Rst_Cham
Chameleon Enthusiast
So, I noticed Max gaping last night before bedtime which was odd so I put him up to my ear to listen and I could hear a popping sound as he breathed, which I know from the forums usually means an RI. I freaked out and called my preferred chameleon vet, but she is out of town. I spent hours this morning calling practically every animal hospital in the Denver metro area trying to find a vet with chameleon experience who could see him today. Found one!
I drove across town and took him in this afternoon for the one opening they had. The vet tech wasn't knowledgeable
about chameleons which concerned me a bit. He asked me husbandry questions, similar to our form, but then asked a couple odd questions, like does he eat any salad or pellets. I explained he's an insectivore.
The veterinarian was actually much more knowledgeable thank goodness! She said they actually see a lot of chameleons there, usually small ones with MBD or really sick ones with RI. She said Max was by far the healthiest chameleon they have ever seen. She gave him a perfect body score.
She took him in back to check inside his mouth. Max is very calm and easy to handle so they loved him. She said he does have a mild RI so she gave him an injectable antibiotic and brought him back in. Man was he pissed after his shot, he was showing a lot of red which I never see.
But he settled down and we went over every aspect of my husbandry. She has a real understanding and a lot of chameleon knowledge and experience, I was so relieved. She said my husbandry is damn near perfect, only having me adjust two things, increase his basking temp (I had it still juvenile 82, bit he's ten months old now) and remove a small PC fan from the top of his enclosure that I run at night with fogger for airflow. She said its too dry here for that. But other than that she told me not to make any other changes since he is so healthy otherwise.
She said Colorado conditions are just so difficult that they see a whole lot of respiratory infections. But she said that since he is in such stellar condition, so alert and active, and that we caught it right away that she expects him to recover no problem. She didn't seem very concerned at all. She said most people don't understand how fragile they are, and wait to long to come in.
So thank God for chameleon forums. I've learned so much here and knew what to look for, knew what I was hearing, and knew to take him right in. I'm so thankful for you all, I seriously love this community.
I feel terrible that he's sick, I barely slept last night, but he's acting normal, eating fine, so it's mild. I'm so happy I took him right in and hope he gets better fast. I'm taking him in for a followup and fecal in two weeks.
I drove across town and took him in this afternoon for the one opening they had. The vet tech wasn't knowledgeable
about chameleons which concerned me a bit. He asked me husbandry questions, similar to our form, but then asked a couple odd questions, like does he eat any salad or pellets. I explained he's an insectivore.
The veterinarian was actually much more knowledgeable thank goodness! She said they actually see a lot of chameleons there, usually small ones with MBD or really sick ones with RI. She said Max was by far the healthiest chameleon they have ever seen. She gave him a perfect body score.
She took him in back to check inside his mouth. Max is very calm and easy to handle so they loved him. She said he does have a mild RI so she gave him an injectable antibiotic and brought him back in. Man was he pissed after his shot, he was showing a lot of red which I never see.
But he settled down and we went over every aspect of my husbandry. She has a real understanding and a lot of chameleon knowledge and experience, I was so relieved. She said my husbandry is damn near perfect, only having me adjust two things, increase his basking temp (I had it still juvenile 82, bit he's ten months old now) and remove a small PC fan from the top of his enclosure that I run at night with fogger for airflow. She said its too dry here for that. But other than that she told me not to make any other changes since he is so healthy otherwise.
She said Colorado conditions are just so difficult that they see a whole lot of respiratory infections. But she said that since he is in such stellar condition, so alert and active, and that we caught it right away that she expects him to recover no problem. She didn't seem very concerned at all. She said most people don't understand how fragile they are, and wait to long to come in.
So thank God for chameleon forums. I've learned so much here and knew what to look for, knew what I was hearing, and knew to take him right in. I'm so thankful for you all, I seriously love this community.
I feel terrible that he's sick, I barely slept last night, but he's acting normal, eating fine, so it's mild. I'm so happy I took him right in and hope he gets better fast. I'm taking him in for a followup and fecal in two weeks.
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