Lost my Cham outside ideas?

[TracyM]

Okay, i am freaking out, i have been on the web and read all the peoples experiences....my deck backs onto a whole side line of trees.
Our deck is about 7 feet up and she would have gone down off the side of it to the ground, it is loose dirt at the bottom and so it might have made all the difference at how she landed.
I lost her on saturday, she is healthy but timid to anything but me, she comes right onto my hand to come out of her cage and she is out most of the time in her own tree in front of the patio doors.
She will be a year in June and has a very healthy appetite, the trees we have a super tall i mean can't climb them to get her from a branch tall, they types are oak, Burch and some type of tall pine.
It is really bad for black flies and mosquitoes right now so i was freaking both sat and sun night over night thinking of her getting bit, plus last night was lighting, no thunder or rain but light shows like crazy.
I am located in ontario canada and its been warm but got down pretty cold last night most likely then she is used to.
About an hour after we found her only a half our into starting to look cause i didn't know she was gone at first.....we seen her high up in one of the trees going from branch to branch, my daughter who is 25 tried getting up as high as she could but sweet pea was so far out on limbs it was impossible to get her.
Then we lost site of her while trying to figure out what we were going to do, and i haven't spotted her since, i can take a pic of the the tree line to give an idea.
I have put her cage its a cham bubble...outside by the base of the trees, I have her basking tree on the deck tied with twine to one of the limbs from one of the trees in the tree line and her aquarium with crickets also on the deck railing so she can see it from the trees.
I thought it was bad to have found her and be at a loss how to get her to now have lost her again and now not know, could she have gone up there to die,
Or am i not seeing her cause she is just enjoying her freedom for a while, its not easy for me to keep searching to find her the possibilities are endless and its overwhelming where to look, plus we are on 2.5 acrs.
I am really sick and worried and not sleeping, she is a late riser and takes her time getting up, but even so i have been going out early to see and no her, just not even in the trees now. Worries me cause we have blue jays and a neighbours dog that roams onto our property all the time.
I love her so much I want her home.
Should i set up her bubble with its light on, today is cloudy, windy and only high of 18, i am cold out there, if so should i set it up on the deck or the ground near the base of the trees where i have it now?

 

[MelissaB]

I would keep looking, and at night it would be easier to spot her. They tend to be light colors when sleeping. I hope you get her back.

Also, if the cage you are using is the Biobubble Chameleon Cantina, I suggest you get her a different cage if you get her back.. Those are one of the most unsuitable cages for chameleons on the market, in my opinion. She's be much better off in a screen cage.

 

[TracyM]

I would keep looking, and at night it would be easier to spot her. They tend to be light colors when sleeping. I hope you get her back.

Also, if the cage you are using is the Biobubble Chameleon Cantina, I suggest you get her a different cage if you get her back.. Those are one of the most unsuitable cages for chameleons on the market, in my opinion. She's be much better off in a screen cage.

I have tried at night with an awesome flash light, just no luck making stuff out so many branches, Yes I am getting her a custom cage as she is quickly growing out of that one.

 

[Blang]

Try and make a cage out of screen with mesh small enough your crickets can't get out of & then add your crickets & tie it to the side of the tree at eye level & then wait! If she's hungry enough she should come down by the crickets! If she comes down you'll have to move fast & grab her! That's my thought anyway!

 

[chamdan]

Your best bet is to look at night with a high powered flash light look at the edge of branches, during the day time it will be hard to find unless you spot it basking in an open area. Best of luck don't give up.

 

[TracyM]

Thanks for your support i love hearing from others who know what this type of love is, I can't imagine being without her, so many don't understand who don't own or love anything but their dogs or cats. I have had just about every type of animal you can imagine and my longest was a red eared slider who i had from just hatched till he was 16 till i gave him to a friend who takes in rescues i wanted him to be around other turtles....and my iguana i had from hatch till he was 11, when he died from illness. but i love Sweat Pea the most, just in the short time i have owned her she has stole my heart. Thanks again and again any tips or ideas send them my way cause i am going nuts here.

 

[Alexander1]

I would try to use bright colored feeders like hornworms, crickets may not even be visible from high above. Silkworms, hornworms, anything that would stand out amongst all the brown. Good luck! When my Cham climbs a little to high from his basking tree out in the yards and spray it down from above with a water hose and he comes down to hide from the rain, I know it's a long shot because your property is so big and trees are tall but thought I'd say it anyway, maybe stir up an idea for you.

 

[TracyM]

I would try to use bright colored feeders like hornworms, crickets may not even be visible from high above. Silkworms, hornworms, anything that would stand out amongst all the brown. Good luck! When my Cham climbs a little to high from his basking tree out in the yards and spray it down from above with a water hose and he comes down to hide from the rain, I know it's a long shot because your property is so big and trees are tall but thought I'd say it anyway, maybe stir up an idea for you.

