Do I have a 7 mo Midget with a URI?

[paul]

Veiled Cham - 7 month old Midget with URI?

Cage - Black full-screen cage, probably 2h x 2w x 1d

Lighting - heat lamp, just upgraded to a 100w from a 75w. I was keeping the UV light on for at least 12 hrs/day. The heat lamp varied, but averaged at less than 10 hours/day. I recently upped the wattage per recommendation and am keeping heating on for at least 12 hours.

Temperature - I'm not sure of the temp range, but his closest branch to the heat lamp is 8-10 inches away, but he can also get as close as desired by climbing the screen. Temp at night in the house is about 70, but his cage is against an outside wall. I'm sure it was colder at night, but the new shift I am leaving his lights on during actually go thru the night hours.

Humidity - I just mist inside the cage several times a day. I try not to keep it too wet, and the lights dry thing up decently.

Plants - Just started using a live plant. Sheffera, it came from a reptile store with other veiled's using it (i cleaned it first)

Location - Against an outside wall of the house, not too much traffic but and and other person


Chameleon Info:

Veiled Chameleon, Male, 6-7 months old

Diet is mainly crickets are that kept in a small tank with a sponge and cricket food (some brand name, it looks like slices of orange blocks) I feed about 4 crickets/day, covered in calcium/vitamin powder. I would give more, but he hardly finished the few I provide. I usually put them in a small dish, some escape and roam the cage.

Hydration at first only came from misting 3 times/day, then showering once a month. I still mist several times a day, but have him misting on a plant in the shower at least once every other week now. (I do have hard water in the area I live.. I only filter the water in his spray bottle, water in the shower is the harder water) I do see him drinking in the shower, but hardly see him drinking from cage misting.

Fecal Description - I just cleaned up a few days ago.. but if I recall his waste has been brown, yellow, and lighter colors at different times

I got the cham from a reasonably known reptile shop. It was probably a month old (maybe less?) when I purchased it.

Current Problem - I'm concerned because I have seen other chameleons his age, and they are 2-3 times his size. In general, he doesn't look unhealthy, he can climb just fine, he does his funny dance rocking sometimes when he is walking. But within the past 2 weeks I have seem hear an increased wheezing and popping sound when he breathes. He does occasionally open his mouth and seem to be gasping. He does seem to get the stationary moods sometimes and will sleep in one spot for like 12 hours. Sometimes when he wakes up his eyes are so crusted and he needs to rub on them for a while to open.

He has lived for at least 6 mo, so if he wasnt going to make it because of diet reasons he shouldn't have made it this far right? From what I read about the wheezing he probably has a URI. I really dont know if I will be able to take him to a vet anytime soon, any suggestions? I'm pretty bummed because I've had this guy for over half a year, I'd be upset if something happened to him.

Please help, thanks in advance!!

 

[dodolah]

your chameleon shut eyes is really not a good sign.
Regardless whether it's URI or not, i think it safe to say that you need to go to see an exotic vet asap.
The crackling and pooping sound does seem to indicate that.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

It looks like you have a female there. I don't see a spur in the photos (males have a spur behind their hind feet), and the casque is small for a male of the age you've given. SOme females can be quite colorful. We have one that is colorful like yours.

You said you don't think she would have survived this long if there was a diet problem, but that is not true. The reason veileds are a good starter cham is because they can survive for quite sometime with less than optimum care. But they eventually will succomb. From what you describe, your cham is seriously ill.

If the fecals are brown and yellow and lighter colors, then she is dehydrated. The fecal should contain a brown oblong stool, and a white obling urate (urine). Dehydration will eventually cause illness and/or shorten her lifespan considerably. Try misting her in the morning long enough to see her begin to drink. Veileds can take several minutes before their drinking reflex is activated. You will likely have to mist her directly to get this to happen. Then continue misting until she stops drinking. You won't have to do this with all 3 daily mistings, just the morning misting. They seem to respond to water rolling down their casque. This drinking is very important. In the one photo her eye looked a little sunken, probably from dehydration. When you mist her, definitely mist her eyes. They need that to maintain healthy eyes, and they actually seem to enjoy washing their eyes and doing a little eye maintenance every day. Dry eyes are a serious problem for chams, and the only way to get them wet is with the misting and showering. They need to wash their eyes every day. She may act as though she hates the direct body misting, but it is necessary and she will get over it. Also, you should be showering her once a week for at least 20 minutes, but 30 or 40 would be better.

