Dear Chameleon experts
I did an awful thing on Friday evening- I injured a chameleon really badly while trimming the hedge, by mistake of course. I thought I had perhaps made him blind, and was thinking of putting him down, but then I saw one of his eyes open so I put twigs and leaves into an old hamster cage and brought him inside.
I cut off the top of his head, the top of his eyelids and the top of his nose, as well as his left front hand. I feel absolutely awful- I hate to see an animal suffer at my hand. I cleaned his wounds with a tiny bit of dettol and water, then out betadine ointment on with an earbud, and I've been spraying the leaves in the cage with water, as well as dripping some water onto his mouth every so often. I also put some fruit in the cage to attract fruit flies, but I don't know if he can see, so I caught 3 flies today and had to gently pry open his mouth to put them inside. He swallowed the first two, but not the second. He's been chilling on the branches in the cage, doesn't move much, but moves around at times. I definitely don't see much eye movement at all- sometimes see one eye open very briefly. When I pick him up to feed him he searches for my fingers with his hands, telling me that he can't see me.
I'm going to take him to the vet tomorrow to see what he says and if he can treat him better, but what do you think I can do? Do you think he will get better, or do you think he's lost part of his brain/ eyes and will never be able to survive or hunt again? Is he in a huge amount of pain and should I just out him down?- and if so, how would I do this quickly?
Thank you
Tracey