Thanks i know she hates when i spray her cage lol....i will definitely try that. Thanks again

 

[TracyM]

Try and make a cage out of screen with mesh small enough your crickets can't get out of & then add your crickets & tie it to the side of the tree at eye level & then wait! If she's hungry enough she should come down by the crickets! If she comes down you'll have to move fast & grab her! That's my thought anyway!

I like this idea, will try for sure, awesome thanks!

 

[Saldarya]

Perhaps I can make you feel a bit better. Last August I had a male panther get out of his cage ( I keep them all outside most of the year). Once we noticed he was gone, there was no way of looking for him. Like you, I live on a bit of land that is heavy with trees. This past January, a person posted on this forum that they had found a 'stray chameleon' in someones yard. After a few hours of social media working its magic, I got in touch with this person and sure enough it was my guy, hanging out 3 blocks away in the middle of January like nothing ever happened.

Point is, keep looking. They wont go to far.

 

[TracyM]

Perhaps I can make you feel a bit better. Last August I had a male panther get out of his cage ( I keep them all outside most of the year). Once we noticed he was gone, there was no way of looking for him. Like you, I live on a bit of land that is heavy with trees. This past January, a person posted on this forum that they had found a 'stray chameleon' in someones yard. After a few hours of social media working its magic, I got in touch with this person and sure enough it was my guy, hanging out 3 blocks away in the middle of January like nothing ever happened.

Point is, keep looking. They wont go to far.

Oh my goodness this is crazy, i mean i am sitting here worrying so much, it gives hope for sure, the nights are still getting cold and its super damp here with lots of dew in the mornings. I suppose that can help keep her hydrated but its the cold temps i am worried about. Thanks again for your support

 

[Daypaul]

Good luck light and love to you and yours. Hope you find her.

 

[TracyM]

Good luck light and love to you and yours. Hope you find her.

Thanks Daypaul

 

[TheVeiledProphet]

Out walking in the frozen swamp one gray day,
I paused and said, "I will turn back from here.
No, I will go on farther -- and we shall see."
The hard snow held me, save where now and then
One foot went through. The view was all in lines
Straight up and down of tall slim trees
Too much alike to mark or name a place by
So as to say for certain I was here
Or somewhere else: I was just far from home.
A small bird flew before me. He was careful
To put a tree between us when he lighted,
And say no word to tell me who he was
Who was so foolish as to think what hethought.
He thought that I was after him for a feather --
The white one in his tail; like one who takes
Everything said as personal to himself.
One flight out sideways would have undeceived him.
And then there was a pile of wood for which
I forgot him and let his little fear
Carry him off the way I might have gone,
Without so much as wishing him good-night.
He went behind it to make his last stand.
It was a cord of maple, cut and split
And piled -- and measured, four by four by eight.
And not another like it could I see.
No runner tracks in this year's snow looped near it.
And it was older sure than this year's cutting,
Or even last year's or the year's before.
The wood was gray and the bark warping off it
And the pile somewhat sunken. Clematis
Had wound strings round and round it like a bundle.
What held it though on one side was a tree
Still growing, and on one a stake and prop,
These latter about to fall. I thought that only
Someone who lived in turning to fresh tasks
Could so forget his handiwork on which
He spent himself, the labor of his ax,
And leave it there far from a useful fireplace
To warm the frozen swamp as best it could
With the slow smokeless burning of decay.
R.F.

 

[alphakenc]

U story sounds like a little Dead Rotting hood in a swamp trying to cut some tree for the GrandPa

 

[OldChamKeeper]

Like others have said, your best bet is to find it at night when it's sleeping.

 

[alphakenc]

I agree for the night finding,n also see if u can find some poop dropping,there should be lots wild bugs feeder for ur cham to eat n survive,dont give up to find ur cham,good luck.

 

[TracyM]

Thanks yes, never thought about the poop droppings but very true....another thing to try.

 

[TracyM]

Here are pictures of the treeline just so people get an idea of what i am up against..just random trees all planted beside each other with lots of bushes in between its over whelming.

 

[nightanole]

As others stated you have 2 knowns in your favor. 1) chams sleep on the edge of branches, not under something or in the thick bush. The other is they will light up when you shine a light on them at night, since they will be very white/light colored.

Its not going to return to the porch/cage like a lost cat/dog or be lured back with food. At best you could rig up some cham string traps, but you would need a lot.

A cham string trap is just a hanging dish with hole drilled in the middle and string running through it. The string is connected lightly to a branch. When the cham climbs on the rope, it releases from the branch. Now you have a cham on a rope, a dish preventing them from climbing up, and down the only choice is jumping from the rope.