Several Zombies
New Member
Hello,
I'm sad to say that I've joined the forum because my chameleon of about a year and a half has died. I'm just looking for some answers as to what might have caused his demise, and to see if any of you have perhaps experienced similar illnesses with your chams.
The chameleon in question was a piebald male Veiled. After getting him from the local pet shop, I took him to the vet to make sure he was healthy and free of worms. Once he had a clean bill of health, I took him home and went about setting up his enclosure. It was a tall, mesh enclosure with a large, fake hibiscus tree in the center, with many vines tied around the branches and trunk to give him something to climb on. There was no substrate, just a plastic tray to catch any droppings. The light was a Exo-terra MVB, 125W if I recall correctly -- temperatures were about 80-85 up near the lamp. Basically, his enclosure was safe and functional. In terms of feeders, he ate mostly gutloaded crickets dusted with calcium in addition to a few butterworms here and there as a treat.
For the first little while he seemed fine, but a few months down the road he started having issues with his eyes, constantly keeping his left eye closed. Immediately, I suspected the MVB and replaced it. Still, I took him to the vet and she said she didn't know what was causing him to close his eye, as it didn't appear to be any kind of ailment related to improper UVB. After flushing it with saline, he seemed to improve only to get even worse about a month later. A large, boil-like growth appeared on his head above his left eye, as well as a significant patch of swelling on the eyelid itself. Al the pressure seemed to be pushing his actual eyeball downward, to the point where he couldn't see out of it at all. Despite many expensive trips to the vet, she had no idea what was causing the growth. She was reluctant to perform a biopsy in case the eye itself was the bump, and had been displaced. After a few weeks like this, his right, healthy eye began failing too. Both eyes at this point were producing a clear discharge, leading me (and my vet) to believe it may be some sort of infection. A month or so on antibiotics with no improvement discounted that theory. By this point, I was reasonably sure he'd lost all sight in his left eye due to the sheer amount of time it had been closed, but his right could still be saved. After doing some research, my vet suggested that it could be a vitamin A deficiency, as the calcium/vitamin supplements available for most reptiles are actually ineffective for Veiled Chameleons (they cant absorb it the same way). A few doses of vitamin A later and he seemed to be improving, though we were careful to monitor him as the doses can be tough on their system. Both his eyes were now open and appeared to be functioning, though he still couldn't see well enough to hunt. Eventually, due to his inability to actually catch prey, I had to start feeding him a liquid diet (carnivore care). Despite this, he didn't seem to be gaining any weight and appeared constantly dehydrated despite the copious amount of fluids he was getting. Still, he seemed on the track to recovery, until this morning. When I went in to check on him, he seemed very weak and was a pale yellow-green color. Throughout the morning he fell from his vines twice. I took him out of his cage and gave him his food and water, as well as a steam which seemed to help him. About an hour later when I looked in on him again, he was slumped over on his side, mostly black in color, and not breathing. He had died.
Right now I'm just looking for some answers as to what might have done him in. My vet seems largely clueless and I haven't been able to find any information on chams with similar problems. Hopefully the community can come to my aid.
I'm sad to say that I've joined the forum because my chameleon of about a year and a half has died. I'm just looking for some answers as to what might have caused his demise, and to see if any of you have perhaps experienced similar illnesses with your chams.
The chameleon in question was a piebald male Veiled. After getting him from the local pet shop, I took him to the vet to make sure he was healthy and free of worms. Once he had a clean bill of health, I took him home and went about setting up his enclosure. It was a tall, mesh enclosure with a large, fake hibiscus tree in the center, with many vines tied around the branches and trunk to give him something to climb on. There was no substrate, just a plastic tray to catch any droppings. The light was a Exo-terra MVB, 125W if I recall correctly -- temperatures were about 80-85 up near the lamp. Basically, his enclosure was safe and functional. In terms of feeders, he ate mostly gutloaded crickets dusted with calcium in addition to a few butterworms here and there as a treat.
For the first little while he seemed fine, but a few months down the road he started having issues with his eyes, constantly keeping his left eye closed. Immediately, I suspected the MVB and replaced it. Still, I took him to the vet and she said she didn't know what was causing him to close his eye, as it didn't appear to be any kind of ailment related to improper UVB. After flushing it with saline, he seemed to improve only to get even worse about a month later. A large, boil-like growth appeared on his head above his left eye, as well as a significant patch of swelling on the eyelid itself. Al the pressure seemed to be pushing his actual eyeball downward, to the point where he couldn't see out of it at all. Despite many expensive trips to the vet, she had no idea what was causing the growth. She was reluctant to perform a biopsy in case the eye itself was the bump, and had been displaced. After a few weeks like this, his right, healthy eye began failing too. Both eyes at this point were producing a clear discharge, leading me (and my vet) to believe it may be some sort of infection. A month or so on antibiotics with no improvement discounted that theory. By this point, I was reasonably sure he'd lost all sight in his left eye due to the sheer amount of time it had been closed, but his right could still be saved. After doing some research, my vet suggested that it could be a vitamin A deficiency, as the calcium/vitamin supplements available for most reptiles are actually ineffective for Veiled Chameleons (they cant absorb it the same way). A few doses of vitamin A later and he seemed to be improving, though we were careful to monitor him as the doses can be tough on their system. Both his eyes were now open and appeared to be functioning, though he still couldn't see well enough to hunt. Eventually, due to his inability to actually catch prey, I had to start feeding him a liquid diet (carnivore care). Despite this, he didn't seem to be gaining any weight and appeared constantly dehydrated despite the copious amount of fluids he was getting. Still, he seemed on the track to recovery, until this morning. When I went in to check on him, he seemed very weak and was a pale yellow-green color. Throughout the morning he fell from his vines twice. I took him out of his cage and gave him his food and water, as well as a steam which seemed to help him. About an hour later when I looked in on him again, he was slumped over on his side, mostly black in color, and not breathing. He had died.
Right now I'm just looking for some answers as to what might have done him in. My vet seems largely clueless and I haven't been able to find any information on chams with similar problems. Hopefully the community can come to my aid.