Are paint fumes bad for chameleon health?

L

Lea623

New Member
I plan on painting my room soon and im wondering if the fumes from the paint would be bad for the little guys health? I have a one year old panther chameleon and i dont want to harm him i plan on opening windows for sure but should i move him to another room? If so, how? I have only had him for a couple months so he still doesnt let me handle him much and if he did i dont know where i would put him while i painted. If anyone has any advice i would greatly appreciate it.

heres a picture of him :)



9F0F5296-55FC-422F-8174-D6550418535A.jpeg
 
JacksJill said:
YES, fumes are very bad. Get your cham out of the house before you paint. At they very least they need to be in a sealed off room with an open window.
In your case you should move him to the opposite end of the house and seal off the painted room.
Click to expand...
Do you have any advice on how to move him? I cant really handle him that well yet he will crawl out to me on the rare occasion so how should i go about that? And if i do manage to get him out where should i put him since i cant move his entire enclosure??
 
If I have to move my chameleon out of his enclosure, I usually slowly scoop him when he is basking. He will be easier to scoop up if he isn't already tangled up in the brush down below.

Handling Tip: Essentially you want him to walk onto you. I usually put one hand in front of him and one hand behind him. Keep your palm parallel to the ceiling/floor (essentially just keep them flat). When your cham starts moving, place of your hands under his front arms when he lifts them up to move. While you are doing this with one hand, slightly tilt your other hand (the hand behind him) up which will deter him from turning back.

The key is to be very gentle. And even when you have his arms and legs on your hand, you need to be wary of his tail. If he is holding onto a branch with his tail and you pull him away, you could severely damage his tail.

Quick summary: place a hand near his front arms while you use the other hand to reinforce his directional path without touching him. Beware of tail! If done correctly, he will have walked onto your arm with you grabbing him.

Additionally, I would strongly recommend you take your cham out of the room. Don't try using paints that may be safe while your cham is still in the room. It is always better to be safe than sorry. One member on here had a terrible experience where the painters opened up a door to look at her chameleon without permission and the fumes from one room traveled into the room where the chameleon was and almost killed the chameleon. If you are hiring painters, I would strongly recommend taking every precaution that you can to not expose your chameleon to paint fumes. It is recommended that people with breathing conditions to not be in a room after it has been painted until at least 2 to 3 days. That's for full-grown people (granted, with breathing problems). I don't think all paint fumes are dangerous, but I wouldn't take that gamble.

What I would do: Buy a cheap secondary cage (could even be a butterfly cage). If not that, then buy a plant that you can set your cham on and place it up as high as you can. Your cham won't want to climb off the plant if he is on a plant above your eye-line. You won't need a cage. E.g set a plant up on your counter or stool (in a room free of other pets such as cats or dogs)--monitor frequently. Your cham won't want to climb down off the plant.

I hope this makes sense, but I am always happy to answer any clarifying questions you may have.
 
Lea623 said:
Do you have any advice on how to move him? I cant really handle him that well yet he will crawl out to me on the rare occasion so how should i go about that? And if i do manage to get him out where should i put him since i cant move his entire enclosure??
Click to expand...
My previous post is a response to the quote above.
 
There are mesh zip top popup laundry baskets that make nice temporary cages. Put a plant and some branches in it. Later you can reuse it for outdoor time or laundry.
I second the low VOC paint choices but still recommend keeping him out of the room until the paint has cured and the room has aired out.
 
Mendez said:
If I have to move my chameleon out of his enclosure, I usually slowly scoop him when he is basking. He will be easier to scoop up if he isn't already tangled up in the brush down below.

Handling Tip: Essentially you want him to walk onto you. I usually put one hand in front of him and one hand behind him. Keep your palm parallel to the ceiling/floor (essentially just keep them flat). When your cham starts moving, place of your hands under his front arms when he lifts them up to move. While you are doing this with one hand, slightly tilt your other hand (the hand behind him) up which will deter him from turning back.

The key is to be very gentle. And even when you have his arms and legs on your hand, you need to be wary of his tail. If he is holding onto a branch with his tail and you pull him away, you could severely damage his tail.

Quick summary: place a hand near his front arms while you use the other hand to reinforce his directional path without touching him. Beware of tail! If done correctly, he will have walked onto your arm with you grabbing him.

Additionally, I would strongly recommend you take your cham out of the room. Don't try using paints that may be safe while your cham is still in the room. It is always better to be safe than sorry. One member on here had a terrible experience where the painters opened up a door to look at her chameleon without permission and the fumes from one room traveled into the room where the chameleon was and almost killed the chameleon. If you are hiring painters, I would strongly recommend taking every precaution that you can to not expose your chameleon to paint fumes. It is recommended that people with breathing conditions to not be in a room after it has been painted until at least 2 to 3 days. That's for full-grown people (granted, with breathing problems). I don't think all paint fumes are dangerous, but I wouldn't take that gamble.

