Does Wilson look ok to you?

[chamlover]

How is Wilson doing? Does he still have his eyes closed? Don't wait to long to get him to the vets? If you don't find out what's bothering him real soon, he might not be around much longer. Don't mean to be a party pooper but by the time these guys close both eyes AND go to the bottom of the cage, he is already in deep trouble. And once they get that bad and don't get some immediate help, they don't bounce back very well. When people ask me if chameleons are difficult to keep my reply is:
" I don't consider them "difficult" as long as you give them what they need, however, they are "very unforgiving" if you don't". Good luck.

 

[brighteyez]

Well, I changed the bulb to a 40watt. The temp reads around 85. The past two days or so he hasn't been near the bottom of the cage at all. In fact whenever I've come in to look at him he's been in his basking spot right under the light, about as close to it as he can get himself. Do you think that means he's cold? At 85 I wouldn't think so.
He's eyes have been open more but occassionally I still see him close them though. I currently have no plans to take him to the vet, simply because as of right now, I don't have any opportunities to. I'm sure I could find a vet around here, but I can't take time off work. Simply put, I'm not allowed. Plus I work a second job in the evening, and the weekends. I'm afraid part of the reason Wilson isn't doing well to begin with is a result of not being ableto take proper care of him. Something I'm definitely not proud of.

 

[Champhibians]

Well at least you can admit it, you might want to think about giving him to an experienced keeper. Without proper care a chameleon is not going to live to long

 

[brighteyez]

Yeah, I was afraid of that.

Update: I thought Wilson was starting to get better for the past few days until this morning when I went to check on him. I noticed his left side is swollen. Behind the corner of his mouth, and his foot too. His other side looks fine, and I didn't notice anything wrong with his other three feet. This strikes me as very strange. I'm going to go take some pictures to upload. I've stopped putting any supplements on the bugs I've been giving him. His eyes are still closed occassionally too.

Opinions??!!
Thanks!

 

[Texas Panther Man]

The cham is not showing improvement. Get him to the vet asap. He needs a blood workup if possible. Are you feeding him only crix? If so are you buying from a local pet store? The reason i ask is if you arent giving them sufficient time in your care to flush out whatever said store is feeding them then that could be a big part of the problem. They may be feeding their crix dog food, fish food, etc... thats why its a good practice to buy them at least 24-48 hr before you feed them off. So you can gutload with your own formula.

And if you are feeding just one feeder you need to switch up and have at least 3 diff types for him.

 

[bigcappa]

I'm sorry for your situation, but I believe you are at the point were it is do or die. I think you should do all that you can to get him to the vet, whether you do it or have someone else do it. Also A few times that I have had to work lat, I have called the vet before hand to ask him if he could stay late and most of the times they have obliged. Just a thought, but good luck non the less!

 

[brighteyez]

Here are the pictures I took today. While I was taking them I noticed what looked to me like a lump under his tail that I didn't remember being there from before so I took some pictures of that too.
While I'm waiting for replies I'm going to look up a vet in my area. Here's hoping the are willing to stay up late because I don't get off work tomorrow before 8:30, and not until 9:30 on wed.

Texas Panther Man: I've had these crickets for several weeks and I ordered them from a reputable supply company, so I don't think that could be the issue.

 

[Astray]

A 25 watt works well for my Jackson, but my apartment is fairly warm to begin with.

His color's dont look too bad right now, like everyone else is suggesting I believe a trip to the vet is in order. If he keeps his eyes closed while handling especially.. this is very bad.

 

[brighteyez]

Those last 5 pictures of him are a good example of Wilson's 'feel good' colors. Although, I did take him out of his cage to take them while he was sleeping....

 

[brighteyez]

YIKES!!
I just had him out of the cage because I was taking pictures of him and I noticed a tiny bit of old shed. I got a qtip and was rubbing it off, and trying to gently retrain him (since he obviously was happy about being poked with a wet qtip), when his mouth started bleeding!!!!!!!!!!!! Not a lot, but definitely bright red blood. It was coming from the same side of his mouth that is swollen.
I didn't do anything about it because I don't want to make it worse by accident.

I've looked up numbers for the two vets in my area, but I'll have to wait to call them until tomorrow since they are closed now.

 

[Cooper007]

Wilson update

Just curious as to how wilson is doin now?

 

[brighteyez]

Well, it has been quite a while, and I have lots of updates.

Took Wilson to the vet and it turns out that he an abscess in his mouth, some sort of infection in his throat and a bone infection in his leg. The mouth and throat we easily fixed. I had to give some oral antibiotics and a few injections. The bone infection was obviously more serious. After talking with the doctor, we decided to amputate his leg, which happened today. I haven't seen him yet but the vet said everything went well.

Has anyone here had a cham with three legs before? I'm worried for my little guy and I could use any advice anyone might have to make his transition as easy as possible.

 

[Rosie42892]

Well, it has been quite a while, and I have lots of updates.

Took Wilson to the vet and it turns out that he an abscess in his mouth, some sort of infection in his throat and a bone infection in his leg. The mouth and throat we easily fixed. I had to give some oral antibiotics and a few injections. The bone infection was obviously more serious. After talking with the doctor, we decided to amputate his leg, which happened today. I haven't seen him yet but the vet said everything went well.

Has anyone here had a cham with three legs before? I'm worried for my little guy and I could use any advice anyone might have to make his transition as easy as possible.

I am happy that you were able to get him to a vet! I am sorry about the amputation. :/ I do not have experience with this, but I wish you the best of luck. Please let us all know how he makes out!