Veiled Bites

[llama]

I have heard from different people that when Veileds get full grown they will become very territorial and even bite you when you reach in. Is this just a Cham that is not tamed? And how bad could a Veiled bite be? After all we are not talking about a Parsons.
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[faze]

i have seen vieled's open there mouth and become on the defensive and try to bite but i've never seen an actual viel bite..becuase i've always been very cautious because there mouth looks like it could do some damage if given the chance......as for them being aggressive as adults all the adults i've ever seen will open mouth ya and try to nip at you... but i myself have never owned them i'm just coming from exp. from what i've seen come through my petshop
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[jpaulson]

I have owned veiled's before, and although my male never did bite me, he did everything else to discourage handling. Lots of gaping mouths, hissing, etc...and as Faze said, it does appear that they could hurt you if bitten.

Veiled's are notorious for being aggressive as adults. That cute little baby that seems to love handling will eventually grow into an adult--one that usually does not like handling. It is not so much a point of taming them by handling, more so on how much they will TOLERATE. In order to keep stress levels at a minimum, handling out of necessity is the best. They tend not to be a pet that loves constant human interaction.

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[llama]

Thanks for the info. My wife, the great Biology teacher, wants one for demonstration. It will be housed at our home not the classroom. Sounds like they are not so happy bieng part of a presentation.
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[Ravnos]

Honestly, if you're stressing a chameleon enough to get it to bite you, seems to me it is time to go back to square one of chameleon care. They don't enjoy being handled, they threat display long before they'll bite. If they're threat displaying, leave them alone. Problem solved. They are not a pet like a bearded dragon or a mali, they shouldn't be routinely handled for fun or be shown off. They don't enjoy lots of activity around the outside of their cage. The environment of a classroom, even for a day, would be extremely stressful - not to mention their caging needs are not exactly portable. I think it should be a situation of do the presentation and then cover him up for the rest of the day, if you can't send him home immediately. If you use him at all. Myself, I prefer to take animals like bearded dragons - which I can just set somewhere and they'll stay there for hours. So long people start to wonder if they're even real. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] Plus, they generally don't mind being handled, pet, poked, etc.

Rav

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[ChrisAnna]

i had a full grown vailed male and female . i donno but mine never seem to open its mouth at me of bite my although he did bite the female but he never bite me
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[Ladywing]

We have a male Veiled Chameleon. He doesn't mind being handled. He will even reach out and climb onto our hands. He loves siting in the window. He never opens his mouth or hisses when we reach for him. I think it is because we have handled him alot. Let him sit on our shoulder or back of our computer chair. He has bitten me once, but that was becuase he was hurt. I saw him dangling from one arm and was going to fall, so I reached to help him and he grabbed the heat lamp hood and actually screamed! He bit me on the finger trying to help him. It really hurt! I thought that he had broke my finger. No any teeth, just pressure. They really don't have hardly any teeth. Other wise he is the greatest, and loves to be held. He name is Teal'c

[jabberwock486]

chameleons are not ones to like handling. however there are individuals, some will tolerate and possibly like it and other will hate it. handling will usally cause stress, and they tend to stress easy. Even being around people is stressful to some of them. in one tank i have a hide corner that is blocked off from view. that way if people are in the room the animal can go here and not be seen. also i have a blinder between the 2 cages. they are totaly different species but still i dont want them seeing each other.

I got my chameleons for one reason, i like having them. I never handle them unless i have to or unless someone new asks about them and the animal doesnt hiss.

i raised mine from eggs, a woman thought they where no good and GAVE me the whole clutch. most of them hatched and i made a quick buck. however was saving 2, one was mine and the other would go to a best friend's wife. then one day i notcied one of them had fallen out of the tree. it died an hour later, it was the larger more dominat one. from what i can guess the poor little guy stressed him self out by being the bully. they where only a few months old. the other one has been doing fine. my friends wife was gonna pick him up on her next trip down, 2 weeks later.