a couple of them on me.

The worst bite I've gotten from a lizard came from my Green Iguana. A cat came into my yard while she was out and I picked her up to protect her. She was frightened and bit my hand. I had to have 22 stiches and I'm lucky that she didn't take my thumb off. That one really hurt.

Nice talking to you Eric, Valerie.

check your email, chaco, I sent you a message.

Iguanas have very powerful jaws. Herbivores then to have very
powerful jaws and sharp teeth. Most carnivorous lizards just grab, kill
and swallow - chameleons chew, so their jaws are usually stronger than
other insectivorous lizards.

Herbivores, on the other hand... watch out. They not only have powerful
jaws, but they tend ot be huge. Iguanas probably have the worst bite
out of any BIG lizards. They lack the long teeth of varanids, but they
will rip you to the bone with sheer force!

I think people get the idea that they're gentle hebivores, little do they
know...

The best way i've found to handle chameleons (especially large, irate
male calyptratus) is to make them think your hand is a perch, not a
threat. If they are on your hand, they tend to not think of it as a threat,
but as a perch, branch, etc. I've only had them try to bite me if I was
grabbing the, or if I approached them with another hand - but I've
never had them bite at the hand they were perched on.

i've gotten good at it, so much that I can grab and pull my velied off of
branched without pissing him off too much. The trick is to grab him
from behind wiht one hand, and slide the other undeneath and in front of
him. He'll walk onto the one hand, distracted by the aggressive,
grabbing hand. This way, I can use the "perch hand" to peel off his feet,
while he's busy trying to kill my other hand. Eventually, he'll have moved
his feet onto my "perch hand", and I'll move the other hand away, using
it to peel his tail away or keep him from grabbing more branches.

Makes my wife nervous, because he lets out loud hisses and really tries
to bite me. Once he's on my hand and out of the cage, he's fine. Mean,
but fine. Definatly the nastiest veield I've seen in a long time.

The absolute worst was a big, WC female that a friend of mine had.
You could NOT get int the cage - she was absolutly viscious. Plus, she
was baout 19" long, too.

WC panthers can be reall ynasty as well. For some reason, all the WC
veields I'VE had were nice - bearded dragon nice. All the CB ones are
evil, yet the reverse is true with pardalis. WC are nasty, CB are
friendly.

I've gotten bitten many times by my veiled, Lucutis, though only when I've tried to take him out. I've never received a bite when I reach in his cage to clean or whatever. He usually stops the biting attempts once he's out, but occassionally he'll keep at it. It usually starts with hissing, then louder hissing and lunging, then ramming his open mouth on my hand (but not biting), then if I am still there he'll bite. He never holds on, but repeatedly bites the same spot. It only hurts if he bites the same spot a bunch of times... then it starts to get a little raw. I wouldn't worry about it... just try not to make any sudden moves, like jerking your hand away everytime he bites.

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

I've always enjoyed your pictures of Lucutis...he's such a handsome guy! And that's a good point you've made, re: don't jerk your hand away every time they bite or lunge to bite, like my one adult female Veiled will do. None of my other chams will actually lunge, but she will on occasion during her more grumpy days. It used to be more frequent before she became accustomed to me, but I think she finally figured out I'm really not the enemy! She'd still bite if she got the chance, she just doesn't actually lunge at my hands anymore.

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

Only one of my adult female Veileds has actually bit my finger. It did break the skin and bleed a bit, but I've suffered way worse bites from snakes, turtles and birds. (and one black widow spider that was for sure the worst of all!) My Veiled was mild by comparison. My other chams have wanted to bite, but I've learned to keep my flesh away from their reach.
Don't let the threat keep you from feeding, cleaning, watering or whatever. Your cham will, in time, become accustomed to your presence even if it never really likes it!

Wow! Snakes, turtles, birds, and a black widow spider! That's some bad karma man. From all the responses i receieved, within a day!...i'll just stay on the safe side and wear some thick gloves when i have to remove him from his paradise. Sometimes he'll be on one of my pothos and i'll just lift the whole pot out with him on it. I got lucky that time and i don't think it caused him any stress at all. Me either! I'll just keep hand feeding him wax worms and hope he doesn't turn into a hand eating dragon when he gets older.

Thanks for the reply.

