Breeder Sold Me A Chameleon With A Parasite
- Thread starter Banders675
- Start date
I would not blame the breeder for a chameleon's death almost three years later. Besides the time you had to take care of the animal and the countless variables that can occur, there are no guarantees that any animal purchased will survive the stress or challenges of captivity. As for customer service, there doesn't appear to be a lot here, but unfortunately there is only your side of things. If you would like to do a review of this you can try Fauna Classifieds BOI for a proper platform for that.
OldChamKeeper
Chameleon Enthusiast
This. I personally give my chams a deworming routine once a year just because of this. Is that something I would recommend to everybody, hell no. I've been keeping Chams for four decades and that experience plays out in dealing with routine de-wormings.
Side note, sucks if the seller doesn't respond to a private e-mail or PM. On the other hand, I wouldn't blame the seller for an animal dying three years later. Nor would a court in many cases.
Use the BOI. I have for a decade.
Banders675
Member
I was told he was he was 6-8 months but I do not believe anything they told me. It was a hard fought 2 years.
Banders675
Member
No I'm over it we attempted to contact him after we got home and saw the first stool. We tried again to contact him after we got the results back from the vet. I did everything I could for Irie, the vet even told us that it would eventually kill him. We just tried to give him the best life we could. What I am pissed about is we asked if the animal was health and were assured he was and that all his stool was regular and tested. Which we knew was a lie from the first droppings we saw when we got him home. I just hope no one else buys from him.
Banders675
Member
This story is 2and half year old,this cham is having trouble on parasites that long.....it makes me wonder if this is a real story
A real story. Really?
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I just dont understand why ur cham having a parasites issue for more than 2 year ,have u consulting another Vet for second opion? 2 year is a long time for god sake .
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Banders675
Member
As I recommended, if you have a review of a breeder, this isn't the place for it, but it is unfortunate that you have gone through this. I would not "blame" the breeder for parasites, but I would consider the lack of communication you state as ridiculous. If what you say is true about trying to contact them, and I don't have any reason to doubt you, then that is not acceptable. A reputable breeder should always want success for their new owners and part of that is helping out with valuable information and direction. Having only one side of the story here, I have to take you for your word, and must say that I'm sorry that your chameleon and you went through this. I wish we could have helped you out and perhaps could have offered some better advice.
Banders675
Member
There's no sense in me continuing to talk about it. I was sold an already sick animal, that the vet told me right from the start would probably not recover.
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jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I'm sorry you lost your chameleon after working so hard to keep him healthy. Your vet told you two years ago that he wouldn't recover. What did the vet diagnose him with?
You say the breeder sold you an animal with a parasitic infection. Normally, parasites do not kill the animal. Most parasites can be controlled by proper medication and good husbandry, with the emphasis on husbandry. Either your vet did not give you the proper treatment or you didn't do what was necessary to clear your animal of parasites. It often takes more than medication to get rid of parasites. You have to get rid of the eggs from the environment.
You cannot blame the breeder for your animal's death since you've owned him for a couple of years. If he was sick all his life from a parasitic infection you and/or your vet weren't doing a good job treating him It is possible that his immune system was compromised, possibly by stress which in general can be attributed to your husbandry skills. If you keep an animal in sub optimal conditions--wrong temps/humidity/hydration/nutrition/over handling--you will cause it stress which weakens the immune system.
You admit your vet does not know why it was unhealthy and died. Maybe he had kidney failure, a very very common problem in captive chameleons since so few are given proper humidity and hydration. Many medications are also very damaging to kidneys, especially when the animal is dehydrated.
You really just don't know what was wrong. An unhealthy animal is not much fun, but I've always believed that if you give the animal what it needs, it will heal itself. If it doesn't stay healthy, I always believe I must not be giving it what it needs.
Again, I'm sorry for your loss. I hope I didn't add to your grief.
EveryGreen
Established Member
#1 that guy is a huge asshole #2 you should spam until he responds or try and get ahold of people who have bought chams from him and see if they have a parasite also
Banders675
Member
They vet treated him a couple of times. My other cham seems totally fine with his husbandry we have had him for I think 4 years now. the vet did say from day one that what he had would kill him eventually. They could never pin point just exactly what parasite he had. I'm to the point I want to just give my other cham away just so we dont have to watch him die in a couple years.
Banders675
Member
I want to but I don't think it would do anything. Lesson learned, I'll never deal with him again. He need to to drop paradise from his name for sure.
Extensionofgreen
Chameleon Enthusiast
This is part of the equation that makes no sense to anyone here and I am asking for clarification, not accusing you.
If the vet does not identify the parasite, they can not possible predict a fatal outcome. There are no parasites that I have ever heard of taking 2 years to kill an animal and they could not be treated. The only parasite that I know of to be fatal and missed by vets are usually lung, liver, or other organ flukes or worms and these aren't found in CB animals. Something isn't right about the situation. The seller should have replied, I agree, but we also don't know if the seller changed contact information or had some other reason for not replying.
My hypothesis is that the chameleon may have had a flagellate bloom, due to the stress of being moved to a new home. This would account for lose stools. These can correct themselves, but sometimes require metronidazole. At any rate, failure to properly identify and correctly treat whatever the issue was resulted in constant handling, medicating, and stress, so that the animal never had a chance to adjust and thrive. Something wasn't right with this vet's approach and diagnosis and I there is no way this was a parasite problem, unless you experience a parasite never encountered in all of the years of reptile keeping.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I'm really confused. How can a vet know a parasite will be terminal but not be able to identify it? I thought your vet didn't know what was wrong based on your comments in a previous post.
Keeping chameleons is a funny thing. Not every chameleon reacts the same way. Not every immune system is the same.
My question with the more than 2year long "parasites problem" and the vet's diagnosis are the puzzle point in this story,if the vet can not identify the parasites problem,why is the vet giving a medication to this sick cham; why is the sick cham live for 2and half year long with the incorrect medication,U wont be surprised the side effects on the incorrect medication that did the damage to the cham since it never cure the so called parasite problem in the first place!!!
If this was my cham,I will definitely seeking another chameleon specialist vet for the second opinion since the first vet can not even identify the real problem cause in the first place,and given the meds could not even served the right purpose.
If this was my cham,I will definitely seeking another chameleon specialist vet for the second opinion since the first vet can not even identify the real problem cause in the first place,and given the meds could not even served the right purpose.
Matt Vanilla Gorilla
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have a very healthy, beautiful male Ambilobe from that breeder. He has always been incredibly healthy!
Mtnlaurel
Member
My guy came from Chameleon Paradise. He recently chewed some bark off a log and threw it back up, so I took him in for a work up, and ran a stool sample for parasites to rule that out.
My vet said Bruce must be doing a great job, because there were no real "parasites". What we did have was an abnormally high number of flagellates that are normally present in the GI tracts of reptiles. Stress, medication, many things... can throw off the delicate balance and allow these flagellates to grow exponentially.
Since I came with a chameleon who was not eating, he decided to treat for it with a course of metronidazole. To be honest, I wasn't worried about it, and it seems to have done no harm. Perhaps what your vet meant was that your chameleon would have these flagellates for a life time.
Regardless, parasites are part of life, and part of most pet ownership. I accept that as a part of life.
Bruce isn't the easiest guy to get in touch with, and he can be pretty peculiar. Given time, he did return my calls and texts and gave me good, solid information. I could see him blowing you off if you came at him with a combative attitude. But my take was that he was very capable and experienced, and I have been very impressed with my chameleon.
I'm sorry, it sounds like you have been through an awful time with your guy struggling. Your situation sounds pretty close to mine, from the same place with the same diagnosis. He's only been under my care for a couple of months, but I hope things work out better for me. Fingers crossed and sorry for your loss. :-(
My vet said Bruce must be doing a great job, because there were no real "parasites". What we did have was an abnormally high number of flagellates that are normally present in the GI tracts of reptiles. Stress, medication, many things... can throw off the delicate balance and allow these flagellates to grow exponentially.
Since I came with a chameleon who was not eating, he decided to treat for it with a course of metronidazole. To be honest, I wasn't worried about it, and it seems to have done no harm. Perhaps what your vet meant was that your chameleon would have these flagellates for a life time.
Regardless, parasites are part of life, and part of most pet ownership. I accept that as a part of life.
Bruce isn't the easiest guy to get in touch with, and he can be pretty peculiar. Given time, he did return my calls and texts and gave me good, solid information. I could see him blowing you off if you came at him with a combative attitude. But my take was that he was very capable and experienced, and I have been very impressed with my chameleon.
I'm sorry, it sounds like you have been through an awful time with your guy struggling. Your situation sounds pretty close to mine, from the same place with the same diagnosis. He's only been under my care for a couple of months, but I hope things work out better for me. Fingers crossed and sorry for your loss. :-(
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