New addition and new vet

[MelissaB]

I wasn't comfortable with the vet that treated Winston, so when Oscar's mouth looked off to me, I decided to go somewhere else. Oscar just shed and I just didn't like how one side of his mouth looked, I'm paranoid after what happened to Winston.
I called our local vet office. yesterday, (5 minutes away, YES!) and asked if any of their vets had chameleon experience. The girl put me on hold, to go ask, came back and said that there was one vet who did. I was skeptical, and fully prepared to take Oscar and leave if she didn't seem to know her stuff.
To my surprise, the vet was VERY experienced in chams, and had even printed out a husbandry sheet for me, that's very similar to the care sheets here. I had filled out and printed the "Ask For Help" sheet, so I wouldn't forget anything. Oscar's mouth is fine, but he's slightly dehydrated (slight orange tint to his urates), she believes this is due to the cold snap and the furnace being on so much. So I'm upping my misting, and waiting for my hornworms to arrive. She also gave me an oral rinse just to be on the safe side, because he did have a little debris b/c his saliva is a little thicker from being dehydrated. He's not too thrilled about that. :/ I gave her a fresh stool sample to check for parasites, and he has a followup in 2 weeks. I am so relieved, it isn't funny. I have to wonder if Winston would still be with me, if I had gone to see her instead.

A few days ago, I received a 3 month old baby male ambilobe panther from Lost Island Reptiles. He's sooo tiny! I set his deli cup in his enclosure, and as soon as he got his bearings he ate three crickets and then took a nice, long soak under his dripper. He seems to like his raindome, too. I noticed him soaking off to the side of it, while it was misting this morning. And he shoots the droplets that cling to the ceiling of his cage.
So far, he's sure that I'm going to eat him, so I'm leaving him alone, other than setting food in his enclosure and filling his dripper. His name is Otto. The people I bought him from are great, answered all of my questions, and gave me detailed care instructions. They even sent me photos of how they had his baby cage set up. I'm very happy with Oscar, Otto, L.I.R., and my new vet.
I'll post pics of Otto as soon as I upload them from my camera. I need to get some new pics of Oscar, he's really growing and getting more handsome with each shed. He was so upset at the vets that he turned an amazing sky blue. He was beautiful, but it made me feel bad, because I knew how stressed he was.

 

[Kath44]

So happy to hear you've found good vet. And of your new addition, Otto.
We all do it I guess, but no good comes out of 'what ifs'. You did what you felt right at the time. And he saw a vet, which is more than some might do.
Looking forward to pics. Kath.

 

[MelissaB]

Thank you, Kath. I know, you're right, it's one of those,"If I knew then what I know now..."

Here is a blurry deli cup pic, and one I just took of Otto running away from me. I don't want to freak him out, so I'll try to get better pictures when he's feeling more secure. The metal object behind his butt, is the temperature probe.

 

[MelissaB]

The new vet called this afternoon, Oscar's fecal test came back clean. I didn't ask the vet, but I will when I bring him in for his followup, how often is recommended for testing? I know they can pick up parasites from a feeder, so it's good to test them a few times a year. Would every 6 months be prudent?

 

[pigglett79]

Congrats on the new vet and new addition. It is comforting when you know you have found a vet that can care for them.

 

[Kath44]

He looks a sweetie. Kath.

 

[MelissaB]

Thank you, Pigglett. Yes, it's a huge relief to have someone that really understands chameleons. I kept telling the vet that I was so happy to have found her. I hadn't even thought to call there before, because I went off the herpvet list on another site, when I was looking for a vet for my guys.


Thank you, Kath. I hope he gets comfy and confidant so I can watch him more. He looks so cute patrolling his turf.

 

[PoshPenny]

Hoggle goes in tomorrow for a check on his mouth. He has a little muscus in his mouth but I read that this can be normal, it's very little, like stringy spit, but over all no wheezing or pops, but I still want a culture done on it. I will wait to deworm. But will get a fecal done while I'm there. Getting his husbandry right is hard. I'm going to look at a huge and I mean HUGE bird cage for him. It's 6 feet tall, 4feet around on all sides. He will have his free range plus this. The extra large reptibreeze is a joke almost. Hoggle is a beast. :/ I love your new baby. So sweet!

 

[MelissaB]

Thank you, Penny. I hope Hoggle gets a clean bill of health. It sounds like you have everything covered. Hoggle is a good looking guy, and BIG! That birdcage sounds like it's the right size for him. Will it be hard to keep the humidity up and the bugs in? How's he doing as far as settling in?

 

[PoshPenny]

It will be closer to a free range,

That's the one we are getting. Sadly it comes with a bird. Soooooooo now we got a bird. Yeh... I know! When will it end!!!

But It will be wrapped pet mesh, it will be suped up equipped with a mist king. The bird dropping seed catcher will be great for drainage too. His claws are tearing apart the screen. These guys IMO are meant to be able to climb very very durable things. Logs not sticks, huge ropes verses fake vines, and trees not plants. He has ruined two umbrella plants. This is a trial and error. He is 9 months old, and just massive. If we don't get something very strong and sturdy for him to crawl on in conjunction with his free range we will be in trouble.

 

[PoshPenny]

My battle wounds from getting him home. Yeesh. The girl at Starbucks asked if I got a kitten. I said nope, a giant Chameleon.

 

[jannb]

Congrats on little Otto. I'm glad to hear that you found a new vet that you like. IMO that's a very important thing when you keep a chameleon. I hope that Oscar will be just fine.

 

[MelissaB]

Penny, that is wild! I had no idea they were that powerful. Your hands do look like you were playing with a kitten, that guy has a heck of a grip! The birdcage pan and seed catcher might rust, you might want to give them a spray of some kind of coating, and the corners might need something there so the water doesn't go through. My African gray has a similar type of cage, and the corner where he likes to throw his water dish has started to rust. In the cage's defense it has been about 14 years.

Thank you, Jann. Oscar wolfed down 4 small hornworms yesterday, and even took the 1st one out of my hand. And that was after some nice tasty roaches.

 

[Lost Island Reptile]

Otto

Hi Melissa,
We are so pleased to hear that one of our chameleons went to such a great home. We look forward to updates and pictures of Otto as he matures!!

Best Regards,
Jared & Denni Gray

 

[MelissaB]

Thank you Denni and Jared. I definitely will post lots of pictures. He's a fantastic little guy, I am so happy with him.