Pixel the Panther Chameleon is Sick :(

[Carlton]

Yeah I'm sure you are right about the ficus, Carlton. I guess we just want to try everything. We also recently switched from Tap water to bottled spring water just in case.

But he did drink an awful lot today too which I think it's good because before he wasn't even interested. I'm hoping this means the antibiotic cocktail is working.

The antibiotic is going to be hard on his kidneys and is a systemic stressor. Give him as much water as you can to keep everything flushed through.

 

[kinyonga]

Does he have shade when he's in his cage outside??

 

[ChickenParmesan]

Thanks, Carlton...I didn't think about that. I've been spraying directly into his mouth every day and I'll just keep it up. This whole ritual of taking him out, giving him carnivore care and oral medication in the morning then sprying water in his mouth for 20-30 minutes and then feeders at night along with injection every 72 hrs is very time consuming! No choice though and it is forcing me to chill out.

Kinyonga, when he still had the ficus as of today there was a lot of shade. Once we changed to plastic this morning we kept the cage in a half sun/half shade area and then when it got very hot I brought him inside (we're in the middle of a heat wave). I guess I'll do the same tomorrow. I've also been letting him climb on this pile of branches that we took out of the cage....sort of free-roaming while I watch him and drink some tea. He seems to really like it

 

[lancaster0861]

First of all sorry your guy is struggling like this but it is refreshing to see owners who are as committed as you are. Im no expert or a long time owner by no means, actually i have only had my chameleon for about 7 months or so. However, during this time it has been my experience with my guy and research that hydration is critical as i'm sure you have heard a thousand times by now. My guy went down hill one time eyes sunken in, lethargic, not eating, or drinking. This seemed to happen overnight. I was lucky enough to be part of this forum then and found that i needed to get fluids in him quickly. Sure enough after pushing fluids for a few days it was like a whole new chameleon appeared! He was eating, energetic, and drinking like nothing had ever happened. I was surprised because I was misting the same as always and for some reason he just got dehydrated and went downhill. I still haven't had to change my watering since i pushed fluids and he is doing fine, but its just one of those weird things about these guys. The smallest thing can throw them off and once that happens it can get ugly real quickly. Since you are having to give so many meds and solutions i would do everything i can to ensure he is hydrated it is imperative to keep him hydrated right now. He has a lot of stress on his kidneys now as im sure you have heard a few times by now also lol. Maybe keep his outside time to a min each day since he seems so fragile. Im sure the natural sunlight is great for him but he probably needs to take it in in small amounts. Im not sure about this but others can correct me if im wrong. I would try to get him on a more healthy diet as soon as he stabilizes a bit. Since you are force feeding right now, would it be possible to crush up well gutloaded crickets or silkworms and put in his mouth. I only say this because i know you want to give him any food at this point and feel that anything is better than nothing. I understand that but i think it would really benefit his sensitive state right now to give him a well balanced and nutritional diet if possible. This will really help his body recover and fight off any future ailments. You are doing great and now that you have been able to correct a few things like supplements and feeding im confident things will fall back into order with him. They require a few specific things but once you get it all in check, they come into their own and really flourish for you.

 

[lancaster0861]

oh yea sorry for the huge post! i forgot i saw you improved some perches for him, but in addition he might like some more horizontal branches to cruise around up top if possible. Well done on the cage and improvements so far!

 

[ChickenParmesan]

Thanks for the support, lancaster! I am taking your advice seriously about pushing fluids and it's fantastic you're guy rebounded after his bout with dehydration...but Pixel just doesn't want to drink. How did you do it? Did you syringe feed him water? I'm at the point where if I notice he didn't drink all day I'm just going to do that, but I don't want to choke him or get water in his lungs.

Since we're having a heat wave I have decided to keep him inside but still bring him out for about 20 minutes for some early morning sun. I did that this morning, he hung out on the backyard table on a pile of sticks while I fed him his morning carnivore care and oral antibiotic. He actually tried to bite me today when I took him out, but I think it's a good thing bc when he's lethargic he's almost too fine with me overhandling him... snapping at me seems like a more normal chameleon reaction.

