Fallen chameleon. What do I do?

[carol5208]

So great of you to try and help this chameleon. If you are asking opinions on what to do as far as ending her life, it is easy for us to say on the outside looking in. She does look to be in pretty bad shape, and if it were my chameleon I would have her euthanized. I had 2 of my panthers put down this way. It was a tough decision, but after watching them suffer and try to survive I decided it was just not worth it anymore. Are you giving her pain medications? Who's to really say if we know how much pain they are feeling?? Ask yourself what her quality of life is, and if you were in her condition would you want to keep living?. I respect your decision either way and god bless you for trying to help her.

 

[Smiley]

She is on liquid calcium, I would give her 2 drops mixed in with her formulated food for the first week, and she's been on 1 drop mixed in since Thursday. I don't give her all of the prepared food (usually .1 to .3 ml two to three times a day). The vet only prescribed it for one week and I am afraid I'll OD her on it.

Once the prescribed antibiotics are done, I plan on taking her to a vet that the people I bought an enclosure from recommended; which they had told me Kammerflage Kreations uses and recommends (they had a Panther Cham from them. Based on what they say and how she looks next weekend, I might see of they will humanely euthanize. She's keeping one eye open a lot now, and her RI seems to be clearing up. I called a vet today to see if they have needle syringes I can buy, but they told me they cannot give them out. Where can I get one?

I know I'm not doing it right- she seems like she's aspirating on it whenever I give her anything, and that's probably making the RI worse. She ate two silkworms this morning (opened her mouth for her and plopped them in, she munched down on them), so I'll see if I can give her the remaining meds via injected feeders.

Side note- do you need to dose a healthy chameleon with D3 if he spends all day outside in natural light? Asking in regards to Nigel, the Jackson's.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

I do not supplement D3 to my chams that spend the majority of their time outside.

 

[Cait0420]

You can get tipped syringes at any shoppers drug mart or pharmacy, just ask for 1cc insulin syringes (I believe 5$ for a 12 pack),

 

[junglefries]

support

for her future safety, you can always set up a ferret or iguana hammock towards her cage bottom. This will help soften any falls. Chams are full of water, and designed to drop and flee if trouble arises. Most likely the fall just triggered a bad effect to the last bit of healthy bone she had left. You will need to adhere to a stick supplement schedule and as much natural sunlight as possible, for her. On the positive side, we have seen WAY worse cases on here. So stay positive, get a journal for her, and bond with your new rescue.

 

[Smiley]

Today she lost the long fight that she's been on for most of her short life. We had an appointment with recommended Dr. Greek tomorrow at 4:30, but everything going on with her was just too much. At least she is no longer suffering, and she knew kindness and love in the end. She was outside in the natural sun when she drew her last, still shaky from RI, breath. She was a champion and had immense courage during her fight, and she will be terribly missed.

I'm at a loss for words, as she was starting to move her back legs again, was starting to drink on her own again, and was accepting live insects that had been dusted. Her color was coming back, and she was keeping both eyes open more easily. She was definitely happier based off her color, but then she left so suddenly





Here she was last night, starting to look like a normal chameleon again. This is the last picture I have of her.

 

[Rodcham]

Her suffering is over, you made the last part so much better for her. Thank you for all you did for her.

 

[sharp229]

I'm so sorry for your loss, it's tragic this had to happen after she made so much progress. You did a great job of caring for her and helping her recover, her progress was amazing considering the number of issues she had. Honestly, if I was in the same position I would have probably tried to save her too, but its definitely hard to say without being there. If you decide to get another chameleon at some point it would be lucky to have you as its keeper.

By the way, that vibrating you noticed is one of the ways veileds communicate. My veiled had an RI and would vibrate when I had to inject him. They use it to communicate more than just pain though.

 

[Lathis]

I'm so sorry for your poor little girl. You really did everything for her possible. She did look much better in those last photos. Her final days were definitely less miserable because of your love and care.

 

[Smiley]

Thank you guys for your kind words and sympathy; that is always the hard part when trying to nurse a life back to health. I am usually okay when it comes to these circumstances (learned a lot on how to stay distant in the process and come to terms with losses), but this girl really had a special place with me.

Maybe from the inside, I can help to prevent this from happening to the other babies that the company sells. I plan on presenting a series of quotes/posts/etc to the animal care manager of our district on the quality of the animals the supplier has, the lack of knowledge the employees possess on caring for them, and the horrors of customers buying sensitive animals like this on an impulse. Hopefully something will come out of it, but it will take time to gather the necessary information. Tomorrow, she will be buried with her lemon tree.

I still have Nigel though, the bratty, bratty Jackson's I took in after someone left him at my store. He absolutely hates me, but I hear that's just how Jackson's are. Since I already bought a new set up for Delilah (the one who passed) I am considering a baby panther, but after this brush, I'm tentative towards young ones. I am never really one to buy animals either-I would rather provide one that is in need with that second chance (the fish are the only ones out of the 2 dogs, 4 ball pythons, 3 leopard geckos, chameleon, and aquarium I have), so if I do finally purchase one, it would be a huge deal.