Veiled is slow, sick, weak, sunken eyes :(

C

combatbabyyeah

New Member
I have seen many posts on this same problem and unfortunately I can't seem to get a consistent answer... My chameleon is super sick and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Clement is a veiled chameleon, female, probably 2 years old. We've had him for about a year and a half.
Handling - Probably handle once or twice a month.
Feeding - Right now she isnt eating anything. You can see her ribs and her eyes are sunken in. We typically feed her crickets, gut loaded from the store and with flukers cricket feed.
Supplements - We use flukers calcium powder
Watering - I think we have failed in the water department. We spray her daily and sometimes take her out and give her a nice steamy shower. She loves the shower, not so much, the spraying technique.
Fecal Description - Normal poop, black and white.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen, probably 4'height and 2x3.
Lighting - Ceramic heat light and a UVB tube light. I think its repti-something brand.
Temperature - Not sure, we feel in there to make sure its warm.
Humidity - Shower and spray
Plants - Yes, bird of paradise
Placement - Cage is in the living room in the corner kind of by a window. Not by any fans or anything. The top of the cage is probably about 5 feet from the floor.
Location - Tacoma, WA

Current Problem - She won't move really, her eyes are sunken and closed all the time. She wont eat or drink for about 4 days now. But this problem just started and it seems like she is going down hill fast. I woke up this morning and her butt is laying on the bottom of the plant and she is sitting up (similar to what a dog might do). She is really weak and wont move. I feel so sad for her and I don't know what to do! force feed? constant shower? I am planning on taking her to the vet but I am looking for some home remedies to possibly help and keep her comfortable.

This has happened once before (not this bad though) and it seemed as though she was just dehydrated. We forced her a cricket and gave her a shower and she perked right back up.

Please help if you can!!! I know this forum doesn't substitute veterinarian care, but i feel confident that you all may have more experience and advice to share.
 
If she is that bad I would just take her to a vet. They can go down hill fast. Just keep misting her with warm water. That could help with hydration.
 
how old is your uvb light? they should be changed out every 6 months. Even if it has not burned out they become pretty much ineffective over time. You really have not been gutloading your crickets properly. The store bought crickets do not gutload with much more than potato and water crystals from what I have seen. You should have been using three supplements and not jus the one. Temps and humidity are important. Have you ever measured either one since you have owned her? Can you post a few pics please of your set up and your chameleon?
 
Has she ever laid eggs? Does she have a suitable place in the cage to dig to lay them?
Its likely time for a visit to the vet by the sounds of it.
 
Thank you for your input guys. I think it is too late now, she has gone from being responsive to completely not moving and laying down completely. I'm very sad tonight and i'm hoping that she will perk up and be back to normal tomorrow morning, but i have a feeling that her last breath will be very very soon. I will get another cham eventually and when I do I will take all of the chameleons needs to heart. We were good "parents" for what its worth, i just think something happened and was irreversible. :'(
 
You may want to answer the questions so we can see what you did wrong if you plan to get another chameleon...
Just because this one died doesn't mean the same problem will not happen again.
 
carol5208 said:
how old is your uvb light? they should be changed out every 6 months. Even if it has not burned out they become pretty much ineffective over time. You really have not been gutloading your crickets properly. The store bought crickets do not gutload with much more than potato and water crystals from what I have seen. You should have been using three supplements and not jus the one. Temps and humidity are important. Have you ever measured either one since you have owned her? Can you post a few pics please of your set up and your chameleon?
Click to expand...

----this advice is better than a vet in most cases/in my opinion---- answer the questions and find out what you did wrong so if you get another chameleon it doesn't end up in the same situation
 
carol5208 said:
how old is your uvb light? they should be changed out every 6 months. Even if it has not burned out they become pretty much ineffective over time. You really have not been gutloading your crickets properly. The store bought crickets do not gutload with much more than potato and water crystals from what I have seen. You should have been using three supplements and not jus the one. Temps and humidity are important. Have you ever measured either one since you have owned her? Can you post a few pics please of your set up and your chameleon?
Click to expand...

We use a reptisun 5.0 light. I would say it is only a few months old. 4 months at most.

We definitely weren't gutloading enough. When we purchased our chameleon we were able to buy a bunch of house flies, worms, a variety of insects. Once we went home we realized that crickets were the only option to buy around here.

