MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
So I guess it’s time for me to share that my girl Grumpy hasn’t been looking so great lately. My intention is not just to share my worry and experience, but perhaps others can learn from this.
I’m really not sure when I started noticing that my sweet Grumpy was having some shadowing around her eyes. They weren’t sunken in. It was more like she had partied too hard the night before. I guess I initially thought it was just that the lighting is way above and it was normal shadow. Then I started noticing she’s looking a bit thin. Her weight around Christmas was 107 Gms, which in the past has been her weight right before she lays a clutch. Her weight then started to go down a few grams every 2 weeks until March 2nd she reached 91 Gms. Her weight goes up and down, so again I wasn’t terribly alarmed, but was starting to wonder and had that nagging little feeling (that I chose to ignore). I kept a close eye on Grumpy and started giving her more food. She gained a couple of grams, but was looking thinner than ever and then her color started to fade and pale and it was time to put aside my denial that nothing could be wrong. I spoke with @kinyonga a little and then made a vet appointment. I was thinking and hoping it was just easily treated parasites. We just got back from the vet a little bit ago.
Well, no parasites were found. She lost the couple of grams she had gained. Of course the vet told me to use a 12% uvb instead of 6% and that her basking temp should be 85-90…I expected to hear that. I wasn’t expecting to hear that Grumpy is seriously dehydrated and seriously anemic. Her hematocrit is around 10…normal level is around 30. Radiographs showed no eggs, but probable enlargement of her liver and kidneys and suspect a little constipation (even though she gave me a nice fecal for testing yesterday). Will have to wait for the blood test results tomorrow to better determine why she’s anemic. In the meantime, since she’s still got her usual hearty appetite, I’m to feed her very well for the next month and give her extra fluids orally twice a day.
Naturally I was concerned that this was something that I may have caused or that my other chameleons are at risk for the same. I was told that it is most likely just something that Grumpy inherited a predisposition to.
So, I hope by sharing this others will take heed and listen to and not ignore that nagging little voice or feeling that something just isn’t looking right. It doesn’t matter if your husbandry is good or not so good…sometimes disease can just happen. While I’m so glad to have gotten this diagnosed before Grumpy took a nosedive decline, I do wish I had acted sooner.
@kinyonga I made sure to get copies of the radiographs just for you.
I’m really not sure when I started noticing that my sweet Grumpy was having some shadowing around her eyes. They weren’t sunken in. It was more like she had partied too hard the night before. I guess I initially thought it was just that the lighting is way above and it was normal shadow. Then I started noticing she’s looking a bit thin. Her weight around Christmas was 107 Gms, which in the past has been her weight right before she lays a clutch. Her weight then started to go down a few grams every 2 weeks until March 2nd she reached 91 Gms. Her weight goes up and down, so again I wasn’t terribly alarmed, but was starting to wonder and had that nagging little feeling (that I chose to ignore). I kept a close eye on Grumpy and started giving her more food. She gained a couple of grams, but was looking thinner than ever and then her color started to fade and pale and it was time to put aside my denial that nothing could be wrong. I spoke with @kinyonga a little and then made a vet appointment. I was thinking and hoping it was just easily treated parasites. We just got back from the vet a little bit ago.
Well, no parasites were found. She lost the couple of grams she had gained. Of course the vet told me to use a 12% uvb instead of 6% and that her basking temp should be 85-90…I expected to hear that. I wasn’t expecting to hear that Grumpy is seriously dehydrated and seriously anemic. Her hematocrit is around 10…normal level is around 30. Radiographs showed no eggs, but probable enlargement of her liver and kidneys and suspect a little constipation (even though she gave me a nice fecal for testing yesterday). Will have to wait for the blood test results tomorrow to better determine why she’s anemic. In the meantime, since she’s still got her usual hearty appetite, I’m to feed her very well for the next month and give her extra fluids orally twice a day.
Naturally I was concerned that this was something that I may have caused or that my other chameleons are at risk for the same. I was told that it is most likely just something that Grumpy inherited a predisposition to.
So, I hope by sharing this others will take heed and listen to and not ignore that nagging little voice or feeling that something just isn’t looking right. It doesn’t matter if your husbandry is good or not so good…sometimes disease can just happen. While I’m so glad to have gotten this diagnosed before Grumpy took a nosedive decline, I do wish I had acted sooner.
@kinyonga I made sure to get copies of the radiographs just for you.
With the exception of baking Grumpy, I’ll be following doctor’s orders to the letter. She’ll hate getting the extra fluids, but I’m sure the extra food will make up for it.
for Grumpy 
, just got a clear picture how that looks like 
for them both 
