He is doing really bad

tru510

tru510

New Member
My 6 month old male Blue bar Cham is doing very bad. A few days ago I started hearing him at night make a popping sound while he was sleeping. I went on a 4 day work trip and just got home today (my brother was looking over him) My brother said he has not touched his food in 3-4 days and has been sleeping during the day. I looked at him and he was very still and not moving very much. He right eye looked to have some kind of coating over it. His mouth has mucus when he opens it. I went to grab him and he just let me for the first time didn't hiss or try to bite me. I called a vet asap and made a apt. I drove in traffic 2 1/2 hrs and didn't make it on time. They would not stay open for me. All the emergency vets around my area do not specialize in reptiles so I have to wait until 1:30pm Sat to get him seen. I'm really worried about him. He has not been moving much and is making popping sounds every 1hr or so. He also has his mouth open all the time and seems like he is gasping for air. What could be wrong with him? What can I do tonight if anything?
 
Hi.. it sounds like your chameleon has an upper respiratory infection.

In my opinion, the best thing you can do for him between now and Saturday is to make sure he is hydrated. Have you seen the chameleon drink?

Answering the questions Brad has listed could only help, as we may be able to pinpoint a husbandry issue that led to this problem.

From the sticky at the top of the health forum:

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By giving this info in your post, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to include all this info, but the more you do include the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile vet who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnostic of your chameleon's health.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - What kind of cage are you using? What is the size?
  • Lighting - What kind of lighting are you using? How long do you keep the lights on during the day?
  • Temperature - What temperature range have you created? Basking spot temp? What is the temperature at night?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas?

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What kind of schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What are you dusting your feeders with and what kind of schedule do you use?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
  • Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.
Pictures can really help as well.
 
My female panther has been battling a mild but prolonged uri for about 2 and 1/2 to 3 months. She never got to the point of sleeping during the day or refusing food. But I did notice on days where the mucus was particularly thick she would have much less energy, just sitting in one place all day. She was also not as apt to drink or eat as readily as usual. The water made the mucus worse and somethimes her food got stuck in it. My vet advised me to clean out the mucus with a q-tip when it got bad. As he put it, she is gonna be stressed with the mucus all day, or with me for 2 minutes. I would just insert the q-tip and touch the mucus then use a rotating motion to gather it all up. Being that it is so thick it usually all comes out in one clump. While she didn't seem to appreciate the process of it being removed, I'm sure she appreciated it being gone. After a while she got used to it, when it was bad she would come out and make things very easy. This is just to clear his mouth of the mucus to prevent him from inhaling it, it WILL come back.

However if you are headed to the vet in the morning I would make sure he has some mucus when he goes. They will usually take some and look for high concentrations of leukocytes or visible bacterium. Best of luck tomorrow and I hope all goes well.
 
The Cham is drinking more than I ever seen him drink in 1 day... This is his setup below and his info
Cage Info:

* Cage Type - 18x18x36 screen cage
* Lighting - 75W basking bulb & 18" repti 5.0 UVB both on a timer 12hrs on 12hrs off 8Am to 8PM
* Temperature 80-90 basking around the cage 70ish at night 65-70
* Humidity - 20% to 40% on average when misted 75% misting 3 times a day.
* Plants - Umbrella tree
* Location - Next to the window no traffic just the dog and me


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Blue Bar male 6 months old
* Feeding - Silks supers roaches crickets
* Supplements - without d3 3 times a week, with D3 once a week, and vitamins every two weeks
* Watering - spray bottle he drinks all the time
* Fecal Description - looks more of a dark orange.
* Current Problem Gasping for air, not eating, one eye has a film over it
 
wow

i really hope he makes it good luck at the vets and hope everything works out keep us posted to let us know how hes doing and what the vet tells you to do, so we can all learn from this experience
 
Well Im off to the Vet. Its a 2hr drive So I hope he does well. He is not looking any better I got up every 3hrs last night to make sure is was still breathing. He was awake some part of the night and didn't sleep he was on the screen so I put him back into his trees.
 
I just got home from the vet. The vet told me most likely URI and low Calcium. She gave me some meds for him and told me if he is not doing any better than we would need xrays and blood work with two weeks. She gave me Baytril oral suspension once a day for two weeks & Calcionate syrup once a day for 30 days. I have to hand feed him also. I used a guitar pick to open his mouth is that ok? Any other good ideas? He is moving around more today than yesterday and is not sleeping during the day so thats a start.
 
