ImhereforHelp
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Chameleon Info:
Cage Info:
Current Problem - ~1 month ago I noticed our cham grab her own leg a few times but she seemed otherwise healthy so I was not concerned. She became lethargic soon after and I investigated online what might be the issue - discovered that the UVB bulb for her enclosure should have been changed a long time ago and purchased a new one that same night. I suspected MBD due to the lack of UVB for so long/insufficient D3. Since that time she has deteriorated becoming weak and unable to hold herself up although she will still move around the bottom of her cage and will attempt to climb up any perches provided but will then slide off the side of them after some time. She has a strong grip and will back away from and hiss at people who try and handle her other than myself (this is normal - she never seemed to take well to being handled so we restricted it in my household so I would be the only one to handle her so she had less to stress about). All high perches have been removed from her cage to prevent falls - to make up for this we are keeping the ambient temperature in the room higher at ~80. For the last 2 weeks I have been giving her daily 20 minute baths in warm water with some calcium powder. Yesterday since she hasn't defecated or shown interest in her food in some time I started feeding her pedialyte with a dropper as well as adding some to her bath. ~2 days ago she started to spend time with the tip of her tongue sticking our of her mouth - not dragging or hanging just maybe 2mm of it sticking out the front. Yesterday was the first day I saw her go to sleep without retracting it and made sure to moisten it with a wet paper towel before I went down for the night and again when I woke up in the morning. Her eyes are neither sunken nor bulging, she does not have a 'wheezy' noise when breathing, there are no discolorations around her mouth although there are small discolored spots on the part of her tongue that she keeps sticking out, no double joints on her legs although her back legs don't always seem to go where she wants them to and she hasn't been using her tail much since we removed the high perches from her cage.
Yes - I know she is sick and I understand that there are things we should have done better (like researching online what the pet store people told us to do to care for her - doy!). We are trying to give her the best care we can now to give her her best chance of pulling through this. Other than suggesting we bring her in to a vet is there anything additional at home I can be doing to help her through this?
- Your Chameleon - Veiled female a little over a year old. Had her for almost exactly a year not sure of her age from the petstore.
- Handling - Daily right now to provide warm bath/feed/general sick care. Prior to growing ill ~once a week.
- Feeding - Prior to her getting ill she got crickets loaded with the Flukers calcium enriched jello liquid stuff as well as high-calcium cricket feed.
- Supplements - Prior to getting ill once weekly calcium dusted crickets. D3 was not provided on a regular schedule for the first few months which I realize likely added to her current problems. This was corrected and she gets D3 spritzed crickets once every 2 weeks when she's eating.
- Watering - Dripper is present with foliage directly below to catch it and a shallow water dish at the bottom to collect anything that makes it that far. Cage is also misted 2-3 times/day and a humidifier is in the room set to 55%.
- Fecal Description - Not been eating well and hasn't passed dark poop in ~week. White urea still being passed regularly.
- History - Purchased from a PetCo - employee suggested the whole litter of on-sale veileds were there due to another employees veiled successfully hatching a clutch.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - Screen (http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/live-birds/zoo-med-repti-breeze-chameleon-kit). When she reached one year we had planned to invest in a larger cage however due to her current illness we have not done this yet.
- Lighting - See kit above. The UVB bulb has been replaced with a 5.0 Reptisun. 12 hours on and 12 hours off for both bulbs.
- Temperature - Daytime room temp is 70-80. Original basking spot (currently removed due to illness and preventing falls) measured 80-90 during the day, shaded bottom of cage averaged ~72. Overnight air conditioner in the room is set to 68 during the summer, in winter the room can drop to 65 or so.
- Humidity - Humidifier in the room is set to keep the level at 55%.
- Plants - No live plants currently.
- Placement - In the corner of a bedroom away from most daily traffic (down a hallway from bathroom, kitchen, living room areas). A ceiling fan in the room is always on low and the humidifier is a vornado humidifier with a fan.
- Location - Midwest US.
Current Problem - ~1 month ago I noticed our cham grab her own leg a few times but she seemed otherwise healthy so I was not concerned. She became lethargic soon after and I investigated online what might be the issue - discovered that the UVB bulb for her enclosure should have been changed a long time ago and purchased a new one that same night. I suspected MBD due to the lack of UVB for so long/insufficient D3. Since that time she has deteriorated becoming weak and unable to hold herself up although she will still move around the bottom of her cage and will attempt to climb up any perches provided but will then slide off the side of them after some time. She has a strong grip and will back away from and hiss at people who try and handle her other than myself (this is normal - she never seemed to take well to being handled so we restricted it in my household so I would be the only one to handle her so she had less to stress about). All high perches have been removed from her cage to prevent falls - to make up for this we are keeping the ambient temperature in the room higher at ~80. For the last 2 weeks I have been giving her daily 20 minute baths in warm water with some calcium powder. Yesterday since she hasn't defecated or shown interest in her food in some time I started feeding her pedialyte with a dropper as well as adding some to her bath. ~2 days ago she started to spend time with the tip of her tongue sticking our of her mouth - not dragging or hanging just maybe 2mm of it sticking out the front. Yesterday was the first day I saw her go to sleep without retracting it and made sure to moisten it with a wet paper towel before I went down for the night and again when I woke up in the morning. Her eyes are neither sunken nor bulging, she does not have a 'wheezy' noise when breathing, there are no discolorations around her mouth although there are small discolored spots on the part of her tongue that she keeps sticking out, no double joints on her legs although her back legs don't always seem to go where she wants them to and she hasn't been using her tail much since we removed the high perches from her cage.
Yes - I know she is sick and I understand that there are things we should have done better (like researching online what the pet store people told us to do to care for her - doy!). We are trying to give her the best care we can now to give her her best chance of pulling through this. Other than suggesting we bring her in to a vet is there anything additional at home I can be doing to help her through this?
