veild's poo and urine looks bad! what could cause it? (PIC)

[fl orchidslave]

He is indeed a lucky cham to have such a caring owner! What are the two 4' strip lights? Seems it could be really bright and stressful on the eyes. I don't have enough experience to know but haven't seen mention of anyone having those.

 

[PicassoTheVeiled]

i know! it hurts just to look at... i feel terrible for him i mean gosh the ammount of pressure on the eye must be tremendous. i wish i could snap my fingers and it all be better

his eye looks better than that at the moment, about half the size, but it goes back and fourth. he has good and bad days. it looks the worst when he is hanging upside down... stupid gravity

 

[PicassoTheVeiled]

He is indeed a lucky cham to have such a caring owner! What are the two 4' strip lights? Seems it could be really bright and stressful on the eyes. I don't have enough experience to know but haven't seen mention of anyone having those.

they are old reptisun 10 lights. the uvb is gone because they are too old, roughly a year old (from the previous owner) they arent very bright, but i have turned them off for about 2 weeks to see if it had anything to do with it because i read about having too much uvb can sometimes put sunburns on their eyes and they can swell. turning them off didnt do anything though so i turned them back on so i can see him. his heater is a non light emitting lamp so hes not getting any light from there.

his cage is 5x3x2 feet with 2 strip lights and one 18" reptiglo 5. it doesnt seem overpowering to me. if i unplug them all he would have for light is his 18" strip, which doesnt seem like enough

 

[fl orchidslave]

Good luck with him, I sure hope he recovers. It really p*sses me off when people wait until it's a critical to find someone to take their animal they no longer wish to properly care for. I just want to smack them! More than once! But I'm glad there are caring people out there willing to take in these poor defenseless animal and love them. Hope to hear some good news from you soon

 

[PicassoTheVeiled]

aw thanks orchidslave i hope to be able to give good news soon!.... wish i could have given good news a long time ago... would have been a whole heck of a lot cheaper lol. poor guy

well, all i can say is: this is his last shot, hes been on just about every other medicine there is, if he doesnt get better with this one, i hate to say it but hes on his own because we have exhausted all other treatments. if he doesnt make it, i wont be leaving the chameleon hobby thats for sure. hes stolen my heart. i will have a cham weather it be him or not... i honestly hope its him though, i never thought i could genuinely care about a lizard lol

 

[Elizadolots]

Yes, but on the other side of the coin, don't you just love when someone steps up to the plate and takes responsibility for doing right by that chameleon? It's sort of a capsule picture of the worst of humanity and the best of humanity.

 

[FFSTRescue]

I haven't read all the posts so I apologize if someone already said this, but the urates were yellow and thick, contained a high amount of crystals, which signifies dehydration and renal problems. When an animal is renally compromised, but needs to be on antibiotics, or when the antibiotics are causing stress on the kidneys (as possibly in your case), it is very important to significantly increase fluid intake. Ask your vet about obtaining a gavage tube-feeding needle and your vet can show you how to give fluid by placing the gavage tube into the stomach and delivering fluids that way. If you use a syringe to place fluids directly into the mouth instead of gavage feeding (hydrating), make sure that your chameleon does not inhale the fluid as it might then get aspiration pneumonia (talk to your vet about this). Basically, Baytril (enrofloxacin) can be renally toxic, so do whatever you can to increase fluid intake, more than what your chameleon consumes on his own.

 

[PicassoTheVeiled]

aaawwwwww eliza, u are just the sweetest but im sure im not the only one out there that would do virtually everything in my power to make sure my little friend is in prestine health... the way i see it, its not their choice to be bred or caught and forced to live in a cage their whole lives... so its our duty to take care of them, we owe it to them

 

[PicassoTheVeiled]

I haven't read all the posts so I apologize if someone already said this, but the urates were yellow and thick, contained a high amount of crystals, which signifies dehydration and renal problems. When an animal is renally compromised, but needs to be on antibiotics, or when the antibiotics are causing stress on the kidneys (as possibly in your case), it is very important to significantly increase fluid intake. Ask your vet about obtaining a gavage tube-feeding needle and your vet can show you how to give fluid by placing the gavage tube into the stomach and delivering fluids that way. If you use a syringe to place fluids directly into the mouth instead of gavage feeding (hydrating), make sure that your chameleon does not inhale the fluid as it might then get aspiration pneumonia (talk to your vet about this). Basically, Baytril (enrofloxacin) can be renally toxic, so do whatever you can to increase fluid intake, more than what your chameleon consumes on his own.

i have been increasing his fluid intake as much as possible. i have been giving it to him with a syringe, but thats the best i can do until i can check into the feeding tube. thank you for your post, you gave some really good info and ill check this all out when i can get a hold of my, eeerr, picasso's vet lol

 

[Elizadolots]

PTV, don't shy away from the fact that you are doing something wonderful. Many of us would do whatever we had to do to help an abused chameleon, that's true, but it's also true that many would not...if that were not true then you would not have Picasso now.

