Wild Rescue

[Dedo]

I live on the Big Island of Hawaii and we have lots of wild chameleons the last few weeks they have all become daredevils and taken their chances crossing the roads. They are not very fast about it though and we always stop to get them across and out of harms way. Today though we attempted to do this and the poor little thing was frozen couldn't move its legs at all or its tail. I'm thinking its dried out from the heat. It was moving its eyes though so we'd thought we would try. We got it home and ran it under the hot tap for a bit and it opened its mouth and moved its head side to side. Not sure if that meant it was happy or not but it was more signs of life than it had previously. I currently have it laying on a wet towel in my sons tiny little explores tank on top of a heat pad on med. The humidity is building in the tank already and it's lip is looking a ton better (it was dried in a very unnatural position). Should I just keep the humidity up? Should I rub it down with Aloe?

I know its a long shot but any help at this point would be appreciated.

 

[Dedo]

Update: I have added a few sticks so he/she is no longer directly on the wet towel. Seems to be opening their mouth easier now at least.

P.s. the house geckos are loving having the heat pad on!

 

[kinyonga]

Don't force water into its mouth...drip water very slowly on the top of its nose and let it take it in on its own.
If it's mouth is open and it's head raised in the air it may be having trouble breathing....maybe heart or organ issues.
Does it open its eyes or keep them closed?
Have they been doing any spraying (insecticides, etc) in the area?

 

[Dedo]

I haven't tried to force it water it's having so much trouble moving as it is i'm not sure if it would be able to move to get some water.

doesn't have its head up, has its head down mouth slightly open
it does open its eyes and moves them around taking in the surroundings.
they haven't been doing any spraying that I'm aware of

it was an unusually hot day today though and a few days since we've had any rain

 

[kinyonga]

I'm concerned that if it's dehydrated it might need water and dripping small drops slowly on the end one drip at a time of its nose IMHO is the nearest way to give it to it so it doesn't aspirate it. You don't want to drip it so it automatically runs into its mouth.

 

[Dedo]

The chameleon has now passed on. I wasn't able to get it to drink anything or even respond after a while. In the end much of its head as well as one side turned black
Maybe a bruise? It could have been hit by a previous car but I didn't see any other damage

 

[kinyonga]

Sorry to hear that but not surprised. You gave it a chance by rescuing it....that's all you could do.

 

[jajeanpierre]

The chameleon has now passed on. I wasn't able to get it to drink anything or even respond after a while. In the end much of its head as well as one side turned black
Maybe a bruise? It could have been hit by a previous car but I didn't see any other damage

It was very kind of you to stop and try to help.

That color change is normal for a dead chameleon. They lose control of their color changing ability at a cellular level. A dead chameleon is generally a pretty ugly sight--changing to yellow and splotchy black. I am not surprised it died based on it's picture. It is possible that it overheated on the pavement and that was what killed it. Your adding a heat pad was probably the worst thing you could have done for it. Or it might have been hit by a car. Who knows. By your description, it was critical when you found it and I doubt anything you could have done would have made a difference for this one sad little chameleon.

Next time you try to rescue one, don't add a heat pad. They are a relatively cool-loving chameleon and heat will kill them. Temps should be no higher than mid 70s. Humidity is a huge issue. So is stress. Give them lots of cover (a plant to hide in side), VERY humid conditions and somewhat cool temps. Give water with a fine, foggy mist.

Again, thanks for caring.

 

[kinyonga]

Do you have air-conditioning in your house?
I also notice after rereading the posts that you ran it under the hot water...I wouldn't do that next time either.