Just found a veiled Cham walking across the street

[rangosmama]

So we dropped our daughter at sunday school, and on our way home we had to stop the car while a funny looking lizard looking thing was crossing the street. I got out to help it across the street. It took off under our car and up the wheel well. LOL 15 minutes later we are still under the car trying to rescue this big guy So i finally get him to let go and i wrapped him in a towel and my hubby said we gotta take hime home. So 3 days later here we are with a new pet that my 3 daughters LOVE but i am a little scared of keeping him because i am not sure how to take care of him correctly. I bought live crickets the 2nd day and i chopped carrots and green peppers and i spray him with a water bottle several times a day.my hubby is gonna make a cage for him this weekend.I have never seen one so large LOL ( he measures about 10 inches long with out the tail and 4 inches tall. his colors are beautiful bright green ,yellow and orange. He seems to love to be wrapped in a blanket LOL my daughter love to wrap him up and he will fall asleep on them
Any info would be helpful. I am going to look and read all i can on the forum.

 

[jdog1027]

Post a picture please.

 

[AZJ0SH]

That's a nice Veiled chameleon! If you're new to chameleon keeping, I would start by reading some of the general car sheets found online, such as these:

http://www.veiledchameleoncaresheet.com/

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

 

[snipeusa14]

Where do you live that you find a vieled Cham on the road I Wana live there lol

 

[AZJ0SH]

I am thinking it's someones lost pet, I always hate seeing those "lost my chameleon outside". Maybe throw up an ad on craigslist, or put up a flyer around your neighborhood and see if anyone lost their chameleon.

 

[byrnesr]

Some one will be missing the big guy, his owner is probably within a 1 mile of where you found him. Maybe some signs with a pic will help you find the owner. Or perhaps they are a member here.

 

[rangosmama]

I am thinking it's someones lost pet, I always hate seeing those "lost my chameleon outside". Maybe throw up an ad on craigslist, or put up a flyer around your neighborhood and see if anyone lost their chameleon.

yes my daughter took pictures and posted it all over the area we found him. then we drove to the next neighborhood and posted some there as well. we live in south florida and i know that he is too friendly not to be a pet . Beside every place i called to ask about him said that he is not common to our area. must be a pet that got out.
but we will keep him safe until the owner comes forward. and i want to be sure he is kept in the right conditions ( he is too beautiful to loose because we did not read up on him and do what we could) and if the owner comes forward, my daughter already asked to get a new one LOL she has always wanted a beardy until we found rango LOL

 

[snipeusa14]

If the owner doesn't come forward after some time if you guys don't keep it I gladly take it

 

[ChameleonRave]

It is very likely that you have found a Wild Veiled Chameleon roaming your streets. They are known to live throughout Florida with Oustalets (spelling) Chameleons. I hope the best to you.

Also, I don't suggest wrapping him up in the blanket and letting your daughters resting their head on him. It can stress him out quite a bit.

 

[pssh]

Dont wrap him up. He is probably closing his eyes because he is stressed out. He should not be sleeping at all during the day as that indicates an issue.

 

[JackP308]

pretty cool find. not something you see everyday

 

[gguidr7]

That's really great that you guys were able to save this guy before anything happened to him!

 

[chameleonoobie]

I would be interested in the general area where you found him. There are feral populations in known spots like Ft. Meyers, would be interesting if this is a lone escape, part of a known colony or another population popping up somewhere else.

 

[CBPanther]

Check out JannB's thread on veiled chameleon care, awesome stuff

 

[Pilotman800]

I as well live in south Florida; Miami to be exact. Veiled chameleons are known to be found around here. If he is wild, and you DO plan on keeping him, id say you are very lucky to have found such a beautiful one, that at the same time is friendly. You may want to get a fecal exam done to make sure he is healthy and doesn't have any parasites. Living in south Florida like me, I can recommend a good vet to take him for that.

 

[snipeusa14]

Florida chameleon owners for the win and one buy from Ben siegels??

 

[trd1215]

Nice find... maybe i will find one here one of these days...lol

 

[tdotcham]

if he doesnt have a cage yet, what are you keeping him in?? he needs branches to climb, take a look at the enclosure section of the forum and you will be able to find lots of information of whats good for him.

I'd also suggest taking him outside to enjoy some sun until you get him a UV light. They need heat and UV to digest their food and gain energy

 

[brooklynelizabeth]

He is a very handsome boy, i have heard that some chameleons are becoming indigenous to certain areas simply because of escaped pets, and of course when there is a new species that introduces itself to new areas it has no real predators other then man. And because Veiled's can display brighter colors most predators will associate it as being poisonous. I would say making some rounds in the neighborhood to see if anyone in the immediate area has lost him, if it is a escaped pet it would be hard to believe it would venture very far being as it is in a whole new world. If you don't get any hits from immediate neighbors i would say maybe returning him to the wild is the best thing to do.

 

[JackP308]

If you don't get any hits from immediate neighbors i would say maybe returning him to the wild is the best thing to do.

Returning a non native species is probably not the best thing to do. Good intentions but keeping it would be better off since they already have taken it from the wild. You can always send it to me if not.