airplane questions

[EightBitSharkz]

so is it safe for chameleons to go on a airplane?
im planning on flying soon and id need to bring her but im unsure if it would be good for her.
im pretty sure she was got to me by plane but i dont know the altitude restrictions for her or not.
any help?

 

[VeiledChams]

Well they wont let her on the plane with.

 

[JackP308]

chameleons fly everyday



Mine are usually flown in Via Fed Ex.

 

[Elizadolots]

Yeah, you're best bet is to ship it. I sincerely doubt you'd be able to get it on the plane.

 

[krknieriem]

If you are going on vacation your best bet is to leave her at home and find someone responsible to take care of her. The trip and all the movement are more than likely going to stress her out

Is this the reason for the flight?

 

[xanthoman]

cham air travel= good way to lose cham

whether interstate or international, anyway you slice it its a good way to use your cham.

there are a lot of complicated laws concerning all exotic animals, including ones that relate to the interstate transport of reptiles. the rules could even be different depending on where you are flying to and from.
yes chams are transported interstate everyday, most by plane, but being shipped under the veil of a federally approved carrier like usps, or ups, etc, is not the same as flying with a private party.
lets face it, a large part of cham keeping skirts these laws anyway, and it is overlooked for the most part, in part, because the usdfw/usda doesnt have the resources to go singularly chasing after a lot of obscure cham owners.
they are not going to get warrants and enter peoples houses, based on the suspicion of someone owning a barely legal cham.

but at most major airports there are agents of both state and federal dfw, as well as usda. a private person traveling with any sort of an exotic animal, especially ones listed on "CITES", and especially a reptile, just puts it in their face, and is an open invitation to getting messed with.
technically, as an owner of a cites listed animal you could be required to prove documentation of legal origin at any time, this is a complicated process and not easily accomplished. you could also be required to provide vet inspection and go through quarantine.
many petstore chams are actually technically not legal, so just proving you got it from a petstore will not suffice.
if you fail to meet any of usdfw/usda criteria, your cham is subject to immediate confiscation, probably without recourse. it would likely be turned over to a zoo, or a usda approved animal importer, if no such recipient could be found, it will be destroyed. if you are talking about flying internationally, then you are just plain out of luck.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/plane-flight-my-pc-66655/
such travels are very stressful and sometimes even fatal for chams, just poor husbandry in general.
if you absolutely need to get him to another destination, like the ep said you would be far better off just shipping it, at least that way, you would have a reasonable chance of its getting to its destination.

however if you are thinking you can just ship it somewhere in the states, and then ship it back a week or two later, merely for the sake of your convenience, then i would say that is very poor husbandry, that is likely to lead to a reduction in health, or possibly the fatality of your cham.
most otherwise healthy chams have no problem in going without food for a week.
by placing a controlled release container of bottle fly maggots in your cage, you could probably stretch that to 3 weeks, (assuming they still have proper watering misting lighting etc). i wouldnt worry too much about supplementation, going for a couple of weeks without supps is imo likely to do more good than harm.
even if you could find an airline(unlikely), no airline is going to accept him without proper usdfw/usda guidelines being met anyway, if you are thinking you could just sneak him on board, be advised that any illegal transport of exotic or cites listed reptiles could possibly generate fines in the tens of thousands of dollars. i realize you are just a kid and thats not likely, but it could still generate a mountainous legal nightmare for your parents. do both yourself and your cham a favor, leave it home and set it up properly before you go, better still, find a trusted friend or possibly another forum member to watch your cham while you are gone. you will likely have a much better chance of it still being alive when your travels are over.
also, it would be safer to let your cham go without supps for a couple of weeks, than it would be to over-supp it before you go. i would post on the forum looking for a forum member from your area who might be willing to watch it while you are gone. its the most common sense thing to do. jmo