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my carpet passed away today. i had a feeling it was going to happen because she wasnt eating much this weekend and didnt eat at all yesterday. the main thing i noticed was that she had a small yellow area on her side. but it had been there for a few weeks, i didnt think it was any serious sign of an illness. but then when she wasnt eating and i figured something was wrong.i feel horrible. i should have taken her to the docter right away when she got this spot...
so, what would you do with your chameleon after they pass away? the two things that come to mind are bury them or take them to get an autopsy? does the autopsy cost money

but now that i think about it i would rather bury her than to have her cut open

Wow, sorry to hear that . It's never fun.....

You'll have to refresh my memory... how old was she and was she captive bred or wild caught??
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TFFF
(Tootie Freakin' Fruity Feenie)

i think she was almost 1 year old. not sure where she came from, but when i got her in january i had her checked and she had not parasites or anything

i had recently moved her to a window in which the daylight shined on her cage , was that a bad move

If the light shined through glass, could probably have been. Especially on a sunny side of the house.

Necropsies are very useful, Especially if you plan to keep another chameleon.
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CANADIAN SILKWORMS

yes, the light would shine through the glass. what problem does that create. she liked it...that sucks, i feel like i killed her

only half of the cage would be in the light, and she chose to lay in the sunlight half, of course she would, shes sun loving, she didnt know any better and i didnt either

Glass is s very good conductor of heat. Think of that window as a heat panel, resonating heat the entire height and width inwards. You wouldnt use a heat panel in a chameleons cage where you want a gradient, but the window will cause a similar effect.

In additon glass filters out UVB, a chameleon beneficial light.
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CANADIAN SILKWORMS

but she had her uvb light too. and so the heat could have been too much, i just never thought of that because they like to be warm, but it makes since

i fell like im pretty sure that putting her in the window light is what killed her. b/c she didnt slow down and stop her eating until i had moved her there and i should have been smart enough to put 2 and 2 together and try moving her out of the light to see what happens. now i feel even worse...let this be a lesson to others...i read books on how to house the chameleons and they always said to put their cages by the window that the sun came in....this was my first chameleon...

Can you quote which books say this? Title, author, page.
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CANADIAN SILKWORMS

i dont see it in my book, so it could have been online or in a friends book

Well, don't be to hard on yourself... we all make mistakes but the important thing is to learn from them.. I'm sure you had her best interest at heart so don't beat yourself up.
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TFFF
(Tootie Freakin' Fruity Feenie)

I think you really should get the autopsy done. It will help put your mind at rest about the cause of your chameleon's death, and knowing that cause will also help you improve your husbandry should you decide to keep any more chameleons.

And more importantly, it will serve as education for the vet who performs the procedure. Many vets out there don't have that much exposure to chameleons as pets, and by learning from what happened to your chameleon, he may just gain the knowledge needed to save some other cham owner's pet. It's for the good of the entire chameleon-keeping community. Don't see it as merely cutting up her body - it really is for a good cause.

And I'm really sorry for your loss.

as pointed out, it is helpful to have one if you have a qualified vet to do it and the money. I had one done on Luna for $120(I am sure it will vary somewhat depending on where you live). She had health issues and I really wanted to know what had happened.

If you post her setup, supplementation, feeders, gutload, lighting, water, humidity, etc. some forum members may see some other problem. Not that you can get a definite answer from us, but a little troubleshooting can't hurt especially if you think you will get another.

That said...I am very sorry this has happened to. I lost my Luna last summer and it was almost 9 months before I got another. Many of us have had this loss and the support of this forum can be a great resource.

lele

p.s. if you decide on a necropsy try to get an ARAV certified vet to do it. Go to link below for a link to state listings.
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
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0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan and Stan Jr.!
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
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0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

>>my carpet passed away today. i had a feeling it was going to happen because she wasnt eating much this weekend and didnt eat at all yesterday. the main thing i noticed was that she had a small yellow area on her side. but it had been there for a few weeks, i didnt think it was any serious sign of an illness. but then when she wasnt eating and i figured something was wrong.i feel horrible. i should have taken her to the docter right away when she got this spot...
>>so, what would you do with your chameleon after they pass away? the two things that come to mind are bury them or take them to get an autopsy? does the autopsy cost money

The yellow area on her side sounds like it could be a burn. Did she have a basking bulb or heat bulb around the time when you noticed the area first? I doubt it would have occured because of sunlight through the window, that would more likely cause overheating issues then a burn. If it was a burn, that is probably what happened.

Chris
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Chris Anderson
parsonii_hoehnelii@hotmail.com
Co-Founder: ChameleonInfo.com-http://www.chameleoninfo.com/
Editor: Chameleons! Online E-zine- http://www.chameleonnews.com/
Admin: Captive Chameleon Bloodline Tracking Database (CCBTD)- http://www.chameleondatabase.com/
Founder: Chameleon Care and Information Center (CCIC)- http://www.chamaeleonidae.com/

thanks to everyone who replied

So sorry you lost your chameleon. It never feels good when they die, no matter what the reason

Hope you feel better soon.
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PHEve / Eve

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