Health issue with baby veiled

[TheHighestCrew]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Male veiled chameleon 12-13 weeks old. I Have had him for 6 weeks.
Handling - almost never but recently I have been handling him to soak him in warm water for several minutes every day.
Feeding - small crickets, gutloaded
Supplements - reptocal w/d3 (now I also have zoomed repti calcium without d3, and exoterra multivitamin)
Watering - Misting 3-4 times daily, drip cup filled twice daily. He was always drinking but lately I have not seen him drink much. this is why I started the warm water soaking in hopes to hydrate him.
Fecal Description - His droppings have been the normal black and white. When he stopped drinking from the leaves the urea turned a bit yellow. After I started the soaking it went back to white again
History - He was a happy healthy voracious eater until maybe 1-2 weeks ago. He started closing his eyes which I thought may have to do with dehydration. Normally after soaking he opens them right up. He would bask and close his eyes sometimes. Then open them to hunt crickets. In the last 2-3 days I have not seen him hunting.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - 18x18x36 screen cage
Lighting - 1 reptisun 5.0 tube 18", 1 spotlight 75 watt. (tonight as a last ditch emergency effort I added a ceramic heating element from one of my snake cages) on a light timer 12/12.
Temperature - mid 80's during the day. Mid 70's at night. (I added the ceramic heater today after work in an attempt to boost the temp)
Humidity - currently I do not have a hygrometer. I will get one asap.
Plants - His cage originally had a Geranium citronosa in it. About 2 weeks ago I put a schefalera in. Tonight I switched back to the geranium in case the shefalera was related. There is nothing on the bottom and I wipe down the pvc base every other day. The geranium was kept in my backyard in too small of a pot for a long time so it "snaked" out very far. The long thin stalks make perfect climbing pathways for him. The shefalera was not as friendly for him to hold on to.
Placement - Cage is in my room. I have a room fan but it is off all day, only ever used at night time.it is setting on a 2'-2.5' tall table dedicated to the chameleon cage. The top is roughly 5'-5.5' in the air
Location - Humid Houston Texas


I am extremely concerned about my cham. As of today he has began to shed (he has shed since I have owned him). I have not seen him eat in several days. I was thinking perhaps it was a D3 poisoning because at first this was the only supplement I was using. I have since stopped using it and now have a vitamin supplement and calcium without D3. However for several days he has not eaten so I cannot get him to ingest it. Initially with his blinking issue I was thinking vitamin A deficiency. Today he seems weaker than normal

The only positive I can think of right now is since I hooked up the 150 watt ceramic heater as a sort of emergency attempt he has been basking under it. He has his tail curled like normal and is doing his "smile" with his throat kind of puffed out which he used to do before any of the health issues began.

Is there anything I can do to feed him? Baby food in a eye dropper? I am really desperate to help him. I am so worried for him. I have been keeping and breeding reptiles for 15 years and have never had anything like this happen. I really hope I can turn this around. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Hakai]

First of all, welcome to the forums. It sucks that this has to be your first post, however you were right to come here for advice. I am by no means an expert, but this is similar to what was happening with my veiled. It turned out that something was blocking his intestinal tract which made him not eat. I'm not saying that this is the problem with yours, just a suggestion. If you can obtain a stool (poop) sample, I would suggest taking that in for a vet examination. I would also take your cham in. It's pretty serious for them to not be eating. It is normal for their appetite to decrease while shedding, but from what I understand this not eating thing began prior to shedding. Sounds urgent to me. Get the soonest vet appointment you can. I'll go try to grab a cham vet list from another thread. Good luck.

 

[Hakai]

I found the list, just click your state, then toss the addresses in google maps or something to see which ones closest to you. http://www.arav.org/find-a-vet/

 

[TheHighestCrew]

thanks so much for the response! Okay I will look for a Houston area vet and get a stool sample to them. Ugh It is just so terrible feeling seeing him like this! Just a short time ago he was happy eating like a pig and coloring up nicely. It came on so suddenly it is just mind blowing.

 

[Hakai]

thanks so much for the response! Okay I will look for a Houston area vet and get a stool sample to them. Ugh It is just so terrible feeling seeing him like this! Just a short time ago he was happy eating like a pig and coloring up nicely. It came on so suddenly it is just mind blowing.

I know how you feel, I went trough the same thing. Except my cham began his shed as the symptoms started, so it masked over the symptoms. So, unfortunatly I was not able to get him to a vet in time. But you should be fine since you noticed the symptoms early on. Apart from the D3 issue, your husbandry seems fine. I'm not sure what D3 overdose symptoms are, but hopefully your vet will find the issue. Best of luck! I'll be checking back to see how this progresses.

PS - If anything bad were to happen (as horrible as it would be) don't be afraid to tell us. We will not bash on you even if it was something involving your husbandry. We are here to help. No one will tell you that your a horrible person or should never get another chameleon again. They will simply correct whatever mistake you may have made and strongly encourage you to continuing keeping these amazing creatures.

 

[TheHighestCrew]

I found a ARAV vet in Houston that specialized in exotics. I have an appointment in an hour. Hopefully they can help me figure this out. I will update with results.

 

[Hakai]

Great job scheduling so fast. Will check back.

 

[TheHighestCrew]

They were very sympathetic and understood how concerned I was. They got me in within 2 hours of calling. It is actually a massive Vet facility/hospital that has a Avian/Exotic section and Vets that specialize in this area. They were amazing and went above and beyond to help.

