Force Feeding Issues. PLEASE HELP me save this Veiled.

rickd5

New Member
https://www.chameleonforums.com/need-urgent-advice-veiled-doing-worse-114340/ Previous post.

Sherman is 18 months old, ive had him for a month. He weighs 49 grams. (his growth was probably stunted from his previous owners bad husbandry, He's a trooper and I can't explain how much love I have for this animal. I just want him to have a good life for once.)

I've made a couple threads on this cham I am trying to save.. Thanks for viewing/writing. Since Shermans surgery on 7/19 to remove his infection on his nose(bump).. Sherman's appetite has went downhill. I was only able to get him to eat once... he devoured 4 mealworms crawling up his cage in a "hunter-mode" like state on 7/23 randomly. Since then he has shown zero interest in any feeder cricket/waxworm/mealworm/superworm. Even with them being in a cup all day, even climbing up his cage. he will not touch them or even show interest. He also seems super lazy.. lays with one arm hanging off and his head resting.

I'm afraid the antibiotics im giving him (Enrofloxacin) are causing this appetite loss and laziness.

So I called my vet and he said I could try force-feeding if i'm worried about the health of my cham.

So today I tried force-feeding for the first time.

Using a syringe, he easily can swallow a small amount of water. I also gave him some Pedialyte. Plus some liquid Calcium .

I put a small waxworm in his mouth and he literally just lets it sit there. He will not swallow it. So I tried again and again, a few of the times he projected it out of his mouth using his tongue(could not find this anywhere on the forums). Finally after about a half hour of trying to feed him I managed to get 2 wax worms and half of a super worm down him dusted in d3/multivitamins.

-What does this mean, he is literally starving himself at this point I think

-I would stop the antibiotic but then his infection could just get worse

-Should I continue to force feed, even with it being as stressful on him as it is

-Is there any other methods/suggestions available?

Thanks for reading my wall of text. Any help is greatly appreciated I have never been so stressed/heartbroken over an animal like this

I've spent hundreds of dollars on vet trips in the past month. Even redid his entire cage with new plants. I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
 
This is Him standing on his fav. branch. Reptisun 5.0 bulb is about 5-6 inches form him. 100watt basking bulb. gets about 95 degrees on that perch.

Other picture is him being obsessed with the light. he has been doing this the last couple days too. (I feel like this is bright on his eyes but idk).
 

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if he will drink , I would try bug juice for him - another thing - sorry if this is gross to you - if you can get some preg/ dubia , you can squish the egg sack right out of them, into his mouth- the sack is like a little bag, and it is not "liquid" like you think - you can pick it up, or just put the ( again , sorry if this is nasty to anyone reading, but when you are at wits end,,,, you will do this :eek: ) butt just inside the mouth, and squish it in - it will kill the roach, but the egg sack is 100% digestible and great energy source - do not give up :)
 
I'm very far from ever giving up.. I assure you thats not going to happen. How would I go about getting a pregnant dubai?
 
Tried to edit post but phone won't let me sorry for bumping.

Also, would that be necessary if I can get a couple wax worms down him.. Besides the ones he manages to spit out of his mouth with his tongue, which still worries me that he is doing that.
 
I'm very far from ever giving up.. I assure you thats not going to happen. How would I go about getting a pregnant dubai?

if anyone is close to you , you will have to buy some females - or order them- but I am not sure how much they are if you order - but some of the sponsors sell them - I am not sure where you are - but I dont know how to tell if they are preg/ - we just kept trying - and got some eggs sacks - the really fat ones usually had the egg sacks- but any female is going to have something in her- if you give it a little squish, you will see it start to pop out- its a yellowish color- or if you can watch them- the female will kinda poke it out - ( roaches are so nasty :eek: - lol ) - to breed - you can see it-
 
I am not sure of your temperatures, so I apologize if you have posted them... Could he be trying to warm up under the light? I don't see a basking light in your photos. If he is not feeling well he might be trying to get warmer.

Upping his basking temps by a degree or two (but being careful he doesn't overheat!) might make him more comfortable while he is recovering. Being just a tiny bit warmer might boost his metabolism and hunger reflex, too.

It's something to be done carefully but maybe something to consider.

This might make me sound like a hippie, but I am also a HUGE believer in the power of natural sunshine as a healer and mood elevator. Natural sunshine releases all sorts of good chemicals and hormones that artificial lights do not for people; I don't see why animals would be any different. You should try to get him a few hours of outside time and see if that helps perk him up. This is not as scientific or medical recommendation, fyi, just my personal opinion.
 
His basking is at 93-95. Rest of cage is like 75-85. I bought a 70 watt bask spot bulb I'm going to use instead of infrared. I've tried taking him outside but and haven't noticed anything

But yes about to try and give him his medicine. He knows it too as he will hide when I open his cage. I'm going to try the dubia if I find I can't get him to eat some other worms.
 
your best option would be to mash up something like a horned worm since they do not have hard parts to their body and mix a bit of water and do a small drip into his mouth, a cham will not just let liquids sit in its mouth (if it has proper use of its mouth) just be sure to do a very small amount at a time so he does not choke
 
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