Urgent! Hatchling dying

Thompson

Chameleon Enthusiast
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 1 month old male panther chameleon
Handling - Never handled before
Feeding - He gets fed 1/8 crix baby silkworms and fruit flies as much as he can eat for 5 minutes 2x a day. The crickets are gutloaded with greens, mustard greens, yams, butternut squash and carrots. Also gutloaded with cricket crack.
Supplements - they are supplemented with calcium plus very lightly every feeding. If I have the chance to give them a lot of sunlight I will skip a day of supplementing.
Watering - He is watered every other hour for about 2 minutes so they babies cage is dripping. All hatchlings drink when misted.
Fecal Description - Brown and white.
History - None

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Large Tupperware
Lighting - used 5.0 linear UVB bulb.
Temperature - underneath the linear tube it gets to 80 degrees max, ambient temp ranges from 70 degrees to 75 degrees. I measure their temps with a digital thermometer.
Humidity - humidity levels are usually at 60% and spike to 80% during mistings. I also use a digital hydrometer to measure humidity.
Plants - I'm using fake plastic plants.
Placement - Their cage is on a dresser near all my other chameleons near no vents or fans and about 3ft off the ground.
Location - Where are you geographically located? Las Vegas Nv

Current Problem - my male hatchling yesterday was fine. He ate and drank as normal and had a nice and healthy looking poop and urate. This morning I took the three outside to bask since it is cool and he started gaping for air. Over heating was not the problem because even after taking them inside he was still gaping for air. I suspected a URI at first but it seems he has a swollen throat. I checked the other two for this and neither have a swollen throat. He is going down hill quickly so I took him back outside by himself do he could get a little more extra heat and some natural UVB. He has his eyes closed and gapes from time to time. I'm not sure what I can do to help him.. I certainly do not want to lose him but he isn't looking good. Any suggestions? I also do not heavily supplement them either so I'm not sure why he has a swollen throat? Sometimes I even skip a day and do not supplement their feeders. Could calcium plus be too strong for him? Please help!


Pictures are helpful
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 1 month old male panther chameleon
Handling - Never handled before
Feeding - He gets fed 1/8 crix baby silkworms and fruit flies as much as he can eat for 5 minutes 2x a day. The crickets are gutloaded with greens, mustard greens, yams, butternut squash and carrots. Also gutloaded with cricket crack.
Supplements - they are supplemented with calcium plus very lightly every feeding. If I have the chance to give them a lot of sunlight I will skip a day of supplementing.
Watering - He is watered every other hour for about 2 minutes so they babies cage is dripping. All hatchlings drink when misted.
Fecal Description - Brown and white.
History - None

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Large Tupperware
Lighting - used 5.0 linear UVB bulb.
Temperature - underneath the linear tube it gets to 80 degrees max, ambient temp ranges from 70 degrees to 75 degrees. I measure their temps with a digital thermometer.
Humidity - humidity levels are usually at 60% and spike to 80% during mistings. I also use a digital hydrometer to measure humidity.
Plants - I'm using fake plastic plants.
Placement - Their cage is on a dresser near all my other chameleons near no vents or fans and about 3ft off the ground.
Location - Where are you geographically located? Las Vegas Nv

Current Problem - my male hatchling yesterday was fine. He ate and drank as normal and had a nice and healthy looking poop and urate. This morning I took the three outside to bask since it is cool and he started gaping for air. Over heating was not the problem because even after taking them inside he was still gaping for air. I suspected a URI at first but it seems he has a swollen throat. I checked the other two for this and neither have a swollen throat. He is going down hill quickly so I took him back outside by himself do he could get a little more extra heat and some natural UVB. He has his eyes closed and gapes from time to time. I'm not sure what I can do to help him.. I certainly do not want to lose him but he isn't looking good. Any suggestions? I also do not heavily supplement them either so I'm not sure why he has a swollen throat? Sometimes I even skip a day and do not supplement their feeders. Could calcium plus be too strong for him? Please help!


Pictures are helpful

Could he have gotten hold of a feeder that was too large for him? I ask that because it seemed to come on fast. I can't think of anything else except swallowing his tongue. You should check that first even thought it is a remote possibility.
 
Could he have gotten hold of a feeder that was too large for him? I ask that because it seemed to come on fast. I can't think of anything else except swallowing his tongue. You should check that first even thought it is a remote possibility.

Thank you for the help Laurie! :( I cannot see that he swallowed his tounge and I think we can rule out eating something that was too large for him since yesterday and today they were only fed fruit flies and baby silkworms.
 
seems like you did everything perfect so it must be some terrible random thing that happend. mabey he got a little bud off a plastic plant and ate it? ever take him outside? posion spider got in? it really could be alot of things. how does he look now? any better or worse? im so sorry about this happening :(
 
Thank you Okiroo :( it seems the little guy passed away... I'm not quite sure what happened and this is just horrible. I have two beatiful baby females though and I'm happy they are doing just fine. Looks like I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on them now though. Thank you both though for the help.
 
seems like you did everything perfect so it must be some terrible random thing that happend. mabey he got a little bud off a plastic plant and ate it? ever take him outside? posion spider got in? it really could be alot of things. how does he look now? any better or worse? im so sorry about this happening :(

And yes, he's gotten a lot of natural sunlight since he hatched. Usually they would get some natural rays in the early morning for about 2 hours almost every day of the week unless I absolutely couldn't take them out.
 
