Wild caught Veiled Chameleon Male

[Andregay]

We recently caught a male veiled chameleon in our garden. I suppose someone let it escape from its cage or just let him go, but anyway, he was attacked by something as his hood is half bitten off and he has a hole ontop of his back. I was just wondering how to calm him down. He is very nervous and whenever we come close to the cage he would dart down to the bottom and he does not like it when I hold him.
I have had him now for two weeks and nothing gets any better. He isn't settling down. Can anyone help me with this I really want him to get better, before he starts to hurt himself even further.

 

[ChamOh]

has he seen a vet? if you want him to live i would think he needs antibiotics.

 

[jannb]

I would recommend you set up a free range for him. Could you imagine being wild and able to run free and then being captured and put in a cage? In the past my daughter has bought WC chams and put them in a cage and allot of them died. Some would never eat of course she would force feed but some just gave up the will to live. Once she started to FR them they really started to come around and most became very friendly.

I would also recommend a vet visit as stated above to find out exactly what all this guy has and to get the proper meds to treat him.

 

[VeiledOwner87]

in my opinion, the best thing to do with any animal in these situations of of being injured in the wild, is just leave them alone. i would put him back outside and let nature run its cource. his advantage in human care is no advantage then being in the wild. it is better to have him free and die a natural death and in peace, then spend money to fix him up, on for him to stop eating or die by captive stress. sorry to bum you out

 

[Andregay]

Well sorry veiled owner, but I don't agree. Over here in SA a full grown male like him is worth R3000 plus so I am not going to put him back in the wild. They are not native to SA so he was in captivity he just escaped. He was definately not born in the wild.
I wanted help on how to get him settled not how to have him die a peacefull natural dead, so please keep your comment to yourself

 

[james L]

Veiledownner - Be Quiet
Andregay, I hope there isnt any more roaming around your area. They could pose a huge problem for you guys in SA.
Just keep his wounds clean, lots of water and if you can a vet visit. I hope for the best. Post a photo of him if you can. Goodluck!

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post a picture of it please?

A good cream for wounds is flamazine but you may need a prescription to get it. I have to agree that it would be best if it was also put on antibiotics for a while and for a vet to look at it.

As for calming it down...that might be hard to do. In order to treat it, I would put on a long sleeved sweat shirt...this will give it something to bite besides you. I usually pull it down so just my fingers are hanging out. If he does as you said and goes to the floor of the cage, you could try to grasp him gently around the neck but firmly enough that he won't be able to turn to bite you. Support his feet on your other arm and move him to a towel...but don't let go of him. This gives him something to grip and keep his feet busy. It would be good if you have someone to help you so that you can hold the chameleon and the other person can do the necessary treatment.

I hope this helps!

 

[Texas Panther Man]

If you cant get to a vet soon then in the meantime use a antibiotic cream on those wounds. Betadine or even polysporin just to keep them from gettin infected. He really needs a vet visit asap for a round of antibiotics though. He's going to be going thru alot of stress from capture so you dont want those wounds to get infected and start the downhill slide. If his grip is still strong and he's not dehydrated then he has a good chance of making it.

 

[VeiledOwner87]

Well sorry veiled owner, but I don't agree. Over here in SA a full grown male like him is worth R3000 plus so I am not going to put him back in the wild. They are not native to SA so he was in captivity he just escaped. He was definately not born in the wild.
I wanted help on how to get him settled not how to have him die a peacefull natural dead, so please keep your comment to yourself

Veiledownner - Be Quiet
Andregay, I hope there isnt any more roaming around your area. They could pose a huge problem for you guys in SA.
Just keep his wounds clean, lots of water and if you can a vet visit. I hope for the best. Post a photo of him if you can. Goodluck!

pms much? we dont need rudeness here on the forums. i was giving my opinion. i love how people are so against pet shop buying, but in cases like this everyone is here to help? you say he is deffinatly not a wild cham, but your title says WC? spend all the money you want on him, im not at all trying to be inhumane, but some things are just BETTER left untouched.

 

[Elizadolots]

There are chameleons native to South Africa and it has happened in the past that people have misidentified a wild, native chameleon as a veiled "that got away".

 

[Miss Machine]

Well sorry veiled owner, but I don't agree. Over here in SA a full grown male like him is worth R3000 plus so I am not going to put him back in the wild. They are not native to SA so he was in captivity he just escaped. He was definately not born in the wild.
I wanted help on how to get him settled not how to have him die a peacefull natural dead, so please keep your comment to yourself

What do you mean, is worth R3000? Is that the only reason you 'caught' him?

Why the rudeness immediately. This is a forum, so you can expect somebody's opinion or comment, right?

 

[VeiledOwner87]

i have to agree, why put him through so much care and extra stress in the condition he is already in. to make money? there are some things that just make me sick about keeping, trading, and selling exotic animals.

 

[chameleonneeds]

I really hope he is a chameleon that came from captivity and was not born in the wild.
It could mean the end for exotic reptile keeping for us in S.A if veileds have to become established in the wild of S.A.
If you can keep a look out for any more (incase someone actualy let him go with a whole bunch of others) that would be great. let me know if anymore turn up.

I think the chameleon could of been in the condition he is in even from when he was still in captivity, the owner might have thought that the chameleon was doomed anway so they released it.


Could you maybe email me some pics of him?

