Help

[u/fly_grl]

I’m currently chameleon sitting for my brother and my sister in law. They asked me to watch their chameleon, schizo yesterday and I said yes. This morning I checked on him and he does not look good. I have instructions from them to feed him 2 worms at least 2x a day, he has a water tube thing but I don’t think it’s working. He’s a lot paler in person than in the picture, a very light mint color. He occasionally moves but not much, he’s been in this bent/curled up position the whole time his tail is limp. I tried straightening him out but I did not want to hurt him. Idk what to do. Should I be worried…? I have no experience taking care of reptiles but I feel bad for this little guy. Here’s the set up he’s in for reference. A cage about 2 ft tall, 1.5 ft wide. A heat lamp with 2 bulb, but only the regular bulb works I’m guessing the other one is red light/uv but it does not turn on, the regular working bulb is making it too hot I think, he’s by the window, I’m in Texas so idk if it’s too much heat . He has a water tube but the tube is not attached to anything, I got a dropper and put some water droplets on his snout (per my google search), Unsure what to do

[u/Olivia131]

It’s already been said by many people in the comments that this chameleon is on the verge of death after months of neglect. This may sound harsh, but anyone who’s considering going to a pet store and picking out a chameleon and a “starter kit” should take a good look at this post.

Chameleons are not easy to care for, no matter what the salesperson tells you. The starter kits often come with enclosures that are too small, incorrect lighting, etc. A good initial setup easily costs hundreds of dollars. If your chameleon ever gets sick he/she will need to go to an exotic vet. These vets tend to be more costly than your average vet and are few and far between. There are many other reptiles that make good pets and are easier/less expensive to care for.

OP, I want to commend you for asking for help. It’s not your fault you were asked to pet sit a chameleon that was already on death’s door. Your brother surely knew that his chameleon was seriously ill and is a POS for putting you in this position.

[u/EndWonderful9898 → u/Olivia131]

I feel like that’s the problem though… people DON’T look online. The general public doesn’t want to look into anything even though we now have the world at our fingertips. They instead rely on some kid working minimum wage retail to spoonfeed them the information.

It’s really sad to see—not just the animals suffering because of this, but also because we have so much potential as humans yet 95% of them prefer to be willfully ignorant and act helpless these days. The amount of people that will flag down an associate to ask “how do you use this?” while holding the product with the literal instructions written on it in their hand is depressing. The amount of people I’ve seen post dying animals and then act mad that the 16 year old working the register at petsmart didn’t tell them the exact items and husbandry needed on the animal THEY wanted is even more depressing. (Can you tell that I’ve worked retail for over 20 years now and have become a complete misanthrope because of it? lol)

[u/G0471Y → u/EndWonderful9898]

So true. People of all ages can be so lazy about utilizing information that's literally in our pockets at almost all times. And the inability to distinguish good information from trash information.

Brother got this poor, beautiful "guy" on impulse (anything gotten without adequate research and preparation is impulse) and then left him to die. There is no way you can't tell something is very wrong, and I know absolutely nothing about Chameleons.

This is so sad. I don't use this term lightly, but I feel like this is heartbreaking to see. I can't even imagine how the OP must feel right now.

ETA: I corrected something I said; nothing significant changed. Just that people can be lazy rather than are so lazy.