Cham very sick after shipping

[DjMintyFresh]

I recently moved across country, and rather than subjecting my chameleons to a 9 day drive, I left them with a family member who overnight shipped them to me through USPS. they were guaranteed to me by 10:30 am the next day, but they didn't arrive until one day after they were supposed to. Needless to say, I do not ever recommend using USPS.

When the chameleons arrived we thought our female was dead, as you can see in the picture, and our other one was in really bad shape. He is now doing just fine and our female did wake up. But she is very slow, she almost always sleeps, and she won't eat. The vet mentioned that her tongue might have frostbite and we don't know if it would ever be usable again. He gave her some antibiotics.

As of right now, I don't know what to do. My wife is terrified that she's suffering and she's leaning towards putting her down. I don't want to do that, and i really have no idea what to do. At this point i would gladly give her to anyone who is more experienced, and local here in Maryland.

 

[reptoman]

I would never ship in the current conditions using fedex and would certainly not ever ship USPS regardless of temps. Did you use an insulated box or heat pack? There are various sources that discuss how to ship properly (google it!) so its not really excusable to do this and be surprised by the outcome

 

[mvad]

It's sad that your chameleons are not doing well. Shipping in cold weather can be sketchy. I truly hope they both pull out of their current state.

Did you do some research on shipping reptiles in winter? Did your family member pack them or did you? Overnight Mail is guaranteed so I hope you investigated why it took an extra day. You may be intitled to reimbursement (which is not going to replace your beloved chams) and you should peruse a claim.

 

[carol5208]

So sorry to hear of your chameleons being sick after shipment, but I agree with the others completely. Maybe not something you want to hear, but it might save another chameleon in the future. Your female looks to be in dire straits. I hope somehow she can turn around.

 

[DjMintyFresh]

So yes, I did do my research before shipping them. I had them in a very well insulated box with a heat pack. I did my homework before shipping them. However, my family member also decided that the box needed much larger air holes and i know that didn't help them any.

There are a lot of things that can be said about "you should've done this" and "next time do this". But what I really need is to know how to help her right now.

 

[DjMintyFresh]

I don't know if it helps at all, but here is a picture of her now. She's much better, but not great.

 

[carol5208]

She does look much better and hopefully she will pull out of this. From the first picture you posted, I would have thought she would never make it. You said you had her at the vet? What was his advice besides the antibiotics? Is there a reason he put her on the antibiotic? Does she have an infection? Sometimes administering the meds can very stressful on top of everything else she has been through. I was just wondering why he put her on those. I would say just keep her warm and hydrated and hope for the best. Good luck with her.

 

[laurie]

I can't throw stones as I have did a few amazingly stupid things during my years keeping chams. We all live and learn.

So the tongue has retracted and everything? Just give the the best care you can, very well hydrated, easy to digest foods like silkworms, and wait until the are back up to par.

 

[carol5208]

I can't throw stones as I have did a few amazingly stupid things during my years keeping chams. We all live and learn.

So the tongue has retracted and everything? Just give the the best care you can, very well hydrated, easy to digest foods like silkworms, and wait until the are back up to par.

Laurie, I think we all have!

 

[Drakes24]

Damn man!! Seeing these pics jus break my heart I'll pray for those little guys to get back to tip top shape

 

[dlegare]

WOW! Good luck.

I would never use USPS for anything important. They are too unreliable. Any ideas how cold they may have gotten? And maybe even over heated.

Keep us updated please and again best of luck to you.

And I agree we've all done stupid things, it's how we learn.

 

[lovelychams]

Good luck with these little guys. Hope they get better. Please keep us updated.

 

[DjMintyFresh]

Carol, The vet didn't seem too knowledgable about chameleons any more than just a general knowledge. He gave her antibiotics because he was concerned that she might get an infection in her tongue either from frostbite, or from when she bit it while it was hanging out.

As for today, I still wasn't able to get her to eat. I saw her tongue when she yawned today and it didn't look normal at all. It looked kind of like a little stub, like an inch or 2 long, and pointed at the end, instead of bulbous. I'm not sure if there's a big difference in the tongue when they shoot it and when they just yawn, but like i said, she did bite it when it was out (in an attempt to bite my wife, she was very disoriented and stressed).

So she stays in one spot in her cage all day, doesn't drink any when the cage is misted, and doesn't open her eyes unless I try to pick her up. At this point it seems like she's going to kill herself from lack of nutrition.

 

[carol5208]

The vet didn't seem too knowledgable about chameleons any more than just a general knowledge. He gave her antibiotics because he was concerned that she might get an infection in her tongue either from frostbite, or from when she bit it while it was hanging out.

It is up to you what you want to do. I am not a vet and do not want to go against what he told you to do. I just know if you cannot inject the meds into a feeder(if she is not eating) then it can be a pain getting them to open their mouth to administer the meds and cause added stress on them.

 

[Carlton]

Carol, The vet didn't seem too knowledgable about chameleons any more than just a general knowledge. He gave her antibiotics because he was concerned that she might get an infection in her tongue either from frostbite, or from when she bit it while it was hanging out.

As for today, I still wasn't able to get her to eat. I saw her tongue when she yawned today and it didn't look normal at all. It looked kind of like a little stub, like an inch or 2 long, and pointed at the end, instead of bulbous.

Almost 100% sure she didn't get frostbite! Even with larger holes in the box if it said anything about a live animal or "perishable" on it I'd be very surprised if the box was actually frozen that hard during the trip. When chams are very weak and close to death they do lose control of their tongues so she probably did bite, damage, or bite it off completely. The pointy end you saw may be the small cartilage/bone that supports the tongue muscle. Chams can learn to eat without a full tongue if they don't get an infection while it heals. She will need some sort of assist feeding soft slurry stuff now so she even has a chance to heal the injury. There is a recipe for "bug juice" somewhere on the forum you can make up that will give her energy, hydration, and some nutrition to keep her going. Poor little girl! Good luck with her.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

I would recommend the bug juice and also long showers to re-hydrate.