Thank you Okiroo :( it seems the little guy passed away... I'm not quite sure what happened and this is just horrible. I have two beatiful baby females though and I'm happy they are doing just fine. Looks like I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on them now though. Thank you both though for the help.

R.I.P. lil guy. so sorry for your loss. goodluck with the girls. im shure they will thrive for you.
 
Rip little one sorry to hear about your hatchling. It could have been totaly random. Or like others have said he could have swollowed something too big. I would keep an eye on the other two. Hopefully they will be happy healthy and have a nice long life with you. Best of luck.
 
Rip little one sorry to hear about your hatchling. It could have been totaly random. Or like others have said he could have swollowed something too big. I would keep an eye on the other two. Hopefully they will be happy healthy and have a nice long life with you. Best of luck.

Thank you! You guys are right anything could have happened since it was so sudden. I hope he wasn't suffering from anything prior to this :(
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 1 month old male panther chameleon
Handling - Never handled before
Feeding - He gets fed 1/8 crix baby silkworms and fruit flies as much as he can eat for 5 minutes 2x a day. The crickets are gutloaded with greens, mustard greens, yams, butternut squash and carrots. Also gutloaded with cricket crack.
Supplements - they are supplemented with calcium plus very lightly every feeding. If I have the chance to give them a lot of sunlight I will skip a day of supplementing.
Watering - He is watered every other hour for about 2 minutes so they babies cage is dripping. All hatchlings drink when misted.
Fecal Description - Brown and white.
History - None

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Large Tupperware
Lighting - used 5.0 linear UVB bulb.
Temperature - underneath the linear tube it gets to 80 degrees max, ambient temp ranges from 70 degrees to 75 degrees. I measure their temps with a digital thermometer.
Humidity - humidity levels are usually at 60% and spike to 80% during mistings. I also use a digital hydrometer to measure humidity.
Plants - I'm using fake plastic plants.
Placement - Their cage is on a dresser near all my other chameleons near no vents or fans and about 3ft off the ground.
Location - Where are you geographically located? Las Vegas Nv

Current Problem - my male hatchling yesterday was fine. He ate and drank as normal and had a nice and healthy looking poop and urate. This morning I took the three outside to bask since it is cool and he started gaping for air. Over heating was not the problem because even after taking them inside he was still gaping for air. I suspected a URI at first but it seems he has a swollen throat. I checked the other two for this and neither have a swollen throat. He is going down hill quickly so I took him back outside by himself do he could get a little more extra heat and some natural UVB. He has his eyes closed and gapes from time to time. I'm not sure what I can do to help him.. I certainly do not want to lose him but he isn't looking good. Any suggestions? I also do not heavily supplement them either so I'm not sure why he has a swollen throat? Sometimes I even skip a day and do not supplement their feeders. Could calcium plus be too strong for him? Please help!


Pictures are helpful


Sorry to hear it passed away. Here are some of my thoughts.

Where they housed together?
Could they see the other chameleons?
How long has the throat looked swollen?

If the throat has been swollen for a while and you suspect over supplementation then it could be from the calcium plus. I have never used that product. I have used cricket crack and cannot use that as a primary gut load for some of my animals. By no means am I knocking it. I use it just not all the time. Some of my animals would get the fat neck. The only thing different I did was start using CC. When I stopped using it all the time I didnt have a problem. Possibly those two in combination? Its really hard to say. Most of my experience is with montanes also:eek:

IMO watering them every two hours is overkill. Even for babies. Is there good drainage in the bin? I had a clutch of Tr. bitaneatus babies all get swollen necks then die and it happened pretty quickly. I blame it on using deli cups so I could house them individually but there wasnt enough air flow and I think things stayed stagnant in them with trying to keep it humid. Making sure they get a good drink once or twice a day with the bin drying out is better than having stagnant, humid air I think. Is there good ventilation in the bin?

Just trying to throw some things out there. Again, its hard to say.
 
Sorry to hear it passed away. Here are some of my thoughts.

Where they housed together?
Could they see the other chameleons?
How long has the throat looked swollen?

If the throat has been swollen for a while and you suspect over supplementation then it could be from the calcium plus. I have never used that product. I have used cricket crack and cannot use that as a primary gut load for some of my animals. By no means am I knocking it. I use it just not all the time. Some of my animals would get the fat neck. The only thing different I did was start using CC. When I stopped using it all the time I didnt have a problem. Possibly those two in combination? Its really hard to say. Most of my experience is with montanes also:eek:

IMO watering them every two hours is overkill. Even for babies. Is there good drainage in the bin? I had a clutch of Tr. bitaneatus babies all get swollen necks then die and it happened pretty quickly. I blame it on using deli cups so I could house them individually but there wasnt enough air flow and I think things stayed stagnant in them with trying to keep it humid. Making sure they get a good drink once or twice a day with the bin drying out is better than having stagnant, humid air I think. Is there good ventilation in the bin?

Just trying to throw some things out there. Again, its hard to say.

Thank you for the suggestions! All three live together and they cannot see any of my other chameleons. I didn't notice the fat neck before though and I don't use cricket crack all that much either. I usually just use vegetables as their gutload.

Their container does dry out in between mistings, but you're right I might be misting too much. I cut two rectangles out of two of the sides of the bin and replaced it with screen so the bin seems to be getting good ventilation.
 
Shawn I am really sorry you lost your male. At that age they can go in a flash and we never know why. But I am sure both girls are in for the long haul with you.
 
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