KaNuckles

I'm sad to be writing this, but my first chameleon KaNuckles passed away on Monday. He was about 20 months old. He seemed to be doing just fine even the day before. He was eating and drinking, he had great colors, and he was moving around.

The vet did an autopsy for us and said that for the most part, he looked healthy, but his heart was slightly darker than usual, and his liver was fatty. They are able to send in the tissue for a more in depth analysis, which my wife and I are considering doing, but I'd also like to know what could cause this so it doesn't happen again.

At the moment, our female is doing well, and she has an appointment for the vet tomorrow to make sure she isn't suffering from the same problem. We mated them about 3 weeks ago, and we're really hoping that it took. It would be great if a little part of KaNuckles could live on.

Sorry for your loss, it always sucks to lose a friend. If nothing else hopefully in trying to decipher what may have gone wrong you will expand your knowledge. If you could maybe post some more info on your husbandry standards and "normal" feeding routines. I'd say getting the tissue examined would be a good idea, especially if you're worried about you other chameleon. Good luck.

Thanks. Its been hard, but it will be good to learn from this experience.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Veiled 20 months old.

Handling - We handled him 2-3 days a week, but normally just to move him from his cage to a tree that we have in our house. Occasionally we will held him for about 30 minutes though.

Feeding - We were feeding him large sized crickets and super worms. He ate 3-4 a day right now. We gut load the crickets with fruit and vegetables, oranges and lettuce mostly, as well as Fluker's Cricket quencher, calcium fortified, and Fluker's High-calcium cricket diet.

Supplements - I feed the Crickets the Fluker's products mentioned above and I dust every meal in Calcium. Rep-Cal Herptivite w/ Beta Carotene Multivitamins and Calcium w/ D3 is used 2 times a month.

Watering - For the watering, I use filtered water in a spray bottle. I mist 4 times a day for about 10 secs each time.

Fecal Description - His droppings all looked healthy as far as I can tell. He had new droppings daily and they are always black, or very dark, with white urates and slightly gooey.

History - I had him for about 18 months.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - We have a screen cage. The dimensions are approximately 24wx24dx48h.

Lighting - I have 2 lamps currently. One uses a 75 watt Exo-terra basking bulb and the other uses a 5.0 UVB Exo-terra bulb. His lights are on a timer and run from 7 am to 9 pm every day.

Temperature - I use a Fluker's thermometer/hydrometer combo to measure the temperature in his cage. The temperature in his cage is at 74-80 during the day, it gets down to about 66. His basking spot is at around 85.

Humidity - I try to keep humidity fairly consistent. I have a Fluker's thermometer/hydrometer combo, which I use to measure the levels. The humidity levels usually stay between 40-60%. I spray his cage 3-4 times a day for about 10 seconds at a time.

Plants - At the moment we have no real plants in his cage. There are 3 fake leafy vines and one large bend-a-branch.

Placement - His cage is currently located in the office, the area of least traffic. The cage sits on the floor.

Location - We are currently living in southern Connecticut.