OldChamKeeper
Chameleon Enthusiast
A long time ago, decades actually, I thought to myself " I wonder how many of these die in captivity"
Back then there was no Internet, no way of touching base or keeping track with other keepers. Hell back then it was actually hard to find others who have kept these neat animals. A lot has changed over time.
Many know I have tried for nearly a year to locate some female Mt. Meru's. Right before X-Mas I was contacted by a keeper who purchased a few from the recent European shipment. He needed space for a species he really wanted more than the Meru's.
Super nice guy. I purchased two from him at a fair price. I noticed both had minor issues but after looking for so long I was willing to give them a shot. I didn't even mention the health issues to him since I didn't want him to think I was nickel and diming him. I'm not a novice and the issues I observed in one was rubber jaw (MBD) and the other had motor skill issues with its rear legs. Nothing I felt was beyond a chance at reversing. A roll of the dice is how I always view it. His asking price was fair and less than the $350 asked to import from Europe so I took my chances.
Sadly, Ingrid (all chams get a name here) passed last night. I'm always a tad surprised at how much I care when a Cham passes
At first, Ingrid ate well but clearly favored soft foods. Flies or silkies mostly with some small crickets minus the hind legs. A little water mixed with some straight Ca was given twice a week. I use and love the Repashy brand of supplements and currently use "Supermed" which is the calcium with medium D3. All foods are gut loaded. Lightly powdered food items are offered once a week. My male has thrived now for over 16 months on this routine, and Ingrid was doing ok for about the first few weeks. However I noticed she was simply not thriving, unlike the other one (Helga). In Helga a diluted drop of a liquid multi vitamin supplement was given three times a week. After two weeks I noticed her motor skills had become normal. In the time I've had both, Helga has grown like a weed. Ingrid did not.
Last night she ate and drank but was clearly not feeling well. I saw the telltale closing of the eyes and knew in the morning I'd have to look at getting her to my herp vet since anybody who has lost a Cham knows what those closed eyes mean, you're running out of time.
What I didn't know was time had run out. She passed overnight. I've seen crashes before but gotta say this was a fast one. I was told a few other Merus from Europe didn't arrive in good shape either so I am lucky in that Helga is thriving and was able to recover. Ingrid was not able to sadly. That said and thinking decades back to where I once pondered how many die, I am grateful for this website and the information that is shared here, even the losses we suffer.
Seeing the successes we have as a group as well as being able see the losses is a powerful tool in this hobby/industry. As such I felt comfortable posting this here.
Back then there was no Internet, no way of touching base or keeping track with other keepers. Hell back then it was actually hard to find others who have kept these neat animals. A lot has changed over time.
Many know I have tried for nearly a year to locate some female Mt. Meru's. Right before X-Mas I was contacted by a keeper who purchased a few from the recent European shipment. He needed space for a species he really wanted more than the Meru's.
Super nice guy. I purchased two from him at a fair price. I noticed both had minor issues but after looking for so long I was willing to give them a shot. I didn't even mention the health issues to him since I didn't want him to think I was nickel and diming him. I'm not a novice and the issues I observed in one was rubber jaw (MBD) and the other had motor skill issues with its rear legs. Nothing I felt was beyond a chance at reversing. A roll of the dice is how I always view it. His asking price was fair and less than the $350 asked to import from Europe so I took my chances.
Sadly, Ingrid (all chams get a name here) passed last night. I'm always a tad surprised at how much I care when a Cham passes
At first, Ingrid ate well but clearly favored soft foods. Flies or silkies mostly with some small crickets minus the hind legs. A little water mixed with some straight Ca was given twice a week. I use and love the Repashy brand of supplements and currently use "Supermed" which is the calcium with medium D3. All foods are gut loaded. Lightly powdered food items are offered once a week. My male has thrived now for over 16 months on this routine, and Ingrid was doing ok for about the first few weeks. However I noticed she was simply not thriving, unlike the other one (Helga). In Helga a diluted drop of a liquid multi vitamin supplement was given three times a week. After two weeks I noticed her motor skills had become normal. In the time I've had both, Helga has grown like a weed. Ingrid did not.
Last night she ate and drank but was clearly not feeling well. I saw the telltale closing of the eyes and knew in the morning I'd have to look at getting her to my herp vet since anybody who has lost a Cham knows what those closed eyes mean, you're running out of time.
What I didn't know was time had run out. She passed overnight. I've seen crashes before but gotta say this was a fast one. I was told a few other Merus from Europe didn't arrive in good shape either so I am lucky in that Helga is thriving and was able to recover. Ingrid was not able to sadly. That said and thinking decades back to where I once pondered how many die, I am grateful for this website and the information that is shared here, even the losses we suffer.
Seeing the successes we have as a group as well as being able see the losses is a powerful tool in this hobby/industry. As such I felt comfortable posting this here.
