I am a terrible Cham mum, I feel devastated

[FiveLeftToes]

Here in the uk we have had beautiful weather this last week. I have been taking my bearded dragon outside for 3 yrs now and he is loving it. 3 days ago, having perfectly positioned patio trees next to our seating area, I put Ros on the branches. She absolutely loved it. So much so that when I went to her tank the next day, she actually climbed out of hiding and came straight on to my hand!! That was an absolute first for us both. Again I put her onto the plant, sprayed the leaves 5/6 times and she sat there happy and basking from 11 am until 3pm. I was out there in the garden pottering and she didn’t move more than a foot or so, in and out of shade as desired. At 3pm I literally nipped indoors to get some fruit flies for her and when I came she was gone. I hunted everywhere. I’m gutted. I can’t imagine that she would have climbed down the tree, across the patio, across the lawn and up a 6ft fence to escape the garden. I have hunted and hunted. I have truly learnt my lesson, never again will I leave any reptile unattended without it being secure. As she had never moved more than a few inches around the plant, other than for drink and bugs, I thought she would be fine. I couldn’t decide whether to own up or not, I feel so guilty, but wanted it to be a lesson to other newish owners.

 

[Dave85731]

You said you went to get fruit flies how old was she?

 

[FiveLeftToes]

This little and about 4 months I think

 

[carol5208]

Do you have birds around? I hate to bring this up but birds of prey will eat chameleons. I almost had one of mine eaten by a hawk many years ago. I dont know what kind of birds you have around. I had a little turtle snatched up by a crow when I was a kid . I was letting it sun in a birdbath and turned ny back and it flew down and snatched it up in a second. Hopefully, that's not the case and he wandered off . Hope you find him soon.

 

[FiveLeftToes]

That’s entirely what I’m dreading. We have crows around for sure. I am so gutted about it. I am now in the process of building a safe outside cage but wish I’d done this before. Hindsight is a wonderful thing

 

[carol5208]

Ugh... yeah It's a possibility . We have the little anole lizards down here and I was driving and saw a crow swoop down and fly away with one. Your chameleon seems to be of a decent size for a crow to get though. Let's hope she wandered off. Have you tried going out at night with a high powered flashlight? They brighten up at night in color and other people who have lost theirs, have found theirs this way. Don't give up hope just yet! I am glad you are building the cage. It is the safest thing you can do.

 

[Darthroastcoffee]

Everyone knows it’s not them running away that’s the issue. it’s them flying away that’s the problem I don’t step outside with any of my guys without birds on mind

 

[nightanole]

I dodged a bullet. My "sun cage" was not baby proof enough. I popped him in, when back inside to get my notebook, can back out, aaaaaaand he was 2ft up a the sampling next to the cage...

 

[FiveLeftToes]

I just wanted to say thank you to you all for replying and also for being supportive. I was dreading the responses in case people were scathing or mean. I have found support and advice and I am very grateful. This has been a very positive experience for me especially considering I am new to this forum. Again, thank you

 

[Twitchet]

It’s so easily done and hindsight and experience is a wonderful thing, I would never of believed how quick a chameleon could walk, when I got my first panther he was free ranging on some ropes indoors and he climbed down and vanished, I knew the doors and windows were all definitely closed so he was somewhere in the house and I found him pretty soon but eve so It shook me up so much that I had only turned my back for a few seconds and he had walked off, after that I never took any chances, not even for a second.
It was a hard lesson but it would be a wonderful story if someone finds him. Fingers crossed.
I’m in the u.k too.
Good luck.

 

[FiveLeftToes]

Just an update...it’s now been 4 days since Roz did a disappearing act and I have hunted day and night for her. No luck. I’m now accepting that she is gone, I don’t want to imagine where or why but I’m so sad for her I have learnt a hard lesson. I will be cleaning her cage out thoroughly over the next few days and will begin the process of finding a new chameleon. I’m hoping for a panther Cham and a better experience for both myself and for any new baby of colour that has the unfortunate experience of becoming my new Cham...I will be smothering it in love and will never let it out of my sight lol. I just wanted to reiterate my thanks to you all for your support and kindness when you could quite rightly have been scathing and annoyed at me. Thanks reptile lovers x

 

[Remkon]

Don't blame yourself to much...
Accidents do happen and sometimes 1 small mistake can have big consequences.
We simply can't do everything right all of the time and I'm pretty darn sure you learned to not leave your chameleon roam freely out in the open (certainly not unsupervised), not even in England.

It happened, it sucks big time, but you did it with the best of intentions and care for your animal.
This doesn't make you a bad owner.

 

[FiveLeftToes]

Don't blame yourself to much...
Accidents do happen and sometimes 1 small mistake can have big consequences.
We simply can't do everything right all of the time and I'm pretty darn sure you learned to not leave your chameleon roam freely out in the open (certainly not unsupervised), not even in England.

It happened, it sucks big time, but you did it with the best of intentions and care for your animal.
This doesn't make you a bad owner.

Thanks Remkon...it has certainly opened my eyes. I love to take them into the sunshine when we actually get some here but as you say, I will never leave them roaming freely again. I will never let this happen again. X

 

[Twitchet]

Maybe look out on eBay or gumtree for a mesh viv, I got a 3ft tall one for £40 and it’s fine for the xanth for his outdoor enclosure,
onlinereptileshop has brilliant prices for new, I order all my stuff from them including livefood and they are an excellent price. You could even adapt a small aviary or birdcage adding extra mesh and shaded areas to make sure a young animal is safe.
Last year I was able to have the Chameleons out almost all day in their sunrooms from April through to October so it’s well worth considering even if your new one stays out for half an hour, it’s all beneficial.
Good luck with you new baby.

 

[FiveLeftToes]

Maybe look out on eBay or gumtree for a mesh viv, I got a 3ft tall one for £40 and it’s fine for the xanth for his outdoor enclosure,
onlinereptileshop has brilliant prices for new, I order all my stuff from them including livefood and they are an excellent price. You could even adapt a small aviary or birdcage adding extra mesh and shaded areas to make sure a young animal is safe.
Last year I was able to have the Chameleons out almost all day in their sunrooms from April through to October so it’s well worth considering even if your new one stays out for half an hour, it’s all beneficial.
Good luck with you new baby.

Great idea! Thanks, I will start looking out for one. I like the idea of making one so I might buy a cheap cage and modify/enlarge it for purpose. I do love seeing them outside. They really love it don’t they?