I'm afraid my baby is dying.

ChamMan7 said:
This is ridiculous.. There are people on here that are experienced, senior members that you are being extremely rude to and accusing them of lack of research... Read some of carols threads and blogs and I'm sure you'll fin she's done her research.

Yes CFLs have had issues in the past but they have been addressed.. Chameleon keepers are using CFL bulbs now with success and the issue is not an issue anymore.

To the original poster, I am sorry for your experience with your new baby.. Sometimes breeders, especially big box stores will release animals that are not entirely well or ready to be released. It does not seem to me that you are doing anything wrong, just some bad lck.. Which is all too common in the chameleon keeping world.
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Thank you. Unfortunately, it was too cold out today to put him out(right at 70, am I wrong in thinking I shouldn't have put him out?). I have kept the uvb off of him today but he still pays no attention to crickets and is sleeping nearly all day. I do not believe he has drank today, as he really isn't doing much but sleeping at this point. I hate to ask this, but can anyone give me an idea of how long I might have to watch this guy waste away? How long will it take him to starve himself to death? He is pretty skinny now, as this is his 2nd day of no food, and before that, he was only eating one cricket a day(sometimes two). I really hate watching him wither away.
 
MollyT said:
Thank you. Unfortunately, it was too cold out today to put him out(right at 70, am I wrong in thinking I shouldn't have put him out?). I have kept the uvb off of him today but he still pays no attention to crickets and is sleeping nearly all day. I do not believe he has drank today, as he really isn't doing much but sleeping at this point. I hate to ask this, but can anyone give me an idea of how long I might have to watch this guy waste away? How long will it take him to starve himself to death? He is pretty skinny now, as this is his 2nd day of no food, and before that, he was only eating one cricket a day(sometimes two). I really hate watching him wither away.
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I'm pretty sure that would have been fine at 70 without a lot of wind but with a lot of sun to warm him up. JMO.

Have you considered trying bug juice? Is that too much handling for one so young? I've never been in your predicament but maybe it would work -- I think you have a ton of people reading this thread who could make a solid recommendation.
 
chameleons wont let themselfs starve to death, it would take alot longer then a couple days, they do become to a point where they can't eat because they have no energy but as long as he's drinking water just keep trying to give him food dont try to force feed him.
 
Would you be able to post a picture of your setup and him? sometimes pictures can speak a thousand words you know and maybe someone will see something that may be causing it.
 
Ok. I didn't know if 70 was too cold or not. I will put him out tomorrow. Thanks for letting me know it will be ok. I will post a pic of him and his setup tomorrow. I have already turned his light out for tonight. I am not going to give up on him. I will keep trying to feed him.
 
Your care seems great, I don't think there is anything your doing that could be causing your little guy to be ill. Is he just refusing food completely or does he attempt to eat still? He may just not like crickets but that seems doubtful being just a baby.
It is in the 70s here now too so I know how feel about taking him out or not :p I just try and test the temperature, if I'm real cold or if it's windy then he'd probably be cold. Looking forward to pictures tomorrow, hopefully your little man starts doing better.
On a side note, I have always used coil bulbs in the dome and tank topper things for my chameleon and have never had any problems with them.
 
From what I understand, they can handle a wider range of temperatures when they are outside. Our narrow parameters are because it's an artificial environment.
 
Your little one may not want to eat if he knows someone is watching!!
I have a little Nosy be like that.

My little guy seems to do best when I put about 10 small cricks on the vines of his cage, so he can hunt them free range style.

Little babies have a hard time grasping the concept of food cups, but are programed by nature to hunt for prey.

Do you have other pets, or kids running around?

You can also place a piece of black screen or cloth between your lights and the cage to dim it a bit.
Little ones can be sensitive to bright lights and may not even want a basking light.

It is also useful to put a cover over the front of the cage right after putting in the cricks to give him a feeling of security.

I am having the same problems because I have a panther cham that is just too young. So these are some of the things I am doing.

My little Smidget goes a few days w/o eating a thing!!

The only time he does eat is when I free range the cricks and cover his cage.
I know he is eating by the size of his poop the next day.

Best of luck with your little guy, but please give what I did a try.
 
TheLivingLegend said:
There is definitely conflicting info on compact uvb's, Ive come to learn to not believe what commercial companies claim and go off of what people that have tested the products say.
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This is very much false they DO NOT CAUSE BLINDNESS. They did back a few years but not anymore.They are 100% safe Ive use the 10.0 exo and 5.0 for a year with zero problems.
 
Well, he died today while I was at work. When I woke up and turned his lights on, he was hanging by his tail from a leaf. I thought he was dead so I got him off and he started to crawl on my hand. He was pale with dark green circles. He could barely keep his eyes open. I tried to get him to drink but he wouldn't. I watered his cage and put him back on a leaf. My husband kept a close eye on him while I was gone, and soon after I left, he turned a grey color and right after that, he died. I am just devastated. I wanted him for so long and was so excited to get him. I researched for months to learn how to properly take care of him so I could give him the best home. This is just so sad.

