Moving

[turbohb]

I am moving form orlando to ft lauderdale its about a 3-4 hour ride. I want to know what is the best way to move my chameleon with out to much stress. He doesnt really like to be handled so it will be hard for me to get him out of his cage. Any suggestions?

 

[John33871]

im not sure if this is true or not but this is what ive heard, ive heard that you put them in a small dark box. i maybe right i maybe wrong, i would just get some more responses before you do some, sorry i couldnt be of more help to you. good luck

 

[Parandrus]

About 7 years ago I had to move from Tuskegee, AL to Orlando, FL and it was quite a move. I had 4 chameleons at the time and they tolerated the 7 hour move quite easily (it might have been longer than 7 hours though). What I did was place them in large paperbags with plenty of shredded paper and a slightly moist paper towel at the bottom. I didn't moisten it too much to cause the paper bag to get wet abd break but enough to create a humidity reservoir since we were riding in an AC truck.
The animals simply arrived in their sleeping colors and a little miffed that they were waken up, but none for the worse. The chameleons were 3 Jacksons and one mean Panther.

Since your trip is much shorter, you shouldn't have any problems and you might not even need the moist paper towel.

Hope this helps,
Ivan

 

[turrgon]

when i move back to sudbury from toronto in september (a 4-5hr drive) i plan on putting a few bushy house plants in the back corner of my dads van and letting him chill in them. i may wrap them lightly in a mesh or something to make sure he doesnt go exploring.

 

[Tygerr]

when i move back to sudbury from toronto in september (a 4-5hr drive) i plan on putting a few bushy house plants in the back corner of my dads van and letting him chill in them. i may wrap them lightly in a mesh or something to make sure he doesnt go exploring.

Not so sure if that's the best idea. Just think about any sudden movements the van might make (braking, acceleration, swerving to avoid idiot drivers - we have to do a lot of that around here). Even though chameleons have a good grip, the forces involved might throw them off their perch in those plants, or the plants themselves might fall over.
Rather just go with a simple box with padding inside or a snake bag as Will suggested a while back - it will be far safer, and far less stressful to the cham if it can't see out of the box (all that movement going on inside and outside the cham is sure to upset your cham).