SugarTime247
New Member
Chameleon Info:
Çhammy - hes about ten months, male, veiled, ive had him since about february.
Handling*- a few times a month, he likes to bit and hiss.
Feeding*- gut loaded crickets, also has a ficus plant in his cage he will munch on. Also dust his crickets with rep cal and multivitamins, about every other day. He eats about ten crickets a day.
Watering*- we use a simple drip system. We mist two to three times a day, i have been struggling to keep the humidity up, lately. I do see him drink.
Fecal Description*- black and white, sometimes wet, sometimes firm. He has never been tested for parasites.
History*- he had white residue around his nostrils a month or so when we got him, mightve been over supplementing, it has now stopped, after changing the dosing.
Cage Info:
Cage Type*- chammy has a wire mesh cage, tall, by ZooMed, not the largest size, but the size down, it is about 30+ inches tall.
Lighting - Using zoomed red heating light at top, never turns off. A uvb light bulb turns off at night.
Temperature*- 80 degrees at his basking spot, about 70 degrees at the cage floor.
Humidity*- usually moderate, 55%, ive been struggling keeping the humidity up. I have considered putting up plastic to keep it somewhat higher. Recently added a good amount of moss, cork bark.
Plants*- only a small ficus that is on the bottom with leaves reaching up.
Placement*- in our living room. It is near a ceiling fan but it is never on, the bottom of the cage is about two and a half feet off the floor.
Location*- High desert, sant fe new mexico. Dry, hot in the summer. Dry and cold with lots of snow in the winter.
I noticed that chammys tail started looking black, hard, scaley and it was spreading up his tail. He was eating and acting normally. Googled and found out that it is tail rot, im positive its tail rot. I quickly made an appointment with the only vet in town that would see a chameleon. Not a herp vet, the closest one was an hour away and they had crappy hours, would not see me today and cannot travel there until sometime late next week, because i recently started a new job and am not able to just take off.
So we take it to this vet in town, she seems pretty clueless. She took some cells off of his tail and looked under a microscope. Bacteria and white blood cells were present. She wanted to consult some reptile place in Colorado, send them a picture, weight and tell them the issue. She said maybe antibiotics but she wanted to research it on some vet website, see what the doctor in colorado says, she'll call us friday with a course of action. She didnt mention tail rot. We left feeling crappy.
So we took chammy home, its like 22 degrees here right now, went to petco, found the lizard man. He saw the pictures of chammy and was positive it is tail rot. Suggested some cream that doeant have alcohol in it that doesnt contain alcohol. Wasnt aware of any reptile medication that could help. Also suggested pulling his tail off. Not slicing it, not ripping it off, but pulling on it, stressing him out enough to where chammy will just release his tail, because hes caught. Its a defense thing i guess? He said it would grow back but i hear conflicting information about that. Hes very knowledgable, hes been studying reptiles for over eight years. Said the only herpetologist that would see chammy is a five hour drive away! He suggested against the antibiotics the vet suggested, saying it is a skin infection, very common, but the antibiotics wont do much for him, he would need something topical.
I dont want to pull off his tail, i dont want to get it amputated, but i know it will probably happen. I dont know if i should give him antibiotics, im afraid the vet doesnt really know what she is doing. I feel like he'll just get stressed and die either way. Please help, im very scared and very desperate for personal expierences.
Çhammy - hes about ten months, male, veiled, ive had him since about february.
Handling*- a few times a month, he likes to bit and hiss.
Feeding*- gut loaded crickets, also has a ficus plant in his cage he will munch on. Also dust his crickets with rep cal and multivitamins, about every other day. He eats about ten crickets a day.
Watering*- we use a simple drip system. We mist two to three times a day, i have been struggling to keep the humidity up, lately. I do see him drink.
Fecal Description*- black and white, sometimes wet, sometimes firm. He has never been tested for parasites.
History*- he had white residue around his nostrils a month or so when we got him, mightve been over supplementing, it has now stopped, after changing the dosing.
Cage Info:
Cage Type*- chammy has a wire mesh cage, tall, by ZooMed, not the largest size, but the size down, it is about 30+ inches tall.
Lighting - Using zoomed red heating light at top, never turns off. A uvb light bulb turns off at night.
Temperature*- 80 degrees at his basking spot, about 70 degrees at the cage floor.
Humidity*- usually moderate, 55%, ive been struggling keeping the humidity up. I have considered putting up plastic to keep it somewhat higher. Recently added a good amount of moss, cork bark.
Plants*- only a small ficus that is on the bottom with leaves reaching up.
Placement*- in our living room. It is near a ceiling fan but it is never on, the bottom of the cage is about two and a half feet off the floor.
Location*- High desert, sant fe new mexico. Dry, hot in the summer. Dry and cold with lots of snow in the winter.
I noticed that chammys tail started looking black, hard, scaley and it was spreading up his tail. He was eating and acting normally. Googled and found out that it is tail rot, im positive its tail rot. I quickly made an appointment with the only vet in town that would see a chameleon. Not a herp vet, the closest one was an hour away and they had crappy hours, would not see me today and cannot travel there until sometime late next week, because i recently started a new job and am not able to just take off.
So we take it to this vet in town, she seems pretty clueless. She took some cells off of his tail and looked under a microscope. Bacteria and white blood cells were present. She wanted to consult some reptile place in Colorado, send them a picture, weight and tell them the issue. She said maybe antibiotics but she wanted to research it on some vet website, see what the doctor in colorado says, she'll call us friday with a course of action. She didnt mention tail rot. We left feeling crappy.
So we took chammy home, its like 22 degrees here right now, went to petco, found the lizard man. He saw the pictures of chammy and was positive it is tail rot. Suggested some cream that doeant have alcohol in it that doesnt contain alcohol. Wasnt aware of any reptile medication that could help. Also suggested pulling his tail off. Not slicing it, not ripping it off, but pulling on it, stressing him out enough to where chammy will just release his tail, because hes caught. Its a defense thing i guess? He said it would grow back but i hear conflicting information about that. Hes very knowledgable, hes been studying reptiles for over eight years. Said the only herpetologist that would see chammy is a five hour drive away! He suggested against the antibiotics the vet suggested, saying it is a skin infection, very common, but the antibiotics wont do much for him, he would need something topical.
I dont want to pull off his tail, i dont want to get it amputated, but i know it will probably happen. I dont know if i should give him antibiotics, im afraid the vet doesnt really know what she is doing. I feel like he'll just get stressed and die either way. Please help, im very scared and very desperate for personal expierences.
