Vet dropped my cham

[morganmusick]

Hi there,

I posted recently about my cham having some shed issues, he had a vet appointment today to follow up on his fecal in which they found pin worms and round worms (very small amount) and he was given meds. He was also given an antibiotic for a possible thermal small burn on his spine and some pain meds for that as well. However, when the vet was administering the medication she dropped him all the way from shoulder height to the floor. She checked him and didn't seem concerned but I am freaking out. I feel so awful. I am now concerned that the stress from the vet, the fall, and all the medication will cause him harm or kill him. Any thoughts or reassurance? He is now tucking in for bed. Here he is right after going back into his enclosure.

 

[MissSkittles]

Your guy should be okay. It’s possible that she didn’t truly drop him, but that he may have become overly stressed and threw himself to the floor as a last ditch attempt to escape the giant predator. Chameleons will do this when in trees and while it freaks us out, they are usually just fine.

 

[morganmusick]

Your guy should be okay. It’s possible that she didn’t truly drop him, but that he may have become overly stressed and threw himself to the floor as a last ditch attempt to escape the giant predator. Chameleons will do this when in trees and while it freaks us out, they are usually just fine.

have you ever had to give yours more than one med at a time? I just read all these horror stories and i'm terrified his kidneys or organs will be stressed. She gave him Panacur for the worms, Tacizef and meloxidyl. Thank you for the reply, I am just really scared.

 

[Action Jackson]

I’m always worried when someone says “take your chameleon to the vet” so many vets have no clue about chameleons. I’d be more worried about antibiotics and pain meds for a thermal burn. Panacur is pretty dang safe but on top of other things, I think you have a right to be concerned.

Silvadene cream works great on thermal burns and sores.

I would be sure your chameleon is well hydrated to help flush it’s system.

 

[kinyonga]

First off,,,I’m not a vet and only going by what I’ve heard, learned over the years…

Tacizef is ceftazidime…I think that one has been used for lots of chameleons, so it should be safe, but I would hydrate well.

Meloxidyl…I know nothing about this one…sorry.

Chameleons do jump/fall out of trees in nature but it partly depends on whether they hit anything on the way down, how high they fell from, or whether they land “right” …(legs splayed, body somewhat inflated) …that determines if they will be okay.

I used to have a Fischer’s chameleon that would jump off my curtain rod frequently (he could have climbed down the curtain)..he never injured himself…but he fell one day less than 8” in the cage and pierced his face because he landed on the end of a branch.

 

[morganmusick]

First off,,,I’m not a vet and only going by what I’ve heard, learned over the years…

Tacizef is ceftazidime…I think that one has been used for lots of chameleons, so it should be safe, but I would hydrate well.

Meloxidyl…I know nothing about this one…sorry.

Chameleons do jump/fall out of trees in nature but it partly depends on whether they hit anything on the way down, how high they fell from, or whether they land “right” …(legs splayed, body somewhat inflated) …that determines if they will be okay.

I used to have a Fischer’s chameleon that would jump off my curtain rod frequently (he could have climbed down the curtain)..he never injured himself…but he fell one day less than 8” in the cage and pierced his face because he landed on the end of a branch.

Thank you, I gave him the first injection this morning and it was really rough, he was freaking out and thrashing and even with following all the videos on here and what the vet showed about how to give the injections ike they teach you it was super tough,and the vet had a hard time with it too. I'm gonna see if the vet has any other options because doing that daily with how much of an ordeal it was seems excessive. Especially because she said the antibiotics are a "just in case" med.

 

[nightanole]

Cham's first defence mechanism is "drop and run". Their chest cavity is a giant air bag, their ribs are springy cartilage. You could throw a cham from a plane and they will be fine as long as they hit leaf litter. Hitting a non carpeted floor or "rocks" is a bit more risky, but its still nowhere tree height.

 

[MissSkittles]

Thank you, I gave him the first injection this morning and it was really rough, he was freaking out and thrashing and even with following all the videos on here and what the vet showed about how to give the injections ike they teach you it was super tough,and the vet had a hard time with it too. I'm gonna see if the vet has any other options because doing that daily with how much of an ordeal it was seems excessive. Especially because she said the antibiotics are a "just in case" med.

I recently had to give one of mine the same med and even though I have decades of experience giving injections to humans, I hated and was nervous about giving them to my cham. I found that taking him out of his enclosure for it was the worst for the both of us. So, I left him in his enclosure for the injections. I gently put my hand to block his escape and as quickly as I could, gave the poke. Make sure you’re holding the syringe correctly to pull back and then push without delay. Only one time was there an issue from him moving and the needle went all the way thru his poor little arm. He gave me one heck of a bite (first ever from a male veiled) and that was only fair. I offered him a yummy treat immediately after the injections, but usually he needed to calm down first.

 

[nightanole]

I recently had to give one of mine the same med and even though I have decades of experience giving injections to humans, I hated and was nervous about giving them to my cham. I found that taking him out of his enclosure for it was the worst for the both of us. So, I left him in his enclosure for the injections. I gently put my hand to block his escape and as quickly as I could, gave the poke. Make sure you’re holding the syringe correctly to pull back and then push without delay. Only one time was there an issue from him moving and the needle went all the way thru his poor little arm. He gave me one heck of a bite (first ever from a male veiled) and that was only fair. I offered him a yummy treat immediately after the injections, but usually he needed to calm down first.

Worst one for me was just under the skin injections in the arm. They dont tell you that if you dont put pressure on when pulling the needle out, the meds can run right back out the hole. it was more traumatizing for me than the cham.

 

[kinyonga]

Thank you, I gave him the first injection this morning and it was really rough, he was freaking out and thrashing and even with following all the videos on here and what the vet showed about how to give the injections ike they teach you it was super tough,and the vet had a hard time with it too. I'm gonna see if the vet has any other options because doing that daily with how much of an ordeal it was seems excessive. Especially because she said the antibiotics are a "just in case" med.

Where was the injection given? Arm?