Lizardlover
New Member
Before I start, I'll give some background information. I allow my male Oustalet's to free range my yard and have never had any problems; I do cage him when I know I won't be home for extended periods of time. I recently acquired a FL wild-caught female that was...well, wild. I still allowed her to free range with my male and caged her when I wasn't home (their cage is very large and they live as a pair outside.)
It seems like a lot of people have been having issues with their chameleons escaping/roaming and becoming lost for extended periods of time. About three weeks ago my male and female Oustalet's went missing. The female went missing a few days before the male and had escaped through a very small rip in the screen that I had failed to notice, I checked the tree they normally free-range in and she was not there. She was gone, definitely not in our yard. You'd be amazed at what they can squeeze themselves through. Needless to say, my male jumped at the opportunity to escape and took advantage of my confidence in him when I was cleaning his cage and left for a few minutes. Mind you, this animal has been in my care for four years and is nearly two feet, so I know his habits for the most part and he shouldn't be too hard to find...right? Wrong. I had looked everywhere day and night(mostly night) looking to no avail. I had begun to give up on finding them and figured maybe someone had found them and taken them or they had been eaten by a bird of prey. I knew that they would be together wherever they were though which was a plus.
Fast forward to today; I'm outside picking raspberries in my garden and see a hatch-ling anole vanish. I looked up and in the raspberry bush was my female Oustalet's (my garden is right next to my cages). I looked to my left, and in a small ficus bush and found my male head bobbing at me. Saying that I was shocked would be an understatement. These animals were gone for THREE WEEKS, in a neighborhood with 12 ft tall live oak trees everywhere and 20+ ft palms. I am still clueless as to where they had gone off to as I know for a fact that I had searched religiously within close range, and walked out with a flash light at night at least two blocks looking through the trees. I don't know what made them come back or how they even knew how to come back, but it did confirm a few things for me.
-The male will find the female wherever she is (If you have a lost male, perhaps you should invest in a female to lure him back).
-The male and female will stay withing close range of each other (at least for Oustalet's).
-Chameleons will find their way back home when they're ready.
With that being said; It may sound far fetched, but I think that if you plan to take your chameleons outside you should make sure they are well oriented with the surroundings of the property so if they leave they will be able to return.
I don't know why they didn't come sooner, but I am assuming they returned because they were dehydrated and hungry and knew that I (or my yard) provide food and water. Mind you, I am outside with them constantly and make sure they associate me with food (when I let them free range they will come out of 7 ft trees when they see me and crawl across the floor for food).
EDIT: They were both dehydrated upon retrieval, and my male was pretty skinny. My female appeared to be gravid but maintained a decent body weight (probably consumed plenty of anoles).
It seems like a lot of people have been having issues with their chameleons escaping/roaming and becoming lost for extended periods of time. About three weeks ago my male and female Oustalet's went missing. The female went missing a few days before the male and had escaped through a very small rip in the screen that I had failed to notice, I checked the tree they normally free-range in and she was not there. She was gone, definitely not in our yard. You'd be amazed at what they can squeeze themselves through. Needless to say, my male jumped at the opportunity to escape and took advantage of my confidence in him when I was cleaning his cage and left for a few minutes. Mind you, this animal has been in my care for four years and is nearly two feet, so I know his habits for the most part and he shouldn't be too hard to find...right? Wrong. I had looked everywhere day and night(mostly night) looking to no avail. I had begun to give up on finding them and figured maybe someone had found them and taken them or they had been eaten by a bird of prey. I knew that they would be together wherever they were though which was a plus.
Fast forward to today; I'm outside picking raspberries in my garden and see a hatch-ling anole vanish. I looked up and in the raspberry bush was my female Oustalet's (my garden is right next to my cages). I looked to my left, and in a small ficus bush and found my male head bobbing at me. Saying that I was shocked would be an understatement. These animals were gone for THREE WEEKS, in a neighborhood with 12 ft tall live oak trees everywhere and 20+ ft palms. I am still clueless as to where they had gone off to as I know for a fact that I had searched religiously within close range, and walked out with a flash light at night at least two blocks looking through the trees. I don't know what made them come back or how they even knew how to come back, but it did confirm a few things for me.
-The male will find the female wherever she is (If you have a lost male, perhaps you should invest in a female to lure him back).
-The male and female will stay withing close range of each other (at least for Oustalet's).
-Chameleons will find their way back home when they're ready.
With that being said; It may sound far fetched, but I think that if you plan to take your chameleons outside you should make sure they are well oriented with the surroundings of the property so if they leave they will be able to return.
I don't know why they didn't come sooner, but I am assuming they returned because they were dehydrated and hungry and knew that I (or my yard) provide food and water. Mind you, I am outside with them constantly and make sure they associate me with food (when I let them free range they will come out of 7 ft trees when they see me and crawl across the floor for food).
EDIT: They were both dehydrated upon retrieval, and my male was pretty skinny. My female appeared to be gravid but maintained a decent body weight (probably consumed plenty of anoles).
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I still look for him every time I'm in the yard...
