Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Diego Suarez Female just died. The vet said she had to be pregnant (she was with a male I saw them do it) but she was very constipated. In fact her hole belly was filled with shredded crickes. Two days before she died I saw her on her branch pushing but I thought she was not happy w/ her lay box so I asked around and changed it. The next day she was on the floor not looking good so my boy friend took her to the vet since I had to go to work. I just want to know if I could prevent this from every happening again. The poor thing looked like she was sreaming in pain and I could not do a dam thing about it. For constipation has anyone herd of using 50%pedialyte and 50% water? What about V8 tomato juice. If I would have known it was constipation I would have paid for a enema. Do you think it was dehydrashion? I am going to a show this week end and I am going to buy every book I can get my hands on. I need to know all there is to know about Panthers. I also want to pick all of the breeders brains. Does any one know where I can get a 100% good sized Diego Suarez Female?

Thank you,
Nicole Guy
nicoleguy@crownedroyalreptiles.com

Your best bet is to make friends with some breeders at the show. Meet them. Introduce yourself, ask for names and business cards. If they don't have cards, Bring a little note pad. Get their email, website and even phone number if you can.

If you don't pick up one at the show, then at least a week afterwards, contact them each and remind them who you are, remind them that you are looking for said type of chameleon and ask them if they or any of their business contacts, have any avaliable.

Goodluck on the research and finding out what went wrong.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Maroantsetra Panther Chameleons
2.0 Long Tailed Grass Lizards
0.0.1 Giant Mellers Chameleon
0.0.2 Kenyan Pigmy Chameleons
500 Escaped Crickets

I'm so sorry that you lost your female. Its never easy losing a pet.

I can't tell you why she died...but I do have a few comments. An autopsy might have given you some answers.

If she was gravid (pregnant) and a suitable (in her eyes) laying box was provided for her, she should have been digging. If she never dug, then barring some oddity, she wasn't likely gravid.

IMHO incorrect temperatures, lack of hydration, ingestion of substrate or other caging material are just a few possible reasons for impaction...if she was impacted. (I'm not a vet..so this information is only from what I've read or learned about.)

You said, "For constipation has anyone herd of using 50%pedialyte and 50% water? What about V8 tomato juice"....I have never used either for any reason with a chameleon.

I'm glad to hear that you are going to read up on chameleons. There is quite a bit of good information on the internet too. Whatever you read and learn about chameleons, should help you with your next one!

Again...sorry for your loss.

Your right, there is great info on the internet, but its sorting through all the bull[bleep] and lies that is tough. That is why published info can be so great.

Anyone researching should do their best to keep to the most reputable sites.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Maroantsetra Panther Chameleons
2.0 Long Tailed Grass Lizards
0.0.1 Giant Mellers Chameleon
0.0.2 Kenyan Pigmy Chameleons
500 Escaped Crickets

In the Chameleon Forum header you will see the link for this page (itr is also linked in my signature below). This will give you the most current and most recommended links for researching as well as tips/questions regarding setup.

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
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Hi Nicole,

I am sorry that you lost her in such a sad and traumatic way

No one here can tell you why, but we may be able to give some insight if we know your complete setup and care info. If you go to the link below you will find a setup question area. You can copy and paste these in a message body and answer them (all). Her problems could have been due to dehydration, supplement excess or deficiency, insects with high chitin (the substance that makes up the exoskeleton) or other. If you have pictures of her and her setup to post we can maybe troubleshoot.

With respect, I do hope you did not get another chameleon yet and that you will do your research first. Books are great, but much on the 'net are more current (choosing sites carefully, which we have already done ) see link below. Also, spending some time here, posting or just lurking to see what others are saying and asking, will prove to be most helpful, too.

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
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Well I have been reading alot of books and I have some new breeder friends and I am learning alot. I have one male and one female Sambava, one male and one female Nosy be, and one male Diego Suarez. Not to menchen three Leachianus, one male Chahoua, two Satanic Leaf Tails, two Giant Leopord Geckos, one huge tokay, Mexican Pink, Brazilin Pink and a Green Bottle Blue Tarantulas, one Blood Python and 90 some odd high end morphs of Crested Geckos. They are all healthy and getting bigger every day. Some times I think they have a beter home then me! I just picked up a new female Diego. After talking to many breeders I have come to the conclusion that is was party the hard crickets, dehydration, and lighting issues, I spent close to $300.00 on cage stuff for all of them and I am not buying large crickets any more. They will all receive a weekly shower on saterdays, besides misting 10 times a day. I think it was mostly the large crickes. When my boyfriend opened her up she had a large cricket at her back door. I think I worded that nicely? Thank you for everyones help, I realy do appreciate all the advice!

Thank you,
Nicole Guy

I know it's too late to mention it, but be warned: An enema might have killed her too. It is a very risky thing to do as I found out. My very first veiled cham died from complications of an enema because by the time he showed extreme problems like your female did, the mass of undigested insect parts lodged in his intestinal tract had damaged it. When the vet gave the enema it ruptured the intestine. He went into shock and died a few hours later. The necropsy showed necrotic bowel and several perforations. A necropsy is really important to understand what happened to her! I know it is just one more expense when you are upset at losing a cham, but most often the main reason for death will show up. Anyway, when I tried to figure out what was wrong with my husbandry I found that my humidity gauge was completely inaccurate and that his cage was much drier than I ever imagined. He was suffering from low grade chronic dehydration (and probably some other things...this was pretty early on in veiled cham keeping and we knew a lot less about their nutritional and humidity requirements then). I've never heard of giving tomato juice to an insectivorous herp. Also, if you have a cham who can't or won't drink on its own, that is when to use Pedialyte. If the cham is drinking voluntarily (and a dehydrated one will if it is able), plain water and lots of it is best. So sorry you lost her.