Chameleon Passed Away This Morning

[humina]

My female Veiled Chameleon passed away this morning. She was about 3 years old. Is this a typical life-span for females? She has always been in good health, only had one clutch of eggs [not fertile]. I noticed last night that her eyes were sunken in a bit and she seemed tired. It was around 9, that is when her lights go off for the night so i thought maybe she was getting prepped for some sleep. So i did the last mist of the night and let her be..she still seemed to have strength, holding herself up and moving around. I poked my head in the door before i went to sleep about an hour and a half later and she was perched by her heat lamp...all seemed good.

This morning i had my boyfriend check on her, he told me not to go into the room, that she had passed away. My question is what typically is the reason for sudden death like this? I'm hoping it was just natural causes...

 

[lslcronk]

If you fill out the https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ form, we can look at your husbandry and make sure everything was ok there.

 

[humina]

Here it is:

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon – Female Veiled Chameleon, Approx. 3 years old. In my care since birth.
• Handling – Very rarely.
• Feeding – Crickets/Mealworms/Greens and occasional reptile safe baby food. Tried Fruit Flies, but she was too lazy to go for them 10 crickets daily, small salad every other day. Mealworms 2x a week. Gut loaded crickets with fruits/veggis.
• Supplements – Coated Crickets with Calcium dust every other day.
• Watering – 2 water drippers on either side of terrarium. Mist 3x a day, for 3 minutes at a time, sometimes less, sometimes more.
• Fecal Description – Fecal was normal in color and size.
• History – Had to take her to the vet one time in her life, because her ‘beard’ area was poofed out, vet claimed to vary her diet more, other then that she seemed healthy. Poofed out beard went away within a week.

Cage Info:
• Cage Type – Screen Cage, 5 feet tall, 18 inches wide, 18 inches deep.
• Lighting – 9 am to 9 pm. UVB bulb, 50 wat basking bulb. 75 wat heat bulb
• Temperature – Cage floor reached 65-68 F. Basking Area would reach 85 F. Overall Cage Temp would stay close to 75-80
• Humidity – Levels stayed close to 80%
• Plants – No live plants
• Placement – Located in room specifically for reptiles. In corner, low traffic area.
• Location - Oregon

Current Problem – Suddenly passed away this morning.

 

[creddjobs]

My female Veiled Chameleon passed away this morning. She was about 3 years old. Is this a typical life-span for females? She has always been in good health, only had one clutch of eggs [not fertile]. I noticed last night that her eyes were sunken in a bit and she seemed tired. It was around 9, that is when her lights go off for the night so i thought maybe she was getting prepped for some sleep. So i did the last mist of the night and let her be..she still seemed to have strength, holding herself up and moving around. I poked my head in the door before i went to sleep about an hour and a half later and she was perched by her heat lamp...all seemed good.

This morning i had my boyfriend check on her, he told me not to go into the room, that she had passed away. My question is what typically is the reason for sudden death like this? I'm hoping it was just natural causes...

Sorry for your loss.

 

[humina]

Thanks, she really became part of my family. Love the feisty little thing. She is going to be terribly missed

 

[okiroo]

im sorry you lost her. sometimes stuff just happens and theirs nothing you can do.

 

[Elizadolots]

I'm sorry for your loss. I wish I had more than that to offer.

 

[kinyonga]

Sorry for your loss. Its never easy losing one, but if they have to go its better IMHO that it happens quickly.

Female veileds can live to be over 7 but the average is more like 3. The only way to know why she died would be to have an autopsy done on her.

 

[Hoj]

so sorry for your loss R.I.P sweet lil girl

 

[Feebo]

Aaaw I'm really sorry to hear of your chameleon's death. Thinking of you...

 

[jannb]

I am so very sorry for your loss. As kinyonga said an autopsy would be the only way to know what killed her.

 

[humina]

Thank you guys. I was thinking about getting an autopsy, but i would rather just stick with a 'natural death'. I would constantly kick myself if i found out it could've been prevented. The only thing that comes to mind that was 'different' with her diet and what not was that i got crickets at a different store this time as my regular place was out...last feeding was on Saturday night, Monday morning she passed away...