suicidal chameleon???

[hayleycole]

This upcomeing saturday (3/31) I have been planning on getting a new chameleon. Ive been getting really excited about it, however I am starting to have second thoughts. My delimma: a little over a year ago I was given a veiled chameleon for my birthday. As far as I kno, I had his cage set up correctly (except for the fact he was in a glass cage). He acted perfectly normal. He ate his crickets and meal worms. He drank the water off the plants when I misted. I would hold him in the morning before work and at night before bed. He was always bright and curious/active when being held. Even would crawl onto my dogs head when he would lay next to me. (the dog is very laid back and thought nothing of it.) About 4 months into owning him, he shedded and i noticed his eye was crusting over. It would come off when i dabbed water on it, after 2 days i took him to the vet. she flushed it out and some of his shed had been stuck in it. she also said he was slightly dehydrated and she gave him some fluids. the next day he started climbing to the top of his "tree", hang upside down by his back legs and then let go free falling to the ground head first. and he stopped eatting . I took him back to the vet she didnt know why he was "free falling", and she gave me AD prescription dog food to feed him with a syringe. I did that for 2 weeks and i took his tree out. when i was home id put him on his tree outside of his cage to see if he did it still, and he would immediately climb to the top and try to let go. (id catch him before he hit the ground and cause any more harm). then one night i came home from work and he was very lethargic and dark colored in his cage. i tried to feed him but he wouldnt open his mouth (he would open his mouth every time i would feed him, he loved the food. wouldnt touch a cricket after he tasted the AD). i felt so hopeless, i just held him knowing he was dieing in my hands. he died about 10 mins after i got him out of the cage. i held him a bit then set him back into his cage until the morning. I spent over $600 through out on vet visits and fluids and they did a fecal and tests. the vet had no clue as to what happened to him. anyways.. ive been trying to find anything similar to what happened with another chameleon and i cant find anything. does anyone have any tips or experiences that can help me? I'm worried that the same thing or something similar will happen to the new one I am getting. any help will be greatly appreciated! the only thing i could think of was after his eye infection something happened to his vision and he was trying to commit suicide, as crazy as that sounds..?? :/
thank you and sorry this was so long i tried to give as much detail as i possibly could.
-Hayley

 

[Solid Snake]

Could have been a supplementation issue.

My xanth started falling from the screen and thats what it turned out to be.

Do you recall exactly how you were supplementing him?

 

[hayleycole]

i would dust all his crickets with flunkers calcium dust. i only gave him 5 meal worms/week. he didnt like them all that much. and i would give him about 5 crickets in the morning. if i noticed he ate all of them after work i would give him a couple more, which he would usually eat before bed. the vet said it could have been a calcium defencity, but tests didnt show anything drastic enough on his calcium levels.

 

[djfishygillz]

I would give us as much info on how you housed him and how you would plan to house a new chameleon as possible. Everyone can chime in on how to better your husbandry skills so the same situation doesn't occur again.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

i would dust all his crickets with flunkers calcium dust. i only gave him 5 meal worms/week. he didnt like them all that much. and i would give him about 5 crickets in the morning. if i noticed he ate all of them after work i would give him a couple more, which he would usually eat before bed. the vet said it could have been a calcium defencity, but tests didnt show anything drastic enough on his calcium levels.

When the vet gave the cham fluids, was it by injection? If by injection, was the injection made in the upper half or the lower half of the body?

 

[hayleycole]

umm ill describe it as i can best remember. i had him in a 20 gal/tall glass tank. with a screen lid. i had the uvb light and a heat light on one side of the cage that i would switch out with a night blub and put in the middle of the cage for night. i had a medium sized water fall/fountain to help with humidity. i had a tall driftwood stick (his tree) that he liked to climb around on it went from the bottom of his cage to about 4 inches from the top. i had plastic folage that stuck to the glass. and a climbing vine that went all around the cage. the substrate was moist coconut husk. i would mist his cage every morning and every evening. when i wasnt home i had a makeshift dripper (cup with pin holes) it dripped over the leaves and ran down his drift wood. i would put ide cubes under his heat light to melt and drip water to help with humidity. his cage sat around 75 on the cold side/90ish on the warm side. he was kept in my bedroom away from my roommate and company that came over. i read to keep them in a quiet, non traffic area.