 

[FFSTRescue]

You sound like a great reptile owner, that's so nice to see
I also wanted to mention that the loose fecal matter is most likely because the antibiotics are upsetting the balance of the normal bacterial flora, so probiotics should be given (I think someone may have already mentioned this) But I wanted to make sure and tell you that when you give the probiotics, make sure to give them at least 2 hours after giving the antibiotic, otherwise the antibiotic will just kill the beneficial bacteria in the probiotic. I usually buy the powered form and dust my insects with it. I also use Pedialyte when I hydrate my reptiles. I use it every other time I hydrate my severely dehydrated reptiles or those with kidney failure/damage, and it works wonderfully. Also, are you applying topical opthalmic ointment to the swollen eye? I would strongly suggest it, just in case the infection is of the eye and not an oral abscess. I apologize if you already mentioned something about it, I read only a couple texts. Hope I didn't tell you everything you already know

 

[Elizadolots]

Do you have a link to the powdered probiotic? I'm sure many of us would love to add that that to our collection of little jars by the side of the sink....

 

[FFSTRescue]

It is called NutriBAC and I order mine from www.reptileuv.com (which also sells the best mercury vapor bulbs on the market). It was created for reptiles and I have been using it with success for years. Some other websites come up on Google when you search for NutriBAC. Great product!

 

[Elizadolots]

I believe PTV has already ordered some of that.

 

[PicassoTheVeiled]

to what eliza said: true, true... its extremely financially draining right now though..... IM TAKING DONATIONS FOR THE "SAVE PICASSO FOUNDATION"!.... anyone?? *bump* im jus kidding on that... but i am just barely skating by right now... i work in construction and work is extremely hard to come by in this industry at the moment... AND i just got a ticket for running a red light, AND i have to pay my union dues which are insainely expensive, AND my car has to be smogged but needs to be worked on before it will pass, AND im in the process of moving because i have a stalker that stares in my window at night (seriously).... AND i have this crazy lizard that refuses to get healthy no matter what i do!.... aaahhhh.... so stressed!!!!!! i hate my life lol *sigh* okay, sorry... im somewhat in a panic attack right now and needed to vent. sorry guys!

 

[PicassoTheVeiled]

You sound like a great reptile owner, that's so nice to see
I also wanted to mention that the loose fecal matter is most likely because the antibiotics are upsetting the balance of the normal bacterial flora, so probiotics should be given (I think someone may have already mentioned this) But I wanted to make sure and tell you that when you give the probiotics, make sure to give them at least 2 hours after giving the antibiotic, otherwise the antibiotic will just kill the beneficial bacteria in the probiotic. I usually buy the powered form and dust my insects with it. I also use Pedialyte when I hydrate my reptiles. I use it every other time I hydrate my severely dehydrated reptiles or those with kidney failure/damage, and it works wonderfully. Also, are you applying topical opthalmic ointment to the swollen eye? I would strongly suggest it, just in case the infection is of the eye and not an oral abscess. I apologize if you already mentioned something about it, I read only a couple texts. Hope I didn't tell you everything you already know

it really doesnt bother me if you repeat some things... all info is extremely helpful right now. i truely appreciate it... btw, for being such a new member, you seem to know sooooo much.... you must be a member on another forum... or have a TON of years in the reptile keeping hobby... thanks for your replies!

 

[FFSTRescue]

I finally decided to join these forums after many years
You poor thing, you sound like you are under quite amount of stress! When it rains, it really poors. It will get better, it can only get better from this point.

 

[Berg]

to what eliza said: true, true... its extremely financially draining right now though..... IM TAKING DONATIONS FOR THE "SAVE PICASSO FOUNDATION"!.... anyone?? *bump* im jus kidding on that... but i am just barely skating by right now... i work in construction and work is extremely hard to come by in this industry at the moment... AND i just got a ticket for running a red light, AND i have to pay my union dues which are insainely expensive, AND my car has to be smogged but needs to be worked on before it will pass, AND im in the process of moving because i have a stalker that stares in my window at night (seriously).... AND i have this crazy lizard that refuses to get healthy no matter what i do!.... aaahhhh.... so stressed!!!!!! i hate my life lol *sigh* okay, sorry... im somewhat in a panic attack right now and needed to vent. sorry guys!

If it makes u feel any better PICASSO looks awsome

 

[PicassoTheVeiled]

lol thank you. he is absolutely stunning... until you see his gigantic eye (pictured above, or a few pages pack in this thread)... i feel so bad for him, i can only imagine how much pressure is on his eye... he will get better i think. im pretty optimistic about it... i really dont know why i am, but i just feel like he will get better for some reason. hopefully its not just wishful thinking

 

[Elizadolots]

PTV, I sent you a PM.