Advice on treating very ill cham

[herpgirl24]

Although I should not have, I purchased a pair of Jacksons from a reptile show that were not in great shape. The male has responded well and is great, the female is not.

After a trip to the vet I was given an anibiotic and a hand feeding food. The vet said the cham looks very dehydrated and may have kidney damage due to that. She also has a RI most likely. I have had the cham about two weeks, she has been drinking great and always sits under the nozzel when the mister is on. I have only seen her eat once in this time frame. She did poop today, it was mostly white with some yellow.

She is not doing well at all after the vet trip today. Now keeping eyes closed and very lethargic, slipped off her branch. I moved her to a small enclosure with only one low branch. I am keeping a CHE on her continuously. I have a damp towel in the cage that she is sleeping on. I have fed her the formula from the vet, with pedialtye every few hours. I know the medications are rough on them.

Just looking from advice from others who have nursed a very sick cham on any pointers. I am wanting to try and feed her as much as I can, but I also do not want to stress her too much. I know that there is a slim chance of recovery at this point, i wish I would have taken her to the vet immediately. But until two days ago she was very active and drinking great. I appreciate any advice, thanks.

 

[herpgirl24]

Here is a quick run down of the info sheet. I know there are a few areas of improvement, but I have been focused on getting her eating and not tweaking the enclosure to perfection.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female Jacksons chameleon, juvenile, I have had her two weeks.
Handling - Only when necessary
Feeding - I feed dubia as a staple. I tried to feed her hornworms but she was not interested.
Supplements -
What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Flukers, without D3. Multivitamin twice a week and calcium nearly every feeding.
Watering - Misting system runs for 5min at 9:15 and 5:15, then for 1min every two hours otherwise. Knowing they were dehydrated I wanted to be sure they got plenty of time to drink. No misting after 7pm. She always drinks in the mornings, and often she is under the nozzel at every mist.
Fecal Description - Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No
History - Purchased two weeks ago from a reptile show. She was housed in a small screen enclosure, about 2ft X 18in or so. There was also a male in cage with her. They did have a vine, likely from dollar store, to climb on. Lots of dead crickets in bottom of cage. I was informed they would be fine in this set up for their entire life , which is exactly why I brought them home.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage about 3ft tall and 1ft wide
Lighting - Lights are on from 9a-9pm. Flourescent tube UVB and 75w heat bulb
Temperature - 85 degree basking area, house is around 65-70 at night
Humidity - Humidity gauge broke, but was 60-80%.
Plants - Very large pothos
Placement - Cage is in furnace room, nice air flow. Higest perch in cage is around 4ft off floor.
Location - Michigan

 

[herpgirl24]

Well she has made it through the night. She bit me this morning, so she definately has some fight in her. She keeps climbing the screen on the cage in short distances. I got about .1ml of the handfeeding mix in her. I am waiting for this evening to give her antibiotic, it was late when she got it yesterday. Unfortunately I will be gone most of the day today, worried sick. Wish I could stay here and monitor her, but the reptile show is only here once a month and I have to get supplies for the other animals.

She was presribed baytril and carnivore care for feeding, forgot that in original post.

I spent most of the night reading other threads of memebers who have cared for sick chams and it really made me feel like there was hope for her!

 

[carol5208]

What is the antibiotic for? Does she have an infection?. Baytril or any meds can be hard on the kidneys so that could be doing more harm than good if she does not need it. Did you have her tested for parasites???

 

[Action Jackson]

Yes, what is the Baytril for? Baytril can be really hard on them. A few things that may help, try to have your light on the same schedule as dawn and dusk times outside. 9 PM is too late to have lights on imo. My Jackson's are ready to sleep about 1 hr before dusk. I would back way off on the suppliments. I give calcium with no d3 once per week and multi vitamin maybe once a month. I don't use d3 but that's just what I chose to do and my chameleons get some sun. Try to get some crickets if possible. They should be easier for her to chew up.

If there is a male in the cage with her, he needs to be removed and be kept out of site from her. Females can become very stressed when housed with a male.

Good luck with her.

 

[fluxlizard]

I won't disagree with your vet. He saw the lizard.

If you notice- vets on the forums don't jump in and disagree with each other on these threads- there is a reason behind that. They know another professional has actually examined the animal. It's funny how many non-vets have that confidence sight unseen. I'd go with the professional advice. I can't say I've never been guilty of judging a vet's advice myself, but if it were my animal and I didn't know better- I'd go with the vet.

FWIW I've also used baytril on some pretty sick and weak WC chams and believe it helped them pull through even though they were extremely weak and I was using it as part of a in retrospect not so great "shotgun" treatment for acclimation and deparisitization that included treatment for worms and flagylites.

Because I caught such flac from the ignorant on my last post on this sort of topic, I'll stay out of it, other than to point out the above, and just mention that IMO it is better to do a large single daily assist feeding rather than multiple tiny feedings. This will help reduce the overall stress level of the animal. (A stressed cham being bugged multiple times per day to eat will not get relief from that stress). I also feel that assist feeding at night about the time the lights go off helps with stress as well, because the animal sleeps off the stress and "forgets" it's worries for the next day- then it can have a stress free complete next day before the next night's assist feeding.

Good luck with your lizard. Hope it improves for you...

 

[fluxlizard]

I agree with cutting back on the multivitamin as well.

 

[herpgirl24]

The baytril was for the respiratory infection.

She is still fighting, she actually bit me this morning. Completely shocked me since she has been so docile. I usually only get a very small amount in her at each feed, I get dropper in once and she clamps mouth shut. I dont want to stress her by forcing her mouth open. I am keeping her warm and humid and hoping for the best.

The vet thought she may have kidney problems from previous dehydration. I am beginning to think she is right. The cham was drinking tons over the last few weeks and should have gotten a bit better. Although, I could be way off. I will continue to do all I can for her and hope for the best.

I was very impressed with the vendor I purchased her from, whom I ran I to today. He offered to replace her for me at any time this year if she does not make it. This is better than many vendors who offer no guarantees or replacement. What I thought was another careless vendor, was not the case.

Also, glad to meet you all!

 

[herpgirl24]

Sorry, I give multivitamin once a week, not twice.