Let’s see your scariest!

Wonderful thread!

So sorry I don't have a pic to share (this was before digital) but I do have a story. Let your imagination run wild!

My biggest Melleri Mufindi ended up featured on Animal Planet's Emergency Vets show years ago. The film crew used to hang around the vets' office waiting for something interesting to walk through the door. I came in with a covered birdcage and mentioned "chameleon" to the front desk clerk, so they ran up to ask if I minded them filming our appointment. It sounded like a good platform for me to give a bit of a rant about newbies impulse-buying exotic lizards like chameleons at mall pet shops, so I agreed.

Mufindi was generally a mild-mannered sweetheart (I was convinced she was a she for some reason) but she was not amused with the red blinky on the camera and made sure everyone knew how offended she was. The crew did their usual recovered pet followup at my house...with its 3 other chams, a German giant beardie who had free run of the house, and several birds. The only resident who welcomed the crew was the beardie. Didn't take him long to start climbing the film crew's legs (up the INSIDE of their pants with his sharp claws of course) hoping for a chin rub.

My 3 Melleri occupied a free range mini jungle in the second bedroom. 6' Ficus trees, 5' Schefflera, a bushy Hibiscus and several decorator fakes, with tree branches, misting system tubing running everywhere, a forest mural covering the walls, and an ultrasonic fogger providing extra ambience. The other two Melleri and the verrucosus promptly slid all but their eye turrets behind branches and hid. Once again, the red blinky enraged Mufindi who showed her displeasure by turning black, green and bilious yellow, gaping, roaring, puffing, tail lashing, chin bobbing, shaking her branch, ear flaps madly flapping. So vigorously the younger boom operator retreated to the doorway looking anxious. She could really put anyone off, but I knew her better. By the end of the session and with a bit of coaxing from me, the boom operator's curiosity got the better of him. Mufindi strolled triumphantly across his shoulders. When she was really, really upset her yellow turned into a toxic waste orange.

Years later when preparing to move, I sorted through my VHS tapes. The show had given me a VHS copy of their B roll as a thank you for filming. It was fun watching it occasionally. Unfortunately, the label on the cassette had faded badly and I managed to toss it as a blank by mistake. Images of all those critters gone forever! ☹️
Wow! That sounds like quite an experience for the show crew! 😂 It also sounds like you had a totally awesome house. 💗
 
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