Advice for sick chameleon

jmtiews

New Member
ok guys,

this is going to be a bit of a different post than normal for health. I will give you a little backstory but what I am looking for is advice regarding keeping her alive till the c&s can be done.

I have a 1.5 yr old female panther chameleon that has been being treated for a respiratory infection since mid February. She originally had all the symptoms and I brought her to the vet asap. He confirmed infection and gave her a antibiotic booster and I think vitamin b3 to help jump start everything. He then put her on Amikacin injection every 3rd day. Unfortunately it kept the infection at bay but was not curing it. In mid March, he switched her to ceftazidime every 3rd day. There was an overlap that he kept her on both. On Tuesday, she was showing being a bit better but the infection was still lingering and he wants to now do a c&s to ensure the proper antibiotics. Unfortunately, in order to do a c&s she needs to be off antibiotics for 7 days. UGH!!!

To complicate things she is pregnant. We did not have her mate with the male because of her illness but she definitely has eggs. So her body is basically saying screw this. I am now catching her "resting" (I call it resting because I know she isn't supposed to be doing it and don't want to think about the real cause for it) throughout the day. I have lost chams in the past and it is usually a few days after caught "resting". I have added two showers daily basically keep her in there until she won't stay still at all. After her showers she looks amazing. First thing in the am you can see she is a bit dehydrated but with what her body is going through I am not shocked. Also, I upped the basking area to 90ish depending on where she goes. The rest of the cage ranges between 65-75. She is primarily staying at the top by or in the basking area. Mist King goes off every hour and a half for 30-45 secs depending on what part of cycle it is.

Here is what I am actually looking for. Advice to keep her alive till Wednesday when they do a c&s and we get her back on antibiotics. I am including some pics. Before shower, after shower and today she decided to crap on me while in the shower (payback for all the injections I have been giving her). So at least I know she is eating some of the crickets and superworms I am giving her.

Please feel free to ask any questions. I know I forgot some info. Thanks guys for reading the post and advice.

justin
 

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I am sorry I don't have an answer for you, but is your vet a reptile vet? If so he is probably doing what he feels is best. My heart goes out to you both because clearly you both aren't doing to well.
 
Thank you. Yes he is a reptile vet. He actually is an everything vet, literally. He is also on the list here. We both agree it is best to do the c&s I am just looking for help/advice to get her through the week without meds. Thanks
 
Females lay eggs whether they have been mated or not. If you know 100% for sure the male was never with her...she will just lay infertile ones. It is going to be very hard on her body being sick and all. Watch her very carefully for signs off egg binding. Hope your girl gets better real soon
 
Thank you. This will be her second infertile clutch. I have a laying bin in there for her just in case. I think the combination of infection and pregnancy is taking a toll on her.
 
Image 8834 her eyes look very sunken in. Make sure she is drinking. What is her misting schedule like?
 
Thank you. Yes that is the before pic for before i started doing 2 showers a day for about 15 mins each and her normal misting schedule is by a Mist King which goes off every hour and a half for 30-45 secs depending on what part of cycle it is.
 
30-45 seconds is not long enough to properly stimulate her to drink, so your schedule probably contributed to her dehydration. It is generally recommended to mist for no less than 2 minutes (if you have a screen cage). Doing a smaller number of total misting sessions per day with a longer duration would help keep her more hydrated, which would not be a bad thing leading up to Wednesday
 
Thank you. I will look into that. We have had her for almost a year and she has not had a hydration issue until the last month or so. I set up the Mist King so that one nozzle sprays in the cage and the second is set up to act as a rain shower that leaves part of the top of the screen with water droplets and she always has just gone over to the droplet area after the mister goes off. So maybe we have just been lucky. Same with the male we have.
 
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