Cramping, not eating

Color

New Member
Please help. We have a 6 month old chameleon "Color" in an 18 gal. tall aquarium, carpet, 2 live plants, heating element 90 degrees, UVA/UVB light on 12 hrs/day. Offer her crickets and mealworms. Crickets are fed Flukers and are powered with Jurassi Cal. Water would be sprayed on the side of the aquarium 4-5 times a day. Often would watch her drink. Humidity was around 70%

Up until 2 weeks ago, she was doing great. Eating 5 crickets in AM and PM with some mealworms as dessert. All of a sudden, she drastically reduced her eating/drinking. She doesn't move around her cage much. Her color was really dark, curled up near the bottom. I took her to the vet - checked out weight wise just fine. Her fecal sample had lots of parasites. Thus 3 days of antibiotics. Her color came back - but she hasn't eaten anything. Vet said that the humidity should be 40-50% and the heating element should be turned off at night since she is from the mountain area and there is quite the temperature difference and the humidity is low.

Just tonight, I had her out in my hand and she basically fell, doubled over in pain, mouth open, tail twitching, feet grabbing onto themselves. She did come out of it, color was always green. I force fed her 2 drops of water - at 2 different times, thinking that she needs it.

Currently she is back in her cage sitting in as verticle of a position as possible.

I would really appreciate any feedback. It is so tough seeing her go through this and not knowing what I can do to assist.

Thank you.
 
What species is she? You say she comes from the mountains so she is a montane species. Is she wild caught?
Why do so many people buy aquariums? Arghh 'True' chameleons do best in vivariums that are at least part mesh for good ventilation. I would also not use carpet. You need to identify her species asap before we can comment on temperatures/humidity etc.
 
I have very little chameleon experience, but unfortunately I will say that what you are describing sounds ljust ike how my corey acted before she died. She had a mass in her colon, but we thought food impaction until we opened her up (would have displayed the same symptoms according to my vet). I would recommend that you take her to your vet for xrays. My vet did xrays, two enimas and a barrium study (from that we could see that stuff was not able to pass through).
Good luck
 
Color Update

I thank you for your replies. I brought Color (Veiled Chameleon) to the vet this morning. He said that Color was quite dehydrated, eyes sunk, and basically the prognosis was "poor" for recovery even if we did Xrays, enema (tough procedure because there are 3 different orafices from the same exterior entrance)and hydration under the skin. So, Color is now out of pain and I/we are so sad.

I very much appreciate this forum for information and support.
 
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I am sorry to hear about Color. Any idea how she got the parasites? Was she captive bred?
 
The why/how Color got the parasites (found in stool sample) - the vet stated that they can be passed on by the mother - through the eggs to her young. They can also be contracted by the live food they eat. I was told the cleanliness of environment the 'food' lives in from the store/source can contaminate your pet.

This would be a great reason to make sure you are cleaning the cage thoroughly on a very regular basis - and removing the waste ASAP.
 
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