On August 19th 2022, a group of reptiles was surrendered to HSHV. Being reptile certified and working in Back-of-House at HSHV, I was able to assist with checking them in. They weren’t in the best condition, especially this little veiled chameleon sitting in an Amazon box on the counter. When I walked over and slowly put my hand into the box to pick him up, he instantly crawled up on my hand and just stared at me as I lifted my hand out of the box. He never once got upset or tried to bite while we were looking him over. He eventually gravitated towards my shoulders and that’s where he sat the rest of the time. I volunteered to take him home for the night due to him being in such bad condition.

He ended up going home with a shelter vet tech for the night in case he started to go downhill. He survived the night and came back to the shelter that next day, and he came home with me as a foster. He would only eat if it was hand fed to him and I would also have to hold him while he drank water. He spent two days with me as a foster till I decided to adopt him, since I was already planning on getting a chameleon and had already gotten most of the things I needed.

It’s now been 7 months with him, and he has gained back most of his body weight. His eyes aren’t sunken in anymore due to him being so dehydrated. He had his 1st vet appointment February 11th, and is so far extremely healthy and could gain a little bit more weight. When showing the vet and the techs picture of him when he first came in at the shelter, they were in disbelief that this was the same chameleon.

Reptar is a really funny little dude. When he is out, his favorite spot to be is on top of my head. He enjoys sitting in his live plants (that are safe for him) and munching on them while he enjoys the heat from his basking spot. He really likes any attention he is given. He has learned to hunt for his food and to go to his feeding spot to eat on his own. I’m so happy I was able to help him bounce back in only 7 months. He still has a lot of recovering to do still but has made so much progress.

Jack Skellington now Reptar