Dead.

L

lynseymorganjones

New Member
My veiled chameleon died this morning. And I just want to know why.

She really hasn't ate the past few weeks, but I've been super busy. I came home yesterday, and she wasn't in her usual spot. I noticed she was barely hanging on the branch so I picked her up and she was weak. I thought she has MBD, as she had it one before and I gave her repti-boost and she was fine. But she was too weak to swallow and she only opened her eyes a couple times. I took her to school so I could keep an eye on her and feed her. She was rather cold so I was folding her trying to give her some water. When all of a sudden she seized up and fell over. She was rock hard and ice cold. Her eyes were open and her tongue got swollen or something and stuck out a little bit. She turned a really pale yellow with dark green stripes and spots, then died.

She was only 8 months old.
 
Wow i dont even know what to say i feel bad for that cham please dont get another cham until you do some reseach on this guys you did everything u didnt supost to like taking her to school. Im assuming u didnt had any money to take him to the vet so unless you get a job you shoudnt get onother one sory but i love this little creatures and and i hate when they suffer like the one you owned.
 
I'm so sorry...
Could you fill out the how to ask for help form? I know your cham is already gone, but this will help us figure out why/what in your husbandry may have cause this...:(
 
tago said:
Wow i dont even know what to say i feel bad that cham please dont get another cham until you do some reseach on this guys you did everything u didnt supost to like taking her to school. Im assuming u didnt had any money to take him to the vet so unless you get a job you shoudnt get onother one sory but i love this little creatures and and i hate when they sufer like the one you owned.
Click to expand...

The closet exotic animal vet is 2 hours away.
 
please fill out the form so we can try and figure out went wrong. As far as MBD, reptiboost will not make that go away, so not sure what you are talking about there.
 
Your Chameleon - veiled. Female, 8 months. 6 1/2 months.
Handling - 1-3 Times a day. But not on the past two weeks.
Feeding - crickets and mealworms. A dozen a week, 5-10 metalwork a week. Whenever she wanted. How I give the feeders protein/calcium food.
Supplements - flukers Orange cubes
Watering - dripper. Mist 3 times a day. Yes, I watched her drink.
Fecal Description - normal? Slightly watery, though she hasn't gone in like a week.
History - had MBD once before when she was about 4 months?

Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen. 24x24
Lighting - zoo med. Heat and uvb. turn them on before school off before bed.
Temperature - highest is usually around 70 something, never could get it higher. Lowest is usually 50ish. a thermometer
Humidity - couldn't the humidity above 60% misting a lot, plus leaving the water from the dripper in a bowl. A humidity measurer?
Plants - some kind tropical plant from the pet store
Placement - family room. Kind of close to a heater. It's kind of lower than it should be.
Location - in a desert?

Current Problem - I just want to know my babygirl died..
 
Hello, welcome to the forum :) Sorry to hear about your loss. Do you have any pictures of her when she was alive?
 
Hey, I'm sorry for your loss. Pictures of her would definitely help. It sounds like from where she was at though, that she was in a pretty cold and dry situation, definitely not what chameleons thrive in.
 
lynseymorganjones said:
Your Chameleon - veiled. Female, 8 months. 6 1/2 months.
Handling - 1-3 Times a day. But not on the past two weeks.
Feeding - crickets and mealworms. A dozen a week, 5-10 metalwork a week. Whenever she wanted. How I give the feeders protein/calcium food.
Supplements - flukers Orange cubes
Watering - dripper. Mist 3 times a day. Yes, I watched her drink.
Fecal Description - normal? Slightly watery, though she hasn't gone in like a week.
History - had MBD once before when she was about 4 months?

Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen. 24x24
Lighting - zoo med. Heat and uvb. turn them on before school off before bed.
Temperature - highest is usually around 70 something, never could get it higher. Lowest is usually 50ish. a thermometer
Humidity - couldn't the humidity above 60% misting a lot, plus leaving the water from the dripper in a bowl. A humidity measurer?
Plants - some kind tropical plant from the pet store
Placement - family room. Kind of close to a heater. It's kind of lower than it should be.
Location - in a desert?

