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Q:
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Veiled Chameleon loosing weight- FAST
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I know this is a stretch since the majority of the people on here have never owned a Veiled Chameleon, but I NEED HELP ASAP!
I rescued 2 female veiled chams a year ago, and everything was fine- until a week ago. One laid eggs, the other never did (so I assumed she laid them before i received them). They have a UV light, and are fed 4 crickets daily with greens as well. Crickets are sprinkled primarily with Ca, and supplemented with a Multivitamin 1-2 times a week. My other cham, An'ya. Is doing well. No problems whatsoever. Karma in this last week has gone from healthy, to off-colored, to de-hydrated looking, to skeletal. They are kept in the EXACT SAME CONDITIONS since they are both kept in the same temperatur and humidty controlled room!
It started with her loosing her ability to use her tongue fully, insiting that she be face to face with a cricket before catching it. Now she won't eat. She won't eat, won't drink, and he looks like a 90 year old woman (wrinkly and skeletal). We have been force feeding her 2-3 crickets a day with Ca and multivitamin supplements to give her some nutrition, but she's getting more and more lethargic and weak. We suspected she might be egg bound, but providing her with a bucket of moist cocobark has been futile thus far. I have provided before and after picture to illustrate what I mean...
What do I do? We would be devastated if we lost her... I've tried calling my local breeder (to no avail) and I don't have the $200 it would cost to walk through the door just to bring her into my local herp vet...NOT including x-rays, meds, and w/e they might give her that probably won't work... Should I try a different digging substrate? Could it be an infection? Should I continue to force feed her? Should I try showering her to get her to drink on her own?? SOMEONE HELP PLEASE!! This should hopefully reach enough time zones that I might get ONE response!!!
:'(
~Abby
Attached Photos:
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Assisted Answer
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2/22/2010 11:16:44 PM
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Geckofactor
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I'll take a crack at this really quick but I'll probably need a little more info. First you're givingit too many vitamins and chams will soemtimes exhibit these symptoms if they are overdosed on vitamin A usually there will be soem swellign involvedin that though not always. Second is the cham using the bathroom at all? If so what color are the urates? Get it to drink ASAP it looks obviously as you know pretty dehydrated best way to get them to drink if she'll gape at you spritz warm water directly into her mouth if that won't work yeah shower it in luke warm water. If you can find jumpstart you can try some of that but be really careful not to stress her out anymore than she already is. I have a friend who breeds these guys I don't know if he' still up though for me to ask a bout it being eggbound but it's a possability.
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Member Comment
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2/22/2010 11:36:29 PM
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Geckofactor
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Also got any idea how old she is? She doesn't look terribly old but females only live about 4 or 5 years not saying that's the issue I'd for sure get some fluids into her but if she's pushing 3 or 4 it may be winding down especially depending on how bad a situation you rescued it from..
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Author Comment
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2/22/2010 11:36:53 PM
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Herpetological_Girl
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She's fine with the multivitamins, believe me. Her sister is healthy as a horse and she's on the same feeding regimen. In the past, she would only get them sprinkled on crickets occassionally, but moreso on the greens when they got them 1-2 times a week. We have only been giving her the multvitamins with calcium en mass the last 2 days when we have noticed her condition getting grave.... (This is after her not eating ANYTHING for almost 4 days). She's not the type to gape, since she loves people (because she associates them with food lol). I'm going to try and give her a shower to see if that helps, I'll be picking up some Pedialyte as well since I've seen that suggested. Does anyone know if I should dilute the stuff first before giving it to her??
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Author Comment
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2/22/2010 11:38:01 PM
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Herpetological_Girl
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I have no idea how old she is :( The girl I rescued her and her sister from got them from ANOTHER person and she never bothered to ask :(
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Member Comment
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2/22/2010 11:48:31 PM
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Geckofactor
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Is she hanging out on the ground? Scratching around at the walls or anything? Is it pooping? or can you tell sinceit;s in with the other?
