Comet Health Update

Thehippie

Thehippie

Chameleon Enthusiast
its been a couple of weeks since we got Comet and as ive seen him develop, things are not looking good. ill fill out the husbandry form below, his tongue is inherently very weak, his eyes are sunken, hes emaciated and hes got this kind of ptsd reaction to any human that walks into the room. I've tried so much to get him going but I'm going to have to get him a vet appointment even if its only drive by... I have a feeling that a fecal is in order and that we're gonna need some blood to see the organ levels and make sure that's ok. he hasn't tried to eat anything except a roach once and failed to get it in his mouth over 3 times.... this guys gonna take some serious work. I don't have many photos to come by as hes very skittish to me coming to his cage. hes always acted extremely lethargic and lazy when I'm not near his cage though. I have a feeling that his previous owner wasn't watching his eating as in the ad I got him off of, he said there were always escaping crickets. the stress of the move must have pushed him over and caused him to become overwhelmed.

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Comet, yellow crested jacksons chameleon, male, probably close to a year, chances are wild caught, been in my care for around two weeks
  • Handling - once to check his stuck shed and eyes to try and pin point signs or deficiency and see how well the shed is working off.
  • Feeding - tried a lot.. roaches are the only ones hes tried to eat. we thing he ate a hornworm the day after arrival but now we aren't too sure.. tried crickets, nymph roaches, hornworms, waxworms, superworms, and we're currently pupating hornworm moths to see if he'll go for something that flies being a montane species. we haven't yet established a feeding schedule and are yet to see him actively eat something.
  • Supplements - zoo med cal no d3 twice a week and repashy calcium plus (I think that's the name?) once a month was the schedule I had set for him but he hasn't eaten a thing...
  • Watering - misting for around 5 mins once in the morning and once before bed, he doesn't drink in front of me, hes quite honestly just too afraid to do anything in front of me so we're getting more foliage for him to hide in and more densely packing his cage.
  • Fecal Description - going to be tested when we get our apt set up, appts are pretty hard to come by with covid but we're trying to squeeze in
  • History - previous owner had him in a 18.18.24 exo with a compact and a branch... with dirt at the bottom... that was it..

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - 2x2x4 screen reptibreeze
  • Lighting - t5ho 6% arcadia with a basking of the mid 70s
  • Temperature - usually 74-76 basking to 70-71 ambient
  • Humidity - pressure misted that I set up top and mist for 5 mins, measuring with a standard hydrometer (I want digital)
  • Plants - arboricola, hibiscus and bromeliads are currently in there but we're getting more to replace the bromeliads
  • Placement - next to Bandits cage with a barrier so they cant see each other and on a table away from any air vents or fans, in my bedroom so it isn't high traffic
  • Location - Maryland
at this point I'm stumped... since his tongue is so weak, I'm going to offer him some smaller nymphs like maybe quarter inch and see if he'll take those tmr, hes only had interest in roaches so I'm hoping that will be a boost but hes very thin, his cheeks and casque are sunken and legs and toes are bone thin... trying to get him to not completely freak out when I walk in so ive tried walking in slowly, tried duck walking, even tried army crawling but he just sees me, hisses and runs.... I have no clue what to do... I think I might just have to cover his cage but I would really love some opinions on what you guys might try and what I can change. I cant exactly take pictures right now though because I ran out of storage on my phone and low and behold, my connection cord is refusing to connect my phone to my computer to transfer files so I ordered one and will try again a little later... the universe isn't exactly making this easier lol, nor are my 4000 photos....
 
Photos please...they help a lot sometimes.
Calling @JacksJill ....can you help please?

Also...since he's new to your "collection" he should be quarantined in another room and you should not use the same equipment for him as your other chameleon.
 
kinyonga said:
Photos please...they help a lot sometimes.
Calling @JacksJill ....can you help please?

Also...since he's new to your "collection" he should be quarantined in another room and you should not use the same equipment for him as your other chameleon.
Click to expand...
I did end up switching him over to my room after the second week, I had him quarantined but I thought he was ok, hes only been there for a few days, I'm in the process of setting up a hospital bin to keep him in the room next door again.... they don't share the same equipment since both have their own tongs and misters and other things, I don't like to cross contaminate even if they've been in the same condition for a long time. I honestly thought it was a hunger strike due to stress and so I moved him in but as I got more time to watch him in my room, I realized there was something clearly wrong with him and am calling into my local vet hospital tomorrow to try and book for earliest tomorrow afternoon or latest Saturday night.
 
