Respiratory illness? Gullaredema? is it time to see a vet??

salish_31

salish_31

Member
First off, sorry for posting a bunch of questions all the time lol. I recently posted about how my cham Irene started avoiding feeding from a bowl I sometimes hold up to her, and started to show dark colors and spots alot. This morning, I saw her sleeping nose pointed up and neck stretched back. I tried to take a photo but she noticed me and went to her basking spot. I thought it was weird but didn't think too much about it. Later though I went to check on Irene and I saw her eyes closed and gaping. I immediately freaked and walked up to her cage to look at what she was doing, but she again noticed me opend her eyes and acted normal. While in my room I heard a kinda snoring noise and it was Irene. I only have noticed these things today. I was looking through some of the other forums and have heard this could be a symptom of respiratory illness, or even gullaredemia. I also saw that some people had this happen before their female laid eggs but this doesn't seem to be the case for her. Any thoughts of what this might be? Should I keep watch and see if things keep happening before taking her to the vet?

Chameleon Info:

  • Your Chameleon - Veiled, female, 4-5 months?. Around a month in my care
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Almost never I have handled her twice for cage adjustments
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I am feeding her 10 crickets and about 5 medium sized bsfl but was told I need to up the amount
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I use zoo med calcium without d3 every feeding and zoo med repti vite every two weeks
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I now have switched to 45 sec every 12 hours. I heard I am supposed to do it for two minutes but I am struggling with high humidity. Any tips?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Her poop itself is a light brown that has a shiny look to it not watery in any way though and her white thing (sorry I forgot the name) is now a fully cream color and sometimes is watery. She has not been tested for parasites
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. She was bought from a chain store :(


Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? She has a repti breeze cage I am using a medium because that is all that was available but am looking to upgrade to an xl repti breeze or diy cage xl
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I use an arcadia liner 7% bulb and a basic repti zoo heat lamp
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Her basking spot is usually 78 degrees and the bottom of her cage is 72-70 degrees
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? The humidity is 50-60% in the daytime and 40% at night
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Pothos
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? She is on my dresser in my room which is a very low traffic area in my home
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Florida
 
Hi. Without even looking at your husbandry, it sounds like she has a respiratory infection, which she'll need to see a vet for.
I'll go thru your husbandry but it will take me longer than usual as I'm not as quick on my laptop.
 
  • Your Chameleon - Veiled, female, 4-5 months?. Around a month in my care I'd like to see some current pics of her please.
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Almost never I have handled her twice for cage adjustments Even though veileds may never volunteer to come out onto your hand, it's always best to work on building trust with them. I will post a blog link at the bottom. Every time I try to add it here, it messes everything up.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I am feeding her 10 crickets and about 5 medium sized bsfl but was told I need to up the amount How often are you giving her that much? What are you feeding your feeders? You need your bugs to be kept healthy in order to be more nutritious - fresh greens, veggies and a little fruit are best. Normally I'd add graphics for you, but...(stupid laptop)
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I use zoo med calcium without d3 every feeding and zoo med repti vite every two weeks This is good. Does your ReptiVite have D3 in it?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I now have switched to 45 sec every 12 hours. I heard I am supposed to do it for two minutes but I am struggling with high humidity. Any tips? I'd like to see some pics of your entire enclosure and what type of device are you using to measure humidity?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Her poop itself is a light brown that has a shiny look to it not watery in any way though and her white thing (sorry I forgot the name) is now a fully cream color and sometimes is watery. She has not been tested for parasites Since she is needing a vet visit, might as well grab a fresh poo and have it tested. It should add just about $35-40 on to the vet bill and is worth it.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. She was bought from a chain store :( No judgement from me. I have one from Petco too.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
To be continued...
 
MissSkittles said:
  • Your Chameleon - Veiled, female, 4-5 months?. Around a month in my care I'd like to see some current pics of her please.
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Almost never I have handled her twice for cage adjustments Even though veileds may never volunteer to come out onto your hand, it's always best to work on building trust with them. I will post a blog link at the bottom. Every time I try to add it here, it messes everything up.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I am feeding her 10 crickets and about 5 medium sized bsfl but was told I need to up the amount How often are you giving her that much? What are you feeding your feeders? You need your bugs to be kept healthy in order to be more nutritious - fresh greens, veggies and a little fruit are best. Normally I'd add graphics for you, but...(stupid laptop)
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I use zoo med calcium without d3 every feeding and zoo med repti vite every two weeks This is good. Does your ReptiVite have D3 in it?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I now have switched to 45 sec every 12 hours. I heard I am supposed to do it for two minutes but I am struggling with high humidity. Any tips? I'd like to see some pics of your entire enclosure and what type of device are you using to measure humidity?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Her poop itself is a light brown that has a shiny look to it not watery in any way though and her white thing (sorry I forgot the name) is now a fully cream color and sometimes is watery. She has not been tested for parasites Since she is needing a vet visit, might as well grab a fresh poo and have it tested. It should add just about $35-40 on to the vet bill and is worth it.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. She was bought from a chain store :( No judgement from me. I have one from Petco too.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
To be continued...
Click to expand...
I have graphics for you!
1708029171514.png
1708029179537.png
 
