Legs and tail "rotting" away extremely fast

[Thomaskoch]

Hi all.

I am in the very depressing situation that 3 of my chameleons have gotten seriously ill in just the last couple of days. I will try to summarize, please ask if I am missing to give some information. Here we go...

I keep 1.1 Johnstoni and 0.1 hoehneli. Have had them for 3 months - all have thrived! Only the male Johnstoni has had some black area at the tip of his tail, but it has never bothered him.

2-3 weeks ago, I moved them outside, since the weather is currently perfect for montane species. Outside they have seemed to thrive, but yesterday I observed something terrible. The male Johnstoni has lost his entire tail, and was starting to turn black at his body around the tail base. He was still very alert and lively, and this has somehow happened over just 1-2 days. Saw no other option than to put him down.

Now today I went to feed the two remaining and realized to that they are also affected seriously. The hoehneli is missing two legs and the tail is all black. But despite she does not look sick, very alert and functional, and this has also happened over 1-2 days.

Lastly, the female Johnstoni has black feet and deformation om two feet and her tail is in bad condition. But also she is otherwise alert/not showing sickness. Usually when chameleons are sick they will have synken eyes, loss of appetite etc. I have never seen anything like this, and am devastated to have this happen to all three chameleons.

The hoehneli will be put down tomorrow.

So my questions which I hope someone can help with...

1. Most urgent - can I save the Johnstoni female??

2. What can have cause this? I have some theories; did I use poisonous plant for them? Did this origin from the black area on the male Johnstoni's tail?(maybe it has spread).

3. Is this some kind of fungus/ humidity related?

Will provide pictures of cage, plant and some of the female Johnstoni

 

[JacksJill]

Devastating.
The plant is a geranium. I don't know if they are toxic or not best to remove it either way.
The pictures are to blurry to tell. Maybe a necropsy of your hoehneli will give some information.
So sorry for your loss.

 

[JacksJill]

I found this on the ASPCA toxicity site. It may or may not mean anything in chameleons.
Scientific Name: Pelargonium species Family: Geraniaceae
Toxicity: Toxic to Dogs, Toxic to Cats, Toxic to Horses
Toxic Principles: Geraniol, linalool
Clinical Signs: Vomiting, anorexia, depression, dermatitis
Geraniol can cause an allergic dermatitis. You might want to discuss this with your vet.
Flchams safe plant list says geraniums are ok.
Hope your Johnstoni is ok.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Mice? Rats? They will grab anything outside the cage and pull it through the wires in pieces.

I was really shocked when a pet rat of mine leaped almost two feet in the air to grab the foot of a big parrot that had landed on the rat's cage. The parrot couldn't get free and the rat wouldn't let go. There was blood everywhere. Something might have grabbed onto the feet/legs/tail.

 

[JoeDigiorgio]

I lost a chameleon to an infected foot ulcer caused by the mesh the cage was made of. Check all their foot pads for cuts and bruises that maybe caused by the mesh of your cages. If too much of the foot fits through, all the cham's weight is on the foot pad, and against a wire thin mesh, instead of them using their nails like Velcro. That's how mine happened.

 

[kinyonga]

Mice? Rats? They will grab anything outside the cage and pull it through the wires in pieces.

I was really shocked when a pet rat of mine leaped almost two feet in the air to grab the foot of a big parrot that had landed on the rat's cage. The parrot couldn't get free and the rat wouldn't let go. There was blood everywhere. Something might have grabbed onto the feet/legs/tail.

I thought about an animal nipping at the toes and tail but when I looked at the cage I thought the screen was too fine. Now that I have looked at the pictures again the screen holes are big enough for the toes and tails to go through...so I think you hit the nail on the head jajeanpierre!

 

[serenaj25]

do you leave them out there unattended? do you live in an area with lots of wildlife that could have bitten them as others have said?

 

[opheliaeatsbugs]

I am so sorry... how devastating

 

[jajeanpierre]

I thought about an animal nipping at the toes and tail but when I looked at the cage I thought the screen was too fine. Now that I have looked at the pictures again the screen holes are big enough for the toes and tails to go through...so I think you hit the nail on the head jajeanpierre!

I have chickens and know what predators can do to an animal they can grab through a small hole in wire. Owls and hawks will hit a bird through the wire, hold them and then tear them apart piece by piece. So will raccoons, rats and mice.

I can't believe legs and tails just rot off. Something takes it off. Here's a picture of a wild caught gracilior male that had all the spinous processes of his sail fin degloved (skin/muscle stripped from the bone) during import a year ago. Basically he had up to half an inch of bare bones sticking up where his sail fin on his tail used to be. The sail fin further retreated down leaving more bone than the first picture shows. Needless to say he developed some infections. We've been working on that infection for a year. Recently he had a black, weak tail and I thought it was the end but the vet thinks not. You might be surprised that the vet was actually happy with it when he was in three weeks ago (last two pictures). The first picture was taken right at import--the tail got a lot worse than that. The last two pictures were taken three weeks ago.