First unexpected death

[Raphael1047]

One of my baby panther chameleons just die in the last hour I am so sad. They all looked so healthy, I did not expect it one to die. They all had their eyes open and they looked hydrated. Is there any signs to find out what happen to the baby without opening him up? As you can see in the photo he is very small and just under a month.

 

[HerpZilla]

I think we all know the feeling.

Not much to say but it does happen. I can't remember the term or phrase, but most reptiles use all their energy to look healthy even if they are not. If they looked bad they would become easier prey. So they use all they have to look well.

If someone knows this term/phrase please post it.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

He could have been the runt of the clutch

 

[Raphael1047]

Not much to say but it does happen. I can't remember the term or phrase, but most reptiles use all their energy to look healthy even if they are not. If they looked bad they would become easier prey. So they use all they have to look well.

If someone knows this term/phrase please post it.

That makes sense but usually I can tell if one is not going to make it and usually it takes a couple days of getting worse before they die.

He could have been the runt of the clutch

That is a possibility, but I know everyone was eating and drinking normally.

 

[Dez]

It happens. He could have choked on something or there may be some other internal reason we can't see.

It is not unusual to loose few babies in the first 3 months. That's why never buy a panther Cham under 3 months old because that is the most fragile time.

Its sad yes, but that's how the weak babies get separated from the strong ones .

 

[jannb]

How devastating. I am so very sorry for your loss.

 

[ipali]

Sudden Death

I bought two panther babies from a local breeder. Previously, I bought two much older veiled chameleons from him.

I Paid $100 each for the panthers. At the time I felt wary and expressed concern about how small they were. He insisted they were healthy and would be fine (since I had no problems with the veiled). Three weeks later both dropped dead. No signs of a problem.

His response? "Well, they were eating when they were here."

I think greed drove him to insist they were fine to take at such a young age. I made the mistake of trusting him. I will not waste money on such an untrustworthy person as that again. He saw the money and said whatever he needed to say to get it. I am out $200 that I could have used to help support my kids or even bought 5 more veiled chameleons with. So lesson learned on my part.

I'm a single mom with two kids. I do not have money to waste. My 11 year old wanted to breed the animals. Now we have to wait until I have money set aside again. I think he saw the cash and wanted it... so, despite he previous statements about panthers being hard to raise... the panthers suddenly became as resilient as he needed them to be in order to convince me to hand him my cash. Sometimes it's not just the reptiles that are cold-blooded.