SaveDeafDogs
New Member
Super sad... im having a really serious issue...
Problem. Ive acquired two male panther chameleons recently that seemed healthy when i brought them home and then dropped dead within a week or two and went from seemingly healthy to dead in an hour period.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 3 different ambilobe panther chameleons
Handling - daily
Feeding - gut load crickets with cricket food and dust them with vits and calcium, super worms, and occasionally dubias.
Supplements - twice a month multi vit and couple times a week calcium
Watering - I've watched them all drink water from the day dripper, i showered the female and the first male for half hour each multi days, and mist them each 3x daily
Fecal Description - all the fecal samples we saw seemed normal, except the last one from the last male we bought. VERY large and the white part had an almost hard shell
Cage Info:
Cage Type - 4x2x2
Lighting - 12 hours 100w Powersun and 5.0 tube UVB lamp
Temperature - 75 at bottom, to 90 at basking. Night drops to 75 overall
Humidity - open air mesh cage, with heavy misting several times a day
Plants -live ficus and fake plants hanging
Placement - the cage was in the dedicated higher humidity reptile room for the first two deaths, and then we moved it into the living room to quarantine the 2nd male, who died there
Location - southern california
Current Problem
Hey! So I have owned two female panther chams for about a year. I recently purchased a male from a less than reliable breeder (apparently) and he mysteriously dropped dead a week and a half after we got him (was a bit dehydrated when we received him but seemed to be doing okay). It was very strange and we were incredibly alarmed. One of our females (who we had raised since a baby, and seemed very healthy) developed an eye infection immediately after receiving the male, and after taking her to the vet and giving her eye medication for 10 days...still died one night a few days later. We woke up that morning to find her dead on the floor of the cage.
I had the vet do a necropsy on her and she said it was liver failure from the infection spreading, even though it was almost cleared up by this point. She said it wasnt contagious and that everything should be back to normal now. After some hesitation and much sadness, we bought one more chameleon from a guy on craigslist, seemed healthy, though he had an odd sleeping schedule, waking up early and sleeping by 6 or 7 pm. After a week of the chameleon being active with wide open eyes and seemingly health... he was suddenly found limp at the bottom of his cage after being totally normal early that day, he was even basking outside for a bit that morning. He died an hour later.
I'm terrified that it was something I did.
The vet wasnt even an option because it happened so fast each time. We have many other chameleons (veiled and oustalets) and have never had any health issues with them, and we still have one female panther (who might be gravid now). I'd love to eventually buy a male from a reputable breeder (possibly another female as well), but I can't seem to figure out whats causing these issues... And i dont want to risk killing any others
I'm about 600 bucks poorer than i was and really discouraged about this... Both males seemed 100% fine a couple hours before. Then... suddenly their eyes were INCREDIBLY sunken, and hand grip was almost nonexistant. Within the hour they were gone...
What would you suggest at this point? have you guys ever heard of this or had any similar issues? Im pretty sure the cages are set up correctly and they have enough water and heat. I keep temps between 75-90 and mist multiple times a day as well as keep a constant dripper going. I even sent pictures to the previous breeder of the first male to ask if i did something wrong and he said my set up looks great...
Any ideas? I really appreciate any help.
As a reptile keeper I feel like Ive failed these little guys.
I have pictures of two of the chameleons after they died and the fecal matter... Ill post anything you guys think is helpful... thanks
Problem. Ive acquired two male panther chameleons recently that seemed healthy when i brought them home and then dropped dead within a week or two and went from seemingly healthy to dead in an hour period.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 3 different ambilobe panther chameleons
Handling - daily
Feeding - gut load crickets with cricket food and dust them with vits and calcium, super worms, and occasionally dubias.
Supplements - twice a month multi vit and couple times a week calcium
Watering - I've watched them all drink water from the day dripper, i showered the female and the first male for half hour each multi days, and mist them each 3x daily
Fecal Description - all the fecal samples we saw seemed normal, except the last one from the last male we bought. VERY large and the white part had an almost hard shell
Cage Info:
Cage Type - 4x2x2
Lighting - 12 hours 100w Powersun and 5.0 tube UVB lamp
Temperature - 75 at bottom, to 90 at basking. Night drops to 75 overall
Humidity - open air mesh cage, with heavy misting several times a day
Plants -live ficus and fake plants hanging
Placement - the cage was in the dedicated higher humidity reptile room for the first two deaths, and then we moved it into the living room to quarantine the 2nd male, who died there
Location - southern california
Current Problem
Hey! So I have owned two female panther chams for about a year. I recently purchased a male from a less than reliable breeder (apparently) and he mysteriously dropped dead a week and a half after we got him (was a bit dehydrated when we received him but seemed to be doing okay). It was very strange and we were incredibly alarmed. One of our females (who we had raised since a baby, and seemed very healthy) developed an eye infection immediately after receiving the male, and after taking her to the vet and giving her eye medication for 10 days...still died one night a few days later. We woke up that morning to find her dead on the floor of the cage.
I had the vet do a necropsy on her and she said it was liver failure from the infection spreading, even though it was almost cleared up by this point. She said it wasnt contagious and that everything should be back to normal now. After some hesitation and much sadness, we bought one more chameleon from a guy on craigslist, seemed healthy, though he had an odd sleeping schedule, waking up early and sleeping by 6 or 7 pm. After a week of the chameleon being active with wide open eyes and seemingly health... he was suddenly found limp at the bottom of his cage after being totally normal early that day, he was even basking outside for a bit that morning. He died an hour later.
I'm terrified that it was something I did.
The vet wasnt even an option because it happened so fast each time. We have many other chameleons (veiled and oustalets) and have never had any health issues with them, and we still have one female panther (who might be gravid now). I'd love to eventually buy a male from a reputable breeder (possibly another female as well), but I can't seem to figure out whats causing these issues... And i dont want to risk killing any others
I'm about 600 bucks poorer than i was and really discouraged about this... Both males seemed 100% fine a couple hours before. Then... suddenly their eyes were INCREDIBLY sunken, and hand grip was almost nonexistant. Within the hour they were gone...
What would you suggest at this point? have you guys ever heard of this or had any similar issues? Im pretty sure the cages are set up correctly and they have enough water and heat. I keep temps between 75-90 and mist multiple times a day as well as keep a constant dripper going. I even sent pictures to the previous breeder of the first male to ask if i did something wrong and he said my set up looks great...
Any ideas? I really appreciate any help.
As a reptile keeper I feel like Ive failed these little guys.
I have pictures of two of the chameleons after they died and the fecal matter... Ill post anything you guys think is helpful... thanks