Travels as a Chameleon keeper.

[Barye]

Hi there!
I'm curious what do you, Chameleon owners do if you plan a travel? Not like, moving to another place in term of living, but in term of week-2 week vacations.

Currently I avoid that long adventures as the only people I can count on with taking care of my JoJo are the parents, who, to be fair, aren't that advanced.

Do you have any reptile hotels, do you rather rely on your friends/family or do you just simply avoid travelling?

 

[bruce the cham]

i went on a trip for ten days before i left he had a ton of crickets in his cage and his mister bucket was half way full also i had just changed his heat bulb but i had someone go over twice well i was gone 1 to fill up his mister bucket and 2 to just check in

 

[bruce the cham]

@Beman @kinyonga

 

[Beman]

I do not travel but I also have more than just chams so it makes it harder. I would recommend having someone come in everyday to check on everything. The more automated your set up is the better. Teach that person exactly what they need to check or do. Have it written out as well. Have contact info for a vet in case something goes wrong while your gone and a way for them to get a hold of you.

I do not recommend just leaving them and hoping for the best. Too much can go wrong.

 

[OldWorldChams]

It helps if your chameleon eats dubias and cup feeds well. If you can load up the feeding dish with well gutloaded dubias and leave a carrot in the dish for the feeders, the food should be covered.
Hydration is more important to have covered. My chameleons have been well hydrated recently drinking out of the cups in in the image attached. Using these two methods. I have comfortably gone on vacation for around 7 days or so.
There are many considerations and everyone's situation is different. Younger chameleons would need more care.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I conducted a week long Carmelo Chameleon Care training with 2 sets of neighbors. They committed to assume Carmelo's daily care for one day, every other week, for 1 year. They have established relationships with Carmelo. I've taken trips while they provide care. As already mentioned, we have a care book called Carmelo's Diary. Everything about him is listed. Also, IoT cameras and thermometers/hygrometers help me monitor while I'm away.

 

[JacksJill]

If you have a misting system then that part is easy. If your pet sitters aren't good with bugs make up deli cups of insects for each feeding they just have to dust and dump into the cage or feeder. Having it premeasured helps a lot and they don't have to catch bugs.

 

[Barye]

I guess I will need to teach some people the basics when I'll be going out for a longer period of time.
Thank you all for your answers! It is good to know how do you deal with it, just in advance.
For now, I will need to make sure he's okay, and he can hunt normally.

 

[absolutbill]

I've taught both my neighbor and a pet sitter how to care for my chams, but I have no more than 3 at any one time. I write out EVERYTHING, and label it by date. As for dusting, I put labels on the containers and really make it dummy-proof. I have automatic misters and lights, which I can monitor. I generally don't go away for more than 2 weeks at a time, so not TOO much can go wrong in that amount of time.

 

[jannb]

I’ve always had a trained petsitter for all my pets. Too much can happen while you are gone.

 

[elizaann2]

Hey there! I have my sitter come over and we go over the schedule together, I have everything written down, bugs in separate containers for easy feeding and then I also do a facetime check on the chameleon at least once a day while I am gone.