Sick chameleon :(

[closchameleon]

I fear my 8 year old male Jacksons chameleon is nearing the end of his life. about a month ago he became a picky eater. It wasn’t a big deal, he was still eating after we tried different bugs to incorporate into his diet, but it was extremely hard to get him to eat. He would only eat off of tongs and it would take him around 30 minutes to eat a few bugs. A few days ago he was very sluggish, had not eaten any of his food, so we took him to the vet. He wasnt drinking water and was severely dehydrated, they gave him a fluid treatment and gave us a nutritional supplement to syringe feed him. Yesterday night he started aspirating, and could not hang onto branches, he fell down in his 6 foot tall cage. I took him back to the vet this morning, they did another fluid treatment and tube fed him. When i got home, i put him in a smaller cage i had lying around with a big plant to cushion him if he loses his grip on the branches again. I increased the frequency of his automatic mister, and all temperatures and humidity are in range but he is still super sluggish with his eyes closed during daytime. I know he is old, but this was out of nowhere. Is there anything else I can do to help him get better besides the vets treatment?

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

I fear my 8 year old male Jacksons chameleon is nearing the end of his life. about a month ago he became a picky eater. It wasn’t a big deal, he was still eating after we tried different bugs to incorporate into his diet, but it was extremely hard to get him to eat. He would only eat off of tongs and it would take him around 30 minutes to eat a few bugs. A few days ago he was very sluggish, had not eaten any of his food, so we took him to the vet. He wasnt drinking water and was severely dehydrated, they gave him a fluid treatment and gave us a nutritional supplement to syringe feed him. Yesterday night he started aspirating, and could not hang onto branches, he fell down in his 6 foot tall cage. I took him back to the vet this morning, they did another fluid treatment and tube fed him. When i got home, i put him in a smaller cage i had lying around with a big plant to cushion him if he loses his grip on the branches again. I increased the frequency of his automatic mister, and all temperatures and humidity are in range but he is still super sluggish with his eyes closed during daytime. I know he is old, but this was out of nowhere. Is there anything else I can do to help him get better besides the vets treatment?

You may want to put a towel or blanket at the bottom of his enclosure to pad your chameleon if he falls again. Watching chameleons growing old at the end of their lives can be difficult.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[kinyonga]

@JacksJill might have some advice for you.

 

[JacksJill]

If he aspirated he may need antibiotics to deal with any resulting infection. I don't know if at his age he can recover from this. Do all you can to keep him comfortable.