If you have an old silcone spatula they work really good for opening their mouths. The rubber is soft so it doesn't cause gum trauma. Another added advantage is that it supresses the tounge and gets you in past the trachea. This always made me feel better about giving oral meds, less chance of them inhaling it.

If he starts eating on his own again, try injecting the meds into feeders. They seem to appreciate this alot more, and the meds wont get bound up in the mucus. I just measure out the meds into the oral dropper they give then suck it out with a syringe, as mine are not the same size. Make sure you leave that lil tip, on the oral dripper not the syringe, full of meds or you will be giving too much. The crickets generally live for about 3-4 minutes after you inject them and can hold quite a bit of fluid. If I noticed her hydration slipping, I would just inject some extra water into some feeders. I was doing this mainly to avoid any undue stress on the kidneys.

If you have a calander thats blank start taking notes. Days when hes doin well, or bad, his weights, how much he eats, if you needed to help him, general coloration. This way you can track his progress. As he is still young he should still be growing or maintaining a constant weight. I found it just helps to track trends. I learned things that I never would have without it. Such as how injections affect my girl, weight loss even given increased food intake. I plan on continuing this and do it with all my herps now.

As a side note, my female's uri was caused by citrobacter freundii. It was cultured after a tracheal wash, and found to be susceptable to baytril, fortaz and sulftra trim. All three drugs she had been on prior to the wash being done and the infection was not cured. The baytril and sulfa trim were given orally and the fortaz via IM injections. In the end it was chloramphenical that eventually relieved the symptoms *knocks on wood*. I gave this to her injected into crickets and within days it cleared. This after two months of drugs that should have done the same thing.

I've done alot of reading into URI's and causes of them in the last few months. If you have any questions feel free to message me, I would be glad to help. I hope he starts to turn around for you in the next few days!
 
kinyonga said:
Make sure you keep your chameleon well-hydrated while its on the meds.
Click to expand...

Yes,hydration is key,maybe you can take your little fella outside on a plant or something,depending on the weather, outside does wonders on chams:)
 
Silkworms are both a great hydration increaser and easy to fill with meds or water using TB or insulin syringe. (they do squirm alot and die if left uneaten, but thats the plan anyway)


Keep us posted

Sean
 
Thanks for all the help everyone. He is still in the same stage as yesterday so I will keep you posted. He has had his mouth open a lot today some times for 3-4 min. I feed him 3 crickets yesterday and I have not feed him yet today I was going to wait till almost his bed time to feed.
 
Why would you wait till bedtime to feed him? Remembe being a repitile they need the light in order to metablize their dinner. Giving it to him before bed doesn't seem like the best idea to me. You should feed him first thing in the am, that way his body has all day and the lites to digest his food. Just my opinion. That might be the mommy coming out of me.

Debby
 
Update: He is doing better the popping has stopped and he is walking around and climbing again. The only thing is he will not eat on his own. I still have to feed him. I also think the meds caused some constipation as he has not went in two days.
 
Hi Tru,
Good for you for bringing your sick Chameleon to the Vet!! Unfortunately, too many Chameleon owners out there will wait until the last minute before seeking out medical attention and that's when it's way too late to save their C. even with the best Vet care.

Baytril(as a side effect) usually can cause anorexia so it's real good that you are able to force feed your Chameleon without difficulty. Just remember that it will take some time before your Chameleon wil be back to normal health-wise.(Can take up to several months) It's because of their slow metabolism even in absorbing the meds. When my Veil gets sick just due to eating a bad cricket and gets a bad upset stomach, it can take up to 1 week before he starts eating again!
Also, the next best thing that you can do besides giving him his meds and force-feeding him is just always making sure that he's well hydrated by making sure that he's drinking plenty of water!

Christine
 
URI
They won't eat and may not drink in advanced cases

you've got to get them warmed up and on antibiotics.
You'll also have to give them fluids and help wash out the excess mucus.

You're in trouble when they raise their heads and start "stargazing"
in an attempt to have the fluid drain down to the bottom of their lungs.
naturally this only means that they're not clearing the infected mucus.

best to act promptly and to avoid spreading to other reptiles.
the vet may request that a culture be performed to find the most effective med.

good luck.
 
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