Do you think it might have killed her?

[pssh]

So I got this female recently. She was already sort of ill and was closing her right eye. She started to go downhill fairly quickly. Then my sister, not thinking and being really lame, started to smoke in the room where the female was with 4 of her friends. The smoke was pretty thick when I walked in. (Cig smoke) Do you think it would have been enough to push the female over the edge?

She had a vet appt for Monday but she passed away last night.

Thanks for any replies I get.

 

[suzi]

I am going to venture a guess and say that she was probably really sick already. I very stupidly left the gas on inmy house for a few hours before I realized it was on! Thank god I didn't kill myself, my son or my animals! I am usually so careful with things like that I can't believe I did that. Through that ordeal I was left very surprised that the chams were completely unaffected. Made me realize they must be hardier than I thought. I. Am very sorry for your loss

 

[DavidBuchan]

It sort of could have been the last straw, but I think it would be silly to blame your sister. True, she was being really lame, but if it was just the once then you couldn't even say for definite that it was a contributing factor.
I suspect your sister already knows how you feel about this.......but do what you can to make sure that nobody smokes at all in the room with the chams.
It's difficult to do for me because I smoke and keep my lizards in my room, but I manage. If your sister often has friends round in that room could you move the chams to somewhere she won't want to hang around?
Where did you get her from anyway? (the cham I mean).....Why did you get a sick one?

 

[Damus]

What was wrong with her that made her ill in the first place? If it was something respiratory then cig smoke might have been the "last straw". But if it is unrelated then i would doubt it.

 

[Hoj]

i wouldnt blame your sister but i would let her know how u feel ( kinda fig, u did )
i am a smoker and will not smoke it the same room as my chams if even in the house at all, sorrry to hear she didnt make it good on you for trying.

hoj

 

[laurie]

It sort of could have been the last straw, but I think it would be silly to blame your sister. True, she was being really lame, but if it was just the once then you couldn't even say for definite that it was a contributing factor.
I suspect your sister already knows how you feel about this.......but do what you can to make sure that nobody smokes at all in the room with the chams.
It's difficult to do for me because I smoke and keep my lizards in my room, but I manage. If your sister often has friends round in that room could you move the chams to somewhere she won't want to hang around?
Where did you get her from anyway? (the cham I mean).....Why did you get a sick one?

Kara, I agree with David. It is really a shame that you lost it but as usual we never know why. It would be so much easier on me if I just knew why I lost a particular cham.

 

[pssh]

Yeah, I know. I was just curious about if it actually could have killed her or not. I dont blame my sister, but I am very upset with her because there was the chance that she sped up the process (and because she's not even supposed to smoke in the house anyways!!) I had the female in another room since she was ill. She now knows to not ever do it again though. She knows how much they mean to me (and she knows the price tag on panthers) and I know she is really sorry.

I got her to hopefully get her better, but unfortunately I could not. I didn't pay for her (as no one should have to pay for/buy a sick animal anyways!)

 

[EvilLost]

@pssh: i know you said it was cig-smoke but just throwing this out there....if 5 people hotbox a room with enough marijuana and your cham is sitting in there....I'd say the answer may be different. I have on occasion had small amounts of smoke around my cham with no issues but I make sure everybody smokes outside at my house.....I never really thought of the issue that much or thought of "testing" it in any way (obviously) but it just seemed to me that given how sensitive their respiratory systems are and how small their bodies are that a large amount of 2nd hand smoke (esp if it is pot) could affect them negatively.

 

[DavidBuchan]

I got her to hopefully get her better, but unfortunately I could not. I didn't pay for her (as no one should have to pay for/buy a sick animal anyways!)

Yeah, I pretty much knew that. Just checking.

 

[pssh]

My sister is lame. She likes to "hotbox" with cigs. She thinks it's cool or something.

 

[sandrachameleon]

If it did push the chameleon over the edge, the edge was probably pretty close by (she may not have had much of a chance regardless).
Your sister however does have a chance at a good heathy long life - very much at risk given her self-destructive behaviour. You might let her think the smoke did kill the chameleon, see if it is useful towards convincing her to quit

 

[Dabugman]

My guy is named Smokey because I almost started a fire on the console on which the cage was set with a heat lamp that I forgot to unplug. The smoke filled the room pretty good, and emanated from a spot right next to the cage. He was and is fine, however.

The long and short of it is that your sister's smoke party probably had little or nothing to do with your cham's death, although I suppose it could have stressed it some, putting it over the edge.

 

[Necorawr]

large amount of 2nd hand smoke (esp if it is pot) could affect them negatively.

 

[Elizadolots]

If it did push the chameleon over the edge, the edge was probably pretty close by (she may not have had much of a chance regardless).
Your sister however does have a chance at a good heathy long life - very much at risk given her self-destructive behaviour. You might let her think the smoke did kill the chameleon, see if it is useful towards convincing her to quit

Can I vote no on this? She is likely guilting herself pretty hard right now, she doesn't need additional guilt. I can only imagine that driving her to continue and add to her destructive behaviors.

My suggestion would be to emphasize that you don't blame her (she's blaming herself) and leave it at that. Don't try to find out what really did kill the animal. If the topic ever veers that way, mention how much it scares you to think that she is risking her own life smoking. Do not ever imply that she killed or hastened the death of your chameleon. If she mentions it, remind her the animal was sick to begin with.

Be there to help her as she finds her own path toward a healthier lifestyle, don't do anything to push her to it (because people don't respond well to that and young people respond worse than most).

 

[pssh]

She knows that it was already sick and she feels bad about it. She's kind of an "act-on-impulse-depending-on-her-emotions" kind of person, so if she felt bad enough about it she might freak out and/or break down.

She knows how we feel about the smoking. From what I've observed, it's more of a social smoking thing. Like she doesn't do it unless someone offers it to her.