HELP! My female veiled died on Wednesday and now my male is sick!!

[Shana]

I got both my chameleons about 4 months ago. We just went through an ice storm about two weeks ago where the whole area lost power for a few days and I had to put the chams by the wood stove. As soon as power was back on downtown, we brought the chams to our business and hooked up their UVB lights and heat lamps.

About a week ago my female became lethargic then would keep her eyes shut - even when moving around her cage. I tricked her into opening her mouth for crickets but then couldn't get her to do that. She got severely dehydrated and died Wednesday. The most marked thing to me was that she kept her eyes closed for several days before getting so weak she fell to bottom of cage and died soon after.

At that time I had my male looked at by a vet and wormed. The vet wasn't very experienced but said he was a good weight and looked well. Fast forward two days and he's now keeping his eyes closed unless I annoy him or there's a new voice and then he cracks them a bit - just as the female started out in her decline. He's open-mouth breathing, weak and listless. Took him to the vet and he got fluids and antibiotics, but again, vet is not experienced. He now lying at the bottom of the cage and not moving, drinking or eating.

What is wrong?? Why did they both decline so quickly and in close proximity to each other?? I changed out UVB bulbs and gave calcium -- previous owner had told me calcium with D3 once a month, which I know is not enough now since doing some research on the forum. The only other thing brought up was pneumonia from a chill during ice storm, but vet didn't hear anything with stethoscope today.

Has anybody experienced the hibernation-like closed eyes, lethargy and weakness? Any thoughts appreciated!

Shana

 

[Carlton]

I got both my chameleons about 4 months ago. We just went through an ice storm about two weeks ago where the whole area lost power for a few days and I had to put the chams by the wood stove. As soon as power was back on downtown, we brought the chams to our business and hooked up their UVB lights and heat lamps.

About a week ago my female became lethargic then would keep her eyes shut - even when moving around her cage. I tricked her into opening her mouth for crickets but then couldn't get her to do that. She got severely dehydrated and died Wednesday. The most marked thing to me was that she kept her eyes closed for several days before getting so weak she fell to bottom of cage and died soon after.

At that time I had my male looked at by a vet and wormed. The vet wasn't very experienced but said he was a good weight and looked well. Fast forward two days and he's now keeping his eyes closed unless I annoy him or there's a new voice and then he cracks them a bit - just as the female started out in her decline. He's open-mouth breathing, weak and listless. Took him to the vet and he got fluids and antibiotics, but again, vet is not experienced. He now lying at the bottom of the cage and not moving, drinking or eating.

What is wrong?? Why did they both decline so quickly and in close proximity to each other?? I changed out UVB bulbs and gave calcium -- previous owner had told me calcium with D3 once a month, which I know is not enough now since doing some research on the forum. The only other thing brought up was pneumonia from a chill during ice storm, but vet didn't hear anything with stethoscope today.

Has anybody experienced the hibernation-like closed eyes, lethargy and weakness? Any thoughts appreciated!

Shana

We can't really figure out just what happened until we get more details on your setup, your diets, cage humidity and temp ranges, what supplements you used and on what schedule. There are too many variables to tell based on what you've told us so far. Please find the "how to ask for help" questions and answer them for us. I'll bet something was going on before the power failure and that it was the final stressor that put them over the edge...putting them by the woodstove could have dehydrated them quite a bit, but they should have been able to recover from that if they got enough replacement water. A few days without UV wouldn't necessarily kill a cham if it was healthy to begin with. However, poor gutloading and incorrect calcium and vitamin dusting (as you now suspect) could have been the cause, not the ice storm on its own. The chams were not hibernating. One might have had a respiratory infection if it showed signs of severe respiratory distress (gasping, gaping, heads tipped straight up, lots of sticky mucus in the mouth) for days beforehand.

 

[Justin18]

Here are the how to ask for help questions if you can't find them

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

It's the best way for the experienced members on the forum to help you.

 

[Shana]

Thanks, Justin. The male died not long ago. With the rapid decline and closed eyes (or "hibernation" as I described it, I would think it would be indicative of a certain disease or illness or cause. I noticed another post regarding a veiled that declined quickly and had very similar symptoms as mine. It seems to marked of a death to simply be from complications of being unwell. The male began eating less in the last week, but noticeably deteriorated today very quickly. Just odd and I'm left with lots of questions. Sadly, no more chams for me I'm afraid.

 

[Tay And A]

Well you also said that haven't had a UVA/UVB bulb for some time.

 

[ChameleonMom]

I understand how heartbreaking this must have been for you, especially as these were your first chams. A question: did you have your chams in the cage together? I'm certain that the stress from heat/UVB changes during your storm could have contributed to already stressed chams. Mouth gaping to me indicates a respiratory infection, which I have had alot of experience with. Were you continuing to hydrate the chams when they were no longer getting heat/UVB? I am wondering if their lungs became 'wet' and didn't have a chance to dry out?

Either way, I realise this is all speculation now but I just want to say, even THE MOST experienced cham keepers/breeders on this forum have lost a few chams along the way to chameleon keeping perfection. Don't give up!! If you have a serious interest in these adorable creatures I would suggest you do a bit more research, maybe go over your husbandry details and see what you can improve upon. Then try again. These creatures are so incredible it is sad to see an interested keeper fall out of the hobby because of a bad experience.

Good luck in your chameleon future!

 

[Shana]

Tay and A - They were without UVB for a few days max when we had the storm and didn't have power. As Carlton wrote, that would not have caused the death on its own.

The chams went down quick - that's the main point. The male closed his eyes and deteriorated quickly, dying within 24 hours of the obvious illness sign of keeping his eyes shut. Otherwise, I can only say he seemed to be losing interest in food for the 2 days before but some people only feed every couple of days and he was a healthy weight -- a little chunky even.

Chameleon Mom - I appreciate your post. I had read a post from an owner of a 4yo cham with the same symptoms which is why I think there must be something going on. I realize I wasn't doing calcium right, but otherwise these chams were healthy weights and bright-eyed before suddenly taking ill. I live in a small town without a vet anywhere close by to help in these emergencies -- the vet I used referred me to another vet about an hour and a half away who'd seen ONE chameleon this whole year and he was supposed to be more in to "exotics." That's another thing that puts me off trying another.