Need help please
- Thread starter MegaWattz
- Start date
Are they going to run the fecal? So the only thing in your husbandry form that I see is the possibility of D3 overdose with both the repashy and the D3 additional supplement you were giving. @kinyonga your thoughts here. Do you see anything else? My only other thought is a parasite issue which we would know when the fecal comes back.
Yes they are running a fecal, Kammerflage was pretty confident that it was not a vitamin overdose and the vitamin shots from the vet seemed to perk him up for a little part of the day.
Found another fairly large poop with undigested wax worms and superworms about an hour ago which I did not notice before.
Antibiotic is only listed as SMZ TMP liquid, sort of a pink-grey in color.
No closing his eyes during the day.
Could it be the lack of fogger for a period, as I did not do so much at night during the last 2 months.
Thank you I will keep you updated. I apologize for bothering everyone with this, I suffer from an obsessive disorder so when my pet has an issue I can't focus on anything else. I though my husbandry was spot on and figured that a licensed vet would know better than I.
I am trying to remain optimistic but I lost my first cham as he was sick when I got him and had no idea how to care for him. I fear that I have done something wrong here and that taking my friend to this vet has only made the problem worse. I am just going to try to sleep and try not to bother him and hope he perks up in the morning. I found a list of Michigan vets on the ARAV maybe I try calling one in the a.m. and hope I get through and get some advise in this pandemic.
Don't apologize ...you're not bothering anyone! This forum is here to help people and provide information so that the chameleons are helped too. We do the best we can but we don't always have all the answers either.
I assume the meds are oral? Just be careful not to get it into his lungs...ease it in and stay away from the windpipe.
Hope all goes well in the end! Keep us posted.
I assume the meds are oral? Just be careful not to get it into his lungs...ease it in and stay away from the windpipe.
Hope all goes well in the end! Keep us posted.
Yes the meds are oral, I've kind of had to pinch his mouth open with two fingers but try to slowly drip it in. Will do, thank you.
Hi hun look at this link for giving meds. http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2014/05/how-to-give-different-medicines.html Your wanting to aim for the back because their airway is in the front of the mouth.
And do not feel bad for asking anything. It could very well be he had an issue passing the wax worms and superworms which made him feel icky and sluggish. Wait until the fecal comes back and let us know. Not running the fogger at night would not do this.
Got it, did not realize the airway was up front. Blotted a little on his tongue this a.m. but not near the .5ml the vet prescribed should I try to do the rest now that I know where to squirt exactly and that pinching his mouth sides wont hurt him?
Personally my inkling is to let what little I got in do its work and wait until tomorrow to do this method for another full dose, so as not to add stress.
Also not feeding him today as I put 3-4 crickets in his mouth yesterday so he needs to skip a day, just trying to give him the whole room to himself for the day.
Have also increased the mistings to about 6: 1 long, 1 medium, and 4, 1 minute so as to keep humidity since that room can be dry in the winter and want to promote warmth and humidity.
Thank you for your kind words I just want to make sure I give my friend good care rather than flail around and make him sicker.
Ok hun. So as far as the meds I am with @kinyonga on the fact that I also hate the idea of medicating when they have not given you a reason for it. Kinda scares me also that they gave meds when they did not even know what gender he is. I have gone through medicating with oral meds before. I found the easiest way was to inject the medication into a hornworm or give the feeder and inject into the side of the mouth toward the back while he took the feeder. Maybe call back and ask why they prescribed this med.
How is he acting today?
As far as the mistings.... I would do one in the morning about an hour before your basking fixture comes on and 1 in the evening after the basking fixture is off. This is best achieved when you stagger your lighting. So my T5 kicks on first at 8am then I have my mistking kick on for 2 minutes at 8:30 then my basking fixture kicks on at 9:30am this gives the cage a bit of time to drop in moist air so your not creating a hot wet environment which in turn puts him at risk for an RI. At night I follow the same my basking kicks off at 4pm I have a misting kick on at 4:30 and another at 5:30 then my T5 is off at 6:30pm. I have a dripper running during the day which gives a constant source of water.
It is a balancing game of making sure he is drinking but also not having the humidity too high within the cage. It takes a bit for a cage to dry back out to lower the RI risk. If you want to add a mid day misting then just kick the basking lamp off for 30 minutes prior and 30 minutes after the misting.
