Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my veiled chameleon for about 3-4 years now and she has been over all healthy, she never laid infertile eggs or anything. But recently she wont eat (shows no interest at all) doesnt drink from what i can see and is lethargic. I changed her food from normal crickets to mealworms but still no interest. I have her in a 38 gallon screen enclosure with a basking lamp and UVB/UVA light fixture. I took her to the vet and they gave me fluids that I have to inject her with once a day and told me that I should feed her vegetable baby food atleasst 3 times a day as well as pedialye. Is there anything else i can do for her? Should I move her into a smaller cage so there is more heat througout? I need all the advice i can get. Thanks

It should actually be in a larger cage, should have been long ago in my opinion. A 38Gallon is too small for an adult.
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CANADIAN CHAMELEONS

That doesnt help at all, instead of your critiques I should really get some help here. Its not in a small cage by choice actually, it was vet ordered due to her being a rescue that was stunted at her early years of life. So yeah your opinion isnt that great of one but thats just my opinion

Ryan, please ease off. I didn't attack you in any way, I only posted out of concern. You failed to mention that the chameleon was unusually small or stunted. Even if the chameleon is sick and needs to be warm, it still need to have the option to escape to a cooler part of the cage. I don't recomend anything smaller at all.

You have already done the most important part, seeking veterinary advice. Best of luck.
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CANADIAN CHAMELEONS

Sounds to me like you've given this little girl a good life. If you've owned her for 4 years and she was a rescue who's growth was stunted before she got to you I think you've done ok. As for the cage size, I normally would keep my females in a larger cage, but if your vet told you a 38 was what to do, than nobody can say you did anything wrong. Females dont usually tend to live as long as males do. I hate to say it, but it may just be old age thats paying a toll on your girl. That doesn't mean you should give up quite yet though. It sounds like the vet gave you some decent advice. Pretty much keep her hydrated and keep her eating. Who knows, maybe if you can do that she'll come back around. Good luck with her.

Thanks for your help but I think it might be time for her to go but I am going to keep trying and hopefully she will pull through. Thanks again

from what the vet recommended I assume she is dehydrated? Did he do a blood workup and/or tell you what he thinks the trouble is?
Did he do a fecal? They can get parasites from crickets.
When you say lethargic how do you mean?

For food you could try some silkworms, waxworms, butterworms, superworms. All have high water content. Other than the silkies these are high in fat and should not be a staple, but if it gets her to eat and poop, that's good. Her diet should be a bit more varied anyway as sometimes plain old boredom sets in.

Do you change her UVB bulb regularly? The recommendation is every 6th months. What (brand) and how often do you dust with calcium and vitamins?

You are lucky that you have not had to go thru the infertile eggs experience. Just a thought, but I wonder if she could be developing some now. Did the vet check?

here are some regular setup questions you can answer and see if anyone here sees anything glaring:

1 Cage type: What size and type of cage (screen, glass, etc.)?

2 Temperatures: What is the basking temperature? How do you measure the temperature in your setup? What is the temperature in the warmest spot? The coolest spot? At night? During the day? You should measure the temperature of the chameleons' skin or the surface of its current branch to get a more accurate reading. Do you leave any heat on at night? What is the temperature in the room at night?

3 Lighting: What brand is your UVB light? How long have you been using it? How long are your lights on each day? Do you leave any lights on at night? Where are the lights? on top?

4 Humidity: Do you have a humidity gauge? What is the range of relative humidity (RH) from lowest to highest? How long does it take to go from high to low? Do you use a humidifier? Do you live in the north or south (or other)?

5 Water: Have you observed your chameleon drinking? How often do you mist? Do you have a dripper?

6 Food: Have you observed your chameleon eating? What is the chameleon's diet? Where do you get your live feeder prey? What are you feeding the feeders? Fresh veggies? Gut load? If you use a commercial gut load what is the brand? If you make your own what are the ingredients?

7 Supplements: What type of supplement(s) do you use? Brand name(s)? How often do you use supplements?

lele
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Yes she is dehydrated and I do have a UVB bulb, its a zoomed 5.0, the vet didnt do much at all. He said he doesnt know if she has enough blood to draw out. She is in a 38 gallon reptarium (all screen enclosure) with a basking bulb where the temp is usually around 90. I dust her food everytime with the calcium supplement and once every two weeks with the vitamins. She also is a rescue in which i got her, her growth was already stunted, so she is a little girl. I mist her cage 3 times daily with warm water. I have Swedish Ivy as well as fake plants in her cage. Are there any signs of being egg bound? Also she stopped using her front left foot which makes it extremely difficult for her. I dont know if she fell from being so weak and damaged it or she just doesnt have enough strength anymore. I honeslty dont know what to do.

ryan, (it's darlene) i'm glad to see your on this forum. i work with ryan and his little girl is in bad shape. i'm trying to help her pull through. with the help of some vets we're trying to do our best with her. one vet told him it's just her time and didn't even want to give him any help! we're doing fluids ip, because of severe hydration. her mouth was a little gooey when she opened it. i'm hoping she'll pull through. this kid is vigilant with everything he does. he's a high school kid who rescues everything, so try and give him a break. we can try anything you guys suggest.

Ryan, you are doing the best you can with this little girl and all you can do is your best!!!!

Please keep us posted. Does she seem receptive when you give her food and water? Is she rallying?

D

P.S. - Keep up the rescue work....we need more like you!!!

Thanks for the support and everything but sadly this morning she died. She was in her basking spot and I guess just gave up all living. Thanks again.

Ryan, she did not give up, sometimes it is just time...and if it was not for you.....her time may have been years ago. you did a wonderful job!

i always get sad when someone loses a cham, but for some reason this one really got to me - maybe because she was a little special needs girl like my Luna. As has already been said you did what you could and gave her the years she otherwise probably would not have had. Mourn, grieve work thru the loss and then help another... unfortunately there are plenty more out there

lele

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Just wanted to say how sorry I am. As for the reason , you may never really know for sure.
Sounds as if she had a bad start being a rescue, but you stepped in and tried your best to give her a chance for a better life.

I feel your sadness , feel better soon.

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PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

Very sorry to hear she died.
Quality of life. That's what you provided for her for the 3 years she was with you. It is true, female veileds typically have shortened lives, and when you're dealing with a stunted female, well...
I congratulate you on a top job with her. She's gone, and so is her pain. Now we have to patch up yours.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com

I wanted to thank everyone for your help at condolenses for my chameleon. I appreciate each and every one. Now I want to get more chameleons in need. Does anyone know of any that i can help out. Thanks

Good try! It is so hard with rescues. They come with a lot of unknowns, and chances are they have problems you could not do much about other than give your dedication and care as you did. To find others, I've got a couple of suggestions to try. Give your name to local pet shops and vets that carry or treat reptiles. If someone wants to "get rid" of a cham they might try to take it there. Check local classified ads for reptiles. If they really don't want it and it is in bad shape don't pay for it, but offer to take it for free. The last think you want to do is give them the money to buy another animal they will lose interest in. Please don't pay money to a bad pet shop to "rescue" a sick cham either. I know, most of us on this forum have caved in and done this (yeah me too!), but all this does is finance the pet shop's ability to buy more sick and miserable animals they have no business selling.

I think the hardest thing you'll have to do is realize you may lose one sometimes. Don't blame yourself for someone else's carelessness and neglect. Some rescues do just fine for a long time. I had a beautiful rescue melleri for years who was my sweetest cham ever. Years later I still miss her and think of her with a smile.