Bert is going in for his check up today, he became dehydrated due to age and my own ignorance 
He is 8 years old at least, and has not been doing very well lately.
I am searching high and low for advice, information, anything, and it's really difficult. I did however find this on Senegal Chameleons, on their appearance:
Reference:
http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=164
I know there are differences between the species (Bert is a panther), but he exhibits the same physical attributes of the picture above; the eye turret is the most obvious. He gets 1.5-2cc of water with dilute Pedialyte along with frequent long mistings during the day and continues to show the same sunken eye look as a dehydrated Cham, or the older one above. The vet recommended 1cc/day and since he was not drinking on his own, during mistings, I increased the level. (his basking spot is 90, with gradient to 75 and is in a Screen cage, with live plant removed because of his mobility issues)
My main concern is that he may have some sort of cancer or tumor affecting his ability to eat/drink and absorb the appropriate nutrients. The vet bills are adding up and there is really nothing we can do if it is a tumor because he is so old. His quality of life is pretty limited right now, he has a weakened grip so his climbing vines and leaves have all been moved to a few inches from the ground so he doesn't injure himself if he falls. I frequently find him with his eyes closed, just laying there.
I did force feed insects, but he passed a cricket and two wax worms whole, so I took the advice of my vet and syringe fed chicken baby food. He seemed to perk up slightly after the switch. It is also much less stressful for him this way it seems.
His blood work came back and he had a slight calcium deficiency, I was dusting every other day, with T-rex Cricket Balancer and once monthly with calcium and D3. His blood work also showed "a change" in his white blood cells that indicates some sort of inflammation or infection. He is on Antibiotics, but I am going to ask about arthtritis to see if that may explain his weakened grip. His kidneys were showing a slight decrease in effectiveness but according to the vet; was not a worry, yet.
*sigh* If this were your chameleon, what would you do? I am battling with thoughts of euthanasia; he is not a happy guy and with little hope of him living longer, it seems pretty unfair to extend his life if he will be suffering.
He is 8 years old at least, and has not been doing very well lately. I am searching high and low for advice, information, anything, and it's really difficult. I did however find this on Senegal Chameleons, on their appearance:
Reference:
http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=164
I know there are differences between the species (Bert is a panther), but he exhibits the same physical attributes of the picture above; the eye turret is the most obvious. He gets 1.5-2cc of water with dilute Pedialyte along with frequent long mistings during the day and continues to show the same sunken eye look as a dehydrated Cham, or the older one above. The vet recommended 1cc/day and since he was not drinking on his own, during mistings, I increased the level. (his basking spot is 90, with gradient to 75 and is in a Screen cage, with live plant removed because of his mobility issues)
My main concern is that he may have some sort of cancer or tumor affecting his ability to eat/drink and absorb the appropriate nutrients. The vet bills are adding up and there is really nothing we can do if it is a tumor because he is so old. His quality of life is pretty limited right now, he has a weakened grip so his climbing vines and leaves have all been moved to a few inches from the ground so he doesn't injure himself if he falls. I frequently find him with his eyes closed, just laying there.
I did force feed insects, but he passed a cricket and two wax worms whole, so I took the advice of my vet and syringe fed chicken baby food. He seemed to perk up slightly after the switch. It is also much less stressful for him this way it seems.
His blood work came back and he had a slight calcium deficiency, I was dusting every other day, with T-rex Cricket Balancer and once monthly with calcium and D3. His blood work also showed "a change" in his white blood cells that indicates some sort of inflammation or infection. He is on Antibiotics, but I am going to ask about arthtritis to see if that may explain his weakened grip. His kidneys were showing a slight decrease in effectiveness but according to the vet; was not a worry, yet.
*sigh* If this were your chameleon, what would you do? I am battling with thoughts of euthanasia; he is not a happy guy and with little hope of him living longer, it seems pretty unfair to extend his life if he will be suffering.
