Chameleon at an animal shelter

[Trillian]

Wow, he looks so much better.

Mostly thanks to you, Mama!! Those horns and butters did a great job, plus they really helped the hatchling monitor, his appetite was failing and he was very lethargic.

I will post pictures of everyone when it's allowed! The beardies are so super gorgeous. When I took a juvenile to get medical attention he kept licking the vet's fingers!!

 

[Trillian]

Another mini update:

He has a little more colour, but unless he's in the shower he's still really dark brown, though now has more visible white bands down his side and more visible green on his head. He's done some good looking poop, looks alert, eats everything he's offered.

Think he's okay to hang on as he is for another couple of weeks?

There's a good chance that the original owner us going to get most or all of them back. It hurts a lot, not going to lie. Not only have we all donated time and supplies, but my vet has donated a lot of his time and medication.

I currently have two of the juvenile beardies at home, one had his foreleg amputated and I have to give him antibiotic injections for 2 weeks. The other has a dying foot, he's also having injections and antibacterial soaks to keep the injury clean while we wait for his foot to fall off. The vet felt it was less trauma for him this way, and cheaper for the shelter.

Two more of the banded geckos died, another one isn't looking great, nor is the savannah monitor hatchling.

NY animal welfare law SUCKS!

But I'm still going twice a week to the shelter, and will keep buying silks, butters, horns, waxies, etc to supplement the crickets the shelter buys, hoping to get them healthy enough to survive a bit longer.

It's sad, but always look for the good! Not only have they been blessed with donations, but several staff members have overcome phobias to the point that they are hoping to have the opportunity to adopt.

 

[Trillian]

Guess who came home with me today! Just need to figure out what to do with him while I'm waiting for his DIY Cages enclosure to arrive.

Here's a lovely pic of him being a firetruck and flipping me off as I signed his adoption papers.

 

[Trillian]

Here are the other guys, a few are going back to the original owner, but most of them are going up for adoption!

 

[MelissaB]

Congratulations! I'm so happy you were able to adopt him.

I'm stunned that the owner gets ANY of those animals back. I hope that part of the arrangement is that animal welfare does followup visits to make sure that they're taking proper care of those poor animals. I'm glad that most of them will get new homes.

 

[MamatoElvis]

They should have to pay all the rehab costs at a very minimum. That would prevent a lot of people from taking back the animals. Congratulations on your new baby. He's looking great.

 

[ChamieNewbie]

Oh I'm so happy you got him. Sad some of the other little buggers will have to go back to that life.

 

[Wowbango]

What a night and day difference. Congrats on the new baby He's clearly going to a very loving home!

 

[Trillian]

They are going to be doing follow up visits, she asked to keep all the enclosures so she could sell them and recoup some costs, but they're worried she'll get more animals.

I wasn't expecting to get him, so he's in a small viv at the moment, I ordered him a 2x2x4 from DIY Cages, hoping that arrives soon! Not sure where he'll go, I'd like to put him next to my Ivy so they can share the Mist King, but it's a challenge to find 4ft of spare wall!

Does anyone use a single drainage tray for 2 enclosures? Ivy has a steel appliances drainage pan at the moment, thought a 2x4 drainage tray might work well, if I can find one!

 

[JaniP]

Congratulations! I'm so glad he is coming home with you, you saved his life. I'm sad to hear some of those guys are going back to her but I'm glad they will be checking up

 

[Fireofmarajade]

I love this story and congratulations to the newest addition to your repti-family!

 

[Trillian]

Thank you so much, you guys! I'd been considering getting a male, but wasn't planning to while I still had my Ivy, she doesn't need any more reasons to hate my guts. As soon as I saw him I fell in love though, I knew I had to bring him home.

He's hanging out in a popup laundry hamper at the moment, leftover from my super fun hawk moth breeding project. He's not impressed but it's the best I can do, his DIY Cage is due to arrive Tuesday.

I've found a decent looking 2x4 ft drainage tray, obviously I'll have an opaque divider, which will also help humidity and protect my walls. Now my only problem is finding a spare 4ft section of wall in my house! Plus explaining to my husband just why thus is completely fine because we NEED 11 reptiles.