 

[Andregay]

The money isn't why I am keeping it, I was just trying to say that he is too valuable to leave just so he can die.
Also it isn't an misidentification. He looks exactly like the male veiled I have, same colours and everything and he has the spurs on his back legs.
The injuries could have been from his captive days, but they are all healed now so no risk of infection or anything.
My main question was how to get him to settle down and relax. As soon as I get close to the cage then he bolts down to the bottom.
I can handle him, he doesn't bite me, which also gives me a clue that he isn't wild born, he just doesn't sit still, he keeps trying to get away.
I also want to say I was not rude, but really, I don't see the point of leaving an animal to die when I can get him back to health, that just made me angry, so if I sounded rude then so be it, I am not going to apologise for wanting the animal to live instead of dying.
Also I named him Rambo so he has to live up to his name and be tough and get through this.

 

[jannb]

The money isn't why I am keeping it, I was just trying to say that he is too valuable to leave just so he can die.
Also it isn't an misidentification. He looks exactly like the male veiled I have, same colours and everything and he has the spurs on his back legs.
The injuries could have been from his captive days, but they are all healed now so no risk of infection or anything.
My main question was how to get him to settle down and relax. As soon as I get close to the cage then he bolts down to the bottom.
I can handle him, he doesn't bite me, which also gives me a clue that he isn't wild born, he just doesn't sit still, he keeps trying to get away.
I also want to say I was not rude, but really, I don't see the point of leaving an animal to die when I can get him back to health, that just made me angry, so if I sounded rude then so be it, I am not going to apologise for wanting the animal to live instead of dying.
Also I named him Rambo so he has to live up to his name and be tough and get through this.

Usually chameleons are much nicer once out of the cage. I have read story after story how mean chams turned into nice friendly chams once kept outside of the cage. If you have a safe area to set up a free range I would do that for him.

 

[chameleonneeds]

Yes, I agree with Jannb.
Try putting him in a free range.
Have you also tried hand feeding him? Maybe he would enjoy you around if you have nice bugs for him?

 

[Olimpia]

Edit - Nevermind, didn't read that the wounds had healed already.

 

[Jonah S]

The money isn't why I am keeping it, I was just trying to say that he is too valuable to leave just so he can die.
Also it isn't an misidentification. He looks exactly like the male veiled I have, same colours and everything and he has the spurs on his back legs.
The injuries could have been from his captive days, but they are all healed now so no risk of infection or anything.
My main question was how to get him to settle down and relax. As soon as I get close to the cage then he bolts down to the bottom.
I can handle him, he doesn't bite me, which also gives me a clue that he isn't wild born, he just doesn't sit still, he keeps trying to get away.
I also want to say I was not rude, but really, I don't see the point of leaving an animal to die when I can get him back to health, that just made me angry, so if I sounded rude then so be it, I am not going to apologize for wanting the animal to live instead of dying.
Also I named him Rambo so he has to live up to his name and be tough and get through this.

You did come off as rude to be honest. The part that throws off your argument of just 'wanting to see the animal get better' is that your only supporting argument for not letting him back into the wild was because of its monetary value. I don't think any of us want to see a chameleon die. Common sense should dictate that. The part where I raise an eyebrow is that it really seems like you aren't trying to take care of the chameleon out of the soft spot in your heart for it. The soft spot in your wallet seems to be where your attention rests.

You also mention that his injuries are healed. He is obviously surviving and is strong enough to stay alive on his own. At this point, it doesn't really matter if he got the injuries in someone elses care or if they came from the wild. Just because he doesn't bite you doesn't mean he is comfortable with you, and that would certainly explain him trying to get away. Why should he risk latching on to something that is much larger than himself?

All of use want to see the chameleon get better. That is the case without a doubt. It has done fine on it's own, it can obviously catch it's own food, and I think it would do better on its own than in the hands of someone who really seems to only be concerned about the money involved.

If any of this has offended you, that's too bad, but honestly:

if I sounded rude then so be it, I am not going to apologize

 

[chameleonneeds]

Another good idea is maybe keeping him outside in a big bird avary cage.
I think that would be less stressful as he isnt indoors/in a cage.

I think that taking the cham out of the wild was the right thing to do because I dont want veileds becoming invasive here, it really would be the end of reptile keeping here in S.A.
We have to do huge risk assesments for jacksons chameleons because they are invasive in Hawai.

I think that the chameleon should be kept in an avary though, might be better for him. But I dont know if he could survive outdoors in the winter though I have heard from other breeders that they can be kept outside year round.

 

[Syn]

If anyone is going to get pissy about a money motive, you might as well get pissy at anyone else getting wild caughts and breeding them to create a better blood line.

This "wild caught" isn't even native... so what about WCs collected from where they are native?

his advantage in human care is no advantage then being in the wild.

So vets and (somewhat)unlimited food do not count?

pms much? we dont need rudeness here on the forums. i was giving my opinion. i love how people are so against pet shop buying, but in cases like this everyone is here to help? you say he is deffinatly not a wild cham, but your title says WC? spend all the money you want on him, im not at all trying to be inhumane, but some things are just BETTER left untouched.

"pms much" isn't any less rude than what they had said.

I did a quick search and could not find any mention of Veiled Chameleons being wild in South Africa, but it was a quick search.
Another S.A. member had also mentioned they are not an established wild species. Does this mean you would condone invasive species?
They are not native, and could start killing off native populations, had you thought of that?
Yes, the title says WC but there are many unknown factors here.