MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Just realized I never added the pic of the airway and throat. 
I can be such a ditz at times. Smh
I can be such a ditz at times. Smh
New chameleon owner I rescued him in bad shape HELP ME!
- Thread starter baldarthecham
- Start date
baldarthecham
Member
His name is the fathers name from the movie cone heads lol now I was given this enclosure and plan on upgrading as soon as I can, but this is what we are working with so far. I will be getting the better UV light next but he at least has one as before he did not! I’m working on replacing any plastic plants with real ones and getting more climbing branches. These the supplements I have and a plain calcium one.Yay! Big victory of him eating on his own! Yay! He does looks a bit better already. But he is showing some signs of mbd. The little bumps along his ribs, his back leg looks swollen around the ankle and the front arm has a bend to it that shouldn’t be there. Mbd is from incorrect or no uvb and incorrect or no supplements. Any effects from it can’t be undone, but he can recover and won’t have any further progression. It’s not a severe case. Just be careful when handling him. I will warn that some chameleons when very frightened will make a suicide leap as a last ditch effort to escape the threat. Give him something to hold onto, like a branch or towel.
Why would I tell you to give him away? No no no! You are showing not only compassion for this fella, but that you truly care about him. I think you need to keep him if you are able. Many of us started with a chameleon and either crappy info or no info and we learned, made needed changes, made improvements, grew and here we all are, passing on the help.There’s a tremendous amount of bad info out there and it is so hard to know what is right or wrong. You’re here now thankfully and I want to assure you that this is the right place and the right info. You can bring this guy back to health and have him hiss at you for many years to come.
You’ve got this and can handle him and his care just fine. Whatever help or support we can give, we will.
Is his name Baldar? Is that from the game or Nordic mythology?
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baldarthecham
Member
Aim for the blue makes more sense now lolJust realized I never added the pic of the airway and throat.
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GrannyK
Chameleon Enthusiast
Just wanted to jump in and say Welcome to the forum!!! So glad you found this place everyone is great and you got this. I feel like you’re whole heart is in it and this little guy is so lucky to of found you. You’ve gotten great advice and he looks great compared to the day you brought him home. 
baldarthecham
Member
Thank you so much! I juts felt/knew he had a better chance with me cause I will try everyhting to help him! And yes whole heart is in it. It breaks my heart that people get animals They don’t know anything about if the situation was different. I wouldn’t have him like I would not have actively went out and got him knowing I know nothing about them unless I was 100% educated and prepared I’m just glad he’s at least doing better or seems to be heading in the correct direction thank you all againJust wanted to jump in and say Welcome to the forum!!! So glad you found this place everyone is great and you got this. I feel like you’re whole heart is in it and this little guy is so lucky to of found you. You’ve gotten great advice and he looks great compared to the day you brought him home.
Gloriawood
Chameleon Enthusiast
I just want to welcome you and this little guy. I won’t add much advice as MissSkittles already has covered it. You are in a great place and in great hands with her. She is one of the best. THANK YOU for saving this sweet (or grumpy it sounds like 
) boy. I’m glad he’s still got some fight in him. That is a good sign. Ask all the questions you need. There are no stupid ones and no such thing as too many. We love helping others around here. And continue posting. We get attached to others chams and get invested in their stories. I got my fingers crossed for this little man. 
) boy. I’m glad he’s still got some fight in him. That is a good sign. Ask all the questions you need. There are no stupid ones and no such thing as too many. We love helping others around here. And continue posting. We get attached to others chams and get invested in their stories. I got my fingers crossed for this little man.
baldarthecham
Member
How much will it stress him out if I have to move his enclosure today? Changing his UV light and basking light. I’m moving it to his permanent spot and adding a plant and more sticks and possibly moss on the bottom and I’m also putting the shower curtain around the back of it to help with humidity and I just wanna know how upset he’s going to be while I do all this. Or should I move him into a dark box with a stick to hang onto while I do all this?
baldarthecham
Member
also I need to clean the cage I slept in the same room as him last night and it smelled kind of weird. I don’t know how to explain it. I just knew that there was a cage in this room. Is that normal?
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Sometimes there’s no way to really avoid doing things that will be stressful. Have a plan and try to get everything done at once, which will help minimize his stress.
