I know what you're talking about. My latest addition is a baby veiled that I ended up rescuing from a local PetSmart.
I wasn't there to buy a new friend, I was looking for some new faux vines, but I looked anyways and I'm glad I did. Originally, I did not see anything labeled as a chameleon, so I asked one of the workers about them (assuming they must be keeping them in the back or something since they need big enclosures) and she told me that their veiled was sick and they had taken his tag down.
I walked back over, and sure enough, there was a 2 month old baby male veiled trembling in the corner of a glass tank the size you would use for a small frog. There was only one branch to climb on, and the total height of the enclosure was only about 6 inches. He looked overheated, and very stressed.
Appalled and angry, I tracked down another worker and had him sell the poor cham to me for full price. He wasn't up for sale because he was "sick", but after some threats and bartering, I was able to convince him to hand him over to me.
He was very overheated, so I gave him an shower to cool him off. The skin on his arms was burnt and scorched raw because he was able to get so close to the heat light. He was also underfed and pretty traumatized....
I've been treating his burns with medication I got from the vet, and they're looking much better. I've fed him back to health, and have spent my days making him comfortable and making sure that he is ok. I skipped my classes for 3 days to care for the poor baby. Now he looks quite handsome, has more energy than me, is an active hunter, and is in great health. His arms are all better now.
Needless to say, Im glad I stumbled upon him that day. He is precious, and is truly a special life. I love him to death, and he has bonded very quickly with me. Oddly, he takes great comfort in being handled (but only by me, everyone else he hisses at and gets really stressed.). Just the other day he crawled up to my face and fell asleep on my nose
His name is Lex, and he is a true fighter!