What I would do: Buy a cheap secondary cage (could even be a butterfly cage). If not that, then buy a plant that you can set your cham on and place it up as high as you can. Your cham won't want to climb off the plant if he is on a plant above your eye-line. You won't need a cage. E.g set a plant up on your counter or stool (in a room free of other pets such as cats or dogs)--monitor frequently. Your cham won't want to climb down off the plant.

I hope this makes sense, but I am always happy to answer any clarifying questions you may have.
Click to expand...
Thank you! That helped a lot, ill probably go with the plant idea but with that what should i do about his lights should he be okay a couple days without them?
 
My idea of putting him on a plant was geared more for just one day--not overnight. He would be fine a couple days without uvb (storm clouds block out the natural light for days on end without causing mbd--so you are fine in that regard). But I would at least give him a basking bulb to warm up. The challenge becomes how you will fix a basking bulb over him safely. This is where it is best to have a second enclosure if you can provide it. What are the temps where you live? Could you open up the window but still have the screen as a protection barrier from the outside and he can bask under the natural sun?

Ideally, you would still be able to provide uvb and heat to him.

Housing a chameleon for several days without a cage is out of my experience. Maybe others have done this? At this point, I would strongly recommend that you either buy a secondary cage that you can use again for later uses or move your enclosure (which is something you didn't want to do). These two options are your safest choices.
 
This was what I bought for my chameleon. Easily movable, you may have to cut holes in the bottom for drainage. My outdoor enclosure is one of these with the bottom cut out attached to a 1 foot deep 20x24 planter with wheels from Home Depot ($29.99) comes with a drainage crate and tube you can use to siphon excess water or drill a hole on the side to drain.
 

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Mendez said:
My idea of putting him on a plant was geared more for just one day--not overnight. He would be fine a couple days without uvb (storm clouds block out the natural light for days on end without causing mbd--so you are fine in that regard). But I would at least give him a basking bulb to warm up. The challenge becomes how you will fix a basking bulb over him safely. This is where it is best to have a second enclosure if you can provide it. What are the temps where you live? Could you open up the window but still have the screen as a protection barrier from the outside and he can bask under the natural sun?

Ideally, you would still be able to provide uvb and heat to him.

Housing a chameleon for several days without a cage is out of my experience. Maybe others have done this? At this point, I would strongly recommend that you either buy a secondary cage that you can use again for later uses or move your enclosure (which is something you didn't want to do). These two options are your safest choices.
Click to expand...
Thank you i appreciate all the help!
 
Beautiful animal—incredible variety of colors! :love:

Lea623 said:
Do you have any advice on how to move him? I cant really handle him that well yet he will crawl out to me on the rare occasion so how should i go about that? And if i do manage to get him out where should i put him since i cant move his entire enclosure??
Click to expand...
Can you elucidate on why the enclosure cannot be moved? IMO, that would really be the best way to relocate him.

Zero VOC paints don't have VOCs, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't have fumes. I've used some latex paints that were as close to odorless as one might imagine, and I've used others that you could definitely smell.

I can't say those fumes are harmful—IDK. I can only say if it were me, I would relocate the enclosure to as far away—and in a separate sealable room—as possible, seal off any registers & returns in the room to be painted, towel under the door, open its windows if outdoor temps are within those recommended for the paint, and allow 24-48 hrs. for any fumes to air out. Paint drys faster than that (usually ½ hr) but takes longer to completely off-gas (I've had rooms take up to a month to off-gas completely—until you can't smell fresh paint anymore).
 
Klyde O'Scope said:
Beautiful animal—incredible variety of colors! :love:


Can you elucidate on why the enclosure cannot be moved? IMO, that would really be the best way to relocate him.

Zero VOC paints don't have VOCs, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't have fumes. I've used some latex paints that were as close to odorless as one might imagine, and I've used others that you could definitely smell.

I can't say those fumes are harmful—IDK. I can only say if it were me, I would relocate the enclosure to as far away—and in a separate sealable room—as possible, seal off any registers & returns in the room to be painted, towel under the door, open its windows if outdoor temps are within those recommended for the paint, and allow 24-48 hrs. for any fumes to air out. Paint drys faster than that (usually ½ hr) but takes longer to completely off-gas (I've had rooms take up to a month to off-gas completely—until you can't smell fresh paint anymore).
Click to expand...
I have a 2x2x4 enclosure and i have it sitting on this big shelf so it would be possible however just really really really difficult, from these responses i think im gonna go make a nice temporary enclosure to put him in
 
Shanar808 said:
This was what I bought for my chameleon. Easily movable, you may have to cut holes in the bottom for drainage. My outdoor enclosure is one of these with the bottom cut out attached to a 1 foot deep 20x24 planter with wheels from Home Depot ($29.99) comes with a drainage crate and tube you can use to siphon excess water or drill a hole on the side to drain.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the idea I just ordered the same butterfly cage. I knew people used them for baby cham enclosures but I hadn’t thought to use a larger one as an outdoor enclosure that I can just leave out there and bring my cham to for sunlight time.
 
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