My chameleon needs help!
- Thread starter Ketchup!
- Start date
CalamityCrow
Avid Member
Welcome, and I'm sorry your lovely guy is struggling. As mentioned above, your basking temps are WAY too high. For a panther, they shouldn't go any higher than 85 (around 80 or so at the basking branch itself). Humidity is also very high. It should hover around 40-50% in the daytime. It also looks like your enclosure may not have much airflow - it needs to dry out between mistings every day or you risk a nasty respiratory infection... And needs to be quite a bit bigger. But that all is secondary to immediate help for your guy.
If your guy is limp, eyes closed.... You need to get him to a chameleon-experienced vet ASAP. That's evidence of bodily shutdown. Where do you live? I've attached a list of vetted vets that handle chameleons. Maybe you're close to one?
CalamityCrow
Avid Member
That's highly unlikely... chameleons don't hibernate.
BleuSaphir
Avid Member
These are tropical species. Not temperate…
BleuSaphir
Avid Member
Lower the basking temperature with lower bulb wattage. The glass is retaining more heat than screen enclosures would.
CalamityCrow
Avid Member
Yeah, these guys live near the equator with weather that's the same pretty much all year 'round. They don't hibernate.
I see that you posted about your new guy back in July. The enclosure is bigger than I thought it was (though still a touch small). Have you heard any popping noises from your guy? Gaping (mouth open), stringy saliva? Sleeping or standing with his nose pointed upwards? Other oddities in his behavior? What do his poops look like? How's his eating? What's your supplementation rotation? How are you gutloading your feeders? And what are those feeders?
Eyes closed during the day is NOT something that chameleons do. That indicates sickness. So does sunken eyes. Weakness in the limbs is very concerning too. I'd get him to a vet ASAP. It really may be too late if he's in real bad shape. :C
Hi just replying to these because I had to go into work but all of his stuff is pretty standard.just your average curious chameleon. His eating was a lil less then usual but that's cause I was trying to get him on dubia roaches and before that I had him eating as many crickets as possible. Proper suplimintation every other week with d3 and every feeding (other then with d3) without d3. I'm pretty young so I didn't really have the money for a veterinary appointment but I had surveillance on him when I went to work and I came back and he's in rigor mortis and not breathing. I'm gonna keep a heat lamp on him tonight but I've come to the idea that he's sadly passed.
I did gut load them with greens and carrots and his poops were looking fine. Good humidity with enough water since I'd see him drinking it here and there.
CalamityCrow
Avid Member
Aw man I'm so sorry to hear that. They can leave us quickly when they start showing signs. I lost my boy a couple months ago - one day he was doing fine and three days later he was gone... I'm so sorry you lost him. From your photo, it looks like he was a lovely boy. My heart goes out to you.
Thank you man it means a lot.
I too recently lost one quickly. No matter if we’re prepared or not, it is still hard.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
I’m so sorry. He was beautiful and I know you’ll keep his memory in your heart. ((( 
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