You should purchase some form of thermometer (even the cheapest one) and get to know the temperatures in her cage. A 100w bulb may be too strong for a 7 month old cham in that size cage, but you won't know without a thermometer. Temperature dropping to the mid 60's at night can be OK. You don't want her enclosure heated at night unless the room temps drop below 65 degrees. UVB and basking bulbs can be on at the same time, about 12 hours, sort of synchronized with the sun (although I understand people who are gone all day like to have their chams awake in the early evenings so they can enjoy them- and this seems to work out fine for the cham). The ambient temp in her cage should prob be mid 70's to 80, and the basking temp can be in the 90's for a veiled.

I agree with Dodolah, it sounds like your cham has a serious illness. The URI can lead to a general infection, which can then present itself in the eyes, as you have observed. I don't know of any way for you to treat this cham without a vet's help. An exam can cost about $45, and the meds can be as little as $15.

Get to a vet as soon as you can, and in the meantime really concentrate on getting her hydrated. That will help with the URI and with her breathing. Even with humans, when they have a respiratory infection the doctor often recommends using a humidifier because hydration is so important for the lungs and bronchials. You should also pick up an inexpensive stick-on humidity gauge for the enclosure, if possible.

If this is a female, you will need to brush up on issues related to her laying infertile eggs.

Here is a great web site that will give you very useful, down to earth, data for your chameleon's care.
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

One other thing- a female can be half the size of a male, or smaller even.

 

[paul]

UPDATE:

I just took him to an exotic reptile vet last night. He confirmed that it is definitely a respiratory infection. He did say there were no signs of dehydration(which is a relief). He injected an antibiotic called Baytril. He would like to do it every few days until my cham seems better. My only problem is that the injections cost $23 bucks a crack along with the car trip! I dont know if I'll be able to afford it. I'm kind of hoping that since he is so small the one injection might do something for him.

The good news however is that his attitude upon coming home was amazingly different. He was already climbing around exploring his terrarium, basking on a birch under the heat lamp (which he never does) and he even ate a couple crickets. It was very odd, and I doubt the antibiotic works that fast, but we'll see what happens in the next few days.

Thanks for all the information guys! I'll let you know how things turn out.

 

[Justin Carl]

That is great news, but dont give up on him!
How often are you having to give him injections?
Wat to many chameleons have died the past 2 weeks.

 

[curly]

My chameleon died of a URI (I was denying it at the time) exactly one year ago..I hope everything gos good for your .

 

[paul]

Great news all!!

I followed up with the vet for a second Baytril injection. Yoshi has become very active, the wheezing and breathing noises have stopped, and his appetite has better than I've ever seen. He doesn't sleep much during the daytime hours anymore, and his eyes are WIDE open, no more crusting over! I'm going to follow up for another 1-2 injections just to make sure he's fought the URI off.

I just wanted to let everyone know, because many were unsure that he was gonna make it!

 

[xoiceox]

im so happy for u!

 

[rcmike]

Great! I know it can be expensive to go back and forth to the vet but with antibiotics you don't want to mess around. If treatment is stopped too early you can get resistant bacteria and then it is very hard to treat.

 

[Ashley]

I thought we had all decided that you had a female......?????

 

[chamlover]

ok, male or female? Also can't your vet give you the injections and show you how to do it? I never did it before either, but when my female got eggbound and he handed me an injection and showed me how to do it , i learned real quick. Ask him about it.

Debby

 

[paul]

My veiled is a MALE for sure. He has the small spurs on the back of his feet.

The vet said I can give the injections at home I feel comfortable... but I'd rather let the expert be sticking needles in my cham.