Update on Clifford

[kplatvoet]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Chamaeleo dilepis- , I have had her 1 year
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Almost never
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Wide assortment What amount? She's a pig -What is the schedule? About 5 days a week How are you gut-loading your feeders? -gut load cricket crack & bug buffet & fresh veggies
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Calcium no D - with crickets & roaches suppers - with D once a month vitamins once a month.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Aquazamp raindome How often and how long to you mist? Two 5 min. at 6&3 and 2 1min 10& 12 (Lights come on at 5 and off at 6) Do you see your chameleon drinking? Only when I catch her not while I'm looking
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. White urates not runny - Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? yes though she's due for her 6 month next month.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Dragonstrand breeder - Large
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Arcadia t8 light - regular blub for basking.
Temperature - What temp range have you created 85 basking (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? 65. How do you measure these temps? Temp gun- cheap stickons
Humidity - What are your humidity levels?Never lower than 20 spikes and valleys How are you creating and maintaining these levels? Testing when I set up timers What do you use to measure humidity? Cheap indoor outdoor thing.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Mixture of live and fake.
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? Off the floor - they have their own room no vents or fans
Location - Where are you geographically located? NJ

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
Clifford has been keeping her left eye closed since last Saturday off and on- I took her out to look at it better and thought that one side of her mouth didn't look right at the corner when she opened it. I took her to the vet Tuesday where he cleaned it (the corner of her mouth) (not as well as I would have liked) and put her on baytril for 10 days. I'm not seeing improvement so I made an appointment with a vet with more chameleon experience for Monday (the earliest I can get her in) I'm worried with what I've read about baytril especially if it doesn't seem to be doing much good. The eye seems clear but her face around it seem puffier on the one side.
I don't know if I should go back to the original vet and tell him I think she should have some eye drops or something or just wait till Monday (when we may have another snow storm which may close the place down so maybe Tuesday) or if there's anything I should do for her before then.-(She thinks I should just leave her alone) I don't want to stop the baytril without seeing the new vet - but I think I should see an improvement by now.
She ate some hornworms today - she's not her regular self but she's still moving around and her grip is still good -

 

[jannb]

I'm sorry to hear that Clifford is not recovering as fast as you think she should. Reptiles can be very slow healers. Normally after 5 or 6 days on an antibiotic I see some improvement in my guys. My vets normally tell me to use the antibiotic 7 to 10 days. It might be a good idea to go back to the original vet for a re-check just in case you can't get in to see the more experienced vet. If she's still not better by next week then I would go to the more experienced vet too.
I will be keeping Clifford in my thought. Keep us updated on her progress.

 

[kplatvoet]

Thanks for your response - It's reassuring to know that it's normal to take a little time- My current plan is for her to keep the appointment Monday with the new Vet on Monday or to get her in as soon after if they close for the weather. I'll take her back to the old guy if she gets worse between now and then- as he's open 7 days. I'll keep giving her the baytril at least until she see's the new guy - I needed the reassurance -
She opened her eye to give me a dirty looks this morning - but she's still keeping it closed most of the time- on the good side she ate a hornworm and has her normal green color - except when I take her out to give her her medicine-
I'm hoping I'll like the new vet - he's a little less than an hour from me and from what I've heard he has bred and kept chameleons.

 

[laurie]

I hope the weather is ok for you to get to the vet Monday. maybe you just need a vet with a different perspective. baytril is hard on chameleons. There are better choices. Ask your vet if the meds can changed. just my thoughts. I hope all goes well for Clifford.

 

[kplatvoet]

Thanks Laurie - Both you and Janb were right I feel much better about things after getting a second opinion-
The weather is crappy in NJ but the Vet was open and we just got home- and I'm glad I took her to the new Vet- he switched her meds and gave her a much more extensive exam- and having kept chameleons and reptiles I think he's a better choice for my guy & gals in the future.
She had improved since the first trip but wasn't doing as well as I would have liked -and the improvement seem to be from me cleaning her eye with saline as much as from the medicine, though I do think she would have gotten worse with nothing -

 

[jannb]

I'm glad that your were able to get Clifford to the more experienced vet.....they are hard to find. I'm hoping for a full recovery for you girl. Keep us posted.

 

[kplatvoet]

Clifford seems to be doing a lot better - she still shuts her eye but it was open this morning when I went to check on her and give her her meds- he put her on tazacil - and gave her terramiycin for her eye. I almost put the eye stuff in the wrong eye because she was being so testy - up until today it was easier to tell the difference -

 

[MelissaB]

It sounds like she's starting to feel better. I'm glad you found a better vet, and that Clifford is on the mend.

 

[kplatvoet]

Well it's been a couple of weeks now and she doesn't seem to be getting any worse but she's having quite a slow recovery - her grip is good -appetite not as good and she's keeping her eye open more and more. I used the drop of vitamin A on a Q-tip two days ago and that seemed to help. She seems to be drinking a lot (though it's hard to tell as she never used to drink in front of me- ever) It's been cold here and I think the heat running is messing with the humidity - The eye was open when I checked on her but she sees me and shuts it - I think she thinks I'm going to put more of her medicine in it (she's right)
I had planned to make an appointment this week with the vet if the vitamin A had no effect - her color seemed to be more yellow and washed out and it was giving me some concern .. along with her eating - It's looking better today- and she been active -
She also has a batch of blue bottles coming today so I'm hoping they with perk her appetite up- they are her favorite. I hoping the horn worms they have local will have grown from last week - If they don't it's back to the vets-

 

[jannb]

Well it's been a couple of weeks now and she doesn't seem to be getting any worse but she's having quite a slow recovery - her grip is good -appetite not as good and she's keeping her eye open more and more. I used the drop of vitamin A on a Q-tip two days ago and that seemed to help. She seems to be drinking a lot (though it's hard to tell as she never used to drink in front of me- ever) It's been cold here and I think the heat running is messing with the humidity - The eye was open when I checked on her but she sees me and shuts it - I think she thinks I'm going to put more of her medicine in it (she's right)
I had planned to make an appointment this week with the vet if the vitamin A had no effect - her color seemed to be more yellow and washed out and it was giving me some concern .. along with her eating - It's looking better today- and she been active -
She also has a batch of blue bottles coming today so I'm hoping they with perk her appetite up- they are her favorite. I hoping the horn worms they have local will have grown from last week - If they don't it's back to the vets-

Thank you for the update on Clifford. I had been wondering how she was doing. I keep a humidified on Tate when our humidity drops here from the AC. You could try that and see if it helps her eye.

 

[jannb]

How's Cilfford doing? How was the vet visit today?

 

[kplatvoet]

I thought she was doing better, I piped a humidifer into her cage and she was keeping the eye open more often most of the weekend - I came home last night and her eye was puffed up and miserable looking - I couldn't get an appointment with the second vet - so off to the third we went -
The vet close to my house has another guy who I've never met, and I did like him - Clifford didn't but she hates everybody- she back on tazacil for another round .. we are expecting an ice storm tonight so I didn't want to wait. She has a good grip - she did eat a few wax worms - I couldn't get her any horns till today as they were out .. she's not interested in crickets or supers and she's never really been a fan of silks - her flies just started hatching this afternoon.
I'm kicking myself a bit because when I read about how with a wild caught you can see a crash coming when they get more yellowish and washed out- which she did after her last round of meds were done-