Hello everyone, its been quite a while since Ive been around but I have a chameleon that has just stumped me.
Your Chameleon - He is a WC panther which has been state side for 2+yrs now. He has been treated for all parasites and is still clean. Best guess on age would be 3ish.
Feeding - He gets fed every other day with crickets as a staple and other feeders occasionally all gutloaded and kept clean.
Supplements - I alternate herptivite, minerall with d3 and calcium without every feeding is dusted.
Watering - He is sprayed 2-3 times daily, and given a dripper
Fecals - His fecals look normal.
History - He had no issues from importation and he has acted totally normal until about 3 1/2 weeks ago. As winter came, the house temps dropped. It wasn't really bad but nightime temps would get around 65, daytime ambient was like 70. I noticed him not eating as normal (quantity wise) for about a week. I have dealt with URIs around this change of season alot unfortunately. I just attributed it to the temps at the time as a few of my others slowed eating a little as well.
As far as his cage set up its pretty standard.
Cage - 4x4x2 screen cage 3 sides of cage covered for humidity retention top and front open.
Lighting - 2 fluorescent fixture above, 1 grow bulb, 1 reptisun 5.0 as well as 1 75 watt incandescent for basking
Temperature - under the basking light its 85-90. And as low at 65 towards the lower parts of the cage
Humidity - I use an ultrasonic humidifier during the daytime and shut it off before I go to sleep. It keeps the humidity at 50%. At night it drops to nearly nothing in the winter. We have forced air heat in a very old house.
Location - The cage is in a very low traffic area, he does not get bothered much.
Plants - I use 1 tall palm and 1 s. arbicola in his cage.
Geographic Location - I am outside of Buffalo NY.
Now to the issue.... This has me stumped and I think my vet as well tbh.
About 3 weeks ago I noticed he was on the ground in the middle of the night and he hadn't been 2 hours earlier. I helped him back into the tree his grip was strong he moved well and all seemed fine. I watched him for the next few days with no odd signs, other than he wasn't eating as much as usual. 3-4 days later I noticed him leaning to his left quite severely on his perch. I took him out and he continued to lean to his left, I honestly at the time thought he was trying to hide, now I know that was not the case. After another two days he was actually turning his head to the left and arching his body as well. At this point he stopped eating on his own. If I put a cricket or hornworm in front of him he would open up and eat it if I put it in his mouth. It took me about an hour to get an appointment with my vet and I rushed over.
At this point he showed no sign of a URI. I was going on the premise that it was either a broken bone from his fall or possible nutritional, at the same time I was not opposed to trying some antibiotics. The vet didn't seem to think that it was a broken bone, we opted out of an x-ray. We did do the standard nutrient shots, A D3 Ca as well as fluids, I also came home with some metacam and ceftazdime. 3 doses into the ceftazdime (9 days later) it was pretty clear that wasn't helping. As he developed the tell tale signs of the URI while on it, extended gular crest, popping while exhaling, and excess this mucous in the mouth. I went back and got some chloampenichol. I am 4 doses into that now, and still see no improvement with either the URI symptoms or the fact that he his almost totally turned to his left at all times.
I did notice one interesting thing since this all started, that I have never seen in any cham before. He seems to have lost the ability to match the colors on his left and right sides. His head actually has a line going down the middle, His right half is "fired up" and his left is "dark basking". This is only since he has started to turn his head to the left, at first it really looked like he might of had a stroke. But he retains good grip all his limbs, just lacks coordination and balance.
One more thing that I noticed while clearing his mouth the other day. His trachea seems to run to the right side of his throat, not sure if it is because he is turned or what. It also seems to extend much further forward than other chams I have seen. Again not sure if his is due to inflammation as if is very red at the tip. One more thing, his tongue seems to be a little redder than I am used to seeing.
I hope I was able to include all the info. Any questions please ask. I am totally stumped on this one. If anyone has some ideas or similar experience please let me know. Thanks in advance.
Your Chameleon - He is a WC panther which has been state side for 2+yrs now. He has been treated for all parasites and is still clean. Best guess on age would be 3ish.
Feeding - He gets fed every other day with crickets as a staple and other feeders occasionally all gutloaded and kept clean.
Supplements - I alternate herptivite, minerall with d3 and calcium without every feeding is dusted.
Watering - He is sprayed 2-3 times daily, and given a dripper
Fecals - His fecals look normal.
History - He had no issues from importation and he has acted totally normal until about 3 1/2 weeks ago. As winter came, the house temps dropped. It wasn't really bad but nightime temps would get around 65, daytime ambient was like 70. I noticed him not eating as normal (quantity wise) for about a week. I have dealt with URIs around this change of season alot unfortunately. I just attributed it to the temps at the time as a few of my others slowed eating a little as well.
As far as his cage set up its pretty standard.
Cage - 4x4x2 screen cage 3 sides of cage covered for humidity retention top and front open.
Lighting - 2 fluorescent fixture above, 1 grow bulb, 1 reptisun 5.0 as well as 1 75 watt incandescent for basking
Temperature - under the basking light its 85-90. And as low at 65 towards the lower parts of the cage
Humidity - I use an ultrasonic humidifier during the daytime and shut it off before I go to sleep. It keeps the humidity at 50%. At night it drops to nearly nothing in the winter. We have forced air heat in a very old house.
Location - The cage is in a very low traffic area, he does not get bothered much.
Plants - I use 1 tall palm and 1 s. arbicola in his cage.
Geographic Location - I am outside of Buffalo NY.
Now to the issue.... This has me stumped and I think my vet as well tbh.
About 3 weeks ago I noticed he was on the ground in the middle of the night and he hadn't been 2 hours earlier. I helped him back into the tree his grip was strong he moved well and all seemed fine. I watched him for the next few days with no odd signs, other than he wasn't eating as much as usual. 3-4 days later I noticed him leaning to his left quite severely on his perch. I took him out and he continued to lean to his left, I honestly at the time thought he was trying to hide, now I know that was not the case. After another two days he was actually turning his head to the left and arching his body as well. At this point he stopped eating on his own. If I put a cricket or hornworm in front of him he would open up and eat it if I put it in his mouth. It took me about an hour to get an appointment with my vet and I rushed over.
At this point he showed no sign of a URI. I was going on the premise that it was either a broken bone from his fall or possible nutritional, at the same time I was not opposed to trying some antibiotics. The vet didn't seem to think that it was a broken bone, we opted out of an x-ray. We did do the standard nutrient shots, A D3 Ca as well as fluids, I also came home with some metacam and ceftazdime. 3 doses into the ceftazdime (9 days later) it was pretty clear that wasn't helping. As he developed the tell tale signs of the URI while on it, extended gular crest, popping while exhaling, and excess this mucous in the mouth. I went back and got some chloampenichol. I am 4 doses into that now, and still see no improvement with either the URI symptoms or the fact that he his almost totally turned to his left at all times.
I did notice one interesting thing since this all started, that I have never seen in any cham before. He seems to have lost the ability to match the colors on his left and right sides. His head actually has a line going down the middle, His right half is "fired up" and his left is "dark basking". This is only since he has started to turn his head to the left, at first it really looked like he might of had a stroke. But he retains good grip all his limbs, just lacks coordination and balance.
One more thing that I noticed while clearing his mouth the other day. His trachea seems to run to the right side of his throat, not sure if it is because he is turned or what. It also seems to extend much further forward than other chams I have seen. Again not sure if his is due to inflammation as if is very red at the tip. One more thing, his tongue seems to be a little redder than I am used to seeing.
I hope I was able to include all the info. Any questions please ask. I am totally stumped on this one. If anyone has some ideas or similar experience please let me know. Thanks in advance.
hang in there, will add your buddy to my little cham pray chain 
