I was given a sick chameleon, please offer suggestions!

[bertopia]

I just had a neighbor give me her chameleon because she knows I am an experienced gecko breeder. I have never researched or had a chameleon before. Just from looking at this cham, I know something is wrong. Without experience in chams, I am not sure what to do. See pictures below and details that I have.

I believe they have had this cham for a month or two. I saw a picture of it when they got it and it looked MUCH better than these pictures. They had it housed in an 18x18x24 exoterra with a waterfall, plenty of climbing places and moss/rocks in the bottom. They also housed it with 2 red belly toads they have had for over a year. This is the 3rd cham they have owned, all placing them in the same cage. The first one died so they bouth the 2nd and 3rd around the same time. The 2nd one died and now this 3rd one is looking bad. They are feeding calcium dusted crickets, but she hasn't seen him/her eat for a while now. They had a UVB bulb on and the temps she said were around 70-85 degrees.

I have put him/her in an 18x18x24 exoterra with a bushy vine that runs from top to bottom. I have added a drip system in the cage for water and put a few crickets in to see if he/she will eat. I have added a UVB bulb that I will turn on during the day.

He/She looks extremely skinny.






It also looks like it has had diarrhea of some kind.



Any ideas/suggestions on what I can do?

 

[carol5208]

this is very sad to see. you have a female veild there. The first pic I thought it was a chameleon called a flapneck but it looks like a Veild. An extremely thin and deydrated one at that. You need to get her rehydrated. Her eyes are sunk in and closed and that is a very bad sign. I would get an eye dropper and start dripping water on her nose. Keep doing it for awile as they do not always drink right away. your friends really did her an unjustice along with the poor other chamleons that have died.. Housing chameleons together is a huge no no.Competition for food for one and the stress of her being a female and any of the others being male where they are wanting to mate and she does not. You need a basking light for her to warm up. UVB's do not give off heat. Get a dome fixture and put in a white housebulb and try and get your basking temp around 85 or so. If it is still warm where you are get her out into the sun if possible. Are her eyes shut all the time? If so, she is not going to be able to find food. You are going to have to hand feed. There also looks like there cold be damage to her back right leg, but maybe it is the pic. Please tell your friends to NEVER purchase a chameleon again. This is pure neglect and ignorance here. Shame on them.

 

[laurie]

I would put my efforts into hydrating and feeding. Mist as often as possible. Also try a shower. Put your Cham on a plant in the shower. Do not spray the water on your chameleon, rather spray the water on the shower wall and let it bounce onto the cham.
I would try as many soft feeders as possible. Silk worms, horn worms and maybe even a few wax worms, make sure you are supplementing with calcium .

 

[bertopia]

Thank you for the information! I had tried putting water on her nose but she never did drink. That is how to make crested geckos drink so at least I was doing that right. I will continue trying to get some water in her. I have heavily misted her cage tonight and will do it again first thing in the morning. The dripping system is set up and i threw in crickets and a few roaches (those are in a cup because I wasn't sure if they would eat dubias).

Her eyes are mostly closed but she did open them a few times as I was moving her around getting her cage set up. I am planning on leaving her be for tonight. I will mist again in the morning and then tomorrow night try hand feeding. Does that sound ok or do I need to get her to eat tonight?

 

[bertopia]

Also - I believe her leg is fine. The first picture does look like there is something wrong but it must just be the picture. There really isn't a bump on her leg and I didn't notice her walking strange. But then again, she hasn't moved too much. I really hope I can get her healthy again. She seems like such a sweetheart! I have her in my gecko room so I am the only one that will be going in there as too not stress her out too badly.

 

[Anfsurfer]

This is so sad to see. Thank you for taking her in, and coming here for help. I hope you can nurse her back to good heatlth.

 

[bertopia]

Sorry, one more question. Would I keep the basking light on all night? Or do I need to turn it off?

 

[bertopia]

This is so sad to see. Thank you for taking her in, and coming here for help. I hope you can nurse her back to good heatlth.

Hey- I just saw you are in Provo! I am out by Tooele!

 

[carol5208]

no don't worry about it tonight. They do not need any lights on for night time sleeping by the way. Be sure and get her a heat bulb. yes, they eat dubia. If you can nurse her back to health you can feed her a variety of worms too. Silkworms are best. Her limbs look straight which is good so she does not have any metabolic bone disease. Good on the misting and dripper. We do not recommend waterfalls. Most chams don't drink from standing water. I supposed if that was all they were offered they would adapt rather than die. They are really just breeding grounds for bacteria. She might not be able to open her eyes cause she is so dehydrated or there could be other issues. Sorry about coming down on your friends, but I just hate to see people neglect animals. There are many basics to owning a chameleon. Also, how old is the uvb light and what kind are you using? Tube lights are preferred but the compacts are 0k. 5.0 is what most of us use. The bulbs should be changed out about every 6 months so I don't know how old the bulb is you are using. You want a place for her to bask so get the dome if you don't have one. Nice of you to take her on and I hope she has a fighting chance and is not too far gone.

