help for a broken female

[tomentum]

Hello, i am french, so dont be hard on my english please

Hello everyone, I come here to ask you advice

I am currently in the Reunion Island,
2 dys ago, i found in the middle of the road a small chameleon lying on his left side and not moving.
Having never seen a chameleon I decided to watch it and this one were not dead but not moving (I saw him breathe and move the tail)

I have therefore the take home with me to try to treat him.
Her (she is a female i think) left front paw that has a little blood, and it hardly moves her left side (it does not work, and she is unable to stand up one leg, do not eat, not drinking ...) it n is not dead but ... at least it breathes

What can I do for this chameleon? I do not have the means to take the vet, I just put it up and release it.
is what it takes to force the room? to drink,? how? here are as mosquitoes and I have a hard time catching flies.

can she eat banana?

she is 10, 15 cm (without the tail), she is moulting.
she is currently in a box a shoe on a cloth

Thanks for your answers

Bonjour à tous, Je viens ici pour vous demander des conseils

Je suis actuellement à l ile de la Réunion, paradis des endormis

Il y a deux jours, sur un chemin de foret vers Etang salé les hauts, j'ai trouvé sur le milieu de la route un petit caméléon, allongé sur son coté gauche et ne bougeant pas.
N'ayant jamais vu de cameleon je decide de le regarder et celui ci n etait pas mort mais ne bougeait presque pas ( je le voyait respirer et bouger la queue)

je l ai donc ramener chez moi pour essayer de le soigner.
Il a la patte avant gauche qui a un peu de sang, et il ne bouge pratiquement pas son coté gauche ( il ne marche pas, n arrive pas a se tenir sur une branche, ne mange pas, boit pas...) il n est pas mort mais bon... au moins il respire

Que puis je faire pr ce cameleon? je n ai pas les moyen de l emmener chez le vétérinaire, je veux juste le remettre sur pied et le relacher.
est ce qu il faut le forcer a manger? a boire,? comment? ici y a que des moustiques et j ai du mal a attraper les mouches.

peut il manger de la banane?

je n arrive pâs a mettre de photo, c est une petite femelle ( couleur noir et jaune), elle fait 10, 15 cm (sans la queue), elle est en train de muer.
elle est actuellement dans une boite a chaussure, sur un linge

Merci de vos reponses

 

[Lathis]

A post on Reunion Island chameleons:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/reunion-island.11052/
http://www.pardalis.be/Eng/ENGreunion.htm

1) She needs water. Use a dripper (something like this: http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mZP1yUjwdAmn6eFKB8YNKZA.jpg) to slowly drip water on the tip of her nose. Make a few drops at a time, and it may take a long time for her to start drinking. She probably will not recognize a bowl of water as a drinking source. Chameleons prefer moving and dripping water.

2) She looks very dark - she may have broken bones or another illness. She was hit by an auto or a bicycle, perhaps? Keep her on a soft surface, like a towel or blanket and protect her from falling from something. The shoe box is good for now.

3) For food, can you buy or catch crickets or worms? Is there a fishing bait shop or pet store that sells insects for food? She may not eat, and I would not force her to eat right now. Water is more important.

When she can walk more steadily and is drinking, I would set her free in the forest near where you found her. Give her a few days to recover. If she does die, you have done all you can.

Ton anglais est très bien - plus bien que mon français! Bienvenue à Chameleon Forums! J'espère que ta petite fille récupérer bientôt. Quand elle puet marcher et si elle boit, je le mettrais à liberté dans le forêt près de la location que tu l'as trouvée. Si elle mort, tu as fait tout que tu puet. Bonne chance pour elle!
.

 

[tomentum]

hey, thanks a lot for yours answer
to be honest i used google trad for the english part ^^

So as u said, we (me and my gf) gave her water, and some few mousticos we catch.
my gf opened her mouth with a stick (so i could drop some water) and she said she felt the chameleon was stronger than 2 days ago, so good sign, and also she moved a little (still cant walk) but she lay a lot on her left side.
we put her back on the towel and put a wooden stick close to her and water in a cuppel, in case....

and about her color, the picture are : 2 days ago she was black like on the pic 1 and 3, but now she is like on pic 2.

we will see tomoriow how she is.

aain, thanks a lot for ur answer

 

[LindsayG]

I really hope everything works out for her. It's very nice you and your girlfriend are taking the time to tend to her. Be careful when opening her mouth and giving water. You don't want it to go down the wrong pipe and cause her to drown/choke. @Lathis, could you possibly give detailed advice on how to do this, or if it shouldnt be done at all? Ive never had to but i hear it can be dangerous if done wrong. Also, make sure and keep her nice and warm. Good luck! I hope all goes well.

 

[tomentum]

Also, as i said, she is "molting" (skin change, like we see on picture) and so she has some "old skin" on her eyes,
SO shall we help her remove that skin? or no touch it?
it look like she cant really open her eyes because of the skin..

 

[Lathis]

Don't pull off the molting skin. Let that fall off naturally.

My first choice would be to drip water on her nose and see if she will drink on her own.

If you do need to open her mouth, gently put pressure on either side of her face and she should open her mouth. Avoid prying open her mouth if you can. Always put only a few drops of water in her mouth at one time and put them in the back of the mouth. The breathing opening in a chameleon's mouth is in the front, not the back like with most mammals.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GdxK_inMy...YNYMWGiVs/s1600/Medicines+illustrations+1.png

http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2014/05/how-to-give-different-medicines.html

 

[Blang]

If you have a pharmacy where you live go there and get a small plastic eye dropper you'll be able to drip small amounts of water into her mouth!

 

[tomentum]

it s late here, and i couldnt wait for tomorow so i just pierced a plug of plastic bottle, and put water in it, so water drop slowly on her mouth

i will look tomorow if she can drink alone with water dropping on her nose but i doubt she can :/

thanks for the link, warning and help guyz,
i will continu to take care of her tomorow and give update

at what frequency should i give her water / food?

and abt fruits, i have no car for now so cant go buy her stuff, but i have banana, and ohter fruits with lot of protein, can she eat that?

 

[Lathis]

I would offer her water several times a day. You can offer her fruit, but she may not accept it. If you can catch locust, moths, crickets, or even cockroaches, you can try those. For now, I would say that water is the more important factor.

 

[alphakenc]

it s late here, and i couldnt wait for tomorow so i just pierced a plug of plastic bottle, and put water in it, so water drop slowly on her mouth

i will look tomorow if she can drink alone with water dropping on her nose but i doubt she can :/

thanks for the link, warning and help guyz,
i will continu to take care of her tomorow and give update

at what frequency should i give her water / food?

and abt fruits, i have no car for now so cant go buy her stuff, but i have banana, and ohter fruits with lot of protein, can she eat that?

You can try,my cham love banana too.....how do you say "Sensitive chameleon " in French...they always sounds so sexy....yup...yup

 

[tomentum]

haha un "cameleon sensible?"

so, i need your advice,
today she was more energetic, still no moving, just staying on the towel, but when we take her, she move more and open her mouth so i guess it s a good sign.
but sh still cant walk that much ( or not at all).
i put water on her nose but she doesnt take it.

so we forced her again to drink :/

but she has more energy,maybe tomorrow or in 2 days i will set her free?

the thing is, i am afraid about ants :
everytime i put her somewhere, ants come on her and she does nothing to fight agaisnt them
i am afraid if i put her somwhere in the forest, ant will eat her :/

 

[alphakenc]

haha un "cameleon sensible?"

so, i need your advice,
today she was more energetic, still no moving, just staying on the towel, but when we take her, she move more and open her mouth so i guess it s a good sign.
but sh still cant walk that much ( or not at all).
i put water on her nose but she doesnt take it.

so we forced her again to drink :/

but she has more energy,maybe tomorrow or in 2 days i will set her free?

the thing is, i am afraid about ants :
everytime i put her somewhere, ants come on her and she does nothing to fight agaisnt them
i am afraid if i put her somwhere in the forest, ant will eat her :/

Since she is not on top of the food chain,she will have lots predators in the wild.
If you worry about her safety,maybe you can keep her for good or pass her along to your friends n family,they might take her in too.
Or you can list her in a reptile forum for someone knowledgeable to keep her as a pet.
"Cameleon sensible" sounds so French that I will remember that for a long long time,good luck my friend.....yup....yup

 

[Lathis]

Yes, keep her away from ants. They will injure her if she can not fight back. Hopefully she will continue to gain strength. Keep giving her water and keep her comfortable.

 

[ChamDE86]

Lathis,

Do you think using the shower method will possibly provide an energy boost to get her to drink more, along with helping speed up the shedding process? I know she's not in the best of state and probably doesn't need anymore added stress, but you never know.

 

[Leo Chance]

It looks like you have gotten good advice, so I really can't add anything, other than I am impressed that you would put the effort into helping a chameleon. Good luck, and your English is fine.

 

[kinyonga]

When she opens her mouth does she raise her nose up and keep the mouth open like she's gasping for air?
If you release her before she is healthy she will likely be killed by a predator. Are you able to find any insects to feed her? When giving her water be careful that she doesn't aspirate it (get it in her lungs).

 

[tomentum]

hey everyone, thanks all of u for caring and advice
she is still on the shoes box, on a soft tissu, still "not moving" :/ so i go to see her often to see if she is breathing

what is this shower method?
she can open her mouth, bcs when i catch her to give her drink she is now "unhappy" and move her head and open a her mouth, but she is stoll not drinking alone :/ !! i dont understand why she doesnt take the water when i put it on her nose.

found some insect but some little one, and i dont feel like she is eating them :/

and no, not putting her in the wild world for now ... cant do that to her.

and also, we are kind of "afraid" of her when feeding her : afraid of hurting her when we grab her head, and afraid of her tongue ^^ can she "attack " us with her tongue?

 

[kinyonga]

Try dripping the water slowly on the tip of her nose at the rate of one drip every second or so. It may stimulate her to drink.

She can't hurt you with her tongue but she may shoot it out at an insect. You have to be careful if her tongue sticks to something though not to pull it off and end up hyper extending the muscle.

Can you post another picture of her the way she is now please?

 

[kinyonga]

What's the temperature where you are keeping her? She needs sunlight or UVB light from a proper light.

 

[tomentum]

she is outside, we live close to the forest, her natural habitat, today it s 31 degree.
will send a pic soon

will try tthe water dropping on her nose