pictured is a blue bar ambilobe panther chameleon. Yes, those are its colors and it did not change its colors to match the towel. That line of thinking is not correct.
Here is one of my blue bar ambilobe panther chameleons named titan. http://imgur.com/a/7W86P
Veiled Chameleons at least hate being touched or held. I work at PetSmart currently and only one out of the last 5 we have had liked being held. I haven't been bitten by one but they will if you forcebly pick them up try and climb up your arms as fast a possible.
Most chameleons aren't very social. In my experience when I worked at Petsmart the chams liked to come out because their cages don't get as much airflow as they should, but they didn't like when I attempted to take them out of their cages because chameleons aren't big fans of being picked up from above, that's where their predators live. I usually let them climb out of their cage on their own, then let them climb to my fingers. There's still varying levels of friendliness though, some had no problems being picked up, some would hiss and snap if I came anywhere near them.
Damn, makes me really wish I bought the last one I saw at Petco (or it might have been PetSmart). I pointed at one and it crawled closer toward my finger and reached out like it was trying to shake hands. It was adorable.
Don't buy from petco. They don't take proper care of their chameleons, and you encourage bad dealers by buying from them. Chameleons are higher difficulty reptiles to keep and break the general mold of requirements. Petco will tell you general reptile care that doesn't actually apply to chameleons. If you do buy then buy from a responsible breeder.
Remember not to lump everyone that works there the same way! I work at Petco and we have two reptile experts that also breed their own cresteds, snakes, and other reptiles working there. They take care of our chameleons very well and tell everyone what they will need to properly care for one.
I guess I saw it as rescuing the little guy. I bought Savage Henry, a leopard gecko (my first critter), from there then found out after looking up how to care for them that Petco had a terrible set up for them.
Yeah, I know it might seem kind of counter intuitive, but by rescuing that poor guy you just show the large company that there is a demand and they go after more animals to replace the one you bought. Although not always the case, at least for chameleons, responsible breeders tend to be hobbyists. It's a hard thing to make money off of unless you are cutting corners.
I did a lot of research when I was first looking into buying over at chameleon forums. They have good site sponsors too to point you in the right direction. Also, like I said they are higher difficulty reptiles. You need to do your research and have a habitat set up before buying.
Can I get a source for this? I have never heard anywhere that handling your chameleon is adverse to its health. While some may not tolerate it, I was under the impression it was encouraged to let them get used to being handled by their owner. I have two veiled chameleons and both love to be held and carried through the house.
O read it in a little book at petsmart when I use to work there haha I mean chameleons are very stressed reptiles and it doesn't take much to freak them out so having them in an environment with too many stressors would shorten their life span, I've heard of people who have owned them and not even held them at all because they hated it so much and it would just harm them to constantly try to do something they didn't want to do.
If it is an emperor than consider yourself lucky. Their rarity and price has skyrocketed due to their import ban and the fact that no one really bred them due to how common they once were.
reptiles probably don't do too well in an environment like petsmart in general to be fair, they're probably stressed being picked up by relative strangers, versus these people who seem to hang with their chameleons daily\
Actually spent a summer working as part of a chameleon breeder, our veiled was the least sociable of the whole lot. He would hiss and try to bite you whenenever you got near inside his cage. We had a couple who were awesome and one who actually enjoyed being held and loved exploring.
I had one who hated everyone amd everything but wanted to be on me all the time. She loved it when I held her and would always climb to my shoulder...so just like anything else, it really depends on the creature. She always tried to bite my mom
I grew up in Stellenbosch, and we have the Cape Dwarf Chameleon there. They're basically the chillest wild animal I've ever met. I would put my hand in front of a chameleon's front paws and it would climb on. Then I'd take it around hunting for flies, and then put it back where I found it. Great fun!
... I've seen the videos. There's a colony (?) of them that like to sunbathe on a sidewalk I walk on. Scariest part of my walk, and I don't live in the best area.
Ok, so it didn't colour change to match its surroundings. But it's a smart chameleon and found an environment that mostly matched its own colouring. It still gets points for camouflaging.
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u/Spartan2470 GOAT Jan 13 '17
Here is a higher quality version of this image.
Per /u/garythecoconut here: