

It is our immune system that is constantly fighting these things off. We, and chameleons, are always under attack by bacteria, viruses, funguses, and parasites just trying to make a living. Thus it is no wonder that handling your chameleon can be a source of stress for them. Chameleons do not understand the concept of love and affection so there is a huge mis-understanding between worlds as WE hold things we love close and THEM assuming that any closer means they will be eaten. They have the very healthy and survival-encouraging assumption that anything bigger than them will eat them. It pains me to say this, but chameleons are not designed to be pets. Because it is important to understand why I am going to fill in those blanks. These are two truths that are sandwiched together, but there is so much that should be stuffed between those two ends. If you have been around just a bit you will have heard someone tell you that handling causes stress and stress will kill your sensitive chameleon. But either way, we need to know how to do it.īasic thoughts on handling chameleons and stressįirst, let’s address stress and handling. Recreational handling is in that gray area. Maintenance handling is necessary for health.


Recreational handling is us playing with them, showing them off to friends, or doing any sort of taming training. Maintenance handling is medicating, doing health inspections, vet visits, and extracting them when the cage needs a deep clean. Now, there are two types of handling – maintenance handling and recreational handling. Stress and the topic of handling are intertwined because handling is one of, admittedly, a number of stresses we place upon our chameleon. There will be some overlap, but repetition is good! Once you are done listening here, your next step is to go back and listen to episode 6 either on your podcast player or at. In a way, this series is a companion to episode 6 in which we talked about Stress. Chameleons can be tamed at a basic level and this is a useful exercise for their acclimation to living with humans. The third part of the series will be on taming. Getting medicine shot down its throat, having its legs swabbed, or getting an injection does not rate high on any of our lists of things to do. The second episode is how to handle a chameleon that absolutely does not want to be held. Handling a chameleon has its nuances and it isn’t as obvious how to do it as one may think. This first episode will be simple extracting your chameleon from its cage and putting him back. Today we are starting a three part series on handling your chameleon. Maintenance Handling vs. Recreational Handling with Chameleons
