Baby sick :(

kiwi

New Member
Chameleon Info:

Chameleon - Veiled, Female, Less than 3 months old, been in my care since few weeks after birth.
Handling - Seldom, when cleaning cage and when distressed in cage (she likes to do dangerous climbing stunts and can't get down)
Feeding - I feed her crickets three times a day. Before she shed the first time she ate at least 4 a day, and what she didn't eat in crickets she made up for in wax worms. Won't eat any vegetable reptile food or bits of apples. Tried to eat her fake plants once.
Supplements - Don't hate me, I haven't given her any supplements. I know, thats half my problem.
Watering - Her cage stays humid, She likes to drink the water from the walls. I douse the plants twice a day and her body once.
History - Such an active chameleon with such personality, I know we're all partial here but she is quite amazing.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - glass, 5 gallon tank (shes a baby)
Lighting - don't have her on a lighting schedule, she has a flourescent in her cage that stays on nearly all the time (this is bad I just found out)
Temperature - She stays around 70 but her heater broke for a couple days and I think thats how she caught this sickness.
Humidity - It gets really humid in her cage..like so foggy
Plants - fake plants. I need to get her hibiscus
Placement - by window, on top of large dresser, nothing else around it. in my room, low traffic
Location - KY


Current Problem -
My baby veiled is about three months old and today for the first time she went limp and fell.. I think it was because she was dehydrated because she has just gone through her second shed cycle. I've been periodically showering her since then but everytime she gets stuck or falls upsidedown she won't use all of her strength or her back legs and I have to pick her up and set her down somewhere else. Her body is almost limp and she opens her mouth and tries to hiss at me but her body doesn't work with or against my help. It's freaking me out cause she kept closing one eye earlier and she's usually very active. HELP!



I took her to my vet who said she was severely dehydrated, cold, and had respiratory problems like pneumonia. I've been keeping her on a heating pad with another heater on her and am having to force water with a medicine dropper, and here soon i'll be force feeding her calcium covered crickets. She's in "guarded condition" :( Fingers crossed and head down in prayer, this is my baby!
 
Chameleon Info:

Chameleon - Veiled, Female, Less than 3 months old, been in my care since few weeks after birth.
Handling - Seldom, when cleaning cage and when distressed in cage (she likes to do dangerous climbing stunts and can't get down)
Feeding - I feed her crickets three times a day. Before she shed the first time she ate at least 4 a day, and what she didn't eat in crickets she made up for in wax worms. Won't eat any vegetable reptile food or bits of apples. Tried to eat her fake plants once.Are you gutloading your crickets?
Supplements - Don't hate me, I haven't given her any supplements. I know, thats half my problem.Get some now. calcium without d3 for every feeding, calcium with d3 for twice a month, and a multivitamin for twice a month
Watering - Her cage stays humid, She likes to drink the water from the walls. I douse the plants twice a day and her body once.
History - Such an active chameleon with such personality, I know we're all partial here but she is quite amazing.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - glass, 5 gallon tank (shes a baby)BAD. Get her out of this. ASAP. she needs a screen cage that is taller than it is wide. this can lead to respiratory ingections.
Lighting - don't have her on a lighting schedule, she has a flourescent in her cage that stays on nearly all the time (this is bad I just found out)No uvb Bulb? get one, NOW. reptisun or reptiglo 5.0. and basking and uvb bulbs 12 hours on, 12 hours off.
Temperature - She stays around 70 but her heater broke for a couple days and I think thats how she caught this sickness.this is too cold, get her basking temp to 80. this can be why she wasnt pooing before.
Humidity - It gets really humid in her cage..like so foggy
Plants - fake plants. I need to get her hibiscus
Placement - by window, on top of large dresser, nothing else around it. in my room, low traffic
Location - KY


Current Problem -
My baby veiled is about three months old and today for the first time she went limp and fell.. I think it was because she was dehydrated because she has just gone through her second shed cycle. I've been periodically showering her since then but everytime she gets stuck or falls upsidedown she won't use all of her strength or her back legs and I have to pick her up and set her down somewhere else. Her body is almost limp and she opens her mouth and tries to hiss at me but her body doesn't work with or against my help. It's freaking me out cause she kept closing one eye earlier and she's usually very active. HELP!


I took her to my vet who said she was severely dehydrated, cold, and had respiratory problems like pneumonia. I've been keeping her on a heating pad with another heater on her and am having to force water with a medicine dropper, and here soon i'll be force feeding her calcium covered crickets. She's in "guarded condition" :( Fingers crossed and head down in prayer, this is my baby!

shedding does not make them dehydrated.
i need a picture. but i suspect MBD, metabolic bone disease.

Get rid of that heating pad. they cant thermoregulate, she could get burned. just up her basking temp.
be careful with force feeding and watering, it can lead to aspiration.

She probably keeps pooing now because she is warmer.
cold temp make it hard for them to digest their food, no digestion, means no pooing.
 
we're upping the size of her cage and going screen, but my vet said that since she is in such bad shape right now, she needed a heating pad. she was injected with fluids because she was so badly dehydrated and with antibiotics. I'll get a picture asap, when she gets warm enough her color comes back, but now her hind is dark brown. I thought it was MBD, but my vet seemed to think getting her hydrated and warm was more important, and I can't say I disagree.
 
we're upping the size of her cage and going screen, but my vet said that since she is in such bad shape right now, she needed a heating pad. she was injected with fluids because she was so badly dehydrated and with antibiotics. I'll get a picture asap, when she gets warm enough her color comes back, but now her hind is dark brown. I thought it was MBD, but my vet seemed to think getting her hydrated and warm was more important, and I can't say I disagree.

warm is good, hydrated is good.
but MBD not treated can still kill.

and no heating pad!
they will get burned that way.


and antibiotics wont treat mbd if she has it.
 
thank you so much ! i'm on my way to get her a screen cage and a heat rock, already got a new light
 
Hi! Skip the heat rock too. Just make sure there's a place where she can sit that gets enough heat (say 83, 84 degrees) from a light source.
 
Awe I am so sorry to hear about your little one. My heart goes out to you at this time. If you decide to get another cham later after some of the pain eases... please stay on the forum and search and learn things that might make it better for another one. Please know we all care.
 
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