Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Our veiled chameleon is nine years old. In the last few months he has declined greatly. He is unable to grasp larger branches in his enclosure and has trouble walking on the ground. He loses his grip on branches and falls nose first to the bottom of his cage and lies on his side. He still seeks out food and will eat. Should we rearrange his enclosure, maybe put small branches on the floor of the cage for him to walk on, his claws are a little long, would it help if we trimmed them? or should we euthanize him? We don't want to euthanize him but we don't want to see him suffer.
Thanks,
Melaine

I'm so sorry to hear that your chameleon has reached the end of his life...but you have done very well to keep him for that many years. You must be doing "everything" right.

What I have done for some of my old chameleons when they can't seem to grasp the branches any more and have trouble getting around is to use wide pieces of rough-textured bark (like maple, for instance...NOT cedar or pine) and lay them at shallow angles in the cage....but you still have to make sure he can bask, be close enough to his UVB source and stay warm enough. Small branches would still "force" him to have to grip them to some extent.

As for euthanizing him, its a hard call to make since its hard to know exactly when/if he's suffering. If you do decide to, please see a vet. It needs to be done properly. Freezing is too painful, and certain other ways leave it to suffer too long unless the brain is pithed, according to what I have read. (Sorry to be so blunt about it, but there's no point in trying to end his suffering by making him suffer.)

I'm sure you must have many good memories of him to keep in your hearts. He was lucky to be with someone who helped him to have such a long life.

I really don't have any advice for you but I would like to know what you have been doing to keep his alive for soo long.

Jamie

Is he still around? I noticed this message after writing about mine today, almost same symptoms.
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1 wood turtle
7 Eastern box turtles
1 Three Toed box turtle
1 red ear slider
3 red eye tree frog
2 Dumpys
1 Veiled chameleon
2 geckos, 3 rabbits,3 hermit crabs, 2 kids, 1 husband
2 Weimaraners