Take 'er easy,

Mike

LOL..no, not bad karma, just little fear and bad handling on my part! (well, except for the spider. I stepped on it barefoot, even though I should have known better because I knew they were in my backyard shed) And if nothing else, I now know how it feels and that I will survive! LOL.
Be careful with the thick gloves...chams have been known to leap from peril, so you want to be sure the gloves won't impair your ability to maintain control if your cham should freak out.
My chams have never tried to bite when hand feeding so I don't think he'll turn into a bacterial-laden, flesh eating Komodo down the road. Hand feeding may actually help him get used to your hand, but consider that thick gloves may cause more stress making your hand(s) appear even larger and more threatening.

All the best to you....and no bad karma, man!

I just woke up Dex for a photoshoot for a school project and he came out of his cage without any kind of fit! He maybe semi-flared up for 2 sec but then once I got him moving I guided him on to my other hand.

I think the secret to getting your cham out of his cage is to put your first hand in front of his face so he is looking at that and then slowly put your other hand behind him. Then start moving your back hand under him, and if he ever tries to look backwards move your hand infront suddenly so he concentrates and looks at your front hand. Then once you get him moving forward you can guide him with your back hand onto your front hand. This works well for me and I wonder what all you cham experts think of this technique..do you do something similar ?

Once Dexter is out of his cage he NEVER hisses or anything enless I bring a camera lens up close to him. Then he will gape his mouth and miss and flare up and get all beautiful He doesn't flare up when he looks in a mirror though..it's the strangest thing...anyone know why this is ??? The only way I can flare him up when he's out of his cage is by a camera lens.

Anyway, Dexter has never bit me but he went through a 2 or 3 month period between 4 months and 8 months of age where he was very nasty. It was very similar to human puberty in teenagers, heh. =P Anyway he is much better now and hardly ever tries to bite me. It does seem like when he did try to bite me he would just flare up, hiss, and lunge but it seemed like he didn't really try to bite me...just wanted to scare me off.

Here's a picture I just took of him - sorry for the slight blurriness.

How's he look for being 11 months old ? He is a male sunburst from Ray's Reptilia. Does he looks big enough? I'm concerned he won't get as big as I want him to get. I would love to have him turn out to be 26-30" long..will he ever reach that length and how long does it take for veilds to reach that length (full grown) ?

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1.0 Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter
11 months

Your two-handed method is how I get my veiled out of his cage. I learned this "distracting" technique quite by accident when I was just a little girl. My family would vacation in Florida every summer, and I'd be out every day trying to catch those cute little brown anoles that scurry about. I would always catch a few every year! I learned that if I could chase them onto a pole, then I could bring one hand around the back to scare them toward me and then catch them with the other hand.

This technique has proven to be the least stressful way for Lucutis to be taken out of his sanctuary. By slowly retreating from the hand behind him, he doesn't realize that he is walking onto the hand in front of him! (I don't want you to think that I'm "scaring" him to my other hand, merely coaxing him there.) But, he's still young (only 6 months) and doesn't always remember that I'm not a threat.

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

Don't be affraid to be bitten,it's so funny,I kept putting my hand in front of him the first time I got bitten because it gave me good laughs.
I have an 8 pound green iguana that I have to be careful from so the veiled is not an issue.
The most chances you'll get bit is when you try to lift him.Of course when they grow up can bite harder but I don't think that could be nasty

Nice picture! Why is he trying to eat the camera ?? How did you manage that shot?
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1.0 Sunburst Veiled Chameleon -- Dexter
11 months

O.k. my turn, when Rana was little, I thought it would be fun to hand feed her. So I had a silkie that I was holding with my thumb and my pointer, well she aimed and took her best shot, missed, stuck to my thumb and pulled herself toward my thumb and bit me. I didn't hurt but it scared the heck out of me. It all happened sooo fast! LOL, I think it startled her as well.
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Feenie

1.1 vieled cham.- Stitch and Rana (Missing you,Chloe)
2.0 Panther chams- Lou and Yosamite Sam
1.0 Giant Day Gecko- Mr. Gecko
0.1 Aussi Whites Tree frog- Frumpy
1.0 Peacock tree frog- Igaro
0.1 Reeds tree frog- Dottie
0.0.2 New River Tinc. Dart Frogs- Tinker and Bell
2.2 Canines Junior-pitbull chiuahuah mix, Jose- chiuahuah, Pearl- Staffie, and Daisy- Red nose Pit- foster child
1.0 Fiance- Trent species unknown
and the list grows on.............