help... dunno what's wrong

[AndrewBrian]

Hi guys I was gone for a week and came home yesterday...my chameleon seemed perfectly fine until today... this morning i have him a good misting around 7am and he seemed to like it without moving much... i offered him food in his cup and left... around 1pm i went down to check on him and noticed him sleeping which was not a good sign... he woke up when i touched him and he seemed to gape from time to time... i went back up came down around 3pm he was awake but his color was yellow this usually happens when he's angry... 4pm i went down and saw him sleeping again he looks dehydrated his eyes look deep what should i do? he moves around just fine and is still active when touching him

Species: Panther chameleon
gender: male
size: 74 grams
age: approximately 11 months
housing: screen home made cage...
lighting: outdoor enclosure
supplements: calcium without d3 2x a week and reptivite once every week
food: dubia and grasshoppers
sickness: sunken eyes and sleeping
handling: 4 times a week

 

[AndrewBrian]

I uploaded a pic of him with sunken eyes i hope i can find a remedy soon all im doing not is hydrating him more his fecals seems fine white urates

 

[kinyonga]

Has he been eating wild insects? Does his feces smell? Look normal?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Was someone taking care of him for you while you were gone?

 

[AndrewBrian]

His fecal matter looks quite normal urates look white i havnt tried smelling it though he is in an outdoor setup with a big cage i usually smell no odor from any of my chameleons... I have a worker and a maid that takes care of them i dont have an auto mister only an improvised dripper... they feed the chameleons and put water everyday but i guess there's no tender loving care as to how i take care of them and check up on them at least 3 times a day. As to wild insects they are pesticide free where i ask my workers to catch them... grasshoppers are their favorite

 

[AndrewBrian]

Here's a pic of him now poor lil guy he gapes from time to time his eyes are more closed now... he's yellow not his normal red and green colors today i gave him a good misting is there anything else i can do? there is no reptile vet here or anywhere near where i live

 

[AndrewBrian]

he died deteriorated really fast within 2 hours he was dead shouldnt have been a dehydration problem im thinking possibly ant bites... i saw a lot of big ants on his cage saturday might have gotten to him i had the maid clean it up but i still saw a little of them this morning in the cage

 

[Shaunny]

That's so sad! Sorry for your loss. He does look seriously dehydrated though

 

[NHenn]

Sorry for your loss Andrew he was absolutely beautiful. I hope he was one of the Sires for your current clutches so he can still live on through his future little ones.

 

[AndrewBrian]

he's actually the only sire i have... i need to get a new one but maybe next year they are so hard to bring in to my country the female laid eggs also today they look a bit small not sure if they are fertile hope they are...

 

[Dgood]

Did your worker and maid actually know how to take proper care of chameleons? I've heard too many stories of people leaving for only as little as a couple days and they were near dead when they got back. I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my chameleons for more than a day with out having someone that knows proper care for them, and actually likes them. I'm sorry about your guy, he was a looker, how old was he?

 

[Dgood]

Even if your insects were free of pesticides it doesn't mean that they weren't parasite free.

 

[junglefries]

Ants are a chams enemy. not to mention they bring spiders. maybe setup a webcam on your chams. that way when you are away you can keep an eye on them and how they are being kept.