Sometimes I really hate people...

[Frigga]

I just want share my frustration with like minded reptile enthusiasts. And to vent a little.
On Friday I was tagged in a Facebook post about a chameleon that needed a good home, by my friends daughter. I had no intention of doing any type of chameleon rescue because I know it can come with lots heart ache, and I wasn't really prepared to do that. But under the circumstances I agreed to take it. First the post said it was a 2 year old male chameleon, and I could tell right away from the picture they were wrong. So that brought my first concern of her possibly being egg bound.
Then she delivers this poor chameleon to my house and I'm utterly shocked when I see it. They had it living in a travel carrier, with molded wood chips, no heat or lights, no hiding spots for her or anything. Apparently some drug addicts had her, while they were living in a hotel room, kept her in the bathroom. They were catching wild crickets to feed her, when they were feeding her. My heart just broke in a million pieces.
I immediately got her out of that nasty little cage, I have ordered a new cage for her, right now she's in an extra tank I had until her new cage arrives, not ideal but it has good ventilation and she has proper heating and lights, and lots of places to hide! And a million percent better then what she had.
The good news is she's eating and moving around well. Her first droppings showed signs of dehydration but have since cleared up. She's very small if she's really 2 years old, and obviously very malnourished. I'm taking her to the vet on Tuesday so I get her all checked out.
I don't know what the future holds for her, but I know from here she's getting the care she'll need.
We named her Hela

 

[Kat_72]

So sad. Hopefully things will improve quickly for this little one now that it has a good home. I agree some people shouldn’t have pets. It’s all lack of knowledge they get this chameleon and haven’t the first clue how to care for it. Google means you don’t get to be ignorant...literally it takes minutes to read basic care. Good luck and God bless you for taking it on yourself to help.

 

[Graves923]

Any spurs on the heels of its back feet? Pictures are hard to tell if its male or female. If it is 2 years old, it doesnt look to be in terrible shape for the conditions it was in.

 

[Frigga]

Any spurs on the heels of its back feet? Pictures are hard to tell if its male or female. If it is 2 years old, it doesnt look to be in terrible shape for the conditions it was in.

No spurs. Definitely female.
And I definitely agree, she is in pretty decent shape for the conditions she was living it. Surprisingly good condition, she's a fighter for sure. Althoughy she is very small if really 2 years old, but if she's lived her whole life in that tiny enclosure she's had no room to grow. She's about the size my male was at 5-6 months old.

 

[Graves923]

No spurs. Definitely female.
And I definitely agree, she is in pretty decent shape for the conditions she was living it. Surprisingly good condition, she's a fighter for sure. Althoughy she is very small if really 2 years old, but if she's lived her whole life in that tiny enclosure she's had no room to grow. She's about the size my male was at 5-6 months old.

That's what I was thinking when I saw the photos. Looked really close to my male at 5-6 months.

At this point I thinks putting an age on her is useless. Have a laying bin set up and ready to go to be on the safe side.

Good luck with her!

 

[Frigga]

That's what I was thinking when I saw the photos. Looked really close to my male at 5-6 months.

At this point I thinks putting an age on her is useless. Have a laying bin set up and ready to go to be on the safe side.

Good luck with her!

Yeah I'm already working on getting it set up for her once her new enclosure gets here this week. I've spent over $200 ordering new supplies for her. I wasn't prepared for her, and honestly had no intentions of having a female. But sometimes fate decides for you, and she was meant to be in our lives.
I am a little concerned with how brown she stays all the time, she does go green when sleeping, but pretty much all day she's brown. Ambient temp is reading at 78-80 and her basking spot is at around 87-90 degrees. So I don't know if she's just not used to having warmth and is soaking it up while she can, or if she's just not feeling well.
But she'll be going to the vet soon so hopefully I can get a better understanding of her condition then.

 

[Arpretty]

Shew! Props to you. I rescued mine about a month ago. So sad that some people can be so stupid.

 

[JacksJill]

It's a miracle that she doesn't have advanced MBD. Good thing she found you.

 

[Frigga]

It's a miracle that she doesn't have advanced MBD. Good thing she found you.

I'm so relieved about that!
Although we're not out of the woods yet until I can get her all checked up with the vet. I'm concerned about the coloring of her joints, and I just noticed today she has this strange bump on her back. I have no idea what it could be.
But this why I'm taking her to the vet, until then I'm hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.

 

[Angelwolf]

I'm so relieved about that!
Although we're not out of the woods yet until I can get her all checked up with the vet. I'm concerned about the coloring of her joints, and I just noticed today she has this strange bump on her back. I have no idea what it could be.
But this why I'm taking her to the vet, until then I'm hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.

My guess would be some type of vitamin deficiency has caused both problems. The bump could also be an abcessed cricket bite. It's hard to tell, but I think I do see spurs. I could be wrong, though.

 

[Frigga]

My guess would be some type of vitamin deficiency has caused both problems. The bump could also be an abcessed cricket bite. It's hard to tell, but I think I do see spurs. I could be wrong, though.

Theres a funny shadow on that second photo from the vine she's holding on to, honestly when I took the photo it made me double take on that as well, but still no spurs lol

 

[Angelwolf]

Theres a funny shadow on that second photo from the vine she's holding on to, honestly when I took the photo it made me double take on that as well, but still no spurs lol

Ok

 

[Frigga]

Update on Hela:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/update-on-my-new-rescued-veiled-chameleon.164952/

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

That is horrible! I am shocked she even lived to see 2 years. Poor little gal. I am so glad she is going somewhere that will appreciate her. She has honestly held onto life with a passion. She really does relieved in that last photo.

 

[Frigga]

That is horrible! I am shocked she even lived to see 2 years. Poor little gal. I am so glad she is going somewhere that will appreciate her. She has honestly held onto life with a passion. She really does relieved in that last photo.

She's a fighter for sure! The vet says she's doing really well, especially considering how I got her. He also believes she's only around 7-8months old. I thought she seemed way too small, and it was a relief that she wasn't living in those conditions for years.
I tried to question the girl who brought her to me for more about info about how they came up with that 2 year age, being so far off from 8 months, but I never got an answer from her.