Cham first aid

Brodybreaux25

Chameleon Enthusiast
Credit: Petr Necas

EMERGENCY FIRST AID MYTH UNLEASHED
Aka
Emergency measures if a chameleon gets unwell or ill...

Again and again we read in reports about treatment of any disease, MBD, health problems that people
do,
get advice to do and
advise to do:

HEAT
Keep the animal warm
Put it under heat source
Put it under ceramic heater
Heat at night

HUMIDITY
Mist several times a day
Shower
Soak in water
Provide lots of water

HEAVILY HYDRATE
Force to drink big amounts of water
Let him sit under a stream of water
Let him drink from water in a bathtub when soaked

BEWARE, these practices are best suited to:

WORSEN THE HEALTH ISSUES
TO EFFECTIVELY KILL THE ANIMAL!!!

DO NEVER DO IT!!!

Why:
1. increased temperature speeds up the metabolism, speeds up spreading poisons in the body, speeds up the development of the disease
2. Heating up means usually heating above the optimum and this has a disastrous influence on homeostasis
3. Too much moisture especially at high temperatures in not well ventilated space is one of the most reasons for spreading diseases im captivity never ever found in the wild!
4. Too much water destroys the homeostasis and cause cell/tissue/organ damage due to osmosis!
5. Additional contact with water causes stress
6. The skin is impenetrable for water!

WHAT TO DO:

1. Act quickly (do not wait, do not take time, every minute counts!)
2. Keep the animal COOL (Switch off the heat sources!)
3. Let the chameleon drink a little (maximum 0,5% of his body mass a day, NOT MORE!)
4. Do not mist, do not shower, do not soak in water!
5. Seek advice of experienced people (ignore well meant but not based on expertise strange comments and hints)
6. Seek a VET intervention of a well educated reputable exotic VET, if necessary
 
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My vet always said to raise the temperature when a chameleon was sick...depending on what the reason for the illness was of course.
These suggest the same thing...
http://www.djur.cob.lu.se/Djurartiklar/Feber.html

And..
https://jeb.biologists.org/content/213/5/661
"Iguanas held at an elevated temperature after bacterial infection had a significantly higher rate of survival, indicating the importance of fever in reptiles." (I realize it says iguanas)

And...
https://watermark.silverchair.com/1...uwOQ21sM2tVUBrJ8ltrsVRBSkDBfLZWNxd39DXbBjPc4k
 
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