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Member Comment
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2/22/2010 11:57:31 PM
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Geckofactor
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Okay I'm going to bed. On the pedialyte yeah mix it 50/50 if you're going to soak the cham watch it so she doesn't fall over. If she's not scratching around and hanging out on the ground probably not trying to lay but you can usually feel eggs inside there if you just feel around. If you feel eggs not much you can do but go to the vet I could explain to you exactly what to do but unless you'repretty good with a needle you're outta gas and I've only delt with eggbound snakes personally. You can also try givingit critical care to boost up the nutritional intake since it's off food. Key is getting some fluids in there though if it goes on for much longer you'll have to take it ot thevet anyways for injections to rehydrate unless you think there's a chance it's just getting old but usually they kind of wind down alittle more not just go downhill within 4 days.
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Author Comment
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2/23/2010 12:07:57 AM
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Herpetological_Girl
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Ok I'll take you up on the 50/50 pedialyte mix. She's in the shower now under my bf's supervision- no luck. She won't drink... I'll have to go back to syringe-ing her. She HAS been wandering around the enclosure.... I'm worried tho that she might not have he strength to dig. Does anyone think that might be a possibility???
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Member Comment
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2/23/2010 12:16:50 AM
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Geckofactor
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If you have a plant mister the kind with the little pump on the top use that or soak her unless you have a cooler shower head with a fine mist or actual rain setting if all else fails I suppose the shower is a go. If you saw the other before it went to lay it should have been pawing at the cage and on the ground pacing if that one is doing that then it's trying to lay if it's too weak to dig I realise you can't afford a vet trip it will die if you don't do anything that's just how it is either the eggs will take over the body or compact the lungs and it will sufocate or eventually get septicemia. If it was just wandering around on the ground not pawing or anything or just cruising the cage not egg bound most likely. They will hit the ground if they're sick also but they won't paw or dig. Again just feel the sides and belly of the lizard you should be able to feel the eggs. Also not to be overely obvious but if you're using a syringe to feed it water and I coul dhave misunderstoof that bit be super careful not to accidentally drown or overly stress her. I don't know a ton about cham breeding but I know a fair bit about dehydrated chams buying a lot of imports. Okay now off to bed. Good luck.
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Accepted Answer
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2/23/2010 12:17:55 AM
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shellboa
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I am so very sorry but it seems to be showing all the classic symptoms of a geriatric chameleon. The sunken eyes and lack of color coupled with it resting on the ground frequently are all signs of old age. These guys are hardy to a point but when they decline it can happen pretty rapidly especially if she has laid a few clutches of eggs. Do you know if they are in fact clutch mates or are you speculating? Often once one declines the other follows shortly. Once mine reached this stage I opted for euthanasia since it seemd to me that their quality of life had gone too far to be good any more. What ever you decide to do I wish you the best of luck.
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Assisted Answer
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2/23/2010 12:30:36 AM
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JPG
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I had a graceful that died of old age that showed some of the same signs. I'm so sorry for what your going through. If it is sick then your doing everything i can think of to help the little gal out. my heart goes out to you
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Assisted Answer
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2/23/2010 8:26:55 AM
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GarbrechtRE
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I've had the same thing happen with a spiny, jackson, and fischer's chameleon. The out come was not good at all, I even took the first one it happened to to the vet, it did not help.
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Author Comment
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2/23/2010 9:33:52 AM
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Herpetological_Girl
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Well I got up this morning and checked up on her.... Her eyes were closed and I totally freaked out, but she wasn't dead. She's so very weak... Brad put her in her bucket of cocobark before we went to bed last night. She's too weak to rest on a branch. She was in the same spot this morning. I wanted to take the day off so that I could care for her, but I'm not sure if it would have made a difference.
Rob, how long did your chams last once they started to decline? I wish I had acted sooner, but I didn't think anything of it since she was still eating ok at first.... Sigh...
Anyone else have any suggestions?
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Member Comment
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2/23/2010 10:02:16 AM
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Member Comment
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5/20/2012 11:53:23 AM
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Karma Chameleon
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i have an old blind male panther..exhibiting all these symptoms..itll be interesting to see what happens..
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