2 year old Female Jackson's Chameleon suddenly sick

RBCam

Member
Please help my girl is sick.

@Lathis
@ferretinmyshoes
@DeremensisBlue
@MissLissa


Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. She has been healthy as a horse forever kinda on the fat side. Noticed she was not interested in Roaches the past few weeks but still ate crickets just fine. today she looked unstable hanging on to the branches and her eyes were kinda bulged out and mostly closed. Later in the morning I found her at the wet bottom of the cage mouth gaping she has taken on a bad color. I put her on a paper towel to get her off the bottom of the cage. I put the fogger on low and opened the window to allow some more natural heat and sunlight in. She has never been sick and seems to have come on pretty suddenly. She is pretty close to death. I don’t know if we can save her at this point but welcome any ideas.

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Chameleon Info:


  • Your Chameleon - The species Jackson’s , Female, and age of your chameleon just over 2 years . How long has it been in your care? 2 years
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? very Little
  • Feeding - crickets, dubi Roaches? What amount? a few medium crickets a day or a couple roaches. She lost interest in the roaches about 3 or 4 weeks ago but eating crickets through yesterday. What is the schedule? about every other day. How are you gut-loading your feeders? Kale, spirulina, and fluker’s cricket diet.
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Zoo Med Repti Calcium without D every other day, Zoo Med Reptivite With D. twice a month.
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Automatic mister, MistKing How often and how long to you mist? Long session in the morning and late afternoon a couple seconds every 2 hours or so. Do you see your chameleon drinking? Yes
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Droppings have looked great Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Yes when I first got her
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. She was a Petcco purchase. But was in great health when I got her took her to the vet to get checked out has always been in good health till today.


Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Reptibreeze, Medium 16”X 16” X 20 coraplast on 2 sides and I drilled drain holes with a drain pan and made a drain system


  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types


  • of lighting are you using? Zoo Med Daylight blue 60W and Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 UVB Tropical
  • What is your daily lighting schedule? 5:30 AM lights on 7:00 Pm Lights off
Basking spot I try to keep at 85. room temperature is between 74 and 78 during the day Lowest overnight temp? Lowest overnight temp would have to be between 65 and 71 How do you measure these temps? I have a thermometer in the basking area and a humidity and temp gage in the middle of the cage

  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? I try to keep it at 80% southern CA it is hard. So between 50% and 80% How are you creating and maintaining these levels? Auto sprayer for a couple seconds every 2 hours to keep up the levels I have added plastic too 2 sides of the enclosure. to help keep humidity up. or really dry days or days when shedding I have a fogger I uses during the day sometimes. What do you use to measure humidity? I have a zoomed gage for humidity
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? No live plants If so, what kind? I have Manzneta branches, and combo of plastic and silk plants and vines
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Small apartment in living room but I am only one here not home a lot so little activity. Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? No At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?’ The top of the cage is about 5’
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Southern California L.A.


Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. She has been healthy as a horse forever kinda on the fat side. Noticed she was not interested in Roaches the past few weeks but still ate crickets just fine. today she looked unstable hanging on to the branches and her eyes were kinda bulged out and mostly closed. Later in the morning I found her at the wet bottom of the cage mouth gaping she has taken on a bad color. I put her on a paper towel to get her off the bottom of the cage. I put the fogger on low and opened the window to allow some more natural heat and sunlight in. She has never been sick and seems to have come on pretty suddenly. She is pretty close to death. I don’t know if we can save her at this point but welcome any ideas.
 
Last edited:
Shirley did not make it through the night. Any ideas on what happened? Sorry thanks everyone. :(
 
I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure she will be missed.
You could fill out the how to ask for help form and have people make guesses on what happened based on your husbandry. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/ at best they would just be guesses.
If you really want answers your best bet would be to have a necropsy done by a good reptile vet. This is not a guarantee of answers but it is the most reliable way to get them.
 
I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure she will be missed.
You could fill out the how to ask for help form and have people make guesses on what happened based on your husbandry. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/ at best they would just be guesses.
If you really want answers your best bet would be to have a necropsy done by a good reptile vet. This is not a guarantee of answers but it is the most reliable way to get them.
I filled it out it is above in the original post.
 
Sorry, I forgot that was there. Nothing jumps out at me except the longer than 12 hour day but I doubt that is it. Females can have a host of problems associated with their reproductive tract even when they aren't bred, internal infections, organ failure and feeder related poisonings are all possibilities.
 
I thought I got her in October 2015 but it looks like going back it was May 2015 so she may be have been closer to the 3 year old range. She didn't like being handled much but she would hand feed more decoration but I really liked her.
I think you are right about it being a Female reproductive issue. She always had huge oddly shaped slugs she would pass that or Feeder poisoning is a possibility just because of how fast she went down hill. I don't think I will do a necropsy. She lived a good life was healthy till the end so what more can you ask for a necropsy won't change it. I am a pet owner not a breeder I will miss my pet.
I am selling my other Chameleon I am not that attached to as well as the setups and just taking a break for the Chameleon thing for a while. Thank you everyone on the boards for your help over the years maybe I will be back some day.
P.S. If you are interested in my male Carpet Chameleon about a year old (I think), with my customized cabinet with auto sprayer and drainage system.
I am in the Los Angeles area and can deliver. I will do it in the official area soon but it help to get a fresh start and be over it for now.
Check it out https://www.chameleonforums.com/media/albums/jackson-chameleons-enclosure-setup.5838/
View media item 42806Thank you Everyone.
 
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