I should clarify, we were dusting with Flukers Calcium+D3 powder.

Also, we did not measure temps or humidity. This sounds awful but we were always comfortable with that aspect. This is defintely something we will take more seriously next time around.
 
combatbabyyeah said:
I should clarify, we were dusting with Flukers Calcium+D3 powder.
Click to expand...
That could be the problem. They should get calcium without D3 at every feeding, calcium with D3 twice a month, and a multi vitamin twice a month.

Proper gut loading, temps, and humidity are also very important.
 
ive been conditioned though experience not to give vets the utmost credibility.

its not as though theyre on these forums or active members of chameleon keeping communities. the cumulative experience of us all far outweighs any vet ive ever spoken with (except one and hes in VA)

they are however helpful in getting fecals done and in diagnosing or noticing symptoms that can easily be overlooked by novice keepers.

sounds like a vet visit may be far too little far too late unless you have an exceptional herp vet to go to. all my local vets arent the best with reptiles. so thats just my experience.

fluckers calcium? with d3?

"Right now she isnt eating anything." how frequently was she eatting in the best of times, and what volume?

sounds like something simple like malnutrition or mbd.

its odd she would seem to be showing symptoms of dehydration and still have white urate.

how does her casque look? is it concave? convex?

your plant is toxic btw has she eaten any of it?
 
Ill suggest somethings that may prevent this (not bashing or putting down just some advice for next go around) temp and humidity have to be monitored and adjusted accordingly. As said above d3 isnt a daily supp. calcium is but not w d3, cal w d3 every two weeks, cal almost every feeding, multivitamin every two weeks but not at dame time cal plus d3 is dusted. Also if you didnt have a dripper set up if set one of those up, she wasnt partial to spraying so even if she was a dripper is necessary, or you can just get a cup ir tupperware and make tiny hole at bottom and make your own. So sorry to hear about your cham:(

Edit:just realized majority of my post was already said..sorry about that
 
combatbabyyeah said:
I have seen many posts on this same problem and unfortunately I can't seem to get a consistent answer... My chameleon is super sick and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Clement is a veiled chameleon, female, probably 2 years old. We've had him for about a year and a half.
Handling - Probably handle once or twice a month.
Feeding - Right now she isnt eating anything. You can see her ribs and her eyes are sunken in. We typically feed her crickets, gut loaded from the store and with flukers cricket feed.
Supplements - We use flukers calcium powder
Watering - I think we have failed in the water department. We spray her daily and sometimes take her out and give her a nice steamy shower. She loves the shower, not so much, the spraying technique.
Fecal Description - Normal poop, black and white.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen, probably 4'height and 2x3.
Lighting - Ceramic heat light and a UVB tube light. I think its repti-something brand.
Temperature - Not sure, we feel in there to make sure its warm.
Humidity - Shower and spray
Plants - Yes, bird of paradise
Placement - Cage is in the living room in the corner kind of by a window. Not by any fans or anything. The top of the cage is probably about 5 feet from the floor.
Location - Tacoma, WA

Current Problem - She won't move really, her eyes are sunken and closed all the time. She wont eat or drink for about 4 days now. But this problem just started and it seems like she is going down hill fast. I woke up this morning and her butt is laying on the bottom of the plant and she is sitting up (similar to what a dog might do). She is really weak and wont move. I feel so sad for her and I don't know what to do! force feed? constant shower? I am planning on taking her to the vet but I am looking for some home remedies to possibly help and keep her comfortable.

This has happened once before (not this bad though) and it seemed as though she was just dehydrated. We forced her a cricket and gave her a shower and she perked right back up.

Please help if you can!!! I know this forum doesn't substitute veterinarian care, but i feel confident that you all may have more experience and advice to share.
Click to expand...
this just happened to me...... i put him near the light bulb and that made him perk right up!!!! he is now ok :) starting to open eyes and walk around his cage :) who new something like this could be solved with such a simple solution!!!
 
Liam Chameleon said:
this just happened to me...... i put him near the light bulb and that made him perk right up!!!! he is now ok :) starting to open eyes and walk around his cage :) who new something like this could be solved with such a simple solution!!!
Click to expand...
That means he needs a proper temperature set up in his cage,try use a digital temperature measurement device to monitor the basking spot n else where so he can roam thru the cage as he need accordingly.
 
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