Trace: some ?'s about a couple of your chams

[icequeen]

Hi Trace...

I was looking at the pics in your gallery today. Quite the assortment of chams you have there!
I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind.
Firstly, my daughter was wondering how many chams you have currently, not including your beautiful new babies?

I was wondering about Conehead, and Bacchanal (I hope I spelled his name correctly!)
Do you still have Conehead? How old is he, or if he has passed on...how old did he live to be?
The other thing we were wondering is, when Conehead would go to sleep, would he be up on a branch and then fall off, and stay sleeping? Or does he actually go and lay down, and go to sleep?

I've often wondered about Zoe, and the strange positions he sleeps in...and how he can remain up in his tree all night long. You'd think that once they were asleep, they would relax, and let go of the branch....but Zoe never does.

My last question is...what happened to poor Bacchanal? Is that a burn??? It looks horrendous...the poor baby! Was that the result of a heat lamp falling on him? I'm assuming he came to you as a rescue, or from someone who couldn't care for him any longer?

Thanks for telling the story of a couple of your chameleons Trace. I'm anxious to learn more about them.

Kim

[katev17]

Going into Trace's house is like walking into an awesome version of Alfred Hitchocks' The Birds... hahaha. She has so many, I'm willing to bet she forgets how many she's at right now!

Kate

[Trace]

Thanks for the kind words Kim! And Kate... what you said could not be more true! When you were here, I had chameleons EVERYWHERE! It was insane! Since then all my roommates have moved out (and I couldn’t be happier!) so most of the chams are in one room now. It is much easier to clean, much easier to maintain decent temps and humidity blah blah blah. To answer your question though, I have 18 adult chameleons (various species) 28 baby Veiled‘s, 3 snakes and toad. HOLY CRAP! It’s no wonder I don’t have time to do anything else in my life.

Conehead: He was a character! I have no idea how old he was when I took him on last year, but he looked old as dirt. Perhaps older. I was his third home (that I know of) and he was severely malnourished and dehydrated upon presentation to me. He was sssssooooo thin that he had lost all of the fat deposits in his body including the ones in his head. Because of that, his eyes never had that “bulgy” look to them, they were always a bit sunken. He ate for me though and put on weight as was looking good for a long time. I gave him another chance and offered all the creature comforts he could ever want in his golden years. You knew it was time to turn his lights off when he would go down into his plants and make himself comfy. I mostly use Pothos in my cages and they are solely used to collect water droplets, because they are not strong plants, they offer little in the way of support or climbing opportunities. Anyways, he would start sleeping right way up, but because these plants are soft, he would eventually start to tip over to the point where he would be sleeping on his side, or more often, upside down. For the longest time I used to go into the cage and prop him up again, because it is such an unnatural way for a chameleon to sleep, but I gave up on this figuring, if he was uncomfortable, he would get up and do it himself. There is one pic in my gallery of him propped up in some branches sleeping, I have no idea how he got there, but seeing that first thing in the morning was priceless. He did pass on this past summer and I lamented what to do with him for the weeks leading up to his death. He slowed down a lot so I knew his time was coming but he didn’t seem to be in pain or suffering by any stretch. He was still eating and drinking well but just didn’t have the energy to do much else. He was just content to sit in the window watching the world go by. I opted to let him live out his life with dignity and I was with him at the end.

[Trace]