What many people in dryer climates do for upping ambient humidity is adding a fogger to the room. So put one in the room running and test your ambient humidity. It should be a cool mist humidifier and you can buy a regular one for people. This way the cage is not getting soaked and creating that constant moist hot air.
As for feeding. Right now ignore what I said about not feeding every day, wait until he is 100% again, so I would give him crickets.
I understand your concern. I have been there. So just take it day by day and be his advocate with the vet. If you can call around and see if you can find a vet with real chameleon experience. That way if you need to take him back in you have someone that you can count on knowing what to do for him.
Yes it is. It is easier on them.
The extra supplements can affect their digestion and a few other things support him the best you can while they clear out of his system.
Ok hun. So as far as the meds I am with @kinyonga on the fact that I also hate the idea of medicating when they have not given you a reason for it. Kinda scares me also that they gave meds when they did not even know what gender he is. I have gone through medicating with oral meds before. I found the easiest way was to inject the medication into a hornworm or give the feeder and inject into the side of the mouth toward the back while he took the feeder. Maybe call back and ask why they prescribed this med.
How is he acting today?
As far as the mistings.... I would do one in the morning about an hour before your basking fixture comes on and 1 in the evening after the basking fixture is off. This is best achieved when you stagger your lighting. So my T5 kicks on first at 8am then I have my mistking kick on for 2 minutes at 8:30 then my basking fixture kicks on at 9:30am this gives the cage a bit of time to drop in moist air so your not creating a hot wet environment which in turn puts him at risk for an RI. At night I follow the same my basking kicks off at 4pm I have a misting kick on at 4:30 and another at 5:30 then my T5 is off at 6:30pm. I have a dripper running during the day which gives a constant source of water.
It is a balancing game of making sure he is drinking but also not having the humidity too high within the cage. It takes a bit for a cage to dry back out to lower the RI risk. If you want to add a mid day misting then just kick the basking lamp off for 30 minutes prior and 30 minutes after the misting.
What many people in dryer climates do for upping ambient humidity is adding a fogger to the room. So put one in the room running and test your ambient humidity. It should be a cool mist humidifier and you can buy a regular one for people. This way the cage is not getting soaked and creating that constant moist hot air.
As for feeding. Right now ignore what I said about not feeding every day, wait until he is 100% again, so I would give him crickets.
I understand your concern. I have been there. So just take it day by day and be his advocate with the vet. If you can call around and see if you can find a vet with real chameleon experience. That way if you need to take him back in you have someone that you can count on knowing what to do for him.
This makes no sense, everyone I have talked to including the breeder says there should be a long misting session about an hour after lights on, cage dry out completely, mist again, repeat throughout the day.
I have never heard anything about needing to turn the basking lamp off to be able to mist.
Inversly my knowledge is that you absolutely cannot have a fogger with basking because that will cause the RI.
This will better explain it. https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/
You of course can keep doing what you are doing but it does increase the risk of a respiratory infection. And I do have lights on but only the T5 UVB not basking lamp which puts out the most heat. I do run a 4 minute session but that is my late afternoon session. I fog at night and have a dripper running so I do not start the day with a long misting. The only reason why I mentioned it was you said you increased your misting sessions to 6 times during the day.
You will find that everyone has their way of doing things. I tend to follow the newer line of thinking and love Bill Strand's podcasts. He knows his stuff and the information I have learned over the last year and a half has never failed me.
One more way to get meds into a chameleon with very little stress is to give him a cricket....while his mouth is opening and shutting chewing it ease the meds in (do not squirt the meds in). This same trick of slipping in the meds can be done when his mouth is opening and shutting while he drinks.
The problem is he is not eating right now so I cannot use that method.
I suggested the eating bit because you said this..."Also not feeding him today as I put 3-4 crickets in his mouth yesterday so he needs to skip a day". How about drinking?
Right I had to open his mouth and put them in to get him to chew them. I have observed him drinking and through saturday he was still tonging insects. I re-read the Kammers care guide and I believe I have followed it to a T in terms of misting. I have dialed back from the six to the usual for as Beman's comment did make me realize this was most likely a over reaction on my part.
I offered a cricket on tongs about 20 minutes ago and zero interest so I will put dusted feeders in tomorrow as normal and see what happens. I would call his condition today ever so slightly perkier than yesterday. He did get up and go under his heat lamp by himself this morning at lights on but that has been the most dramatic change to normal.
