Lethargic and Sickly panther chameleon - Temp?

[sleekspeech]

don't you think

that if he's been drinking from the fountain for 3 years he would be confused if I changed it up on him?

It has a reservoir of water, but its under a rock shelf/lid, where the water can go back into it, but you can't access the pool. Basically its really a waterfall, which is all he has access to, not anywhere he could drown himself.

I'm still confused as to how he could live for 3 years under these conditions that everyone is telling me are so awful (heat lamp once a week = awful, that I get).

 

[pssh]

He probably is just barely passing by on what he was given. He's probably sick/dying now because of it.

Chameleons also tend to poop in waterfalls and then drink the water... ew. So unless you cleaned it once a day with bleach, then it's best to just not use it. Set up a dripper that dripps into his cage. You can buy one or make one (cup with a pin sized hole on the bottom so water comes out at about a drop a second) so that he can drink from that. If you have no drainage set up then use a small catch bin of some sort thats covered with screen to catch the water.

 

[sleekspeech]

dude is dead : (

husband just got home, he is dead. His name was Dude, btw. RIP Dude.

 

[sleekspeech]

and p.s.

thank you for all of the help and good advice.

 

[pssh]

I'm very sorry to hear about it. At least you tried. I'm sure he appreciated it. If you're thinking about getting another, the site sponsors are great places to look.

 

[Carlton]

husband just got home, he is dead. His name was Dude, btw. RIP Dude.

Oh so sad! Poor little guy. It sounds like his former keepers were pretty clueless and were simply lucky that he didn't pass sooner. Chams are so good at hiding their problems until they are too far gone. I'm sorry you get to deal with loss and guilt even though you weren't to blame for everything. Possibly they lied about how long they had him and about the easy pocket pet care he required so they could pass the responsibility on to someone else.

 

[sleekspeech]

you know

my husband and I were talking about that, and we think the same thing.

The oldest kid was not taking care of it any longer, so the mom and dad were prob just doing the bare minimum until they could re-home him. He was really skinnier than I think a healthy chameleon should be and he was very dull. She had told me the son hadn't been misting him so he was getting black spots on his back ridge. Is that dehydration??? She also told me he had never been to a vet (because I told her I had checked with my bunny vet to see if they had a reptile vet on staff) and she did such a good job explaining his body language and teaching my daughter how to handle him...I just thought she knew what she was talking about with the care.

Can anyone show me a picture of a healthy panther chameleon? He was greenish (most of the time) with a gray stripe down his body. He liked to turn bright blue alot too. I am looking back on this and rethinking some of the warning signs that, as a new chameleon owner, I didn't know to look for...

 

[pssh]

Look in the general photogrphy section. The Panthers will look different because of their locales, but you can get a general idea of what a healthy one should look like.

 

[Carlton]

She had told me the son hadn't been misting him so he was getting black spots on his back ridge. Is that dehydration???

No, but might have been burns, patches of unshed skin with infections. Dehydration symptoms would include sunken eyes, papery wrinkly skin that "tents", dull color, sunken or collapsed looking casque (the crest on the head), lots of clear drooling when he did drink.

 

[bimac6]

Aw I'm so sorry for your loss.

Do you have any pictures of Dude?

 

[sleekspeech]

pictures

the only one I really have is of him and my daughter.
she was very upset. we had a funeral yesterday.

sorry its not in color. Looking at him now, I see that he may not have been very healthy. He was very skinny compared to alot of other chams I see on this site.

 

[bimac6]

Aww! That's an adorable picture. I love her shirt too, lol!

But yeah, it's always a sad day on chameleonforums when one of our pets die.
My veiled passed on Thanksgiving, I was bawwwwling D:
We set up a little area in the backyard dedicated to him.

He looks hydrated, from what his eyes look like, just skinnyyy.
He could of possibly had parasites, too. I'm not the one to tell you.

 

[pssh]

He looks a little small to me, but it could just be the angle or his genetics. If you feel like getting another, you could get a baby and watch it develop it's colors. I know it won't replace him, but now that you know how to take care of them I think it would be a good expirience. If your daughter is anything like I was when I was younger, she may not want one for a couple weeks/months. If she's not, and you're ready for the responsibility, I say do it! Once you have an empty cage it just doesn't feel right.

 

[sleekspeech]

its funny

that you say that because she TOTALLY vetoed the idea of getting another.
I found a few breeders offering holiday discounts on overnight shipping
and thought I'd surprise her with another one.
Dude was her early Christmas present
But when we had the talk about doing it again, armed with the right information, she was adamant that she doesn't want another one. I think it will pass and also give us plenty of time to prepare and make sure we do things right this time.

Again, I really appreciate all of the help positive comments. Frankly I was a little surprised that no one bashed me for taking on a cham and not really having all of the information I should have

 

[pssh]

Well, it's not your fault that you were given an old/sick/dying chameleon. Not much you can do when that happens. Plus you didn't post and pictures. It usually gets heated when there are pictures and when the OP won't change anything that others are suggesting.

Sound like my childhood! now if she's secretly my little sister, she'll ask you for a chameleon book to make sure she's doing it right!

 

[sandrachameleon]

So very sorry to hear that Dude didnt make it. How tragic for your daughter.
I think it likely he wasnt in good health well before you got him, and the stress of the move/change was just the last straw. Not your fault.

 

[sleekspeech]

thanks

again for all of the words of support. My daughter was feeling really guilty and she feels much better now, since I can give her more reasoning than we just didn't take care of him properly. I'm looking forward to her spirits lifting and getting another one! Her aunt is trying to talk her into a gecko, but they move too fast for me. I really feel like a chameleon is more our pace. Although they require regular care and monitoring, its also good to know you aren't supposed to handle them constantly.

Oh, I had another question. If this thread dies I will move the question elsewhere but...Eco dirt? They had Eco dirt in the bottom of his cage. After reading through some of these threads, that is a huge NoNo right???

 

[pssh]

Substrate is generally not used in America. It's mainly because the soil can be accidentally ingested while hunting and build up in the intestines. It eventually can cause a blockage known as impaction which will cost you a very big vet bill or he could possibly die from it.

 

[sleekspeech]

or could have

possibly died from it? I imagine if his had been down for a few months and it got shuffled from the move and was looser...? All of these things are good to know. Can you use anything like newspapers or paper towels?

 

[pssh]

Paper towels are fine, as is newspaper.

Impaction can cause hind leg paralysis, which I think you mentioned, but I think it was a number of things that really got him.