Have you rescued before? Give me tips

[blondebrowncoat]

Hi all. I've had leopard geckos for years. This past week I was contacted by someone looking to offload a 5 month old Veiled Chameleon. I've always wanted one, and now that I own a home I've got the space, so I agreed. It was free and the person giving it away was...less than experienced when it came to reptiles so I was expecting him to be rough.

He's so bad. He hasn't opened his eyes since I got him and barely reacts to being handled. Very weak. Obviously hasn't been eating. He was kept with one plastic tree and a water dish. So dehydrated that his tail looked like a shriveled up green bean.

I've been misting him every hour and fed him some kind of vitamin solution this morning that was 2 parts water (it came with him). He's got a Boston fern and climbing branches, good lighting and heat. I've got him in the best situation he could be in - but he's still pretty rough and will take a lot of recovering.

For those of you who have rescued chams in bad shape before, do you have any tips? Any red flags to look out for? Vet says at this point I'm doing all I can. Really want some first hand accounts of someone who has been here before.

One question in particular - should I leave a ceramic heat lamp on overnight? It gets down to about 65 degrees in our house and this morning he had all but given up. He greatly improved once I got heat back on him. I want to get him in a good cycle but not at the risk of him getting too cold.

Attached is a pic of him from this morning.

Thank you!

 

[absolutbill]

I have 2 re-homed chameleons, but have never personally had one in such poor shape. I do have a few questions for you:
1. What is the vitamin solution that you were given?
2. When you give it to him, does he vomit it back up or keep it down?
3. Does he drink when you mist him?
4. Do you have any live feeders to try to give him? Hornworms would work really well in this situation as they are full of water and are excellent at re-hydrating chameleons.
5. Where are you located?

Normally I'd say not to leave the ceramic heat lamp on (is it just an emitter, or does it also have a light on it?) but again I've never been in this situation before. If it has a light on it, definitely keep it off. I'm hoping those more experience in these drastic cases can chime in. I wish you the best of luck with him, and kudos for getting to a vet (they do have reptile and specifically chameleon knowledge, right?)

 

[blondebrowncoat]

Thanks for your response Absolutbill.

I was able to contact the vets office that prescribed the vitamin solution - it's carnivore care, which I was thrilled to learn. Lots of protein and calcium.

He keeps down what I can get in him. The instructions say .4 ml every morning and I'm pretty confident I'm getting that much down. I'm being so gentle so that I don't hurt him or aspirate him so it's kind of hard to be sure. I'm just pulling up his lip and sliding my fingernail to crack his mouth. Then letting it seep in drop by drop taking breaks between each to let him swollow.

The first day this guy drank like a gallon of water when I misted. He probably drank for an hour total. But since then he hasn't drank that I've seen. Every afternoon I'm doing the same thing with water that I do for food. His tail was starting to shrivel a bit this afternoon so I gave him pedialite and water mixed. Maaybe got .4 ml down. It feels like an art because I don't want to overdo it, but I don't want to not give him enough.

I tried live feeders the first day - a small cricket and a very small dubai but since he won't open his eyes he doesn't want them. He put his mouth on the roach and then opted out. Now he has no reaction to them.

I'm located in the Austin, Texas area. It's been humid and in the 80's here so it's great. I built a cage for our porch and let him get natural sunlight during the day and then bring him in at night. I'm working from home so I can sit out here with him and keep an eye on temps/hydration. He moves around to more comfortable spots to regulate his temperature so that's good. I kept the ceramic heater on him last night (no light)- temp gun said his sleeping spot was in the mid/high 70's. He was much better this morning than the first morning so I'm going to stick with that until he makes more progress.

The vet I spoke with is a general reptile vet. I called a locally owned reptile shop and they recommended a cham vet. I have an appt with them in the morning. He's not doing leaps and bounds better, but he's not getting worse either. I'm hoping this cham vet can get him over the hump.

If you're reading and have any tips please comment. Any information or perspective is highly valued! I've attached two pics - the first is from the day I got him and the second is from this morning.

 

[absolutbill]

It sounds like you are doing great with him, and it may just be up to him if he wants to overcome his obstacles at this point. Have you thought about giving him a shower? If you point your shower head towards the side of your shower and turn it on you can let him sit in the mist (make sure you are holding him since he's so weak, or get something that he can grip well). Sometimes this helps to stimulate them to drink and helps to hydrate them. I'm only mentioning this because he does look better in the 2nd photo than the first one. Another idea would be some silk worms - they are soft and full of moisture (though not as much as a hornworm, but also not as big around). He might be willing to eat one of those if you could ease it into his mouth.

You are doing a fantastic job so far, so keep it up! I'll send good thoughts your way, and if I come up with any other ideas I'll send them to you.

 

[Harry The Cham]

Ive rescued leopard geckos I never trust people like that one of them has 2 forever messed up back legs and can never walk normally again. I think for the future they should be willing to be able to meet with you so you can see the animal

 

[Scottsquatch]

Looks like your doing great with him. The second pic is a HUGE improvement. I would leave the heat bulb on at night for now as it is probably much easier on him to avoid the temp swings. A healthy veiled can easily handle down to 50 at night, so once he's healthy, I'd turn the heat lamp off at night. Has he been opening his eyes yet? You could talk to your vet and see if lubricating drops would help. I would recommend a misting system when you can get one. Also, if you can get him to open his mouth at all, just slip a small hornworm or silkworm in there and he may just eat it. Youre doing a great job with him. Good luck and keep us posted! Also @Andee does rescue work, she may be able to give you some good advice.

 

[Scottsquatch]

@Andee did you see this?

 

[Andee]

Hey Scott sorry I have been avoiding the forums some. Shouldn't do that...


So what can I do? Is this a similar guy I helped with on another thread? He's showing massive improvement every day I am very impressed. This is a beautiful job at first time rehabbing a cham.

 

[Scottsquatch]

I don't know if you already helped him. I just thought of you when I saw he wanted advice.

 

[Andee]

I will wait for response I think this is the same cham. If it's not I will address as needed <3