I sprayed again a minute ago, and as usual he jumped and ran, but then he started licking the droplets of the side of the tank! He drank quite a few of them, but after that his green color turned to brown except for a spotch of green on his back...I hope that only means his body temp dropped because of the water and not because the water is setting off a reaction with detergent in his belly...oh gosh, I hope he didn't swallow any of that detergent....

Hopefully the lamp will warm him back up and he'll turn green again...

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~Juliane~

I'm going to release him as soon as I'm sure he can take care of himself...

He still spends most of the time with his eyes closed...and he hasn't greened up again yet since he drank, which has me worried...shouldn't I at least keep him overnight to make sure he's ok?

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~Juliane~

aha...I had a feeling that perhaps since my little lizard friend drank, he was feeling more alert, and that maybe his change to brown was brought on by the stress of being in a strange place with a bright light on...so I turned off the light...

I've been checking, and sure enough, he's getting greener again...I know he can see now too...he definitely reacts to us when he sees us....

I guess I'll be setting him free again this evening...

Just wanted to let y'all know and to say thank you for all the help and advice! I'm exhausted from all the emotional turmoil, but I'm happy now!

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~Juliane~

Ok, he's free, he's free, he's free!!! I took the tank outside. took the lid off, tipped the tank gently on its side, and after a couple of false starts (panicked lizards don't know which way to go, do they? Especially when they're in a glass house... ) ...he leaped out onto the ground, looked all around at the bushes (Hooray! He can see!), and ran-hopped as fast as his little legs would take him up into the bushes.

I know he could see very well because he was really reacting to the sight of me and my kids when we went to take him out. Whew! What a relief!!! I sure hope he does ok out there in the wide, wild world. But then that's where he's lived his whole life anyway...

Thank you again so much everybody!!!

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~Juliane~

Congratulations Juliane,you really did a great job!!
It's always worth it to try and make the best you can to help an animal,and not put them down right away!

Yes, Juliane, ya done good girl,...ya done good!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Ya done good girly!

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Some think they can. Some wish they could. Some do.

Well done Juliane !!

That must be soooooo satisfying for you, Juliane. Great job!! (I bet you feel like you need a vacation after that huh?)
Or are you already running out to buy sealable tuppaware-type containers to put your detergents in? -- That would be my next project after all that stress!!

Once again, well done!

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Andrea

Oh my gosh, yes! I feel drained...


Usually my detergent is in a big plastic bucket with a lid (it comes that way from the store), but I ran out of it, and since our Sam's Club store is so far away I haven't had a chance to get to it to buy more. So I bought a box from the grocery store to tide me over (heh...Tide...no pun intended, I swear! ) until I can get to Sam's. Yesterday after I found the poor lizard, I put a big can of Rustoleum on top of the box lid to hold it down securely, so nothing else can wander into it....*whew* What an ordeal yesterday was !!!

Like I said yesterday, Thank you all so much! I appreciated your help more than I can say, and you kept me a lot calmer than I would have been without HC, natural-born nervous wreck that I am...

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~Juliane~