Should i hold my chameleon

Very comfortable chameleons may eat while being held, but few chameleons reach the point where they are that comfortable. One of the biggest mistakes chameleon keepers make is to try and turn their chameleon into a playmate. Handling is only for when cage maintenance or medical procedures need to be done. You will probably have heard that handling causes stress and stress kills chameleons. This statement is based in truth.

Long term stress will cause a chameleon to go downhill until they die. And handling is a stress. But handling is a stress spike. It is there and then gone. This kind of stress spike gives no long term damage. It is playing with chameleons on a regular basis that starts to cause problems.

It is true. Each chameleon is an individual. But acknowledge the trap we humans fall into. We want our chameleon to show us some semblance of human love, affection, or companionship. Our minds will do what it takes to see the world we want. I have seen countless chameleons that are trying to escape an inadequate cage environment being played with because their attempts to escape their cage are taken as a wish to play. Chameleons are still wild animals.

Even captive bred ones retain most of their natural instincts. And maybe you will get lucky! But please do not try to create a situation in your mind that does not really exist. A chameleon is not a pet to get if handling is a top priority.

The best handling session with a chameleon is one where they crawl out of their cage on their own and you provide them with climbing options. I purchased him when he was about 3 inches long, not including the tail. The guy at the reptile show said that if I handled him enough he would not bite when he was older. I took this to heart and started handling him once every day for about 15 minutes.

My chameleon seemed to enjoy his daily handling until recently when I reached in and tried to take him out of his enclosure. He puffed himself up and tried to bite me. I thought that he might be shedding, so I waited for him to show signs that he was going to shed but nothing happened.

Should I believe the reptile show guy or the Internet? Do you have any suggestions on what I could do to make my chameleon stop biting whenever I try to handle him? Bethany Baird Idaho Falls, Idaho. No chameleon enjoys being handled by people. Whoever told you that was throwing you a deceptive sales pitch to convince you to buy a pet from him.

You can bond with them in different ways though by leaving them alone, observing them from afar and by providing for their needs. Chameleons will not hesitate to let you know that they want to be left alone. They will do this by puffing themselves up to look twice the size that they are naturally. They hiss at you to ward you away, lunge at you if you get too close and will bite you as a last resort.

They will also hide in their enclosure and you should give them plenty of plant cover in their enclosure to enable them to do so. Chameleons are cautious, solitary creatures in the wild. Instead, they tolerate us and if you research further by reading more of chameleonschool.

Why do chameleons turn black? Read my article about this here. Do chameleons bite? They certainly do but rarely and only often as a last resort. Read my about this here. Why do chameleons hiss? Mainly to ward of predators and enemy chameleons. Read more about this in my article about whether or not chameleons are dangerous, here.

Can chameleons be let out of their cages to roam the house?