 

[Trillian]

His cage should arrive tiday, along with a wide drainage tray he'll share with Ivy! Still can't think of a good name for him though. He's really red most of the time, was wondering about naming him after someone from the DC universe, and postdating Ivy's naming origins. Right, he's now officially The Flash.

Talked things through with my husband like an adult, not everything, I'm not that much of an adult. He's excited to keep one of the baby beardies, he's even started thinking about making him a prosthetic leg! He's called Hiccup. The other baby beardie had a leg injury, the vet thought he'd lose the foot. He's just finished his course of antibiotics shots, and has an antiseptic bath (dilute chlorhexidine solition) once a day, and I think he'll keep his foot! It has a good colour and I saw his toes twitch yesterday.

I've also brought home the savannah monitor hatchling, he was diagnosed with severe MBD and is on an oral calcium supplement. The smaller adult female beardie came home with me too, she was diagnosed with severe dehydration which had led to her being constipated and having some bloody poop. She's just started a course of antibiotic shots for infections in her feet and hands, and needs daily baths.

I got a call from the shelter yesterday, thinking they were asking how the vet trip went, they just picked up 20 snakes from a guy sent to prison! Guess they're getting a reputation for caring for reptiles!

Sorry for the essay, I really appreciate having a place to vent! I mostly came for advice. The shelter has limited space, I'm looking for ideas of who to call about adoptions. I live in a tiny wealthy village, none of the Stepford families here would adopt any reptiles, though they'll happily donate money. I called a local reptile experience company I'd used for events, they'd like to adopt 3 of the lizards, I'm hoping they'd like more when they see them. I wondered if any of you brainy people had other good ideas? It's New York, if I can't find a solution here, there is no solution!

 

[absolutbill]

Just read through this entire thread and have to say hats off to you for jumping in in a big way to help those poor animals. For the snakes would a school/college be interested in them for a biology class (kept alive as a pet of course, and not dissected!)? Just a thought. Or, get the "head Stepford" wife on board with snakes, and all of the families will have to have one Good luck with all your new additions and keep us updated!

 

[AESara]

Check with Universities, either as class pets like mentioned above, or for breeding programs. My University back in Ohio had a pretty cool reptile breeding program, and they took animals in if they could be proven not to have parasites/diseases.

 

[MamatoElvis]

My daughters elementary school had a corn snake in the science room. It's the best classroom pet. Very low maintenance. Don't have to worry about them on the weekend.

 

[Trillian]

My daughters elementary school had a corn snake in the science room. It's the best classroom pet. Very low maintenance. Don't have to worry about them on the weekend.

I love that idea, I'm going to email My girls's science teachers and see if anyone is interested. One of them looked after my baby cresties in the classroom while we were in England for 2 weeks!

 

[Trillian]

Definitely going to investigate local colleges etc too, thank you for the tip!


Setting up his cage slowly, I was hoping to have them side by side to share the Mist King, but the resulting behemoth couldn't fit anywhere without covering a window. So he's in the kitchen for now, hand sprayed until I can find a suitable tray.

I'm wondering about his colours, this picture is a fairly good representation of how he is unless he's sleeping. Is it normal for the males to be a bit dark or is he still miffed about all the upheaval recently?

 

[MamatoElvis]

My guy gets dark when he's basking to absorb more heat. I just moved him into his large enclosure and it took a little more than a week to get back to normal. He was a bit more stand offish and didn't really want to come out. He goes out everyday for sunlight but I really couldn't get him out for 9 days. It was very frustrating but I didn't want to stress him more by forcing the issue. He does seem back to normal though.

 

[Trillian]

Someone discovered Ivy today and put on his super fancy pants! He's settling in nicely, eating a ton, and seems much happier. I got one of those rabbit substrate trays but can't get it to fit inside or outside the cage, so not sure what to do with it! Ordered a second Mist King now I'm sure they can't share one, and finally reached the tipping point where a roach colony makes more sense than regular cricket purchases.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped me, and helped the shelter! They are very grateful, and have adopted out all but a handful of the lizards, and only have 6 snakes left!