The conclusions were: he was dehydrated and had some dysecdysis. They suspect he could have MBD or an underlying infectious process (bacterial, viral, parasitic). He is too small to have blood drawn. We were going to do a x-ray of the bones but the Vet decided he was already so stressed from the handling and injection that it may do more harm than good.

They kept him for about 4-5 hours and gave him Subcutaneous fluids. They prescribed Famotidine and Calcium glubionate A/E. I have to give this orally every other day. They also gave me Diet Lafeber formula to mix with warm water into a sludge and give orally on the same schedule as the medicine. This will help keep him hydrated and fed (includes vitamin supplements).

The vet wanted me to put him in a smaller enclosure until he is strong enough to safely walk in his big cage without risking a falling injury. I set him up a spare 10 gallon I had with a screened top. I could not fit any plants so I cut up some Lighting Diffuser which I use for fish tank tops into pieces. I then zip tied this together so it forms a ramp. He can easily grip it and he won't fall off and get hurt.

I am misting every hour to keep the humidity high. I just fed him his first meal of the sludge. He got mad when I opened his mouth but managed to take it all down. I must say I am very happy to see him moving around his cage and basking. He seemed so weak earlier I thought all hope was lost. His grip feels a bit stronger already and after getting fluids he looks better.

I do not want to get too excited prematurely but I am cautiously optimistic that he may recover. I will try to get him in direct sunlight outside for an hour or two each day. I will update this thread with his status as he either improves or worsens.

 

[Hakai]

Well I'm glad that you have such a reliable vet near you. And it's great to see all the effort you put into this for giving him the very best treatment possible. That sounded like it consumed most of your day and you are to be commended. All those vitamins and stuff don't meen that much to me because I am still on the inexperienced end, but it's defiantly a step in the right direction. I'm not sure the "10 gallon" you refereed to is a safe thing to do because of possible Respiratory Infection that can be caused from that but maybe someone else will chime in. Is it an aquarium? It would be super helpful if you could post some pictures of both of your enclosures. The small temporary one and the regular one. I'll be thinking about your little guy and will keep checking back for updates.
Going to bed now.

~Ben

 

[TheHighestCrew]

Thanks so much for the help so far Hakai. It is an aquarium with a screen top. It is only temporary and the vet was pretty adamant about him not going back into the arboreal set up until he is stronger. The tank has nothing in it except for the "jungle gym" contraption I made out of lighting diffuser and some paper towels on the bottom to dampen any falls. I am happy to report that after feeding yesterday he has had a bowel movement and his urate is white. His grip is improving. Before when he would get off balance he would fall, now he has the strength to pull himself back up from odd angles. I have been misting him every hour. He is climbing up and basking under the lamp. I will update his status after I can feed him and give him medicine again.

 

[dom1959]

good job by you! lucky cham to have you there.

hoping the best for you.

 

[Hakai]

Thanks so much for the help so far Hakai. It is an aquarium with a screen top. It is only temporary and the vet was pretty adamant about him not going back into the arboreal set up until he is stronger. The tank has nothing in it except for the "jungle gym" contraption I made out of lighting diffuser and some paper towels on the bottom to dampen any falls. I am happy to report that after feeding yesterday he has had a bowel movement and his urate is white. His grip is improving. Before when he would get off balance he would fall, now he has the strength to pull himself back up from odd angles. I have been misting him every hour. He is climbing up and basking under the lamp. I will update his status after I can feed him and give him medicine again.

Great to hear he is doing better and I wish him a full recovery. Never hesitate to come here with any problems because we all wish the best for everyone's chams and are always willing to help. Maybe you could post some pics of his progress, if he is not too afraid of the camera that is. We all love to see pictures!

~Ben

 

[vgaines]

They were very sympathetic and understood how concerned I was. They got me in within 2 hours of calling. It is actually a massive Vet facility/hospital that has a Avian/Exotic section and Vets that specialize in this area. They were amazing and went above and beyond to help.

The conclusions were: he was dehydrated and had some dysecdysis. They suspect he could have MBD or an underlying infectious process (bacterial, viral, parasitic). He is too small to have blood drawn. We were going to do a x-ray of the bones but the Vet decided he was already so stressed from the handling and injection that it may do more harm than good.

They kept him for about 4-5 hours and gave him Subcutaneous fluids. They prescribed Famotidine and Calcium glubionate A/E. I have to give this orally every other day. They also gave me Diet Lafeber formula to mix with warm water into a sludge and give orally on the same schedule as the medicine. This will help keep him hydrated and fed (includes vitamin supplements).

The vet wanted me to put him in a smaller enclosure until he is strong enough to safely walk in his big cage without risking a falling injury. I set him up a spare 10 gallon I had with a screened top. I could not fit any plants so I cut up some Lighting Diffuser which I use for fish tank tops into pieces. I then zip tied this together so it forms a ramp. He can easily grip it and he won't fall off and get hurt.

I am misting every hour to keep the humidity high. I just fed him his first meal of the sludge. He got mad when I opened his mouth but managed to take it all down. I must say I am very happy to see him moving around his cage and basking. He seemed so weak earlier I thought all hope was lost. His grip feels a bit stronger already and after getting fluids he looks better.

I do not want to get too excited prematurely but I am cautiously optimistic that he may recover. I will try to get him in direct sunlight outside for an hour or two each day. I will update this thread with his status as he either improves or worsens.

I also live in the Houston area and would love to know the name and location of the vet you took your chameleon to. I am glad to know that they knew what was going on and he is doing better. Please keep us updated. Believe the members what they say that you can ask any questions and will not be judged no matter what happens. This is a great forum with many great members..