 

[Anfsurfer]

Sorry, one more question. Would I keep the basking light on all night? Or do I need to turn it off?

Most people have their basking lights on a timer, 12 hours on/12 hours off. I have mine set for 7am to 7pm now, may change it in the winter months to 6am to 6pm.

Yes, I'm in Utah. Good to know another Utah member!

 

[twatts704]

Turn it off, keep her on a schedule. I do mine 7 am on 7 pm off. Also try to feed around noon or an hour after lights on. They need the light to digest the food and if you feed her at night then the lights go off then she doesn't have that time. She needs to be misted 3-5 times daily for 1-2 minutes (since she is so dehydrated). I would get some live plants in there too. Golden pothos are amazing and so are umbrella plants (not the money maker one). Also the shower idea is an excellent idea. Not cold water and not scalding hot just a nice warm temp. Dubias are great staple part of a chams diet. But you will probably have to hand feed her them and some crickets. Dust them well with plain calcium. Outside time for her right now is crucial too. Your biggest obsticle right now is getting her hydrated and eating. I find what's easy to get them to drink is when you are misting (best with the pump spray bottle where you just hold the button down and it sprays) just step back and spray a fine mist over head like it is raining in the cage. Not a direct spray on her but do it overhead where it falls on her and stay like that for a couple of minutes. I do this with all my chams and every one of them starts to drink after a bit. Good luck to you and if you have anymore questions let me know.

 

[carol5208]

also make sure to remove any feeders that are stray. Crickets will bite chameleons when they sleep and especially if she is ill and cannot move around.
If she makes it you are gonna want to get a bigger cage also, but we will talk about that later! first things first!! Where do you live? Is is still sunny and warm? Getting natural uvb could really do a world of good and getting her hydrated is top priority.

 

[cricketkilla]

Poor Girly....

It looks like you've received advice from some of the most experienced members of the forum already! If she continues to not eat, you might want to consider making her bug juice and feed her through a needle-less syringe. All you do is blend up some bugs with a little bit of calcium. I hope you are able to bring her back to good health! Chameleons are a very rewarding creature when properly cared for. If you have a question or any concerns you can PM me anytime and i'll do my best to help or refer you to someone that can help!

 

[bertopia]

We are about 84 degrees all weekend so I will try to get her to drink tomorrow morning in the shower and then spend some time with her outside all weekend. If I can just get her drinking, I think I can get her to pull through! I am just nervous that she is too week to do anything at this point. When I move her, she does open her eyes so hopefully tomorrow isn't too late for her.

 

[twatts704]

It looks like you've received advice from some of the most experienced members of the forum already! If she continues to not eat, you might want to consider making her bug juice and feed her through a needle-less syringe. All you do is blend up some bugs with a little bit of calcium. I hope you are able to bring her back to good health! Chameleons are a very rewarding creature when properly cared for. If you have a question or any concerns you can PM me anytime and i'll do my best to help or refer you to someone that can help!

If she doesn't eat for you at the first part of the day I also think it would be beneficial to syringe feed her for a couple of days. To just make sure she has something in her belly. Might have to do it for a couple of days until she gets her strength back. I have had to do it for a female veiled I am nurturing back to health too.

 

[cricketkilla]

If she doesn't eat for you at the first part of the day I also think it would be beneficial to syringe feed her for a couple of days. To just make sure she has something in her belly. Might have to do it for a couple of days until she gets her strength back. I have had to do it for a female veiled I am nurturing back to health too.

this might also help her acclimate to drinking from a syringe or pipette! Im rooting for you, it's very admirable of you to take on a sick animal and take the time to find proper information!

 

[bertopia]

Does anyone know of a video on syringe feeding a chameleon? Do you have to open their mouth? I don't want to hurt her, but she definitely needs some food and water in her tummy!

 

[carol5208]

when you drip the water on her nose, how long did you do it for? Sometimes it can take several minutes or more for them to start drinking. If she opens her mouth for that you could slip some food in. I have never done this but I have heard of people using a credit card to get them to open their mouth.

 

[bertopia]

I probably sat there for two 10 min sessions dripping a drop per couple of seconds on her mouth. I have never seen her mouth actually open.

 

[cricketkilla]

I probably sat there for two 10 min sessions dripping a drop per couple of seconds on her mouth. I have never seen her mouth actually open.

It sounds like shes really bad, I usually wouldn't tell someone to force her mouth open but it might have to be done.. I have a had the best results from covering the nostrils, so they must open their mouth to breath which only takes a few seconds. If you try this when she opens her mouth wait and let her catch a good breath before you give her food/water by syringe to decrease the chance of her inhaling the solution into the lungs. IMHO, I would get her to the vet for some IV fluids if that is a possibility. Also, I would take carol's advice on the steam shower and natural UV light. The shower method worked wonders for my male faly when he was younger and probably saved him from organ damage. Good Luck man, I'll be racking my brain for ideas to help that girly of yours.