FFSTRescue
New Member
I have an elderly Oustalets chameleon who has had to be treated accordingly for quite some time now. He has started to go downhill within the past couple of weeks, and due to his age, I have been giving him Reptaid as opposed to other medications that would just irreparably damage his kidneys, which are already compromised due to his age and the fact that he is WC. He is crashing today, has gone into complete kidney failure, has fluid in his lungs and his heart rate has significantly decreased. He is in multi-organ failure. I can't do anything but keep him comfortable until he passes, so I took away the barrier that I had up separating him from the female so he could see her, which has always made him a happy old man, and put him on a very comfortable pillow.
He and this female have been together for over a year. They always have wanted each other in their sites, whenever they were free-ranged, they would go to the others' cage. Because she was so much younger and smaller than him, I kept them in separate cages but right next to each other and they would sit as closely as possible to each other. A month or so ago, she started showing receptive coloration, so I bred them. Then she showed gravid coloration, and was irritated by his presence, I separated them, which really upset him, and every once in a while, I would allow them to see each other, and she was fine with it. This closeness is not uncommon with Ousties.
He started crashing this morning and went downhill by the hour. I have been treating him, gave him fluids, nebulized him, etc, but nothing has helped and it is just his time. A few hours ago, the gravid female (which I have started another thread about for this) just dropped 3 premature, underdeveloped eggs in her tree right where she was sitting. They are not suffering from some ailment, she is healthy, they are housed outside in ideal conditions, ideal diet, plenty of calcium and natural sunlight, blah blah blah (yes she has been examined recently and is just fine) and my other Ousties and Verrucosus are just fine. It is just these two that are having issues, and they are in separate cages but were completely aware of what was going on with each other, since I removed the barrier, which is nothing unusual and I frequently do. I am not one to anthropomorphize, but this is just too odd to only be coincidence. Even if she was having her own completely unrelated problems, to happen on the same day is very strange. I think the stress of seeing him dying may have caused her to abort the eggs. I am heartbroken as, not only am I losing my old man (as I have always called him), but his offspring as well. I just checked on him and he has finally passed. RIP "Old Man".
He and this female have been together for over a year. They always have wanted each other in their sites, whenever they were free-ranged, they would go to the others' cage. Because she was so much younger and smaller than him, I kept them in separate cages but right next to each other and they would sit as closely as possible to each other. A month or so ago, she started showing receptive coloration, so I bred them. Then she showed gravid coloration, and was irritated by his presence, I separated them, which really upset him, and every once in a while, I would allow them to see each other, and she was fine with it. This closeness is not uncommon with Ousties.
He started crashing this morning and went downhill by the hour. I have been treating him, gave him fluids, nebulized him, etc, but nothing has helped and it is just his time. A few hours ago, the gravid female (which I have started another thread about for this) just dropped 3 premature, underdeveloped eggs in her tree right where she was sitting. They are not suffering from some ailment, she is healthy, they are housed outside in ideal conditions, ideal diet, plenty of calcium and natural sunlight, blah blah blah (yes she has been examined recently and is just fine) and my other Ousties and Verrucosus are just fine. It is just these two that are having issues, and they are in separate cages but were completely aware of what was going on with each other, since I removed the barrier, which is nothing unusual and I frequently do. I am not one to anthropomorphize, but this is just too odd to only be coincidence. Even if she was having her own completely unrelated problems, to happen on the same day is very strange. I think the stress of seeing him dying may have caused her to abort the eggs. I am heartbroken as, not only am I losing my old man (as I have always called him), but his offspring as well. I just checked on him and he has finally passed. RIP "Old Man".