Current Problem - I just want to know my babygirl died..
Click to expand...

I'm sorry for your loss. There are several things I would suspect caused her death: chronic stress, metabolic bone disease, egg binding, malnutrition, etc. There are a number of things in her setup that contributed.

A young chameleon needs far more to eat than a dozen crickets per week - it should be that many per day. the fluker orange cubes are terrible for gutloading and you did not ever mention calcium supplementation. The cage sounds a bit small. It probably was sufficient for her being young, but wouldn't have been when she got older. 70 as a high is not enough. They need proper temperatures to bask and digest their food appropriately.

I am not trying to make you feel bad. By pointing these out it will help you prepare better for the future if you try again.

Please go through the new section of Chameleon Care Resources to learn more about creating the optimal environment for chameleons. (See links below)
 
ferretinmyshoes said:
I'm sorry for your loss. There are several things I would suspect caused her death: chronic stress, metabolic bone disease, egg binding, malnutrition, etc. There are a number of things in her setup that contributed.

A young chameleon needs far more to eat than a dozen crickets per week - it should be that many per day. the fluker orange cubes are terrible for gutloading and you did not ever mention calcium supplementation. The cage sounds a bit small. It probably was sufficient for her being young, but wouldn't have been when she got older. 70 as a high is not enough. They need proper temperatures to bask and digest their food appropriately.

I am not trying to make you feel bad. By pointing these out it will help you prepare better for the future if you try again.

Please go through the new section of Chameleon Care Resources to learn more about creating the optimal environment for chameleons. (See links below)
Click to expand...
Nailed everything IMO. She looks malnourished mostly. Certainly the temperature wouldn't help her have an appetite. Again, sorry for your loss, and learn everything you can before getting another cham.
 
Well thank you all for making me feel even worse. I didn't want to hear about how horrible I treated her. I did the best I could. I've been crying all damn day, and y'all are making me feel like shit. I'm 17 years old for gosh sakes. I stayed up practically all night trying to get her to eat or drink. I'm sorry I couldn't be prefect like the rest of you.
 
Padose said:
Nailed everything IMO. She looks malnourished mostly. Certainly the temperature wouldn't help her have an appetite. Again, sorry for your loss, and learn everything you can before getting another cham.
Click to expand...

She could've ate more, I don't know. I'd buy 3 dozen crickets, put them in her cage, and buy more within a week, week and a half.
 
lynseymorganjones said:
Well thank you all for making me feel even worse. I didn't want to hear about how horrible I treated her. I did the best I could. I've been crying all damn day, and y'all are making me feel like shit. I'm 17 years old for gosh sakes. I stayed up practically all night trying to get her to eat or drink. I'm sorry I couldn't be prefect like the rest of you.
Click to expand...

Nobody is blaming you for her dying. There are lots of reasons why this wasn't a great situation. Now you are here though you can find out more about her and what went wrong. Then, when you feel ready again, you can get a new chameleon and keep it happy for much longer :)
 
First of all i am certainly sorry for the loss but i wanted to say based on your last post, I don't think anyone has attacked you or purposefully tried to make you feel bad but you asked why she died and these knowledgable folks are just trying to let you know their thoughts based on the info you gave. I would much rather know what I did wrong so I can do it right the next time. Isn't that what you wanted? These guys can most certainly point you in the right direction if you are willing to listen and take constructive criticism. No one is saying it is your fault. You only did what you knew to do at the time.
 
From the picture she looks pretty skinny. I promise, we really are just trying to help. You have come and asked what were possible causes. In my best opinion, ferretinmyshoes gave a great synopsis. My veiled eats about 8 large crickets a day. He's still a little on the small side. He also doesn't have to lay eggs. I also have a temperature range set up in his cage from 92 down to room, which is about 70. I'm sorry, I really am. Hopefully if you choose to try another chameleon, we can all learn from this experience and make future ones great!
 
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