I dont know whats going on!

[ashaleah]

ok so maybe around a month or so ago, we took our chameleons in for a check up. our male "leon" had a bump on his chin, which was the main reason we took them to the vet. the vet gave us antibiotics for him to make the bump go away, but it didnt seem to do anything to it. sometimes it would seem smaller, and other times it didnt seem to have any effect at all. our female chameleon "cami" weighed about 51g when we had them weighed and "leon" weighed 48g. before the vet, cami weighed about 42g and leon weighed about 50g. so the sudden changed of weight was kind of a surprise, and it didnt seem to get any better. he looks like hes starving, but we feed them according to their schedule. he looks dehydrated because his eyes are all sunken, but we have a drip system going. and we have always taken good care of both our chameleons. he has discoloration on his face and its spreading all over his body. hes lethargic and rarely moves. this morning he opened his mouth real wide and it was almost like he was convulsing and trying to throw something up.

cami, our female, remains healthy and seems to be unaffected.

please help!!!!

 

[Julirs]

How much are you feeding him and can you better describe the discoloration?

 

[ashaleah]

hes usually a vibrant green, but this discoloration is a yellowish white, almost completely white. i know what it looks like when they shed, they've shed several times since we've had them. you can see his ribs, and his eyes are really sunken. its scary!

 

[Julirs]

It sounds like he is dieing. I am sorry about that. Did you ever separate the two? Did you remove the waterfall? Were you misting several times a day for 10 minutes at a time? Did you get the correct lighting (UVB)? Were they wild caught animals?

 

[Julirs]

Also-did you ever start correctly supplementing?

 

[ashaleah]

we did remove the waterfall. we didnt separate them, but they rarely showed signs of aggression. we would mist all the time. we did get correct lighting. we feed them calcium dusted crickets every other week. and then regular crickets when we dont dust them. and we feed them meal worms when we feed regular crickets. and then we feed them waxworms every other week.

 

[Julirs]

Not separating them may have stressed the one to death. WC animals have it bad enough and then keeping them together did not make it any better. It still may have had something to do with the bump-the infection could have spread. You may want to make another vet trip but it sounds too late.

 

[ashaleah]

i tried to get him in the vet but all they want to do is put him down.

 

[ashaleah]

it doesnt sound like parasites does it? i can try and put a picture up but no guarantees

 

[Julirs]

Did the Vet not do a fecal when you took him in last time? If they think he should be put down that may be best.

 

[ashaleah]

not that i am aware of. they did do a sample of his bump

 

[Julirs]

It really sounds too late. I hate to say post a picture but then others will give there opinion. Sounds like you should take him in and let the Vet decide.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

what kind of antibiotics did they give and for how long did he take them?

 

[ashaleah]

heres a pic

heres a picture of him and you can kind of see the discoloration

 

[ashaleah]

heres what the label said:

2 MG/ML (0.04 ML OF 150 MG/ML DILUTED TO 3 CC WITH BACTERIOSTATIC WATER): PLACE 0.13 ML IN A CRICKET OR MEALWORM ONCE DAILY FOR 10 DAYS.
Rx: CLINDAMYCIN INJ <.5 CC

and we tried to give it to the cricket and mealworm but the liquid in them caused them to die

 

[ashaleah]

do you really think the vet will do anything if they are already telling me to put him down? do you know anything about the antibiotic i described?

 

[Tyminator]

Get him outside, a more natural setting can only help. Or possibly make his last days happier. I hope the weather is nice enough where you live.

 

[ashaleah]

its uber windy right now. it sucks. but i just dont want to put him down.

 

[CammieNLeno]

Sounds like you really needed that fecal on the first visit to the vet. Looking at that picture, i kinda am agreeing with Julirs here, that it might be too late.

You said that you have been feeding them and have a dripper going, but is he eating and drinking? Have you observed him doing both?

Its tough to say what the issue might have been, but I am guessing that it is a combination of multiple factors - constant stress of the pairing (they should be separated and you know that) possible parasites, bacterial infection from the waterfall..and that "bump" - could it be cancerous and spreading? Did they extract any fluids from it, or is it a solid mass?

I am very sorry your boy is sick, and i hope you do not loose him. If he does pass in the next few days, I would recommend the vet (or yourself) to perform a biopsy to see if it was parasitic - since you are housing the two together, the female is at high risk as well, and im sure you would hate to loose her too.

 

[ashaleah]

when they took a sample from him, they said it was a infection and not cancerous. we took the waterfall out before the first vet visit...and we asked them to check the both of our lizards for anything. how would i perform a biopsy?