5 1/2 year old female

[jade1990]

Hello I have a 5 1/2 year old female veiled chameleon.
She's never been a problem before and I've had her since she was 6 ish months old.
Shes never layed any eggs and never became egg bound either.
She lives in a tall 4 ft mesh viv, good airflow and has a water drip daily, she has a uvb light and heat lamp. Usually eats mealworm and locusts with the odd wax worm as a treat.
Her food gets calcium dusted often and sometimes ill dust a little piece of veg ( spinach mainly) just to make sure she is definitely getting the calcium.
Thursday evening I found her on the floor of her viv after i came home from work. I placed her under her heat lamp. the same thing happened Saturday morning again I placed her under her heat lamp for a while then decided she looked dehydrated so I put the shower on luke warm and placed her in my shower on a plant to get some moister into get and perk her up a bit.
She hasn't been gripping well for the last 4 days, maybe a little longer but I only noticed 4 days ago. She isn't going to drink like she use to and isn't going to eat or really sit under the heat lamp.
Today (Sunday) she's very weak, she's gotten dehydrated as the days have gone by and can't grip on her branches at all.
I've placed her in a luke warm bowl of water to you and help.
But nothing is working.
She's an old girl and she can't even be bothered to hiss at me anymore.
Is this just old ago and nature taking its course?
I don't think she'll survive the night.

 

[jade1990]

Have I been doing the right stuff to help her?

 

[JLP474]

Is this a duplicate post from this?

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/5-1-2-female-veiled-not-eating-much.153822/

 

[jade1990]

No that post is for a 5 and half MONTH old chameleon, mine is almost 6 YEARS old

 

[JLP474]

Ahhh yes, thanks for the clarification.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. I'm sorry to hear that your girl is having problems. They often get arthritis in their legs as they get older. I recommend taking her to a good vet with chameleon experience for a good check up and x-ray. There's a few good meds now for arthritis. I would get her into something low and line the bottom with something soft like towels or put a catch net in her cage to catch her so she want get hurt falling. You might find this older thread about old age helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/what-are-signs-of-aging.105210/#post-962019

 

[IzzieC]

Is this a duplicate post from this?

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/5-1-2-female-veiled-not-eating-much.153822/

That other post is about my Izzie. She is 5 1/2 months old.

 

[jade1990]

Welcome to the forums. I'm sorry to hear that your girl is having problems. They often get arthritis in their legs as they get older. I recommend taking her to a good vet with chameleon experience for a good check up and x-ray. There's a few good meds now for arthritis. I would get her into something low and line the bottom with something soft like towels or put a catch net in her cage to catch her so she want get hurt falling. You might find this older thread about old age helpful.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/what-are-signs-of-aging.105210/#post-962019

Thank you, the towels on the floor and everything lower is a great idea, I'll ring the vets tomorrow morning and hopefully get an appointment.
Really appreciate it

 

[medgecko]

Spinach is very high in oxalates and goitrogens; a different green would be better. Turnip greens, even kale or broccoli greens (though not ideal), would be better. I'm growing dandelions and endive and trying to grow nasturtiums for direct feeding and gutloads. http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm is a pretty good resource.

 

[jade1990]

quick update, the vet pretty much said she's old, de-hydrated, and lost weight from not eating recently, which I already new. he's given me metacam to give her, however I no a side effect of metacam is loss of appetite and the fact she's not really eating atm doesn't really make me want to give it to her.
I spent yesterday assist feeding her small amounts throughout the day and this morning before I left for work I found her again on the floor where she must have fallen during the night, but I have made all her branches lower and placed loads of towels on the floor so hopefully she wont hurt herself too much. but she really doesn't have much strength at all to grip onto the branches.

 

[cass737]

I'm not sure where you got your information from but I do not believe that loss of appetite is a side effect of meloxicam. I think it's potential benefits as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic far outweigh any potential side effects at the point your girl is at right now. With decreased inflammation and less pain, she might feel more like eating.

 

[jannb]

I'm not sure where you got your information from but I do not believe that loss of appetite is a side effect of meloxicam. I think it's potential benefits as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic far outweigh any potential side effects at the point your girl is at right now. With decreased inflammation and less pain, she might feel more like eating.

I agree. I have used Medacam many times and it helps. I have never noticed loss of appetite.

 

[jajeanpierre]

quick update, the vet pretty much said she's old, de-hydrated, and lost weight from not eating recently, which I already new. he's given me metacam to give her, however I no a side effect of metacam is loss of appetite and the fact she's not really eating atm doesn't really make me want to give it to her.
I spent yesterday assist feeding her small amounts throughout the day and this morning before I left for work I found her again on the floor where she must have fallen during the night, but I have made all her branches lower and placed loads of towels on the floor so hopefully she wont hurt herself too much. but she really doesn't have much strength at all to grip onto the branches.

Did the vet address the dehydration? They won't eat if they are dehydrated. I wouldn't be giving any meds to a dehydrated chameleon because of the risk of damage to kidneys.

You can give fluids orally or the vet can give them subcutaneously.

 

[Nursemaia]

At this point care is probably pallative, I would give the meds to make her comfortable.