Cham problems since leaving town

[Olimpia]

I'm sorry that we hear about incompetent pet-sitters so often. It's horrible, and I hope that you make it clear to them that you had to pay $X at the vet because of their negligence. It's not acceptable. A decent person would pay you back.

That said, excellent tricks to get chameleons back to health would be:
1. Sunshine. Even if it's only for 20 minutes daily, if you can get her outside for some sunshine, it usually does wonders.

2. High water-content foods like silkworms and hornworms. They are high in calcium as well, so that's a plus. On top of any extra misting you do feeders like these will definitely help with any dehydration.

3. Warm mistings. And preferably long mistings, of a minimum of 10 minutes but more like 15-20. I usually use a pesticide-style pump full of hot water, put the chameleon on a plant in the shower and aim the misting nuzzle at them on the finest mist setting. The hot water will come out warm as mist. They may not like it at first, but they do usually start to drink and there's nothing like warm water to stimulate their GI tract, amongst other things. It seems to really get their systems going.

Try all these things if possible, they should definitely help getting her happy and healthy again. Best of luck with your girl!

 

[kanjiman]

i wish the sunshine was possible.. but seattle in october normally sucks... i was thinking about switching to a different light so i could get the temp up.

question about #2. how can i get her to eat them? she hasn't normally kept her eyes open for very long and she didn't really like them before so i'm not sure what to do about feeding her.. :/

for 3. i did that last night. i will be doing it again today. it seemed to work well. thanks for the suggestions!

 

[kanjiman]

any thoughts on how to get her to eat? i've tried dangling crickets in front of her and letting them roam. but since she won't open her eyes for very much, she won't eat them.. she hasn't eaten at all from what i've seen.

also, i found out that the guy smokes weed and did it right next to Amy.. would that do anything to the cham?

3rd shower so far.. she seems to enjoy them and drink from it quite a bit. but still not keeping her eyes open.. any thoughts on what else i can do? thanks!

also, she has a pretty good grip so far.. but when she's resting, during the shower and after i put her back in her cage, she sits there and puts her face against things...

 

[carol5208]

any thoughts on how to get her to eat? i've tried dangling crickets in front of her and letting them roam. but since she won't open her eyes for very much, she won't eat them.. she hasn't eaten at all from what i've seen.

also, i found out that the guy smokes weed and did it right next to Amy.. would that do anything to the cham?

3rd shower so far.. she seems to enjoy them and drink from it quite a bit. but still not keeping her eyes open.. any thoughts on what else i can do? thanks!

also, she has a pretty good grip so far.. but when she's resting, during the shower and after i put her back in her cage, she sits there and puts her face against things...

a friend of mine took in a chameleon that would not (or could not) open its eyes either. This went on for quite some time, but she had the luxury of putting the chameleon outside in the natural sunlight which I know was very beneficial for the chameleon. While they were closed she would rub the crickets and worms on his mouth and he would open his mouth and eat them. When you say dangle in front of, are you doing that or making contact with your chameleons mouth?. I mean if she cannot see, she is not going to eat which I am sure you are aware of. When she is drinking I would try and put a feeder in her mouth or atleast right up to her mouth and maybe she will grab it. As far as weed, i don't think it would cause a chameleon to permanently close its eyes. JMO. I know I am liking your pet sitter less and less the more I am hearing...

 

[kanjiman]

thanks for the advice. there hasn't been much contact from the feeder.. but those are great ideas! only reason i didn't try touching the feeder to Amy is because a few days ago, when she was in the shower, a drop had hit her mouth (just the mouth not the eyes or anything) and she shook her head real bad!

i know right? i've been talking a lot to them to try to get them to tell me what exactly went on because i don't really believe what they're telling me for the most part. and then as i was cleaning out her cage, the cage wreaked of weed! i don't touch the stuff myself so i had to let it air out outside (in the rain) while i was giving Amy a shower.. :/

 

[squeekz1992]

I am so sorry! Wow, I can't even imagine how you feel about with the pet "sitter".

I don't know anything about weed and chams, but as far as getting her to eat, I would try baby food. Just bright stuff. Veggies and fruit that you would feed to her in their normal state if she was interested in them. I went to walmart and asked for a syringe, just a teeny little one and they gave it to me for free. Just be sure to tell them it's for a sick pet and they seem to be very sympathetic!!

A thought just occured to me about the weed... Coud it be that it severely irritated her eyes and airways?? Just a thought, but I was wondering maybe it is like when we go out and are around a lot of smokers and the next day our eyes and stuff are irritated?? MAybe the showers will help that go away? Sorry, I was just pondering out loud.

Definitely try babyfood if she won't eat anything for you!! Best of luck!

 

[kanjiman]

i'll try that too... thanks! i just went to turn out the lights and she had fallen onto the ground... i'm so upset about all this right now...

 

[kanjiman]

so.. good and bad update... lets start with the bad.. she started falling off of her plant.. she's done that at least 4 times in the past couple days that i've seen. i know it doesn't hurt them really bad but it still freaks me out and it's making me thing more is going on than the vet and myself saw.. that being said, after i gave Amy a shower last night, i noticed she was opening and closing her mouth to try to get some more water. so i turned the shower back on and decided to try to trick her.. i got her to eat one cricket! i know it's not much but at least that's something.. i tried to give her more but she would just spit them out... i haven't tried the baby food yet..

i did notice that when i get her in the shower, she runs (not walks) closer and closer to the splash so i think she's enjoying that now.. also, i think she's really starting to like me too.. in the showers she won't stay on the plant and she'll do what she can to get to my hand (it seems)..

my vet called last night to get an update on Amy and i told her all that was happening. i'm going to be bringing her in again today and we're going to at least do a fecal..

 

[kanjiman]

i went home early today to bring her to the vet... got home and she was in terrible condition... the vet took her and said they were going to keep her. 3 hours after i dropped her off, i got a call from the vet saying that she was being unresponsive and not breathing.. we decided to put her down.. it's a rough night for sure. they're going to be doing a free autopsy let me know what caused it... worst night ever...

 

[RAFASTAR23]

I'm really sorry for your loss!