Boarding a SICK Cham HELP!

[JJC]

Long story short, this is not my chameleon. I am looking after him while the owner is on vacation. I suspect edema, as the owner admitted to over supplementing. Also looks like an eye infection. Can anyone confirm this for me?

I read that stopping supplements, keeping him super hydrated, and natural sunshine helps...is there anything else I can do?

Thanks!!!

 

[carol5208]

did the owner not mention any of this to you? Can he even see out of either of his eyes to eat? Some gular edema yes. I would cut out the supplements. It is not easy to get rid of. I have a chameleon I took in 6 months ago with horrible edema. I got it to go away but it comes and goes but nothing like it was when I got him. There is no quick fix for that. The back right leg looks like it might have some gout. The other legs just look chubby to me. I think he needs to be seen by a vet for his eyes.

 

[carol5208]

check this out http://chamworld.blogspot.com/2008/01/health-section-f-gout_28.html

 

[JJC]

Thank you for your reply.

The owner did say he was "old" (he is 4years) and that he needs to be hand fed. She said the reason for this is that he had an eye infection 2.5 years ago, and his eyes have never been the same since. Other then that she thinks he is perfectly healthy. She takes him to a vet (one I have never heard of) who says he is in perfect health....she also told me a story about how the vet was boarding this chameleon and how she would tug on his chin and force feed him...there is a scar on his chin from this!

To make matters worse there is a second chameleon, a 9 month old female Veiled. The owner did not know it was a female until a few days ago when she found a single egg in it's cage. This female is very full of eggs, also appears to have eye infections AND is wheezing making me think here is a RI. I have her set up in covered cage with a proper laying bin. (My female laid eggs 2 weeks ago so i am familiar with the egg laying process.)

I am waiting for the female to lay her eggs and then I have the owners permission to take both animals to an experienced vet. What is upsetting about all of this is the owner does seem to care very much! She trusted her vet, when she said they were healthy. Obviously her vet knows very little about chameleons...

 

[carol5208]

wow I cannot imagine a vet looking at that chameleon and saying that he is perfectly healthy. unless he was blinded by the eye infections and that is the way his eyes are permanently, I don't see how a vet would look at a chameleon that cannot see and say it is ok. I have a friend who took in a Veild where both the eye were closed like that. She hand fed him too. She got him out in the sun everyday and little by little he began to open his eyes. I know she took him to a vet and was also putting an ointment in his eyes. He eventually opened them all the way and was able to eat on his own. I agree with you, and sure seems like your friend really and truly does not care too much. Hopefully you can get the female to lay. Thank god you have them for a little while. The female probably would have died and become eggbound. Like my vet said" It took a long period of time to develop and will take a long period of time to go away" There is not miracle cure for it. I supplement my chameleon that has it very sparingly. I noticed when I feed him alot of crickets it seems to flare up slightly and I am thinking it may have something to do with the high levels of phosphorus that crickets posess. That is a great article on gout and edema. I don't know if you read it or not.

 

[Elizadolots]

Wow! You may make the Best Pet Sitter Hall of Fame...

I hope all goes well with the female.

For the male, I have nothing to add to "stopping supplements, keeping him super hydrated, and natural sunshine".

I sincerely doubt he was exactly as he was when you left him with me will qualify for taking him to an experienced reptile vet. I mean, it should, but I think you need to know that if you did that you need to be prepared to pay that bill because she is not going to want to hear you considered her care so poor it required what she would consider "emergency" care.

If you're willing to take the financial hit and bring this animal to your vet, you might be able to improve this chameleon's life and possibly open your friend's eyes to the failings of her vet.

 

[JJC]

I did read the article! I actually read it before you linked it to me! Helped me understand what is going on with the poor chameleon.

You say it gets worse when you feed crickets? The owner told me she ONLY feeds crickets and asked me to not feed any kind of worms. When I questioned this she said it was because worms have too much fat. She feeds this Veiled 10 crickets every other day.

One of his eyes appears to be blind. The other looks like it can focus but it has puss in it. The owner said she cleans out the eye discharge every day.

 

[JJC]

Wow! You may make the Best Pet Sitter Hall of Fame...

If you're willing to take the financial hit and bring this animal to your vet, you might be able to improve this chameleon's life and possibly open your friend's eyes to the failings of her vet.

I have a little in house reptile boarding service that has been up and running for two years now. When a client leaves their animal with me I make them sign a paper that agrees to let me take their animal to a vet, at their expense if needed. This will be the first time I need to take a clients pet to the vet.

Even if she refuses to pay, I will. These animals NEED a vet, and some antibiotics!

 

[carol5208]

If the eye has pus then there is an infection. I mean come on! Right now, I am not liking your friend too much! If you read that article, they talk about an imbalance of calcium to phosphorus ratio. I don't know if the crickets have anything to do with it, but I swear when I take him off the crickets for a few days and feed him silkworms or hornworms it goes away! If she is worried about worms being fat, then tell her silkworms have basically the same fat content as a cricket. They are high in calcium and an excellent feeder. She is right about most of the other worms, so I will give her credit for that one!

 

[JJC]

Yeah...honestly I would be a little upset reading this thread if I did not know this lady in person. She is very caring, she loves her chameleons dearly. She just did not know what to look for I guess...

 

[carol5208]

Yeah...honestly I would be a little upset reading this thread if I did not know this lady in person. She is very caring, she loves her chameleons dearly. She just did not know what to look for I guess...

I suppose you are right. Not everyone knows what edema is. The guy I got my other chameleon from who BTW was a member of the forum, told me over the phone before I saw the cham that he had these "big boobs". I knew when he told me that, that he had edema and I sure was right. He told me he had been like that for about a year and a half and he thought he was fat!! Now, I cannot see if you animal has puss coming out of its eye, that you cannot figure out something is wrong!

 

[Lathelia]

I noticed when I feed him alot of crickets it seems to flare up slightly and I am thinking it may have something to do with the high levels of phosphorus that crickets posess.

From what I've read it seems to be true. I don't have experience with edema, but I've read cricket have high phosphorus/calcium ratio which can cause edema, or at least be one of the causes.

 

[carol5208]

From what I've read it seems to be true. I don't have experience with edema, but I've read cricket have high phosphorus/calcium ratio which can cause edema, or at least be one of the causes.

I guess we will never know for sure because think of all the members who feed crickets whose chameleons do not have edema. It is like why do some people get cancer who smoke and others who smoke don't? Kinda like the same thing.

 

[Lathelia]

I guess we will never know for sure because think of all the members who feed crickets whose chameleons do not have edema. It is like why do some people get cancer who smoke and others who smoke don't? Kinda like the same thing.

You might be right. After all we don't know much about edema, we just know what may help and what may not.

 

[JJC]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply to this thread. Very helpful and informative!