4 Month veiled died suddenly

[JohnnyD]

I lost my little veiled male today suddenly. He ate and drank 24 hours or so before he died. This morning he was on the cage floor. I tried to warm him up but he died an hour later. Does anyone know what would cause such a sudden death of a chameleon? Basking temps 87f. Night temps 70-74f. I had him for a month with no issues. Has anyone lost a cham that quickly after seeing them eat and drink?

 

[carol5208]

aw, so sorry to hear of your cham dying, especially so suddenly. Do not have any comments on as to why. I think your basking temp was a little high but I don't know if that could cause death. Again, sorry for your loss.

 

[JohnnyD]

I have no idea. Almost seems as if he ingested something toxic???

 

[carol5208]

did the forum ever review and critique your husbandry to make sure everything was right? Just curious...

 

[jannb]

I am sorry for your loss. I would recommend a necropsy to find out what happen.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Do you use the cricket gels to water the insects? Sudden deaths for me have always been from an ingestion. I lost one that ate a dry water crystal, which swelled inside.

 

[JohnnyD]

I do use them as well as fresh fruit/veggies that contain a lot of water. It is possible. The crickets Im feeding are so 1/8 - 1/4 inch. It would be hard for a dried piece to be attached to them but anythings possible I guess. My daughter provided a burrial ceremony for him in the flowerbed. She was really upset. A necropsy might have broke her heart.

 

[Elizadolots]

I'm so sorry.

I think you are right to respect your daughter's feelings on the matter.

As you may want to get another chameleon (being the addictive things they are) you might want to fill out the "how to ask for help" form with the setup as you had it. Maybe there's something people can suggest to help make sure this doesn't happen to your next chameleon.

 

[JohnnyD]

He was one of six I have. The rest for now are doing great.

 

[JohnnyD]

I know the set up is good. From lights, heat, humidity, cage size, supplement schedule, cage cleaning, organic soil, light timing, and I even have them in a low traffic area to reduce stress as well as never handling them. I'm leaning towards something out of the ordinary with this one. This is the first time I've had any problems with any of them.

 

[Elizadolots]

Okay, I'm sorry I didn't know that.

The younger any animal, including humans, is, the more likely it is to spontaneously die. It's a sad reality.

 

[JohnnyD]

The only thing I think I did wrong was place his cage on a cheap table of vinyle covered pressboard which became saturated with water and molded underneath. I know this can cause repiratory problems but havent heard of a RI killing that quickly. I replaced the table today.

 

[Elizadolots]

That might be it, or it just might be that this baby was not destined to live. It's a very sad fact that young animals have a high death rate for no definable reason. It's true of humans and you know how thoroughly we study human deaths...

 

[Jamelon]

you said you just had him for a month, so could he possibly had a pre-existing condition that wasnt noticable, like he could have had something wrong before you got him, thats the only thing i can think of from what im reading.