Seffers93
New Member
It saddens me to say that Xander passed away tonight. My girlfriend and I took him to see a vet yesterday morning, and we were given vitamins and antibiotics to squirt into his mouth. We had to do it with a syringe. He wouldn't eat anything. He wouldn't even open his eyes. The vet told us there was a pretty good chance that he would recover back to full health. She just said it would take a while. We definitely weren't expecting this. Especially so soon.
We bought Xander from PetSmart about a month ago. He was our first chameleon we had ever seen in person. We fell in love right when we saw him. The employee helping us said he was a pet for people who had experience with reptiles, and wasn't exactly easy to take care of. Hearing this, we wanted to make sure everything was perfect for the little guy. So we bought all the necessities and eventually we felt like we had a perfect setup. Every time I thought something might be wrong, or I wasn't for sure about something, I would post a thread on here seeking advice, and I always got it.
I can't be sure what made Xander sick. After his visit with the vet, I did a thorough 'cage inspection'. In the trey that the potted plant was sitting in, there was about three inches of disgusting water with tons of dead crickets floating around. It smelled like death itself. Immediately, I got the standing water out of the cage, and made a draining system so all the water from the plant and misting goes straight out of the cage. I thought that gross water had to be the cause of illness. I felt like an idiot for never checking to see if water might have built up over the month he was in our care. But after seeing what a few people had to say on here, I'm wondering if he was already sick before we bought him. I know that pet shops are notorious for not caring for their pets. Maybe it just now got really bad to where we noticed it..?
Having my first chameleon die after a month of having him is a huge discouragement. My girlfriend and I got a veiled(Zozo) just a couple weeks after getting Xander. He's only a couple months old, and is doing great in his new home. Hopefully, he will stay healthy. I'll do my best to make improvements with my husbandry and overall care.
If all goes well with Zozo, I plan on getting a panther, considering I have everything I need for another chameleon.
I'm sorry about rambling on guys, just getting it all out!
R.I.P. Xander!!
We bought Xander from PetSmart about a month ago. He was our first chameleon we had ever seen in person. We fell in love right when we saw him. The employee helping us said he was a pet for people who had experience with reptiles, and wasn't exactly easy to take care of. Hearing this, we wanted to make sure everything was perfect for the little guy. So we bought all the necessities and eventually we felt like we had a perfect setup. Every time I thought something might be wrong, or I wasn't for sure about something, I would post a thread on here seeking advice, and I always got it.
I can't be sure what made Xander sick. After his visit with the vet, I did a thorough 'cage inspection'. In the trey that the potted plant was sitting in, there was about three inches of disgusting water with tons of dead crickets floating around. It smelled like death itself. Immediately, I got the standing water out of the cage, and made a draining system so all the water from the plant and misting goes straight out of the cage. I thought that gross water had to be the cause of illness. I felt like an idiot for never checking to see if water might have built up over the month he was in our care. But after seeing what a few people had to say on here, I'm wondering if he was already sick before we bought him. I know that pet shops are notorious for not caring for their pets. Maybe it just now got really bad to where we noticed it..?
Having my first chameleon die after a month of having him is a huge discouragement. My girlfriend and I got a veiled(Zozo) just a couple weeks after getting Xander. He's only a couple months old, and is doing great in his new home. Hopefully, he will stay healthy. I'll do my best to make improvements with my husbandry and overall care.
If all goes well with Zozo, I plan on getting a panther, considering I have everything I need for another chameleon.
I'm sorry about rambling on guys, just getting it all out!
R.I.P. Xander!!
just know that you did what you could and he spent his last little bit with people who cared for him. RIP Xander 
