Unintentional Free Ranging :(

PardalisGirl

Avid Member
I did my night time walk through an hour or so ago and found two large Melleri escaped their cage at some point. They were in a temporary big screen cage while being treated for parasites (wild caught). They must have moved on the screen door vigorously enough to move the lever locks on the door out of the locked position. After an hour I found one sleeping on top of an ornamental bird cage on top of a TV. I still can't find the big one, Sacha. She's too big to get into a vent or gap of any kind which is good. I've got the doors to some rooms closed. I've gone through the rest of the house room by room and still can't find Sacha. My only worry is the cats. They have seen the Melleri because I have them outside the cage in a supervised free-range situation in their cham room. The cats don't seem very interested in them when I do this so I hope they won't get aggressive if they find her before I do. The house is getting dark with sunset so she is probably sleeping like the other one was. I know they like to climb but I'm checking under furniture just in case. I've been using a mirror to look behind stuff too. All I find is dust :( I also hope she doesn't fall off a railed balcony onto the hardwood floor before. No chance of sleep tonight if I can't find her!
 
Uh oh! Well all I can say is when my Veiled gets out of his cage he usually gets up to the highest area he can get at (which is usually tops of doors, or the closet, behind the TV, etc) So what I'd say is keep your head up! Also I've found him looking at reflective stuff, getting all puffy a few times. I hope you find that little rascal! Good luck!
 
Got a female mellers? Seems to work with everything else, LOL!

Get a flashlight, look everywhere. I'm sure you will find them.
 
In the morning Sacha will come out looking for food. Just keep a close eye on your cats so they don't find her before you. ;)
 
I hope so....

I hope she will. I still can't find her. My eyes are so tired from looking at every item in the house. I think I'm going to sleep on the couch in our open family room area. It's open to a large portion of the house, including the upstairs, and maybe I can hear the cats if they start fussing over something. She's so darn big I just can't believe I can't see her. She's almost adult size. I still have not figured out how people that do free range the Melleri chams keep them from wandering off. She had to have climbed over a large fan that was blocking the entrance to the room her cage was in to get out. She can't still be in that room. I have gone over it almost inch by inch. Ugghhh.....
 
I free range my guys....two veileds. They do get down and roam sometimes. At first it really bothered me when I couldn't find them but now I know they are just in the house and they always turn back up.....usually pretty quick BUT I don't have cats.
 
I know it sounds silly... but double and triple check the enclosure. I have thought chams got out, after I had turned every leaf in the cage... only to find them still in there.

Is there any way she could have made it outside?

She is probably watching you right now....:)

Good Luck Catherine... She will turn up...
 
Dear Catherine, I know how stressful that can be. Thank God she's escaped indoors. One of our Meller's would stay low when leaving the free range area, and we would find him on the floor asleep behind or beneath something. Some chameleons are very unpredictable, so you may want to check low, as well.
 
Still can't find her....

I still can't find her. I can't get to sleep. I decided to sleep on the couch in our open area family room. It's open to a lot of the main floor and some of the upper floor. I thought I might be able to hear the cats if they got into trouble with Sacha. Instead they are just running around like they always do at night (they have bells on their collars). It's too dark in the house to look and my eyes are tired from looking. I've checked the cage multiple times. She is a very big girl. Basically an adult. She's Megana's size in length although not quite as heavy. I can't believe I can't just see her since she is so big. I've been over every inch of the cham room her cage was in. She had to have climbed over a big fan I had blocking the door entry to that room. She has no way to get outside and can't get into any vents or gaps. We made sure small kittens couldn't escape that way and she's bigger than that. I've checked under furniture and behind furniture with a mirror. I used to arrange "fake" flowers as a hobby and I've got arrangements everywhere. I've tried looking through all of the big ones that sit on the floor. I am sure I will find her tomorrow. She's just to big to stay out of sight for long.
 
I case you haven't found her yet...

Look for dark places under and behind things, like gesang said. My mellers would do the same when leaving the freerange. they go down to the floor walk around and sometimes end up in a dark corner where they will just go to sleep. I have found them in the strangest places.

Good luck!
 
mine got loose once. I looked everywhere and found him sitting in my closet on a close hanger.

I second this - make sure you look in every closet. I found one of our meller's one time up in the top corner of a closet sleeping in a pile of sweaters. Another time, this same "escape artist" was clinging to a cord behind a dresser.

Like the other's said, I'm sure it will turn up in the daylight hours. :)
 
mine got loose once. I looked everywhere and found him sitting in my closet on a close hanger.

I second this - make sure you look in every closet. I found one of our meller's one time up in the top corner of a closet sleeping in a pile of sweaters. Another time, this same "escape artist" was clinging to a cord behind a dresser.

Like the other's said, I'm sure it will turn up in the daylight hours. :)


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Oh no Catharine! I would be freaking out.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

LOL Ryan, he was looking for some new duds.
 
Found her!

I found Sacha safe and VERY pissy a little bit ago. Thanks for all your support and suggestions. I did not sleep at all last night. I took a picture of her but it's pretty crappy and deceptive looking.

Sacha.JPG

That bookcase next to her is six feet high. She is sitting on branches in a flower arrangement that sits on the floor. The pot itself is three feet tall. She was not there last night. I checked that area and the flower arrangement. She had to work to get up there. The pot is taller than her reach even if she used her tail for leverage. She could not just climb up to the flower arrangement directly.

This is the journey she took.....She climbed over a three foot fan to get out of the cham room. She walked down a very long hall with a railed balcony that overlooks the downstairs (where I tried to sleep) below. She walked down a flight of steps. She crawled up a decorative vine that was adorning another smaller bookcase not in the picture (I discovered it was a bit out of position). She used a large stained glass ornamental window to climb across to the flower arrangement she was found on. The perspective of the picture is deceptive. It makes it look like the window is set deep enough to provide a wide windowsill. It's not. It is not wide enough for her to walk across in a horizontal manner. Her body is much wider and she would fall off. She had to have traversed it like a rock wall by grabbing on to the soddering between the glass pieces which stick out. With her back feet perched on the sill and her body stretch out holding on to the soddering. I found a small thin piece of trim from the wood frame around the window on the floor below the midpoint of the window. That was the clue that told me she may have been there. I did not see the piece of trim last night. Heck she could have been hanging on that window way above me for all I know when I looked for her below.

She was so mad when I picked her up. She hissed and flapped her lobes at me. She's never been that mad. I'm happy but tired.........
 
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