Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If you didnt see my earlier post, my little veiled male is not doing to well. He seemed to be dehydrated but now i have rehydrated him and he has a dried out tongue, and i dont know what to do. THe only herp vet around is out of town too. I gave him a shower yesterday and dropped some drops of gatorade in his mouth (1:1 mix with water). I put him in his large cage (30X16X16) and now hes very lethargic, could it just be because hes in a new cage and just had a very stressful shower. He just stays in one spot and sleeps. Could it be MBD? He also seems very week. Please help me with him.

Thanks

After a change in the environment (especially a new cage) my chams respond the same way. They freak out and just stay in one spot and show their stress coloration. After about a day they are roaming the cage exploring and checking their surrounding. They find placed they enjoy and usually situate themselves. When you say his tongue is dried out what do you mean? Is the tongue shriveled? Can he use it? You may want to stay away from gatorade because of its salt content. I think pedailite would be a better choice it has the electrolites without the salt. I don't think cham's are use to anything with salt content.

MBD is not usually the cause of dehydration symptoms in a baby. I don't understand what you mean by dried tongue either. Could you describe it in a different way? If he was dehydrated for a while, that can trigger all sorts of problems that take as long or longer to heal than the period of dehydration itself. What's your humidity level and how have you been offering him water? Yes, use Pedialyte rather than Gatorade.

Yes, make sure it's Pedialyte. Is his cage warm enough and also nutritional deficiences can result in loss of tongue function. How old is this chameleon? Is he on a proper diet and lighting conditions? If his tongue is not functioning properly you will have to hand feed him. I would take him for a vet visit if his health is continually declining.
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It might be helpful to link this thread to your previous threads that discuss the initial problems so you don't have to rewrite all the details (though it might be helpful). I think the previous thread is too far down for anyone to dig up (including me) - I do not recall all the details fo the dehydration, but think it was pretty severe.

Even if you think he is rehydrated there may have been internal (organ) damage done. Did you have the vet administer sub-Q fluids? I had to do that with Luna in addition to the usual at home stuff, and she wasn't all that dehydrated.

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha