Signs of illness

Darkmaster743

New Member
Lighting: UVB Lamp + Normal Heat lamp 150 Watt ( I use a dimmer )
Water Source: I mist 2 - 3 times a day for about a minute with a spray bottle targeting leaves.
Chameleons Name: Pascal
Type: Veiled
Supplements: Normal calcium every feeding ( As of recently from 3 times a week ), Vitamins once a week, Calcium with Vitamin D3 every 2 weeks.
Events that may have caused illness/stress:
- New additions to environment ( Bigger fluker plastic branches to grip to )
- Eating a dehydrated cricket poop infested flukers gel cube ( He did pass it I believe and maintained an appetite for up to a week before losing interest in food today. )
- This week I've been working late so on occasion I turn on the lamps at 8 am in the morning and turn them off close to 11 at night, thus he doesn't always get his 12 hours. I bought a timed power strip to prevent this further. This also means he eats a little later at night.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Open Screen Cage 16x16x30
Temperature - Basking spot of 87 - 90, Generally cage is 75 - 80 Over night temps are 70.
Humidity - Stays around 45 - 50%
Plants - Plastic exo terra plants.
Placement - In a area of my house where I keep my other reptiles which are desert animals. It's a reason I struggled with humidity so I bought two misting systems for my reptile cages. A monsoon and a mist king, ( Being installed tmrw ).
Location - Dallas, Texas.
Vet: Summer Tree Animal Clinic ( If you know any thing I should know about them please let me know ).

Hey, Posting about a veiled chameleon showing early signs of sickness. About a week and a half ago my veiled chameleon was out of the cage and was playing around with me. My cricket keeper was open ( Was very dirty that day, was going to clean it out the following morning ) and he leaped off my arm to strike at some crickets. He ended up swallowing a cricket and flukers water gel cube. This cube was dehydrated and covered in cricket waste. The second I saw him grab both the cube and cricket I tried to yank both out but he had already swallowed both. I was really worried because I was told these gel cubes can absorb a lot of water especially after swallowed and cause intestinal problems, people on the forums advised me to observe when he uses the bathroom to see if he passes the cube. I ended up seeing him use the bathroom ( It was a really white mossy looking waste so I assumed he had passed it. ) His appetite remained normal through out the period he had eaten it, and for a week after. During this time after I removed all of old cage items and put in some larger branches for him to climb on since I felt like his size exceeded the small twigs that were better for a newborn veiled/panther. He was very, but still cautious about the environment change since he could now climb very much easier and explore much more of the cage. Then about three days later I noticed him being very brown/blackish + green when walking around the cage. I thought this was weird since he's always very vibrant. Next I noticed him living under the UVB bulb instead of under the basking spot. Also when I mist the cage in the morning, and after work he would sprint towards the water ( Sign of dehydration )? He never drinks in front of me and these signs all warranted problems. He still kept eating up until tonight, he showed interest but never managed to open his mouth and eat the crickets. I'm planning a vet trip if I cannot treat this by hopefully Tuesday. I'm calling tmrw, Worst case scenario I cant get him in until Friday. I really love this chameleon and thankfully he is under VPI pet insurance. Any advice on what to do next, I do supplement but I recently learned how to do it properly.

Also thought I'd remind you that Gel cube was absolutely disgusting, I was surprised he didn't get some kind of bacterial infection at first. It was dried, yellow, had black poop all over it. I'm not sure if it was the cause because it was a week later, but I'm about to deploy the new mist king I got and set settings to more more misting at more times of the day to deal with his dehydration. He still turns green at times, but he doesn't want to leave the cage any more. He didn't lose appetite until today so it's not too late to do some thing. Appreciate fast responses, thank you!
 
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Never use those orange cubes. I have seen chameleons die on here after eating those. When the autopsy was performed there was the orange cube. I recommend a wet sponge or a cricket watering device that most cricket farms sale. If he were mine I'd take him to the vet for an x-ray to see if the orange cube is still in him. If it is most likely he will need surgery to get it out. I highly recommend a reptile vet with chameleon experience. Where do you live? I might be able to recommend one.

Signs of illness can be but not limited to: loss of appetite, closing one or both eyes, not active, holding up their head, extra saliva in the mouth, sleeping during the day, not pooping, falling and weak grip.

Here is my blog for how I recommend keeping veiled chameleons. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-with-young-veiled-or-panther-chameleons.325/

Another link about signs of illness: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/health/
 
Never use those orange cubes. I have seen chameleons die on here after eating those. When the autopsy was performed there was the orange cube. I recommend a wet sponge or a cricket watering device that most cricket farms sale. If he were mine I'd take him to the vet for an x-ray to see if the orange cube is still in him. If it is most likely he will need surgery to get it out. I highly recommend a reptile vet with chameleon experience. Where do you live? I might be able to recommend one.

Signs of illness can be but not limited to: loss of appetite, closing one or both eyes, not active, holding up their head, extra saliva in the mouth, sleeping during the day, not pooping, falling and weak grip.

Here is my blog for how I recommend keeping veiled chameleons. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-with-young-veiled-or-panther-chameleons.325/

Another link about signs of illness: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/health/
Yeah he's showing signs of every thing you talked about except for the closing eyes, extra saliva, and holding up the head. I live in ###### and the vet was a 30 minute drive for me. They deal with all kinds of exotics and they accept VPI ( My reptile insurance ) so I went there the last time I had a reptile related issue.
 
I agree with Jann that you should take him to a vet right away especially since you have insurance there isn't any reason why you need to wait to see what happens in a few days. The faster you get him in the better.
Chances are that your Cham picked up a bacterial infection from the dirty crickets and the cube and if left untreated it can lead to all kinds of other illnesses. Chamelions have a way of masking their sickness (it's a survival instinct) and by the time you notice it they're really sick.
Another import thing is to keep your crickets really clean and well fed at all times. Dirty stinky feeders are like giving your Chamelion little bacteria pills.
I would suggest moving your crickets out of your cricket keeper into a larger Rubbermaid or Sterlite bin. I no longer use egg crates in my cricket bin because they get filled with feces and harbor bacteria. Instead I bought some aluminum screen (which you can get at every hardware store for olke 7.99) and cut it into 4" strips and curled them up into tube shapes ( like toilet paper rolls) and put them in the bottomof the bin. The poop goes right through the screen and when I clean my crickets I wash the screen out and reuse. I also use 3 metal pickle jar tops for feeding dishes. They are easy to clean and are reusable and keep food from getting spread all over the bin. One top is for veggies. Another for food such as Rapashy bug burger. And most important I use the last top for water. I use a dampened white printless paper towels i.e. Bounty for water. When it gets dirty (usually in a couple of days) I throw it out and dampen another paper towel and put it back in the dish and by doing so it prevents the build up of bacteria. Because of this my crickets last forever, they're clean they don't smell and I feel confident feeding them to my chams.
Good luck with your little man. I wish him a quick recovery :)
 
image.jpeg
Picture of one of my bins
 
You said that the orange cubes absorb lot software water especially when ingested...If it's right that the orange cubes can absorb lots of water it would make sense that he has to drive in more.

I'm concerned that the cube could be stuck in the stomach and that he will need surgery to remove it.

I would message ferritinmyshoes and see what she has to say.

Good luck.
 
Thank you all for the responses. Today he drank just like normal, but any form of interest in food disappeared today. How long do you think he has in this condition, earliest the vet may be able to get him in is Thursday - Friday.
 
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