Regarding food, yes on top of the carnivore care in the morning (which the vet said we should continue indefinitely bc it has a lot of vitamins) we're feeding him the butter worms and yesterday he superworms. They are much too big for Pixel so my boyfriend cut the tail end off and fed him those...gross.

Regarding his cage, we added a bunch new branches and vines yesterday. It's a little bare since we removed the ficus but it's just an experiment so we'll see.

 

[lancaster0861]

Yea with my guy and also from what i have read, it seems that once a chameleon reaches a certain point of dehydration they seem to not try at all to drink even if they are "soaked" or surrounded by it constantly. Almost like they are giving up. Im not sure about your situation since im not present and am almost hesitant on giving this advice, but it may help you. Just know that this is not at all recommended by anyone to do and it may be bad advice. I honestly would not do it again unless i was absolutely desperate and death was almost certain. Many know that this is not a good thing to do and can be dangerous, so this is gonna have to be something you want to think about and weigh the chances before hand. I know i will probably get blasted for saying this on here and i agree its not a good idea, but when my guy was looking like absolute death. After trying the shower method, and soaking with pedyalite wasn't helping. Even trying to put water into my palm around a worm wouldn't help because he stopped eating. It was a saturday morning and i dont remember the situation but i was not gonna be able to get him to the vet until monday and i could see he was not gonna make it much longer. I decided to go against my better judgement and all the research i had did and go ahead and drop water into his mouth. It was scary because its said they can aspirate like this really easily. I did it as a last resort on saturday morning. It was a moment where I truly felt hopeless/sad and powerless. Its funny because that whole night I did nothing but worry, my girlfriend could see it on my face all night. He was the only thing on my mind, the stress and guilt of been the one to let him down literally kept me awake for the majority of the night. Im not exaggerating when i say this but i have never lost sleep like I did that night, and this is coming from a person who did 4 yrs in the Marine Corps with two combat tours to Iraq lol. That little guy had me shook. So as a last resort I started dropping a few few drops of water into his mouth three times a day for the first day and then after i would do it two times a day. If i remeber correctly i only had to do it 2 or 3 days and like i said he bounced back almost over night. His eyes no longer caved in and was more energetic. I think it took him about two more days after drinking on his own before he started eating again, but it worked. Again, i would only recommend this as a very last resort, but if you can get him to a vet and can get them to hydrated him i wouldn't attempt it. I do acknowledge that i was wrong and that i should not be posting this on here. I don't want others to see that their cham is slightly dehydrated and attempt this, and kill their chameleon. Its very dangerous but worked for me.

 

[ChickenParmesan]

I read your post several times, Lancaster (which was heartbreaking...I'm so sorry you went through that! Both the chameleon dehydration and Iraq!) and after much thought i finally decided to try giving him water by dropping it in his mouth. The next morning I filled up the syringe I use to give Pixel food, forced his mouth open (which is always a struggle) and tried to release some of the water drop-by-drop on his tongue. Sure enough, he started taking these deep breaths and I was like "Ohmigod! He's going to choke to death right now!" He didnt....he was ok but I wonder wtf that was about. Like was it just a stress reaction or was I truly aspirating him? I can't decide now if I should attempt this again, but I swear he hasn't had any fluids since then. He just refuses to drink now. Yesterday I mixed his Carnivore Care with more water than usual bc I feel like it's the only time he gets any.

But in the mean time and in spite of the dehydration, he's looking great! Using both eyes which are not sunken in, walking around. I mean in the morning he's a little slow but once I wake him up and do our morning ritual of feeding/oral medication, he's good for the rest of the day! I just wish he would drink the water. Ugh.

 

[ChickenParmesan]

I was wondering if someone could help me with some vitamin questions:

Should I be giving him d3 still? I discontinued it after I started bringing him outside and he's still going out quite a bit...between 30 mins to a full day, depending on the weather.

Should I cool it on the regular calcium for a while? I mean, he gets carnivore care every morning and worms dusted in calcium every night...I thought it was ok bc of the mbd possibility but now I'm wondering if it's a bit too much. My bf says most of it fall off the worms anyway since it's such a struggle to hand feed him, but still.