ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
If he’s willing to eat more, let him eat a little more
Dehydrated and stressed from a move
- Thread starter Rango69
- Start date
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
Under 60*F (I believe) needs a low wattage ceramic heat emitter. They need complete darkness at night
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
Agree with above^
Rango69
New Member
He is not willing to eat anything. Everything requires opening his mouth and shoving in food, can't wait till the day he will go after food. I took the night heat lamp out per your suggestions- Thank you. This morning I was able to get calcium drops and carnivore food in him and then I had him eat 3 superworms. He spit out the last one but I put it back in and he was good and swallowed it. I have hornworms and butterworms being shipped tomorrow. I have been misting him like crazy and put a cold humidifier under him which basically looked like a fogging system. This morning after an hour of the fog, he had enough and actually got up and moved away from it- but I was glad to see him move for the first time. Decided against the bath thing, believing you all over the vet on this one. I have even been misting him if I wake up in the middle of the night. I'm super happy to see his first poo that is brown and white. 
I think he is getting better. What do you all think? I can't believe I was so super excited about poop.
I think he is getting better. What do you all think? I can't believe I was so super excited about poop.Attachments
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
Awesome! But don’t let your guard down just yet...He is not willing to eat anything. Everything requires opening his mouth and shoving in food, can't wait till the day he will go after food. I took the night heat lamp out per your suggestions- Thank you. This morning I was able to get calcium drops and carnivore food in him and then I had him eat 3 superworms. He spit out the last one but I put it back in and he was good and swallowed it. I have hornworms and butterworms being shipped tomorrow. I have been misting him like crazy and put a cold humidifier under him which basically looked like a fogging system. This morning after an hour of the fog, he had enough and actually got up and moved away from it- but I was glad to see him move for the first time. Decided against the bath thing, believing you all over the vet on this one. I have even been misting him if I wake up in the middle of the night. I'm super happy to see his first poo that is brown and white.
Chameleon keeping takes you to some odd places, doesn’t it? When you got your first Cham, did you ever think you’d find yourself online screaming to a group of total strangers how excited you are over poop?!
Rango69
New Member
@Brodybreaux25 no I didn't. And I never thought I would get up in the middle of the night to take care of a sick lizard! This is a crazy ride.
Rango69
New Member
I believe you all have saved this little guys life!!!! I don't know what I would've done without you. Telling me to take him to the vet may have been obvious to you but I don't think I would've done it without you telling me to do it NOW. It has been 2 weeks and 2 days since I took him to the vet and for the past 2 days he has opened both eye and looked at me. He only opens his eyes when I approach the cage but previous owner said it has been 6 months since he has opened his eyes. His eyes are no longer sunken and getting 2 hours of sun each day has changed his color, he is so green and pretty now. He has been getting .4 ml of calcium twice a day and 1 TBSP of Carnivore care once every morning.
Now he is strong enough to fight me about shoving food down his throat. He grabs my hand and pushes it away - so cute but then again he is hissing at me the whole time so it is stressful for us both. Now that he is strong enough to protest about food I want him to start eating on his own. I offer him worms before I feed him but he just looks at them. I have gotten a hornworm in his mouth but he held his mouth open and shook his head till it fell out - not sure if he has ever had one and probably thought it was something foreign. I have had a cricket in his cage for about 4 hours today but he doesn't seem to care. I will continue to put it in his cage for a couple of hours each day but what else should I do? I have decreased his Carnivore Care (mostly because it is such a fight to get it in his mouth now) and was hoping he would be hungry with less food.
I will post a photo, he is so pretty and looks awesome. Cant wait till he actually climbs around his cage and is active. I KNOW he is going to pull out of this, even tho the vet said it was probably too late, and I'm starting to plan out his new cage. He definitely needs a larger cage and I will need your help and suggestions with that also but first..... Please how do I get him to eat on his own? He can't live on what I call baby food by a syringe.