I have been trying to make my presence with her positive so when I clean her cage I will hand feed a wax worm to try and make her associate me with treats. I feed her every morning, and I have not been gut loading the bugs... I should definitely get onto that right away. The reptivite has d3 and the calcium does not. I will go ahead and take some photos of the enclosure.
 
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? She has a repti breeze cage I am using a medium because that is all that was available but am looking to upgrade to an xl repti breeze or diy cage xl Do you have it covered at all? Yes, you will be needing an XL at minimum.
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I use an arcadia liner 7% bulb and a basic repti zoo heat lamp Sadly, you are needing to get a different UVB fixture and bulb. The Arcadia 7% is a completely different fixture and bulb and is geared towards shade dwelling and crepuscular animals, like leopard geckos. It is unable to provide the needed UVB for a chameleon and you unfortunately can't just pop a 6% UVB bulb into the fixture as it won't work.
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Her basking spot is usually 78 degrees and the bottom of her cage is 72-70 degrees Very good.
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? The humidity is 50-60% in the daytime and 40% at night As I said previously, I'd like to see some pics of your entire enclosure and what type of gauge you are using to measure. You want 30-50% humidity during the day and IF you can achieve a night time temp drop below at least 68, you can boost humidity all the way.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Pothos Are all like or are some fake?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? She is on my dresser in my room which is a very low traffic area in my home Good
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Florida What part? We are fortunate to have a great vet who is experienced with chameleons in Orlando - Dr Bruce Bogoslavsky. https://myavho.com I drive an hour each way to see him and he is well worth it.
 
Here are some. Let me know if you need more/different angles.
 

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Can I get a link for the correct uvb? Thanks. We are in the Pensacola Destin area, any vet suggestions? I bought the basic thermometer and humidity gage at the pet store I think its repti zoo you can see it on the second picture.
 
salish_31 said:
Here are some. Let me know if you need more/different angles.
Click to expand...
Ok, so I have some more feedback to add. The gauge you are using is notoriously inaccurate. You need to get one that is digital and has a probe. You'll find that you humidity and temps are much different that what that gauge is telling you. If for some crazy reason that gauge hasn't yet malfunctioned and your humidity is indeed that high, you could try moving your enclosure out a bit more from the walls to improve airflow. You need to add many more branches and vines (chameleon roads) for her to travel on. It is a challenge to do with screened enclosures, but there are ways to do it. One is Dragon Ledges https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ I was lacking those and used scrap garden trellis, which worked so great that I bought more trellis to do additional enclosures with it. I used thin wire to attach the trellis to the frame and attached some small screws in the frame to better secure it. In some areas of the trellis I needed to drill tiny holes. I use natural branches from outside that I clean with soap and water and rinse very well before letting them sun dry.
 
where is a site that I can find a vet near me that is reputable in taking care of chams? or if anyone here knows of any near the pensacola Destin area in Florida.
 
Just got a appointment scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30am. I am worried about the stress of getting her in the contanior and the long drive there. Any tips or videos/previous forums to prepare some sort of transportation box and getting her in there?
 
salish_31 said:
Just got an appointment scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30am. I am worried about the stress of getting her in the contanior and the long drive there. Any tips or videos/previous forums to prepare some sort of transportation box and getting her in there?
Click to expand...
My vet is almost three hours from me. He is fine in his box the whole time. Three hours there, three back, and the time in between. I get a small cardboard box and shove a stick through it. This way the stick won’t move during the drive. I also put a towel on the bottom, sometimes my guy prefers to hang onto that rather than the stick for some reason. If you close the top, she will be in the dark and go to sleep.
 
salish_31 said:
Just got an appointment scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30am. I am worried about the stress of getting her in the contanior and the long drive there. Any tips or videos/previous forums to prepare some sort of transportation box and getting her in there?
Click to expand...
Also food is a good motivator to getting them out of the enclosure. I hold a hornworm in my hand and put my other arm in front of it so my guy has to climb on my arm to get his treat.
 
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