Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Never had one before. I have a burm and had an Iguana 12 years ago.

A friend of mine asked how to kill the chameleon because he has no clue how to care for it. It is very thin, tail starting to wrinkle and they said it hasn't eaten in awhile. I noticed it was cold and had a full open screen top. I'm heating up the cage, closing the top to keep humidity and force feeding it dehydrated crickets and water. Any other suggestions would help.

Thanx

DZ

It would help to know what kind it is but you need to get in an all screen cage with lots of foliage for it to feel safe. You need to feed it gut loaded crickets and other food items and spray it a lot to make sure it gets hydrated. You also need to get its temps in the cage right according to what kind of species it is. You'll also need to get it some UVB lights to put on top of the cage and if it is warm where you live put it outside in the sun as that can do a world of good for a sick cham.
Good luck
Stevie

It sounds like there are several problems here (one being the keeper having no interest in caring for this animal) and I am glad you are stepping in. How long has this "friend" had him?
Will/do you have "custody" of him? What species, age (approx) or size, male/female?

Dehydration is your first concern - the wrinkled tail, thin, etc. If he is cold and is not getting proper lighting/heat he cannot digest properly and will not be stimulated to eat in the first place. As was mentioned, if you can get him outside to the sun for a while this will help. Try dripping some warm water on its snout (not in its nostrils or eyes. The idea is to stimulate drinking on its own. You can mist him with water (fill container with hot and it will cool as it hits the air) which will, hopefully, stimulate drinking.

Proper lighting - it needs UVB light (reptisun 5.0 or similar), a basking site (regular 75w bulb in dome is fine - adjust wattage depending on cage size) and a branch he can sit on under the light (be careful about burns).

He may not eat until much of this has been taken care of but dusting some crickets with vitamin and calcium for now will help. If you can not get him to eat try getting some Repta-Aid Insect/Carnivore Emergency Aid - ##73030 (see link). Flukers makes it and you can usually get it at a chain pet store (not expensive). I found it to work well as an appetite stimulant and others on this forum recommend it, too.

Hopefully this animal is not damaged beyond repair.
here are some good sites for you to peruse for info (as well as continuing to ask here):
www.chameleonnews.com/
www.adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonparadise.com/
www.chameleonjournals.com/
all about dehydration
[url]http://www.icomm.ca/dragon/hydrate.htm{/url]

lele

Repta-aid

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica the j sisters were sent to freedom last month
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Can you give us a bit more info about what species, how old, how it was cared for before you got it? Caging, temps, exact type of lighting, what it was fed, gutloaded and dusted with? This will help us figure out what deficiencies it probably has. If it is in a tank get it out into a screen cage. It is most likely extremely dehydrated too, so kidneys may be in bad shape. Water it by gentle spraying with hot watermixed with Pedialyte...it cools before it hits the cham and won't shock it so much. Spray gently until it stops drinking (if it does at all). Chams usually tip their nose straight up and turn away from the water when their stomach is full. It is easy to aspirate food when force feeding as their stomachs are fairly small and there is no sphincter to keep stomach contents from backing up into their throat. Don't use dehydrated crix...very tough to digest and not very nutritious. There is a recipe for "bug juice" on this site that will help a lot more:

http://www.adcham.com

For basic setup and care for any cham and for good vet articles here are some sites for you to read. You may figure out what else the cham is lacking just from reading about the proper care.

http://www.chameleonnews.com
http://www.chameleonjournals.com
http://www.calumma.com

If the cham is really on the way out and you decide to euthanize (a very touchy subject for forums) the two options most think are humane include having a vet put it down by injection or if that's not possible wrapping in a soft cloth and chilling in the fridge to put it into torpor. Don't just freeze it...some research says that tissues often freeze before death and this is very painful.

Good luck!

I believe she's a veiled chameleon. The same guy I got my burm from had her about 6 months ago. She was in a cage with a male, the guy went away for a month and when he came back the male was dead and she was again in bad shape. He was booted from the military for reasons and pauned the chameleon off on another family who didn't really want it. They've had it for about 6 months now. She's in a 10 gallon, screen top, small watt standard bulb. My wife went to petsmart today and they gave her this paste stuff to put on her tongue (the lizard, not my wife's tongue ), I'll make her a quick screen cage after our Air show is over (stationed at Andrews AFB), get the UVB and do more research. I'll post again when theres a change, good or bad.

DZ

This poor animal has had a tough life! The guy went away for a month with no one to care for them? I just don't understand why some folks even have animals...but I'll stay off my soap box.

It sounds like you are dedicated to do all that is right for her. Try the Repta-aid if she won't eat live food - it'll give her some nutrition and may stimulate feeding. Please don't hesitate to ask questions. here are some sites with cage building which may help you out.

www.chameleonparadise.com/2x2x4DIYCage.htm
www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/articles/screencage.html
thanks for caring

lele
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica the j sisters were sent to freedom last month
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Just a warning...don't go to that particular pet store for ANY reptile related needs. Don't listen to any advice they might give you or trust their products. They are clueless and cause a lot of needless suffering. In the hobby they are often referred to as p--Stupid.