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[codiwatkins]

So sorry for your loss. He was a beautiful chameleon...and I'm sure you are quite upset watching him die.

You said the piece of bark was 1/2 centimeter piece...isn't that only 1/4"? That seems kind of small to be choking on IMHO.

You said..."I tried to spray water in his mouth"...did you make sure his glottis was closed?

Did the vet do a complete autopsy?

Im assuming he did....I didnt get the results for nearly 5 days. If you think about the fact that he wasnt even 6 months old his throat probably wasnt that big....Im no chameleon anatomy expert though. Anywho,he said that he also had remains of a cricket on top of the piece of bark as well so maybe that had something to do with it as well....

Yes I did spray water. Not directly into his thoart but onto his the roof of his mouth to try and get him to try and swallow. This was in the end when he was pretty much gone. He was just sitting still in my hand slowley dying and I was trying everything to get him to take a breath.

I know that everyone is just trying to figure out what has happened here and believe me I am doing the same, but I really dont want to have to keep reliving my 5 month old chameleon dying right in front of my face in my hands. It was probably one of the worst things I have ever experienced(truely) Seeing something die right in front of you and trying anything that you can think to try and stop what you know is happening to the poor thing.

The vet said he choked/suffocated from his throat being bloked by a foerign object and Im leaving it at that. I dont want to think about it anymore. Its bad enough having to go into my office and see a giant empty cage and a tub of dubia roaches hanging out in my house with nothing to feed them to.

Instead of being the crazy lady with bugs for her super cool chameleon I am now just the crazy bug lady!

Once again thanks for all the kind words from everyone

kinyonga dont think Im ranting at you, I am not. This whole thing is a super touchy subject to me and Im sure being pregnant isnt helping my emotions at all. I just need to voice somethings.

One more thing, please spare me the "it was just a chameloen rant blah blah". that someone is going to chime in and say. I know that he was just a reptile and that they dont run up to you to be pet or act like a dog or cat, but pluto was still a pet and a hobby for me. I have been caring for him since he was very young. I loved watching him eat or just roam his cage. If anything it makes my life feel completly off not having him as part of my routine everyday.

 

[Pure]

So keep it in an empty plastic box? Lol Dont lose sight of the fact that captivity isnt natural . It cant wander off to find something else to munch or other distractions because its in a cage.
Very likely they do chew branches in the wild, who the hell knows. Point is you cant forsee every odd behavior that Might manifest in captivity. Shit does happen, there was nothing Codi could have done to prevent that short of using steel cable and being bloody phsycic in the first place. Fair go.

How the hell is it a genetic trait?, How about eating soil? Maybe it was just inquisitive.
Seriously mate, Stay real.

LOL of course not Dan. I know there is little we can do, but there have been numerous tid bits of advice given in this regard. From wrapping the branches in electrical tape (not too sure how well this works but eh, some say it does) to using fake plants with hard plastic branches. If I did the latter I would remove the leaves and use pothos to wrap around the branches to re apply cover.

The genetic thing...well lets face it. Panthers have been inbred like it or not it happens, and honestly I would fathom to say that 90% of the time it's unintentional. So many people buy from the same sources that it's a very good chance that the new pretty little female you just bought for your male is in some way or another related. It may be only by 1 generation or it may be several. This was just talked about in a thread here not too long ago where someone had a male from X but was looking at a female and the breeder said the female came from X. Now there were probably several gens apart..but that remains to be seen. Odd behaviors are one of the first signs of genetic co-mingling of lineage. That's why it does help to buy from breeders who keep advanced records of their animals lineage.

I'm also basing this on the fact that only a small number of panthers do this. Least from what I can tell looking at the threads here and from the fact that my guy doesn't do it...ever. So that leads me to believe the ones that do it, do it as some form of nervous tic.

And yes I was simply speculating, but most of my speculations have "some" thought behind them...you should know that by now mate. I totally could be wrong, and since I was speculating...well then that's fine too.

edit: The eating of soil is a different story all together. The eating of soil has long been speculated to be the animals way or replenishing trace minerals that they are lacking in their diet. Being arboreal means they miss out on a lot of these minerals. The rain water and morning dew they drink from leaves is totally void of mineral content. So they need to get it from some where. And more times than not...people who have a good supplementation regimen often don't have any issues with they chams eating soil.

Double edit:
Sorry Codi, I just read your last post. I posted before I new it was there. This is my last post on this subject. I certainly don't want to get into an argument with Dan in your thread. You deserve some peace, and shall have it from me.

