Dehydrated Female Chameleon

[kinyonga]

I'm not a vet...so what I say comes from my experiences, from what I've read and learned along the way.

Rimadyl is an NSAID, anti inflammatory and pain med...I've never had it used on my chameleons.

Baytril has been given to a few chameleons I've had over the years and I've always made sure that the chameleon is well hydrated when it's on Baytril. Baytril won't work on all infections but has an antibacterial activity against a broad spectrum of Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria.

Chameleon pus is thick like cottage cheese though, and any antibiotic generally won't penetrate it so it's hard to kill bacteria those cases in chameleons.

I'm not a fan of just giving antibiotics without knowing what infection, if any, the chameleon has.

You said the chameleon isn't retaining fluids...edema is fluid retention...but not in a good way. If the kidneys aren't working right this can happen because the kidneys aren't able get rid of the fluids...this might help...
https://azeah.com/reptiles-amphibians-lizards/kidney-failure-chameleons

 

[Kristen.landeros]

I'm not a vet...so what I say comes from my experiences, from what I've read and learned along the way.

Rimadyl is an NSAID, anti inflammatory and pain med...I've never had it used on my chameleons.

Baytril has been given to a few chameleons I've had over the years and I've always made sure that the chameleon is well hydrated when it's on Baytril. Baytril won't work on all infections but has an antibacterial activity against a broad spectrum of Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria.

Chameleon pus is thick like cottage cheese though, and any antibiotic generally won't penetrate it so it's hard to kill bacteria those cases in chameleons.

I'm not a fan of just giving antibiotics without knowing what infection, if any, the chameleon has.

You said the chameleon isn't retaining fluids...edema is fluid retention...but not in a good way. If the kidneys aren't working right this can happen because the kidneys aren't able get rid of the fluids...this might help...
https://azeah.com/reptiles-amphibians-lizards/kidney-failure-chameleons

Thank you for linking that article. Her edema is a lot better this morning and her arms are no longer swollen. Her horn is a tad puffy still but a lot better than yesterday. She should definitely be having some urates any time now with the carnivore care + water I’ve been giving her. I also read that usually the medicines will induce urates, so I’m going to presume it may be something to do with the kidneys if she does not pass anything at all in the next couple of days.

 

[kinyonga]

"All too often, veterinarians rush to administer fluids subcutaneously, intracoelomically or via the intraosseous route. In many situations, oral fluids are just as effective, and in some cases, more so"....
https://reptilesmagazine.com/the-vet-report-fluid-therapy-in-reptiles/

 

[Kristen.landeros]

Update: she did have some urates and poop this morning. The urates were mostly white with a tinge of yellow. Her poop was solid but with a little mucus. Not sure if that was due to the medications? She is still lethargic and she’s resting on and off. I put a small washcloth towel on top of her laying bin acting almost as a hospital bin for her. And I moved her heat lamp down as well. I am still doing the carnivore care 1 ml per day and droplets of water throughout the day as much as she’ll let me but I try to leave her be as much as possible. She’s still bright green.
I did another rehydration shower for her yesterday, should I do another today? She still won’t eat crickets or the hornworm I offered her. In your honest opinion, do you think she is dying, or could possibly recover? I know it’s hard to tell when we don’t have further testing.

 

[kinyonga]

From the link I gave you above...
"If you don’t see the animal drinking while soaking, however, don’t assume it will be rehydrated just because it is soaking"...exchange the word soaking for showering and the same thing is true.

You said...". I put a small washcloth towel on top of her laying bin acting almost as a hospital bin for her" ...so does this mean she can't dig in the laybin now because it's all covered by a towel?

 

[Kristen.landeros]

No it’s a super small washcloth so she still has her whole laying bin available. I was able to give her more fluids via syringe only onto her tongue making sure she swallowed between drops. However she did bite down on the syringe super hard and didn’t let go for a good 15 seconds. Then she got extremely stressed and her colors went very dark and eyes shut mouth wide open. It looked like she stopped breathing and I just started sobbing. We let her be because I thought she had passed. My husband went to check on her a few minutes later and she was breathing and her colors returned normal...

Do chameleons have labored breathing when they are close to death? It does not seem to be labored breathing right now but just curious if there are tale tell signs that they will be dying. This is so hard.

 

[Kristen.landeros]

No it’s a super small washcloth so she still has her whole laying bin available. I was able to give her more fluids via syringe only onto her tongue making sure she swallowed between drops. However she did bite down on the syringe super hard and didn’t let go for a good 15 seconds. Then she got extremely stressed and her colors went very dark and eyes shut mouth wide open. It looked like she stopped breathing and I just started sobbing. We let her be because I thought she had passed. My husband went to check on her a few minutes later and she was breathing and her colors returned normal...

Do chameleons have labored breathing when they are close to death? It does not seem to be labored breathing right now but just curious if there are tale tell signs that they will be dying. This is so hard.

A couple of hours after her first bowel movement + urates this morning it looked like she also had some runny feces.

 

[kinyonga]

They can have laboured breathing when they are dying and usually open their mouth somewhat and raise their nose up as well...but can also behave that way if you get water in their lungs.

 

[Kristen.landeros]

They can have laboured breathing when they are dying and usually open their mouth somewhat and raise their nose up as well...but can also behave that way if you get water in their lungs.

Okay, she’s been mostly sleeping and laying down since the incident. Now her lights off for the night and she’s asleep. She’s been breathing normally and normal green coloring. Mouth has stayed shut.

 

[kinyonga]

How is she this morning?

 

[Kristen.landeros]

How is she this morning?

She is still the same, but she made it through the night. Lethargic but coloring is still the same, normal controlled breathing.
I’m thinking I should give her a break today from fluids + carnivore care since it made her stressed yesterday? She is just resting in her lay bin, doesn’t move around much. I’m at work until this afternoon but watching her from the camera.

 

[Kristen.landeros]

My sweet girl passed away peacefully at home with me next to her. I’ll miss her forever. I had an appointment to put her down tomorrow evening but I am glad she is no longer suffering and passed away in the comfort of home and surrounded by my husband and I.

 

[kinyonga]

So sorry for your loss. RIP Rango.

 

[bbyoda]

So sorry for your loss

 

[MissSkittles]

I’m so sorry.