Another one bites the dust

I agree, over time the number of mistreated chameleons seen in threads can become quite depressing. Even more discouraging is the realization that what we witness in the forums is just a small representation of a global problem. The pet industry as a whole needs help, especially with exotic pets. Your feelings are perfectly understandable considering the time you spend helping others. Perhaps you need a temporary break or to spend less time in the health clinic for a while. Your contributions to the site have been priceless and I think many people, and their chameleons, have greatly benefited from your work.

I want to do more to improve the site's usefulness by organizing better resources to supplement the forums. More can be done to help reduce common problems that we see so frequently. Considering this website is one of the larger communities related to chameleons I feel obligated to do better. Also, the site as a whole could possibly organize and promote better husbandry practices at pet stores. I'm willing to consider all ideas and will start a thread this weekend looking for suggestions.

If this forum wasn't the viable source that it is, just think how many more that would be lost. I am up to 3 now, debating a fourth and I can tell you they are all happy and healthy. I have been benefited by many words of wisdom on this sight, which all adds up to better and more knowledgable chameleon ownership.

Hang in there Sand
I'll take one of the new babies off your hands and make sure its well treated.

it is sad to see, I'm a new keeper myself and I have to say it is sort of socking what all CAN go wrong.

while I hate to see any one suffer (cham or keeper) at lest by posting there mistakes and mis-steps (or even lack of care is some cases) it helps others to avoid such pitfalls, hopefully.

case in point, just the other day my sister was asking what would happen if my cham missed the cricket and hit my hand while hand feeding him, a day or so after there was a post talking about just that, with some of the issues it could cause (such as ripped out tongue or spanged tongue) and how to deal with it if it happend.

so yes IMO it is worth it. I have found a number of your blogs helpfull as well, so I hope you keep fight the good fight!

And then there's a thread like this, where the worst seems likely BUT the owner is going above and beyond and the chameleon is a fighter and the outcome might just be a happy one afterall
http://www.chameleonforums.com/someone-please-help-81732/

First, let me tell you are a godsend and that without you and the nutrition information that you share with us most of us would be lost and there would be so many more sick and dying chams out there! Thank you sooooo much for being here and, PLEASE don't ever leave! I, too, understand Ardi Abate's attitude but, until ownership is completely outlawed, chameleons will be valued pets for some of us and we need valuable information from a number of sources to become educated in the needs of our little loved ones. And the info gleaned from you is top of the list of importance for cham keeping, in my opinion.

It is depressing to see the overabundance of "help me" posts on this forum but it is only because this forum is such a wealth of info but very time consuming and distracting to search through the references available here. (Perfect example of distracting: I am searching for info and here I am commenting on your totally unrelated but interesting blog entry! LOL.)

I came to the forum right away after being gifted with two chams, out of the blue, and was totally an uneducated cham idiot. They always fascinated me but I knew they were very complicated to own so I never got one for myself. So, I feel that I was one of those offenders you refer to above and am truly sorry for starting out that way but I am one who has continued with the research and trying to educate myself even more than most after finding my cham to be one of very "special needs".

Trooper Twister finally gave in to his overwhelming health issues and I can't help but wonder (and feel guilty about it) if I had paid more attention to you from the very beginning than I did, if he wouldn't have gotten better and maybe even survived it all, (even though the vet doesn't think that he would have).

Trooper Twister's tale is not one of poor husbandry (although it should have been better from the start--at least nutrition-wise), it was a problem of metabolizing his nutrients and I was told there was nothing that would have changed the outcome, only delayed it.

I do want to thank you because you and your info did make his life so very much better and worth him fighting as long as he did. Now, even though I don't understand it all myself but I'm trying to, I refer everyone I can to your info. and try to tell people not to rely so much on supplements but invest their time researching and giving their critters good nutritious foods. I saw the difference it made in TT when nothing else could have and am looking forward to using what I have learned from you in improving the life, from the very beginning, with my future loved ones and have to thank you again for all that you give us here on the forum.

Everyone starts somewhere - none of us are born chameleon experts. Im glad people ask for help - those are the people who are trying! But it is hard to read sometimes. Thanks for your comments. Im glad you've found some of my stuff useful. Sounds like you are doing /have done all you can for Trooper Twister. You should feel good about that. Its all the best any of us can do!