Aging chamelon

[Sharon12]

My female veiled chameleon Etosha was a Petco purchase. With the help of this forum she has been very healthy. She will be 5 years old in 3 months and while there is no change in her at this point I wanted to understand more about lifespan and what to look for with aging. Again with help from the forum she has only laid eggs twice in her life although fairly large clutches each time. She is active and still very food focused. Any information on aging welcome. Thank you.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. My girl Stella is also the same age and from Petco. She’s my oldest chameleon and so I’m a bit in the same boat as you, but I have noticed a few changes and have a bit of an idea what to expect.
The biggest change is that she has stopped shooting her tongue out when she eats. Instead she gets close to her feeders and sticks her tongue out to grab them. I’m not sure when this changed exactly, but it’s been in the past year. She does still move quickly and will run when there’s food. I do expect that she may start to slow down in her speed and possibly have stiffness to her movements when and if arthritis sets in. That could potentially make her seem clumsy and she’ll be needing some added branches and vines to close the bigger gaps, or a smaller enclosure (she’s currently in an XL double wide). Hopefully, she won’t have any problems other than that.

 

[janjan20]

So glad to see she is still doing well!! I have a male that will be 5 as well next month. Like @MissSkittles, my guy stopped shooting his tongue fully sometime last year. I had to buy a different feeder box so he could fit his head in to get the bugs. I have added more branches and vines to his enclosure. He still gets around but not as well. I believe he may have arthritis in his little feet. Besides that his behavior has not changed.

 

[kinyonga]

I’m so glad to hear about females living more than a couple of years! Most of my veiled females lived to be 6 or 7 years of age. I’m sure putting them on the “diet” and temperature control we talk about on here helped that to happen. Most of them did not produce any eggs once they were set on “diet mode” as well.

My success with panthers was less in that I could not get them to stop producing eggs but just to decrease the number of eggs in each clutch…but I was “afraid” to push them as hard as I did the veileds.

The studies by veterinarians on follicular stasis and dystopia that started around 2008 are still continuing, but there still has been no solution determined by the vets to prevent both of those issues, sadly.

Chameleons definitely do show their age to us if we are observant…arthritis, etc can be found in them, just like in other critters and humans.
Not enough studies have been done about their aging though.

Just a few things that might help…To keep it comfortable/help it in the meantime, if you keep it lower in the cage so she won't fall, please make sure you move the UVB light lower and make sure she doesn't end up sitting under the basking light, unable to move out of it. (I'm sure you will know this already...but...)

I do think that chameleons (panthers in particular) develop arthritis in their old age....no proof, just my opinion from seeing senior chameleons over the last 30+ years.

Reptiles are very stoic and show few signs of aging, but subtle changes in behavior, or mobility, or reproduction, or weight, or appetite may all signal the beginning of old age to a caregiver who pays attention.

You've done well so far to keep her going!

 

[Sharon12]

Thank you all. Her tongue is still going actively but that is a good thing for me to watch. She is all over her cage and still mostly at the highest height but will also watch for that. Thrilled that she may have another year or two!

 

[jannb]

I just saw a post from a reputable chameleon vet on FB, that there’s a new med out for arthritis that really helps a lot.

 

[Sharon12]

That’s interesting. My 17 year old ragdoll is on a monthly shot for arthritis and she is a new cat. Really amazing results.