i own snakes and i no have a room set up just for them and i would have my new chameleon in there. i also live alone now. just me and my dog. i work at petsmart and have all the supplies needed available. my manager has a female veiled that she keeps in a glass tank and she is in perfect health, actually just laid her first eggs 2 weeks ago. my manager is also puzzled about what happened. I will be houseing the new chameleon in the tall 20/gal again. and i am open to any and all suggestions for husbandry and set up.
i work with people who are very big on reptiles. another manager's husband suggested the chameleon had parasites in his brain he was born with and as they got bigger they started causing problems. i concitered it seeing as he came from a pet store and now from an established breeder which is why i am buying this new one at a reptile expo from a breeder, however i am still worried that it was something i was doing wrong.

 

[hayleycole]

the injection was in the front left leg between the shoulder and the elbow. she gave me 6 injections to take home and give him once a week. i would do it on wednesdays mid day between school and work. my friend would come over, she held him still as i administered the injection. if i remember correctly, he died on a monday night. i only gave him 2 injections.

 

[CamiGirl89]

While your manager's cham is doing fine in a glass enclosure, I would really recommend replacing yours with a screen terrarium. Chameleons are very prone to respiratory infections, which are much more common in chameleons with glass terrariums. The circulation of the screen terrariums helps prevent the infections, and is overall a healthier and happier environment for a chameleon. Also, I would ditch the substrate at the bottom of your enclosure, and just use paper towel/news papers or the reptile carpets that you can easily take out and clean. Substrate has a bad tendency of becoming lodged in a chameleon's intestinal tract if they get it stuck to their tongue when hunting. This causes them to become impacted, which can lead to death if not cared for properly or right away. Also with the lighting, they do not need a light at night. So long as your terrarium stays above 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night, the chameleon will be fine. You also do not need to have a waterfall/fountain in the cage, as pools of water can house bacteria that is dangerous to your chameleon. Your drip system and misting sounds fine If you are worried about humidity, natural plants can greatly help with humidity in a terrarium. In addition to misting 3-4 times daily, pothos plants and dwarf umbrella plants make nice pretty pieces in chameleon terrariums, and up your humidity. Hope this helps, feel free to keep asking! We will get things straight for your next chameleon, don't lose hope yet!

 

[hayleycole]

i already have the tank. my ball python has out grown it. and i plan to get a baby. i was planning as it gets bigger i would then buy the screen exo-tera we have at work. what have you heard about the "hydro-balls" as a substrate? i was looking at em at work the other day and its suggested for tropical creatures. they even have instructions for creating a "natural waterfall" and it balances out some system. i cant remember it exactly. i was worried about the live plants because i wasnt sure what was toxic for him, and i dont know how i would plant them in his cage.
i appreciate all the cage set up help, however im still very concerned about him climbing to the top of his tree and free falling head first every chance he had.. is there any evidence about chameleon suicide as crazy as that sounds?? that is what im worried most about. the vet had no idea for why he was doing it. everyone i have talked to has no idea except possibly parasites in his brain.

 

[NosyBeT360]

The petsmarts that are all in my area only have calcium with D3. I don't know if this might have been a problem with your chameleon but they should only have Calcium with D3 about twice a month. You also need a calcium without D3 that should be fed every/most feedings. D3 can build up in your cham to toxic levels. You also need a multivitamin to use about twice a month as well. You can get a lot of help if you fill out the the form provided in the 'health clinic' section labeled 'how to ask for help'.

As far as chameleon suicide I have no information! Sorry!

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

the injection was in the front left leg between the shoulder and the elbow. she gave me 6 injections to take home and give him once a week. i would do it on wednesdays mid day between school and work. my friend would come over, she held him still as i administered the injection. if i remember correctly, he died on a monday night. i only gave him 2 injections.

OK. The reason I asked is that my vets have told me that chameleon injections are always given in the forward part of the body. That injecting in the lower half of the body or legs can create problems. But from what you describe the injections would not have been the source of the prob.

 

[hayleycole]

I will check into the calcium supplement I get for this new one. I never knew about that. Thank u very much!
I spoke to a lady today who deals with genetics and she said there could have parasites in his brain and when the vet gave me eye drops to clear his infection the steriods in them could have caused thr protozoa to evolve and then cause the free falling problem. Also the fact of it being continuous could have been a mental issue due to bad breeding.. I did get him at the pet store..