Avoid putting anything on the bottom, like moss. I’m guessing you want to do it for either drainage or aesthetics. Putting a lot of plants on the floor helps with drainage, but makes it a pain in the butt to clean.
Since you are adding things, do remove the rope and replace with a branch or vine. What can happen is a claw can get trapped in woven materials and get pulled out.
I can’t answer much about odor. I smoked for decades and my sense of smell hasn’t fully recovered. I only know that my bearded dragons have an unusual odor.
Avoid putting anything on the bottom, like moss. I’m guessing you want to do it for either drainage or aesthetics. Putting a lot of plants on the floor helps with drainage, but makes it a pain in the butt to clean.
Since you are adding things, do remove the rope and replace with a branch or vine. What can happen is a claw can get trapped in woven materials and get pulled out.
I can’t answer much about odor. I smoked for decades and my sense of smell hasn’t fully recovered. I only know that my bearded dragons have an unusual odor.
baldarthecham
Member
Thank you.. no moss. Remove rope. I’m getting a bunch of real plants today. And attaching branches then hooking the plants to the branches and adding plants to the bottom.. putting the shower curtain up. I plan on knocking it all out at once today I watched some videos from that Neptune chameleon lady on how to attach branches and plants. So not more plastic. THANK YOU
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
This is what I’ve been doing to hang branches and plants using garden trellis. It looks nicer than I thought.
absolutbill
Chameleon Enthusiast
You are really doing great with him, I just read through the whole post. You mentioned a smell - my guess is it's from parasites in his poop. When you have your vet visit and give them a fecal they can confirm that. Good luck, keep it up, and follow Miss Skittles' advice - she really is very good.
baldarthecham
Member
That is brilliant!!!!
baldarthecham
Member
So I got a bunch of plant donations yesterday most of them I already know were safe. There’s some that I am questioning. I know that they have to be nontoxic due to the chances of them might possibly be munched on so if you recognize any of these, not being safe, please let me know, I’m also gonna download a plant scanning app to figure out exactly what they are in case you can’t tell me.
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MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Not sure. Safe. Safe. Safe. Don’t think so. Safe.
The first one I had to search for. It is a Tradescantia rhoeo aka Moses in the cradle. I’m finding mixed info on it from mildly toxic to poisonous, so I wouldn’t use that inside the enclosure.
The 3 in the middle are heart leaf philodendron. While they aren’t on the safe/veiled tested list, their properties for toxicity are the same as pothos - contain calcium oxalates which can be irritating when eaten. I keep in my veileds enclosures with no issue. They don’t nibble it though, so I can only assume it isn’t as tasty as pothos.
The plant after is I believe an Arrowhead plant. Looking it up and its toxicity is the same as pothos and philodendron. I have not used this plant.
The last one is a spider plant, which is safe to use.
The first one I had to search for. It is a Tradescantia rhoeo aka Moses in the cradle. I’m finding mixed info on it from mildly toxic to poisonous, so I wouldn’t use that inside the enclosure.
The 3 in the middle are heart leaf philodendron. While they aren’t on the safe/veiled tested list, their properties for toxicity are the same as pothos - contain calcium oxalates which can be irritating when eaten. I keep in my veileds enclosures with no issue. They don’t nibble it though, so I can only assume it isn’t as tasty as pothos.
The plant after is I believe an Arrowhead plant. Looking it up and its toxicity is the same as pothos and philodendron. I have not used this plant.
The last one is a spider plant, which is safe to use.
baldarthecham
Member
Okay so these are safe?
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elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hello and warmest welcomes to you. Thank you for taking in this little darling. Chameleons are such a special animal.
Yep those are all safe
baldarthecham
Member
Okay so I re-did the enclosure. I did a trick the Neptune lady did where she put sticks on the edges and then connected sticks to the sticks. If that makes any sense and then I zip tied my planters. I made sure that he cannot get to any of the zip ties. The ones you see in the picture he cannot reach them. The actual hook part is actually inside. It’s just the angle I took the picture he can’t get to that corner. I put a shower curtain on the back of it and I have a mister for at night. I am waiting for the light to arrive to change that.
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A positive thing about chameleons is you get a beautiful mini plant garden to look as well. Win win Ha!
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Wonderful! With each improvement, he should be feeling a bit happier. Once the uvb comes, hopefully he’ll fully recover and just keep getting healthier. 
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