My Rescue; Help!!!

[Herpgirl88]

Hi there all,
So I recently got a Jackson's Chameleon from a Man who had no idea how to take care of reptiles. He Brought the chameleon to the vet, and the vet diagnosed it as dehydrated and underweight. I'm going to bring it back to the vet as soon as they are open again but I wanted to know what you all thought of him. His name is Oliver. I call him Ollie. Ollie's tank set up is a glass tank because he is so dehydrated I had no idea how a screen cage would be able to hold in humidity. He is very underweight and has very very terrible bad shed all over his body. What can I do to help him other then take him to the vet? Thanks everyone.

 

[Bush baby]

Regular mistings are a must. He looks extremely dehydrated. Has he eaten anything? You need to give him alot of gutloaded feeders i.e crickets. Gutload them with dark green leafy veggies i.e. mustard, turnip and collard greens prior to feeding them to him. Dust with Calcium. Make sure he has a UV light available so his body can absorb the calcium; even better is if you can expose him to natural sunlight.

Keep us up to date.

 

[Herpgirl88]

Regular mistings are a must. He looks extremely dehydrated. Has he eaten anything? You need to give him alot of gutloaded feeders i.e crickets. Gutload them with dark green leafy veggies i.e. mustard, turnip and collard greens prior to feeding them to him. Dust with Calcium. Make sure he has a UV light available so his body can absorb the calcium; even better is if you can expose him to natural sunlight.

Keep us up to date.

Yes he has eaten 4 Waxworms and 2 crickets with me. He is very hungry. Poor thing, I feel so bad for him, but I'm glad I have him in my care now.

 

[Bush baby]

Yes he has eaten 4 Waxworms and 2 crickets with me. He is very hungry. Poor thing, I feel so bad for him, but I'm glad I have him in my care now.

Good. Make sure you dust everything with calcium.

Spray/mist him to help with his skin.

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Hornworms and silk worms are very hydrating!

 

[Lathis]

Omg he looks terrible! Lots of hydration, keep the humidity up, and long mistings to help that bad shed come loose. Poor little guy - I'm glad he's in your hands now. Best of luck and please keep us updated on his progress.

When he gets to the vet, have them culture some of that shed to make sure there's no fungal infection.

 

[Herpgirl88]

Omg he looks terrible! Lots of hydration, keep the humidity up, and long mistings to help that bad shed come loose. Poor little guy - I'm glad he's in your hands now. Best of luck and please keep us updated on his progress.

When he gets to the vet, have them culture some of that shed to make sure there's no fungal infection.

That's exactly what I am going to do. Just so you all know I upgraded his tank to a reptibreeze... He has a little dripper and some live plants and fake plants. He has food available to him and water. I will post pictures on the end of this reply. Vets are all closed today. Hoping he lives through this. Anyways here he is.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Poor old man! I hope you have an experienced reptile vet to look at him.

Do you have other reptiles? Do you have him under strict quarantine? I think there is an article at the top of the Health forum that discusses quarantine. If you have other reptiles, you want to service his cage last and make sure you thoroughly wash your hands between animals. I've gone as far as changing clothes after servicing a new chameleon's cage.

It looks like a lot more going on with the skin besides a shed. It could be viral, bacterial or fungal. A vet really needs to biopsy/culture his skin. I would consider him extremely contagious.

In the mean time, since he is in such poor shape, you need to make sure your temps are right for the species, and on the every so slightly warmer side of their range. Up his night time temps a tiny bit as well. He looks dehydrated, so close up that screen cage to get the humidity way up. A rain forest has a 100% humidity during the rainy season.

Pull out the substrate. At best it will help increase the humidity but the bigger risk is that he will shoot a bug on it and get a big clump of coco fiber. He doesn't need to be filling his gut with substrate. The bowl of water isn't a great idea. I would recommend you have a lot more cover/branches/levels at the top of the cage. You've got your set up upside down, with all the cover at the bottom where he is unlikely to go. I've put plants on stands in cages to get them up higher. An artificial plant will not hold the water on its leaves as long as a living plant, so the cage will dry out more quickly and will have less water available for him to drink.

Good luck. He sure needs a lot of help.

 

[Herpgirl88]

Poor old man! I hope you have an experienced reptile vet to look at him.

Do you have other reptiles? Do you have him under strict quarantine? I think there is an article at the top of the Health forum that discusses quarantine. If you have other reptiles, you want to service his cage last and make sure you thoroughly wash your hands between animals. I've gone as far as changing clothes after servicing a new chameleon's cage.

It looks like a lot more going on with the skin besides a shed. It could be viral, bacterial or fungal. A vet really needs to biopsy/culture his skin. I would consider him extremely contagious.

In the mean time, since he is in such poor shape, you need to make sure your temps are right for the species, and on the every so slightly warmer side of their range. Up his night time temps a tiny bit as well. He looks dehydrated, so close up that screen cage to get the humidity way up. A rain forest has a 100% humidity during the rainy season.

Pull out the substrate. At best it will help increase the humidity but the bigger risk is that he will shoot a bug on it and get a big clump of coco fiber. He doesn't need to be filling his gut with substrate. The bowl of water isn't a great idea. I would recommend you have a lot more cover/branches/levels at the top of the cage. You've got your set up upside down, with all the cover at the bottom where he is unlikely to go. I've put plants on stands in cages to get them up higher. An artificial plant will not hold the water on its leaves as long as a living plant, so the cage will dry out more quickly and will have less water available for him to drink.

Good luck. He sure needs a lot of help.