Now he is strong enough to fight me about shoving food down his throat. He grabs my hand and pushes it away - so cute but then again he is hissing at me the whole time so it is stressful for us both. Now that he is strong enough to protest about food I want him to start eating on his own. I offer him worms before I feed him but he just looks at them. I have gotten a hornworm in his mouth but he held his mouth open and shook his head till it fell out - not sure if he has ever had one and probably thought it was something foreign. I have had a cricket in his cage for about 4 hours today but he doesn't seem to care. I will continue to put it in his cage for a couple of hours each day but what else should I do? I have decreased his Carnivore Care (mostly because it is such a fight to get it in his mouth now) and was hoping he would be hungry with less food.
I will post a photo, he is so pretty and looks awesome. Cant wait till he actually climbs around his cage and is active. I KNOW he is going to pull out of this, even tho the vet said it was probably too late, and I'm starting to plan out his new cage. He definitely needs a larger cage and I will need your help and suggestions with that also but first..... Please how do I get him to eat on his own? He can't live on what I call baby food by a syringe.
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
No sir. Absolutely not.
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
.....YOU did!
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
On the carnivore care.... if your doing something that’s working, don’t stop! Once he actually starts eating on his own, that’s when I think you should begin to decrease use.
Excellent job!
Excellent job!
Rango69
New Member
Okay, Thank you. It's not as easy as before when he was basically in a coma but I will continue. His choice, eat on your own or I'm keeping you alive by force feeding. I will continue to offer a cricket and worms each morning before feeding him. When I went to get him tonight to give him his calcium, I couldn't believe this site so I had to grab the camera. Look at these eyes!!! They are huge, 2 weeks ago they were totally recessed. I will check in again in a week or two. THANK YOU for the encouragement. I really need your support knowing nothing about lizards and here I am running Chameleon ICU clinic.
Attachments
Rango69
New Member
Would love your opinion on a cage. I want to get him a 4 foot cage, in hopes that one day he will move off the perch he has lived on for the past 2 weeks. I found a used one super cheap but since it is not screen I don't know if this is the best option for him. It is 20x 31x 50. How awesome is that??!! But has wire instead of screen so I'm not sure how that works when he is actually eating food again. This is not going to keep crickets in and no screen to put the worms on the side of the cage. I guess I could line the inside with screen. I don't want to get excited about the size instead of what is best for him and my ability to keep food in his environment. Your thoughts on this cage?
Attachments
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
I’ve see them used before with and without mesh. Your feeding options will be restricted to hand or cup feeding. As long as you can keep the humidity up and keep him from squeezing between the bars you should be fine.
Rango69
New Member
6 weeks later I am happily surprised that Rango is still with us. Not doing great but hanging in there. After a month of following the first vet's advice, Rango threw up after a feeding. OMG was that scary and the next day I took him to a new vet. Bloodwork showed phosphates 10 and calcium 6. His calcium was increased and he was put on a phosphate binding medication along with a deworm medication. Not doing so good with all these medications and I think some got in his lungs cause he was coughing for a couple of days. I stopped the medicine 2 days ago (after 2 weeks) and he stopped the coughing and heavy breathing (you can hear this at the very end of the video when he stands up). Vet says Baytril cannot be given orally to chams and I'm not sure I really want to shove more medicine in him. I'm hoping he has an immune system to fight any infection off. I know he needs food but forcing the carnivore care seems too stressful. I'm thinking of trying to just get a worm into him until he gets his appetite back. Video of Rango Sneezing and breathing deep - I'm so glad he stopped doing the sneezing thing.
Attachments
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
Honest question, not trying to be rude... why would you deviate from your vets instructions, do you not trust them?
Rango69
New Member
Totally okay to ask. I am checking on this guy hourly for the past 6 weeks and feel I know him pretty well- but admit I am not a vet. 2 days ago while giving him his food and medicine, he started choking and when he was attempting to breath he was wheezing really bad and could not get any air. He was totally freaked out and so was I! If I even got near his cage for the next 2 days, he looked at me in horror so I left him alone. This morning I was able to give him his last dosage of deworm medication and he willingly took his liquid calcium. While smacking his lips from the calcium that he seems to really like, I put a black solider fly larva in his mouth. At first I could tell he wasn't sure but swallowed it so I put another in his mouth which he also swallowed. I showed him another and he checked it out but didn't attempt to eat on his own and I didn't want to force feed too much so i stopped and didn't administer the carnivore care today. Both vets want him to be weaned off Carnivore care which he has lived on for the past 6 weeks. I will attempt his medications again tonight