Bacchanal: Oh my little sweetheart! He was my first chameleon and still my favorite. I got him 4 years ago as a rescue and he had severe burns to his casque, shoulders, and spines. His back leg was also broken. This was from using too hot a heat lamp. He looked horrible. Unfortunately I do not have pics of him at this point of his life. He still had his casque and blisters covered the front end of his body. He was on topical or oral antibiotics for a long time as well as having a cast on his back leg. Long story short, he pulled through. He eventually sloughed his casque so that’s why he looks the way he does. Now I’ve got some uber-friendly chameleons in my collection, but none hold a candle to this guy. He loved me. He went everywhere with me. As long as he was with me, he was happy. Some of my chameleons are content to be out of their cages and be in the same room as myself, Bacchanal would follow me around the apartment and then my house. I spent every single day with him. Beyond the traumas he suffered early on in his life, he didn’t have any significant health issues under my care but deep down I knew he wouldn’t probably live the full 5 year lifespan that Veileds are supposed to have. Sadly he died this summer too and that was a sad few days in my life and I get upset just typing this. Despite his “Frankenstein” appearance, he was a beautiful chameleon. I think he has lovely colours and patterns and this is why I decided to breed the Veileds. (for various reasons I didn’t want to breed that species) Anyways he is the daddy to those 28 woggley-eyed eating machines in my chameleon room and if I could, I would keep them all. I don’t need another male Veiled here, but I’m definitely holding one back. His legacy lives on. RIP Bacchanal.

I’ve got a million funny stories, happy stories and sad stories about my chameleons. I love them all. I spent 7 hours (7 hours, no lie) today, cleaning, feeding, misting, gutloading bugs etc. I don’t think I’ve spent 7 hours on myself in the last week, this shows you how much I’m addicted to chameleons. I will do it all again tomorrow.

Cheers!

Trace

[meow_mix450]

Wow i dont know what to say. I can see that all the pets you have are your babys, all my pets are my babies, and would never give them away. I just love animals. But about a month ago, my 2 dogs had to go. I was so upset, crying for weeks, still havnt gotten over it, really hard to see something go, srry to hear about your loss Trace, But i see that you had a fun time with them, and i bet they wouldnt have been happier with out you. I would hate to see my cham go i got 2 turtles 3 fish tanks, a frog. About a week ago my bird had passed on, stayed with me for a full 7 years. My collection of animals has shrunk, i have a huge family problem thats why. But once i move out you bet, my house will be a zoo. I could go on about all my animals but i wont bored you guys out lol.

Like trace, i spend most of my times watching my guys or cleaning for them lol. Most of my money goes to them I do it cause i love them all. Well thanks for sharing your sorry Trace, if touched me lol. O ya srry about going on to my story about my pets

Meow

[meow_mix450]

story*** not sorry my bad lol

Meow

[icequeen]

Thanks for sharing the story of your boys Trace!
It's obvious to me that when a chameleon finds it's way to you...it's found a good and loving home!
I'm sorry to hear that both Conehead and Bacchanal passed on this summer. That's so sad! At least their last time on earth was spent with someone who cared about them!

How do you house all of your chams? Do you also work a regular "9 to 5" job on top of caring for your pets???
Sorry if I seem nosey...I'm just curious how you manage all of this.

[Trace]

Hi Kim!

I have to apologise for taking sssoooo long to answer this thread! I have no idea where the time goes... but the older I get, the faster it seems to fly by! :/ And thanks again for the kind words, it helps alot to hear it.

Manage this? BARELY! Unfortunately I'm unemployed at the moment, so I can make the time right now. It's a little ummmm difficult financially to support the posse these days as well as pay the mortgage and whatnot. I haven't replaced animals, I haven't taken in any rescues and I've had to pass on some great opportunities for some of the weirder species that I want. When I was working, I got up early and did what I could before work and finished off when I got home. With chameleons, you can't ignore them for a day or two like you can with other herps, you have to do it, you make the time. You know it because of your Zoe. (Is he eating on his own yet?) I'm also single and therefore I don't have to answer to a partner or family. I'm not into TV or movies, I can't remember the last time I turned the idiot-box on, I prefer to read instead, or draw, or go for a walk. Oh geez, this is turning into some strange personal ad now! I'll stop. LOL!

Cheers!

Trace

[meow_mix450]

lol, well you got a good point you really can't leave these guys for a day or two,you artistic???cause on my free time i would skate board, draw, take pictures, and watch my animals lol

Meow