Maxwell is sick

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.
 

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I'm glad he will be okay--beautiful boy!

Did she say what about CO weather makes RI common? I would imagine them being less common here--as I always figured moisture+heat=RI, and we are pretty dry here.
 
Dr Willems is out of town so I took him to Vida Veterinary Care, Dr LeVon. She was great.
That's great to know we have a good backup. I'm not surprised though, Vida and Aurora Animal seem to be owned by the same company. Clearly a company that cares about ALL animals!
 
I'm glad he will be okay--beautiful boy!

Did she say what about CO weather makes RI common? I would imagine them being less common here--as I always figured moisture+heat=RI, and we are pretty dry here.
She said that since we have to mist and fog so often to keep humidity up that it causes problems. But we went over my schedule and I asked if I should decrease and she said no, for now she just wants me to remove the fan.
 
That's great to know we have a good backup. I'm not surprised though, Vida and Aurora Animal seem to be owned by the same company. Clearly a company that cares about ALL animals!
I was so stressed this morning trying to find best place to take him I can't even tell you. I worked from home today. And by work, I mean I sat and watched him all day instead of actually working. I am so thankful I found another chameleon vet.
 
Thank you!

I didnt see where it said dry conditions could cause it?
"Furthermore, humidity should also be reduced or added depending on the case.
GENERALLY (not always the case), adding humidity would be a proper choice as the extra humidity will allow the excess phlegm to move loosely."

It didnt talk much about the cause just that an increase in humidity may help. Just curious.
 
I didnt see where it said dry conditions could cause it?
"Furthermore, humidity should also be reduced or added depending on the case.
GENERALLY (not always the case), adding humidity would be a proper choice as the extra humidity will allow the excess phlegm to move loosely."

It didnt talk much about the cause just that an increase in humidity may help. Just curious.
In op case because of how dry his climate is yes it would be helpful . Let me see if I can link some other info . Actually I will pm you if that ok with the info . I just don’t want to take over thread xo .
 
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