Like the sig BTW. lol

 

[codiwatkins]

LOL of course not Dan. I know there is little we can do, but there have been numerous tid bits of advice given in this regard. From wrapping the branches in electrical tape (not too sure how well this works but eh, some say it does) to using fake plants with hard plastic branches. If I did the latter I would remove the leaves and use pothos to wrap around the branches to re apply cover.

The genetic thing...well lets face it. Panthers have been inbred like it or not it happens, and honestly I would fathom to say that 90% of the time it's unintentional. So many people buy from the same sources that it's a very good chance that the new pretty little female you just bought for your male is in some way or another related. It may be only by 1 generation or it may be several. This was just talked about in a thread here not too long ago where someone had a male from X but was looking at a female and the breeder said the female came from X. Now there were probably several gens apart..but that remains to be seen. Odd behaviors are one of the first signs of genetic co-mingling of lineage. That's why it does help to buy from breeders who keep advanced records of their animals lineage.

I'm also basing this on the fact that only a small number of panthers do this. Least from what I can tell looking at the threads here and from the fact that my guy doesn't do it...ever. So that leads me to believe the ones that do it, do it as some form of nervous tic.

And yes I was simply speculating, but most of my speculations have "some" thought behind them...you should know that by now mate. I totally could be wrong, and since I was speculating...well then that's fine too.

edit: The eating of soil is a different story all together. The eating of soil has long been speculated to be the animals way or replenishing trace minerals that they are lacking in their diet. Being arboreal means they miss out on a lot of these minerals. The rain water and morning dew they drink from leaves is totally void of mineral content. So they need to get it from some where. And more times than not...people who have a good supplementation regimen often don't have any issues with they chams eating soil.

Double edit:
Sorry Codi, I just read your last post. I posted before I new it was there. This is my last post on this subject. I certainly don't want to get into an argument with Dan in your thread. You deserve some peace, and shall have it from me.

Like the sig BTW. lol

Thanks! I did the sig just for you!

 

[jojackson]

No biggy, just meant maybe the bark eating was for similar reason to soil eating, *speculation*. Cheers

 

[Lovereps]

One more thing, please spare me the "it was just a chameloen rant blah blah". that someone is going to chime in and say. I know that he was just a reptile and that they dont run up to you to be pet or act like a dog or cat, but pluto was still a pet and a hobby for me. I have been caring for him since he was very young. I loved watching him eat or just roam his cage. If anything it makes my life feel completly off not having him as part of my routine everyday.

I cringe every time someone posts that, "It's only a pet", spiel.
IMHO, that's just rude and heartless.
I'm sure that my fellow pet owners already realize that it's not the same as losing a person, but that certainly does not mean that the loss of a pet is pain-free.

You lost your Pluto to a freak accident. There was no foreseeing that.
Despite your best efforts, he couldn't be saved.
I can't blame you for feeling sad about it and grieving for a while.
I always cry over pets' passings. To me, that's just normal for people with caring hearts.
May your heart heal quickly!

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."kinyonga dont think Im ranting at you, I am not. This whole thing is a super touchy subject to me and Im sure being pregnant isnt helping my emotions at all. I just need to voice somethings."...I was only commenting because I wanted to be sure that the vet just didn't conclude that he choked because there was something in its throat without checking to see if that was the "real" problem...if you know what I mean. Sorry...again.

I have lost many chameleons over 20 years of keeping them and its never any easier.

When's the baby due?? Is it your first? Do you know if its a boy or a girl? Congrats and good luck!

 

[codiwatkins]

You said..."kinyonga dont think Im ranting at you, I am not. This whole thing is a super touchy subject to me and Im sure being pregnant isnt helping my emotions at all. I just need to voice somethings."...I was only commenting because I wanted to be sure that the vet just didn't conclude that he choked because there was something in its throat without checking to see if that was the "real" problem...if you know what I mean. Sorry...again.

I have lost many chameleons over 20 years of keeping them and its never any easier.

When's the baby due?? Is it your first? Do you know if its a boy or a girl? Congrats and good luck!

I sure hope he checked for everything..... HE said he appeared to be very healthy besides the crap in his throat....

Anywhos on to a lighter subject! Im having a boy, He is due in february.

 

[jojackson]

Congrats on your baby boy and the clear bill of health! (I read the blog)

 

[kinyonga]

Congratulations! Is this your first?