Respiratory Infection

[Orangejuiceman]

Hello all, I’ve been posting this week about my chameleons behavior. Turns out it’s an RI and I’m now giving him injections once every three days. Ceftazidime in the upper bicep area.

He is still active and eating and pooping, doing his usual routes around his home etc.

My question is about things to change and what the problem was. My assessment is that his new room in the house has been too hot. It’s in a south facing window in Miami, and when it heats up I have been misting to cool it down a bit and that turns out to be a breeding ground for bacteria. This hasn’t been confined but im just analyzing my past habits. I think I need more temp gauges all over, moved away from the window, and only mist in the evening and night when it’s okay for humidity to be high. Correct me if this thinking is going down the wrong path.

I also added a water bowl for him to hydrate himself during the day and not have to rely on me misting and creating a bad environment for respiration. The dropper will slowly drip into his water bowl to get his attention. Never done this part and he seems well hydrated but I wanted to give him another option before the kids on Reddit rip me to shreds.

I also added a small floor fan to the room, not directed at him but to circulate air around the room and make sure it doesn’t warm up too much (it’s a Florida room and they tend to be warmer than the rest of the house) really just working on humidity management.

Any other tips would be appreciated. I’ve head of people giving a warm mist shower to their chameleons with RI but this seems counterintuitive if the bacteria is created by warm mist or humidity in the air?

Thank you to anyone who responds.

 

[Beman]

So you may have to get a window unit air conditioner to cool the ambient temps in that room. Rooms that have a window that get direct sun should have the curtains pulled during that time of day and the cage should not sit near the window. Ambient temps really should be 70-73 max daytime in the room.

Reddit is wrong with their advice and water bowls. This is in no way a natural way for a chameleon to drink. You want to have a dripper just dripping on the plants in the cage. He then will drink from the plants. Having a water bowl not only creates an environment that bacteria can grow in but you have now added a larger source of water in the cage that will raise the humidity. I would suggest avoiding Reddit for any information on Chameleon husbandry. They give incorrect and outdated feedback and if anyone tries to post anything other than what they recommend they are banned and their comment is deleted.

Absolutely no warm showers. This is the exact opposite of what you want. Hot moist air can create an RI or make one much worse. COOL moist air at night is what you would want. This is why foggers are only recommended at night and if you can get your temps below 67-68.

Basking spot for an adult male veiled should be no hotter than 80-85 max. Where they rise up off the branch it will be hotter. So if at the branch it is 85 measured with a temp probe then you are exceeding recommended basking temps at the back of the chameleon.