This is a warning to everyone who lets their chams outside.

[Lizardlover]

Ok, my heart is racing about a million miles an hour, Sam, my veild was outside in our "bar" outside, He was surrounded all around so there was no way he could crawl out. I thought it was perfect, he was enjoying the sun and there was no way he could escape, I went inside to fill up another spray bottle and to put my panther in because it was getting too hot for him and came back 5 minutes later. What I found made my heart sink. His tree he was basking on fell over with a heavy wind making a perfect bridge for him to get out. And ofcourse he did. I had no idea which direction he couldve gone, those of you who have seen pics of my chams outside know my yard is a jungle. I looked in every bush every leaf etc. I still couldnt find him. About an hour later after about 4 phone calls sharing the bad news I started on the opposite side of the yard, I put my whole body in our big ficus bush (I mean big as in lining the whole house big!) and getting stabbed and poked in the eye I looked up and saw little Sam about to crawl into the neighbors back yard panting (it was a hot day) the catch was, he was about 7 feet up, I was breaking and bending branches to try to bring him down and when I got him within range I grabbed him, not caring about the bites and hisses. So this should be a lesson to everyone who thinks it cant happen to them...IT CAN! and I learned that an hour and a half and 4 bites ago. This should be an eye opener to those who think they are fine and it wont happen. I was very lucky to find my guy in my yard some people may not have been so lucky.

 

[dodolah]

Glad that you found him back.

This is why I have an outdoor cage for them.
I always recommend people not to 'free range' outside without supervision. They can be surprisingly fast when they needed to be.

 

[Lizardlover]

the thing was he had a barrier that was keeping him from escaping, the wind that knocked over his tree was how he escaped.

 

[jannb]

I'm glad that you got him back. PLEASE do not leave your guys outside alone......not even for a minute.

 

[AJA]

There are other people on this forum who have turned their back
"for a second" and found their little guy gone. Hopefully you are scouting for an outside enclousure or checking the DIY section on building one.

I am glad you got him back and hopefully those bite marks will remind you of your lesson.

It is amazing how fast a slow moving animal is.

 

[Lizardlover]

As a matter of a fact Im getting some reptariums at the Daytona show. They can be fast if they want, theres no way a slow creature coulve crawled atleast 50 feet across the yard in a matter of minutes

 

[Jerm]

I have left the door open on my cages for a minute when I collect the feeding cups to clean them out before I feed, and turned around to find one of my panthers wandering across the yard. I can see how quickly they can dissappear into any foliage, luckily it was my female ambanja who is flourescent orange so she stuck out like a sore thumb. Isn't that the story of how jacksons ended up populating in Hawaii?

 

[Lizardlover]

I have left the door open on my cages for a minute when I collect the feeding cups to clean them out before I feed, and turned around to find one of my panthers wandering across the yard. I can see how quickly they can dissappear into any foliage, luckily it was my female ambanja who is flourescent orange so she stuck out like a sore thumb. Isn't that the story of how jacksons ended up populating in Hawaii?

I believe they just let them go in Hawaii and they populated and adapted well, I was watching a documentary on it today, same way veilds are populated FL, idk how though, when I found Sam he was panting, he had a nice long drink afterwards.

 

[tkilgour]

OMG, I am so glad you found him. How worrisome! I typically like to take my panthers outside on sunny days and let them perch on my knee for 30 min. or so and we both soak in the rays. However, I never leave him roam free, I am just to paranoid and this seals the deal. Wow, I am happy you got him, the bites were nothing compared to the fear of losing him I am sure!

 

[Lizardlover]

OMG, I am so glad you found him. How worrisome! I typically like to take my panthers outside on sunny days and let them perch on my knee for 30 min. or so and we both soak in the rays. However, I never leave him roam free, I am just to paranoid and this seals the deal. Wow, I am happy you got him, the bites were nothing compared to the fear of losing him I am sure!

I actually didnt even care about the bites or realize they hurt till he was back, safely in his cage

 

[Syn]

I've come to notice that all of these stories always have a "I went inside really fast to..." part to them.
It just goes to show you that if YOU go inside, YOUR CHAMELEON goes inside. No exceptions, even if you have barriers, locks, etc.

Glad you found him. Best to be safe next time.

 

[ncosper]

About 10 years ago when I had a bunch of chams I used to regularly put them out to bask. I had a whole setup of ropes and things for them to take full advantage of the sun on my porch. I normally sat with them, but If memory serves, the phone rang and I got distracted. I came back out 5-10 later and my jackson male breeder was MIA. I live in northern arizona this was probably late June so Temperature was not too hot for him. I looked everywhere for him and couldn't find him anywhere. There were a lot of tall Ponderosa Pines behind my porch and I looked through every one to no avail. Every day I would go sit on the porch hoping to see him. The days this time of year are in the 80's and lows in the 50's but almost 0% humidity. I gave up after a couple of weeks as there was no way he could survive low humidity and very few bugs for that long. Then about 3 weeks after he disappeared I look out the window and he is sitting about 20 feet up on a pine tree branch. I raced out in tree climbing mode and managed to get him back in.

I was extremely shocked but he was well hydrated (at least by appearance) and not thin at all. I monitored him closely and he never showed any adverse effects. That a freaking miracle, but it sure taught me to never leave them outside unattended.

 

[jojackson]

Glad you caught your awol lizard!
best wishes

 

[Lizardlover]

That IS a MIRACLE! ncosper

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

When we were on the phone and you said ugh oh where is sam i was like crap man and i started praying you found him. I was watching clea outside letting her enjoy the sun and she looked at me with a sad face and i told her sam was gone and she went back to hide behind the leaf. I didn't have time to tell you this because after you called to say you got him i was outside with my friends and such. I am really happy you found him, guess this is a lesson to us all.

 

[reptimom]

My heart skipped a beat when I saw your thread - My first thought was that you lost Titan!! I feel very close to Titan since he is Guido's brother. I am sooooo very happy that you were able to get your veiled back. At least you will be able to sleep tonight. When I lost my Mellers, it was a week before I found him. But he is sleeping soundly in his bed right now!

 

[Lizardlover]

My heart skipped a beat when I saw your thread - My first thought was that you lost Titan!! I feel very close to Titan since he is Guido's brother. I am sooooo very happy that you were able to get your veiled back. At least you will be able to sleep tonight. When I lost my Mellers, it was a week before I found him. But he is sleeping soundly in his bed right now!

Titan cant be left a second alone, if the cage is open hes gone like a bullet when you least expect it. Thanks for your concern it feels good to have someone miles and miles away that cares for your cham ya know?

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

Titan cant be left a second alone, if the cage is open hes gone like a bullet when you least expect it. Thanks for your concern it feels good to have someone miles and miles away that cares for your cham ya know?

True, that is nice that people far from here are about you and your cham

 

[hallenhe]

I've seen my Jackson's run (indoors), so I know they can do it. And I know once a cham decides it wants to be somewhere, it will make its way there surprisingly fast, and not let itself be distracted.
I'm very glad you got him back.

 

[casidonacid]

Man i have my five chameleons outside and they havent escaped its been about a month"knock on wood". just have to make sure your cage can survive the elements haha.