Advice needed

[amy1988]

Hi,
We have had our veiled chameleon leo since just before christmas. We did a lot of research before buying him as we know they are def not the easiest 'pets' to keep. When we bought him (from a petshop) we also saw his 'sister' who was considerably larger than him. He has not really changed in size since we have had him! He always has small crickets available to him which are coated in the calcium powder and we spray his viv everyday, keeping a close eye on the humidity monitor which we keep between 50%-70%. About a month ago we thought he had a 'prolapse' so took him back to the shop as the owner said he was a breeder and to bring him for any advice. He confirmed this so we bathed him in warm sugar water for about a week and the issue cleared itself up. However, about a week ago we noticed he was sitting with his head resting on his wood with both his eyes shut, he would not eat or drink. We took him to our local zoo vet who has given us a supplement formula to feed him via a syringe. He does seem to be resisting more and more everyday to this so seems to be getting stronger. But with this we are worried as he refuses to open his mouth with us gently pinching him between his eyes and nostrils. We have had to pull gently on his 'throat skin' as suggested by our care book. However, he seems to be getting small black spots on his body which we understand to be bruises. We wonder if anyone can advice us a better way of opening his mouth because the last thing we want to do is cause the poor little guy more trouble! Also has anyone experienced anything like this before? If so how did it turn out (we are cautiously hopeful so honestly pls)?
Thank you (Sorry about the essay!)

Amy

 

[Julirs]

Ouch-sounds like you brought home an animal that already is sick/has issues. The chances of the prolapse happening again are very real. Having to soak him for a week to get the prolapse under control sounds like way too long-he wasn't continuously soaking for that long was he? Has he pooped since the prolapse? Since you think he is getting stronger, have you tried letting him eat on his own?

Please answer the following:
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage construction (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and type of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

 

[amy1988]

Hi thanks for replying,
We soaked him once a day in luke warm water for about 15 min or until the water was cold to touch. We have left some small crickets in for him incase he wants any, he has a tub in his viv where we put them so he knows exaxtly where to go for them.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - He has a glass fronted viv height 36", width 24" and depth 18". the Viv is wooden all the way around with glass at the front and 4 air vents.
Lighting - he has a 100 watt infrared exo terra heat glo lamp, and a exo terra 15 watt 18" uv light. He is turned on every morning between 7 and 8 and is on for a maximum of 12 hours eg if turned on @ 7am his lights are off @ 7pm.
Temperature - He has a large wood branch which creates a backing spot for him that we keep around 100F his night temp is dropped by atleast 15F and is kept at around 75F. We measure these temp by a wall mounted therm at the same level as leo's basking spot.
Humidity - We keep humidity at around 50%-70% by spraying his viv throughout the day. We use a hydrometer which is on the opposite side of the viv to the head lamp.
Plants - We are only using plastic plants bough from our reptile shop as were unsure about real plants.
Location - The viv is located in our bedroom opposite the window next to the door on top of a 4tier chest of drawers. The only time he is disturbed is when we are back from work and when we go to bed around 10pm. The rest of the time he is in the house by himself with the door shut as we have a dog, another veiled adult male who is downstairs in the living room, two herman tortoises which are downstairs also and two chinchillas which are in the spare room.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - He is a veiled, male, not too sure of his age, we have had him about 5 months.
Handling - He is quite tame and he will climb onto your hand if you let him, think we were handling him too much- especially with having to put him in his sugar bath and now to force feed him. However, we have stopped handling him unnecessarily as we have read that this is not a good thing to do.
Feeding - He has smallest crickets, both black and brown that are always available in his viv, coated in calcium powder. The crickets get water and also some 'Bug Grub' supplement. We tried him with mealworms but he wasn't interested.
Supplements - We use Vetark 'Nutrobal' and 'Bug Grub'. All crickets have the bug grub available in their cricket keeper and they are all dusted upon being put into his viv.
Watering - We use a spray bottle to spray his whole viv and also the air above him but not him directly as he hates it. this gets sone twice a day as we were told it could cause respiratory problems if done too much. We also have a pipet bottle which he will drink from sometimes if you let it rest on his nose.
Fecal Description - his droppings are black and white but as he is not eating this is not been regularly recently. The vet said he could not do any tests on him as he is too small and only weighs 10 grams.
History -He was small compared to his 'sister' when we bought him and hasnt really grown in size- pls read previous post for full details.
Current Problem - Pls see previous post.

Thank you any advice would be greatly received we dont want to loose our little guy!!!!

 

[Julirs]

If he only weighs 10 grams at 5+ months that is not good at all. Your day time temp of a 100 should seriously be backed down to about 85-you are risking dehydrating him.
I have 7 month olds that weigh between 70-120 grams. You need to make sure you have a calcium supplement and live plants-but that is not of immediate urgency with your current situation. Another Vet trip may be in order.

 

[amy1988]

Ok i will turn his temp down thank you, which plants should we get do you think? Didn't want to buy as do not know which ones could be harmful? he has been to the vets twice and the vet told us he doesn't expect much from the little guy and gave us the supplement as a last try really but couldn't give us any idea what was wrong with him. My partner and his Mom took him the first time to the vets and i think the vet thought it wasn't worth trying anything and sent him away empty handed and told him to increase temp with the infra red heat lamp. We weren't happy with this and took him back the following day and that is when he gave us the supplement to try. We won't give up on him though and are giving it to him the recommended 5 times a day.

Thanks

 

[lizardboy119796]

Try and put a ficus or a potho in there, they love those plants and helps keep of the humididy

 

[amy1988]

thanks, i have bought one from a garden centre. im a bit worried that it might not be safe to put in with him incase it has ever been sprayed with pesticides. would washing it under the tap be enough?

 

[Dunnigan]

I remove all of the dirt, and then wash it with antibacterial soap. then rinse it a few times. and re pot with organic (pesticide) free dirt. Then i put some large stones over the dirt so that they cant get into the dirt and so the bugs cant hide in it.

IDK were your located but i had a problem with my little girl not eating/drinking/moving (she would just lay in the leaves of she plant on her side) and i used this herbal stuff called reptaid (you can get it from chameleonsnorthwest.com) and within two-3 days she was eating on her own again, and within a week or so she was back to 100%.

 

[amy1988]

thank you all very much for your help

 

[kinyonga]

Sometimes when a chameleon has prolapsed it will develop a fungal infection after the "parts" are put back in. Its also possible that if he wasn't given an antibiotic when the prolapse occurred that he has developed a bacterial infection. You need to talk to a vet about this.

As for getting it to eat...does it drink on its own? If so, when its mouth is open while its drinking you can put the end of the syringe in and ease the food into its mouth. Does he eat the food once its in his mouth?

 

[lizardboy119796]

I think you should bring it to the vet soon

 

[amy1988]

Thank you

Hi,
We would like to say thank you to everyone for their help with leo but unfortunately he has passed away. The vet thinks he was a poor little guy to start with but it doesn't make it any easier. RIP our little Leonidas we miss you much xxx

 

[Lille]

So sorry to hear that

 

[NewOwner]

Very Sorry... R.I.P

 

[blackbetty]

My Leo and I send our condolences. I know how hard it is to lose a cham no matter how long you have had it. Bless you for trying.

He is in Cham heaven, eating loads if insects while basking in the sun.