He turned black over most of his face and upper body almost instantly after passing. Is this normal, or does this signify anything? Should I get rid of his plants before I get another chameleon? The breeder said he would give me his healthiest male and I can also either have my money back that I paid or get an unrelated female. Do you think another baby will be okay in the same cage? I do not want this to happen again. I wish I knew what has caused this but I really can't think of anything. I washed his plants really well and replanted them before I put him in there(also covered soil with large rocks, also cleaned). Could there have been something that maybe couldn't have been washed off the plant that could have made him ill?
 
MollyT said:
He turned black over most of his face and upper body almost instantly after passing. Is this normal, or does this signify anything? Should I get rid of his plants before I get another chameleon? The breeder said he would give me his healthiest male and I can also either have my money back that I paid or get an unrelated female. Do you think another baby will be okay in the same cage? I do not want this to happen again. I wish I knew what has caused this but I really can't think of anything. I washed his plants really well and replanted them before I put him in there(also covered soil with large rocks, also cleaned). Could there have been something that maybe couldn't have been washed off the plant that could have made him ill?
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I am so sorry that you lost your baby:( that is so unfortunate. You did everything you could for the little guy and this was not caused by anything you did. He will be chasing crickets and climbing trees over the rainbow bridge. RIP lil dude:(

I don't know anything of chameleons turning black when they die, but I've only ever seen one die (thank God). Maybe it was because he was so young?

As for plants, I kept mine that I had for Pascal (RIP) and just washed them off really well with warm water and baby soap. Same with any decorations/branches you have in there. Stay away from harsh cleaners, just soap and water and TLC :)

As for the rocks, take them out, I know that at first the chams are too small to eat them, but I have seen on the forums many cases of "my cham ate a rock what do i do?" Basically, it's a choking hazard. Organic soil is the best thing.

If you do get another cham from him, be sure to pick the one who is active and alert, has straight limbs, clear eyes, and isn't the smallest one. In my experience, if you pick one of the biggest ones, your better off. As far as getting a female or getting your money back, that's up to you. Just know that you can't house them together. Honestly, I wouldn't let them see each other. I've heard that as the female gets closer to egg bearing age, if she sees a male, it can cause her to produce eggs prematurely. Also, with a female, it is very important to have a laying bin. Though, you'll have to ask others any info other than that. :) I've never personally dealt with female chameleons.

Again, I'm really sorry that you lost your little dude :(
 
Oh I'm so sorry Molly. :( That is very sad to hear.

I really do not think that anything you did or didn't do caused him to do poorly and ultimately die. I think he was just too young and should not have even been sold to you to begin with because of it. It was irresponsible of the breeder, not of you. Chameleons are a bit fragile to begin with, and babies are the epitome of fragile. Changes in their environment, even for the better, can be engh stress to kill them. That's why they're usually not sold until they are several months old and are a little more resilient.

You definitely did your research well and were doing everything by the book. The color change you described is normal after death and doesn't indicate anything that might have caused it. And I would be truly shocked if he had anything contagious that might affect any other cham. It would be very unlikely. You don't have to take the rocks out. It's better that they are in there covering the soil. Just make sure they're at least 3" or so in diameter so your cham can't eat them when he's an adult.

I would really discourage getting a female in addition to a new male right now. You can't keep them together so you'll need a whole new identical setup for the female. And females come with their own problems with egg laying that can cause decline and death. I'd suggest you get a nice healthy male and have a good experience raising him up to an adult before considering adding a female.

I'm sorry again for the loss of your little one. It's amazing how quickly we get attached.
 
I'm sorry he passed. Did you happen to take him to a vet? I tried skipping throuh the lighting conversating and might have missed something you have said. If you have any poo (if you haven't cleaned his cage out yet) you should take it to a vet and have them look at it to see if there is anything that they notice. I don't know how much it costs, but it might be something nice to know.
 
No I didn't take him to the vet. I didn't think there was really anything a vet could have done for a baby not thriving, which I think is what happened. The breeder said the day I got him, that he had eaten 6 crickets before they left. I never saw him eat more than one at a time, and there were only a couple of days that he ate another one mid afternoon. Most days he ate only one cricket, but he hadn't eaten anything since Monday morning.
 
I agree a vet could not have done anything for a baby that small that wasn't thriving. The stress of just going to the vet might have been enough to put him over the edge. It's one of the few situations where I wouldn't advise a vet visit.
 
Awww,,,Im so sorry to hear that little Kush died!!! I was hoping and praying for you and the little guy ever since i began talking with you!!!
I really don`t think your husbandry skills had anything to do with this tragedy!!
And like i said before there is a Cham out there that is in need of your passion and heart!!!
As for using stuff that you already have,,,all i can say,,,is i am using the same enclosures and as soon as Guber moves to his big boy cage it will be filled with a thriving Pathos and Ficus tree that I had for my first Cham as well,,,(RIP Jimmie),,,although everything was washed in the time between my two guys!!! In fact I cant wait till Guber is climbing around my Pathos,,,,cuz it still has a bunch of leaves that havent fell off that Jimmie took some good bites out of!!!
I really hope you give your love to another little fella!!!
Again,,,I am so very sorry for your loss!!! *HUGS*
 
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