Alright, let me switch everything out. I have been working on him all day. I want what's best for him. I will go get some more plants. I have live and fake in there. I've been spraying him every hour making sure he's moist. and humidity has been at 80%. I have a very experienced reptile vet that's going to look at him. I just hope he will be okay. Please give me any more suggestions you guys have. I'm willing to do all I can to save my new friend.

 

[Herpgirl88]

Poor old man! I hope you have an experienced reptile vet to look at him.

Do you have other reptiles? Do you have him under strict quarantine? I think there is an article at the top of the Health forum that discusses quarantine. If you have other reptiles, you want to service his cage last and make sure you thoroughly wash your hands between animals. I've gone as far as changing clothes after servicing a new chameleon's cage.

It looks like a lot more going on with the skin besides a shed. It could be viral, bacterial or fungal. A vet really needs to biopsy/culture his skin. I would consider him extremely contagious.

In the mean time, since he is in such poor shape, you need to make sure your temps are right for the species, and on the every so slightly warmer side of their range. Up his night time temps a tiny bit as well. He looks dehydrated, so close up that screen cage to get the humidity way up. A rain forest has a 100% humidity during the rainy season.

Pull out the substrate. At best it will help increase the humidity but the bigger risk is that he will shoot a bug on it and get a big clump of coco fiber. He doesn't need to be filling his gut with substrate. The bowl of water isn't a great idea. I would recommend you have a lot more cover/branches/levels at the top of the cage. You've got your set up upside down, with all the cover at the bottom where he is unlikely to go. I've put plants on stands in cages to get them up higher. An artificial plant will not hold the water on its leaves as long as a living plant, so the cage will dry out more quickly and will have less water available for him to drink.

Good luck. He sure needs a lot of help.

By the way, Yes he is under strict quarantine. He's in his own area.. doing his own thing I have other reptiles... none of them are chameleons.. Ollie is my only Chameleon now (The Jackson's) I got him knowing I would have to take extra care of him. I have been making sure I am not touching any of my other reptiles... I am changing clothes and washing hands as I go along... I'm very scared for the chameleon I can't even imagine how he feels. I am going to get a culture test done to see what this horrible white shed like things are. The vet isn't open until Monday. (which pisses me off) He just started turning this beautiful bright green color, When I saw him for the first time he was a dark black/brownish color. I'm hoping now that he is in my care he will feel better... I already love him.

 

[jajeanpierre]

He is such a pathetic little endearing soul--I really understand how you feel about him. He looks like a little old Yoda.

Just pull all the stuff at the bottom out of his cage and try to get some branches up high. You can cut a branch from a tree and just prop it up in there--just make sure it isn't something that will either poison him (or the crickets) or irritate his skin. That will give him lots of different areas to go to--in and out of the UVB and heat (you do have a decent UVB light, correct?). You don't want to be messing about with his cage--he's got enough to deal with without the stress of you mucking about in the cage.

Be really vigilant about your bio security. It does't look like shed to me.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[Herpgirl88]

He is such a pathetic little endearing soul--I really understand how you feel about him. He looks like a little old Yoda.

Just pull all the stuff at the bottom out of his cage and try to get some branches up high. You can cut a branch from a tree and just prop it up in there--just make sure it isn't something that will either poison him (or the crickets) or irritate his skin. That will give him lots of different areas to go to--in and out of the UVB and heat (you do have a decent UVB light, correct?). You don't want to be messing about with his cage--he's got enough to deal with without the stress of you mucking about in the cage.

Be really vigilant about your bio security. It does't look like shed to me.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Just pulled up all the stuff on the bottom of his enclosure. I misted him again and put some dusted waxworms and mealworms in his bowl. I do have a very good UVB light and a heat light. He's moving around and looking better then he did the other night. Thank you so much for your help. I am going to make an appointment with him first thing soon.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Just pulled up all the stuff on the bottom of his enclosure. I misted him again and put some dusted waxworms and mealworms in his bowl. I do have a very good UVB light and a heat light. He's moving around and looking better then he did the other night. Thank you so much for your help. I am going to make an appointment with him first thing soon.

Just make sure your temps are in the normal range for the species. He's a montane species which means he will prefer cooler temps than some of the other species. If you are dusting his food, do it with a very heavy hand. I would be inclined to not dust his food now. Montane species are a lot more sensitive to oversupplementing with vitamins (possibly D3 is the biggest culprit) and can get edema. He doesn't need anything else to deal with right now.

 

[Herpgirl88]

Just make sure your temps are in the normal range for the species. He's a montane species which means he will prefer cooler temps than some of the other species. If you are dusting his food, do it with a very heavy hand. I would be inclined to not dust his food now. Montane species are a lot more sensitive to oversupplementing with vitamins (possibly D3 is the biggest culprit) and can get edema. He doesn't need anything else to deal with right now.

Already checked and the temps are good. I will be keeping close watch on him all night.

 

[Herpgirl88]

Sad to say that Last night while being hospitalized at the vet's office, My beautiful Oliver passed away. I only had him for 4 days and I loved him more then his nasty owner before. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[ChamDE86]

RIP Oliver!

 

[MissLissa]

I'm sorry for your loss

 

[KLowery88]

Poor guy... At least he knew a few days of better care and attention. Good on you for trying to get him healthy again, though it wasn't the outcome anyone wanted.

 

[Lathis]

Ah, poor little Oliver. I was really rooting for him. I'm not surprised, but I am very sorry.

 

[Kaylaaabrown]

Rest in Paradise little buddy