Frozen? Help!!

[Jeeleon]

Hey all,
So one of my chams came in today from FL. ANd today turned out to be a really cold day, 28 F with snow outside. When My cham came, the box was so cold and when I opened it the whole thing felt cold. I looked at the chameleon and I thought it was dead but when I touched it, it only moved a little. He felt really cold
He was barely responding to my touches and was barely moving his eyes. THey looked small at first. SO right away I put him under my basking lamp.
He is looking better now and started to move. His eyes look bigger and he even gaped at me. I cranked the basking spot up just a tad bit.
So my biggest concern is:
Will the coldness have any lasting damages affects on him or was he just mostly stressed and COLD? Mike has been busy and I have yet to get a hold of him and speak to him. I just need to know if I should be worried? However, now that I have him in warmer conditions, will my cham be alright?
Any input will help. THanks guys and please respond ASAP anyone.
*jEe*

 

[Synapse]

He will get better. Just give him the heat he requires. My cham arrived the same way and I thought he was dead too but now he is fine after lots of basking.

 

[JackP308]

It'll probably be just fine, now that he is not in the cold. We're there no heat packs in the box?

 

[Jeeleon]

@ Synapse: Really? but he's doing fine now? Yea he started to move, when I put my hand in there to check on him he ran from me. So I think thats a good sign?

@Jack: Yea, there was only one but man, it didn't feel warm at all.

 

[Hoj]

poor little guy give a extra blanket for me LoL be sure to post some pics when he warms up.

 

[Silkyslim]

Same thing happened with Cleo when I got her last month. The temps were in the mid 20's and she got delayed a few hours because of the snowy weather at that time. I thought the same thing so I held her near her bask light and breathed on her and within a min her eyes popped open and she has been hating me ever since. This is a pic of her right out of the shipping box, poor girl.

 

[JackP308]

Yea Id leave it be thats a good sign it ran from you! He'll be just fine..


I guess one thing that LLL Reptile can do other than market is package and ship chameleons in the Cold Temps. I got mine in late dec, 1 day late, since it was stuck in transit from storms, temps 20's low 30 if that. He was nice and toasty with 2 heat packs taped to the top still warm for long after I unpacked 48hrs later from shipping. Glad you got him though, he'll be just fine

 

[Jeeleon]

I sure will post some pictures Hoj. I have one more coming from Liddy at Kammers but she wouldn't ship today cause she knew it would be cold. I'll have pics of them when they get settled in.

Wow Silkyslim. Mines eyes werent closed like that but the pupils were small. It was actually scary for me because when I first opened the box, I thought there was ice on his skin, but they were just old sheds. My heart jumped though when I saw it.

 

[Picasso123]

Accumulate him slowly!!!!

 

[donnak0125]

@ Synapse: Really? but he's doing fine now? Yea he started to move, when I put my hand in there to check on him he ran from me. So I think thats a good sign?

@Jack: Yea, there was only one but man, it didn't feel warm at all.

Thank goodness!!!

 

[Jeeleon]

Thanks you guys for all your replies, its good to know the forum is a reliable support.

 

[Lloyd Heilbrunn]

Why in Heaven's name would you even ship in this weather? It is not like this snowstorm season started yesterday.....

 

[Jeeleon]

@ Lloyd, its a long story but in a nutshell, The breeder I got him from is super busy these days. Our communication between each other wasn't the best. I heard a knock on my door this morning and there he was, I did the best I could and he is doing great now. He is roaming his cage, drinking water but out of the 9 crickets I put in there, he only ate 2. It makes me think if he even sees the others. But this one is a fiesty one, I never had them before.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

If he ate anything at all on the first day thats good. I normally dont even try feeding new additions until day 2 anyways. They are stressed by new enclosures and new faces. Leave him alone as much as possible for the first week. It will help the cham acclimate and be less wary of his new digs. As long as you keep him well hydrated he should do well. They are likely to dehydrate some during shipping.