I will try and post photos as soon as the new cord ships in within a few days so I can clear storage on my phone. my local reptile specialist vet is super good so ill try and get his opinion too and will update all of you with the news from the vet, I'm super worried about finding anything contagious to Bandit because that's just going to be a massive struggle but either way, Bandits half year check up is coming up too so during that we'll check him with a fecal too.
 
kinyonga said:
Please post photos.
Click to expand...
as soon as I can clear the storage on my phone, the cord I use to connect the computer and phone broke a while back and ive run out of space on my phone earlier this past week. my charger is a cord fused with a charging block so there isn't a usb port but as soon as I get the cord, Ill clear up space on my phone and get the pictures posted.
 
I would set up a drip and see if that will get him drinking.
You could also try to sneak an insect between his teeth when his mouth is opening and shutting as he drinks. If he won't take an insect that way there is definitely something going on.
 
Thehippie said:
as soon as I can clear the storage on my phone, the cord I use to connect the computer and phone broke a while back and ive run out of space on my phone earlier this past week. my charger is a cord fused with a charging block so there isn't a usb port but as soon as I get the cord, Ill clear up space on my phone and get the pictures posted.
Click to expand...
Sorry...I didn't red the post about the cord until after I asked again about the photos. :(
 
kinyonga said:
I would set up a drip and see if that will get him drinking.
You could also try to sneak an insect between his teeth when his mouth is opening and shutting as he drinks. If he won't take an insect that way there is definitely something going on.
Click to expand...
alright, ill put him into the bin first thing in the morning and set up the dripper to try getting him to drink, he wont drink around me or with me watching though so it may be hard to catch him drinking much less sneak an insect in there
 
kinyonga said:
I would set up a drip and see if that will get him drinking.
You could also try to sneak an insect between his teeth when his mouth is opening and shutting as he drinks. If he won't take an insect that way there is definitely something going on.
Click to expand...
he did show much interest in a half inch roach while I was studying yesterday though, my suspicion is that he has something internal going on as he tried to eat it many times but just wasn't strong enough to grab it and get it to his mouth. I'm going to leave a dish of quarter inches in there and see if he'll eat them. he definitely has a feeding response, hes just very weak.
 
I sympathize! If I'm not having trouble with my tablet then it's my cell phone or my email server...and there's not much I can do since everything is shutdown. :(
 
kinyonga said:
I sympathize! If I'm not having trouble with my tablet then it's my cell phone or my email server...and there's not much I can do since everything is shutdown. :(
Click to expand...
technology is way too complex for me.... too many buttons and short cuts and other things, cant remember them all.... I know how to type and get to the app store but that's about it...although I got to the app store, it took me a month to figure out how to download things on my new computer.... o_O
 
"They" changed my email this week (not on here) and it took me almost an hour to find where they hid the "sign out button". I texted them and asked how to sign out and they told me all kind of stuff about browsers and everything else but saying "click here and the list will drop down". :(

For the chameleon...it would be better if you could use the dripper in the cage and not have to move him much since he's not doing well...no more stress than absolutely necessary would be best IMHO.
 
kinyonga said:
"They" changed my email this week (not on here) and it took me almost an hour to find where they hid the "sign out button". I texted them and asked how to sign out and they told me all kind of stuff about browsers and everything else but saying "click here and the list will drop down". :(

For the chameleon...it would be better if you could use the dripper in the cage and not have to move him much since he's not doing well...no more stress than absolutely necessary would be best IMHO.
Click to expand...
alrighty, i'll make that happen asap in the morning, ive got a friend whos mom works at our vets office so I'm gonna contact them and see if she can put us in for tomorrow afternoon or as soon as they'll allow
 
kinyonga said:
There's also "bug juice" that you can use but it will add to the stress...so you'd have to decide at the moment which is worse...need for food or no stress...
https://www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/bug-juice.html
Click to expand...
thank you, we'll see what the vet says and decide whats best stress wise based on the diagnosis! :) hope its not too serious but we took him in as a rescue being prepared for anything that might come our way so this isn't unexpected. Rescues are tricky like that but its all worth it taking a life and making it so much better in the long run!
 
update: offices are closed weekends due to covid, 10 am Monday is the apt which gave us time to get a fecal and that happened tonight, sitting in our feeder fridge right now, good news, he had a few 1/4 inch dubias!! been running the dripper and he seems to be ok with it
 
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