Forcefed young chameleon.
- Thread starter lx21
- Start date
lx21
Member
Nor sure but it was the vitamin b12 injection and the antibiotic is SMZ or something. Not really sure what it stands for, and yes I am misting more often.
lx21
Member
I have no idea either. The vet said it's an antibiotic just in case he does have a skin infection. With the amount that I have to forcefeed him and give him antibiotics twice a day, I feel like I'm just going to stress him out to death. He seemed fine when I fed him outside in the sun, maybe I can try that later if it's warm enough.
I hate having to force feed a chameleon...it's so stressful for them.
What usually try to do is get them drinking from a dripper and as the mouth is opening and shutting, bring the syringe up from below their sight line and slide the end of the syringe in the mouth and slowly squeeze the antibiotic or the food in a bit at a time. You want to get it back far enough in the mouth so that nothing goes down the windpipe and into the lungs.
What usually try to do is get them drinking from a dripper and as the mouth is opening and shutting, bring the syringe up from below their sight line and slide the end of the syringe in the mouth and slowly squeeze the antibiotic or the food in a bit at a time. You want to get it back far enough in the mouth so that nothing goes down the windpipe and into the lungs.
lx21
Member
There's a lable, it says Smz/Tmp 200mg/40mg/5ml oral sus. Antibiotic. Give every 12 hours for 7 days.
The food I have to feed him 3-4 times a day until he eats on his own.
The hard thing is, I have seen him eat or drink anything. I feel like he is still very scared so I tend to try and give him his space when I can.
lx21
Member
He gets so stressed out he just becomes this after I feed him. Yesterday when I fed him outside in the sun, he was fine. It was cold this morning so I fed him inside and he's like this. He was worse yesterday, he just laid on his side after I fed him. Today he's at least upright but I can tell he's still very stressed on top of probably not feeling very well.
It might be Trimethoprim / Sulfamethoxazole.
He's not looking good at all I'm afraid.
He's so small I'm worried about how you're going to do the meds and feeding. How much did they say to feed him each time?
How big is the dose of medication?
This might help....make sure you only pull the skin to make open its mouth...(not the hyoid bone)...
He's not looking good at all I'm afraid.
He's so small I'm worried about how you're going to do the meds and feeding. How much did they say to feed him each time?
How big is the dose of medication?
This might help....make sure you only pull the skin to make open its mouth...(not the hyoid bone)...
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lx21
Member
Yes, I watched this video before I started the forcefeeding. Meds are .01 cc and food is .2ml per feeding
lx21
Member
I just did his second feeding today. He looks worse. I don't think he will make it. If a miracle happens and he recovers I will let you guys know, but right now I dont think there's much I can, especially because he is still so tiny. For future reference, if I get another chameleon, what can I do better to try and prevent something like this?
sergeantapone
Member
Sorry he didn't make it. Sometimes the young ones are just not up to all the changes they have to go through when you first get them.
I've tried several methods to get my little veiled to eat and have only recently had some luck getting him to eat small crickets by putting a stick into their cup so they can climb out onto his branches. I tried the first couple weeks to get him to eat from the cup by itself, and he only really seemed to eat if I tong'd the crickets/roaches out, or placed them near to him, even then half the time he was too scared of me to eat them. I also tried making a 'shooting gallery' feeder and he showed interest, but didn't seem to want to shoot through the front to get the bugs. Now, the crickets seem to come out on their own time and he hunts them down here and there. He still won't act super interested in them if I'm standing nearby, so I have a little security camera watching the cage I can check in on from another room.
I guess the point I'm making is some little guys are just darn picky or too timid to get into a healthy eating routine early on and we might have to do some experimentation to figure out the guy's preferred method.
I've tried several methods to get my little veiled to eat and have only recently had some luck getting him to eat small crickets by putting a stick into their cup so they can climb out onto his branches. I tried the first couple weeks to get him to eat from the cup by itself, and he only really seemed to eat if I tong'd the crickets/roaches out, or placed them near to him, even then half the time he was too scared of me to eat them. I also tried making a 'shooting gallery' feeder and he showed interest, but didn't seem to want to shoot through the front to get the bugs. Now, the crickets seem to come out on their own time and he hunts them down here and there. He still won't act super interested in them if I'm standing nearby, so I have a little security camera watching the cage I can check in on from another room.
I guess the point I'm making is some little guys are just darn picky or too timid to get into a healthy eating routine early on and we might have to do some experimentation to figure out the guy's preferred method.
lx21
Member
Thank you. The camera sounds like a good idea. I will definitely do that next time.
sergeantapone
Member
This Wyze camera was about $50 shipped with a long cord so I could set it on top of the cage and be plugged in all the time, let's you view from phone app, playback the past and record vids and take pictures, I'm quite happy with it so far.
bbyoda
Chameleon Enthusiast
I'm so sorry for your loss! Such a sad turn of events. But you did what you could to try and support this wee one. Thanks for joining the forum and hope you stay if you decide to get another chameleon.
If you do, I'd recommend getting a slightly older, bigger chameleon since they're more stable. This one was so tiny. You could also try getting a chameleon from a breeder here, rather than petco/petsmart. Although many people here have petco/petsmart babies that are thriving now.
If you do, I'd recommend getting a slightly older, bigger chameleon since they're more stable. This one was so tiny. You could also try getting a chameleon from a breeder here, rather than petco/petsmart. Although many people here have petco/petsmart babies that are thriving now.
lx21
Member
Yeah thats what I was thinking too. I'm going to finish building my encloser first then get a new one. Any breeders you guys/gals recommend? Breed of chameleon?
