Internal Infection
- Thread starter elizaann2
- Start date
elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
Literally at the vet right now. They just took him back.
elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
Just talked with the vet. With him improving so much at home they want to continue the antibiotics, stop the other two meds and then have him come back next week for bloodwork to see how everything looks. He did poop yesterday so we are sending that sample in to be looked at.
elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
An update! And I believe I now have my answers to why Treebeard has been declining. His last fecal I brought in to the vet came back positive for coccidia.
I know this is a nasty parasite but I must admit I feel a sense of relief knowing that I have an answer now and that it’s not crypto or entamoeba. He has been on quarantine protocols since he started to decline so I am hoping this did not spread to my other loves, however, because I have a microscope I can keep an eye on it and act quickly if needs be.
I know this is a nasty parasite but I must admit I feel a sense of relief knowing that I have an answer now and that it’s not crypto or entamoeba. He has been on quarantine protocols since he started to decline so I am hoping this did not spread to my other loves, however, because I have a microscope I can keep an eye on it and act quickly if needs be.
jannb
Chameleon Enthusiast
I’m glad you finally found out what’s going on!
elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
Me too! It’s a bummer to deal with but I’m glad to know what it is so we can work on what we need to in order to get him back to 100%
elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
Update on my situation in case this helps anyone in the future: (also sorry everyone for being terrible for keeping this updated)
We have done a 2nd bloodwork (around $250) for Treebeard which came back negative for an infection. We are continuing antibiotics for now. The antibiotic he is on (Amoxicillin/Clavulanate) expires after 10 days, I have had to purchase this 3 times during this process so far at around $50 each.
The fecal results from the Ponazuril has also come back negative for coccidia.
Right now I'd say Treebeard is about 55-60% himself again. On Sunday I found him patrolling his enclosure as he normally does.
We will do a follow up appointment next week to see if/what adjustments need to be made to his continued care.
We have done a 2nd bloodwork (around $250) for Treebeard which came back negative for an infection. We are continuing antibiotics for now. The antibiotic he is on (Amoxicillin/Clavulanate) expires after 10 days, I have had to purchase this 3 times during this process so far at around $50 each.
The fecal results from the Ponazuril has also come back negative for coccidia.
Right now I'd say Treebeard is about 55-60% himself again. On Sunday I found him patrolling his enclosure as he normally does.
We will do a follow up appointment next week to see if/what adjustments need to be made to his continued care.
elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hello my darling chameleon friends! An update on my Treebeard's situation.
We have finally finished up with the antibiotics, he is back to his normal spicy self and has been given a clean bill of health by our vet. We are, over the next several months supposed to keep a very close eye on him. If the infection comes back that means there is still something going on with him that we missed.
What our vet suspects is going on though, is his liver is most likely shot. As some of you may recall, when I got Treebeard in December of 2022, he started showing signs of being ill. It took quite some time for us to figure out what was going on but eventually he was diagnosed with Entamoeba Invadens (a nasty parasite) in March 2023. With the amount of time it took to discover this and treat him, I'm sure a considerable amount of damage was done to his internal organs, specifically the liver. This can then make the animal easily susceptible to infections and other health issues for the rest of their life.
We can do an MRI to actually look at his liver and see if that for sure was the root cause of all this, however our vet does not recommend doing such an expensive and stressful test on a 'bright happy lizard', just to know for ourselves. Instead what she recommended is ensuring his husbandry is dialed in and decreasing any stress in his life that may lower his immune system.
She also informed me that if she is correct in her guess, this may be something that we have to deal with randomly throughout Treebeard's life and unfortunately I am sure this will also affect his lifespan if thats the case.
For now, I will continue to keep a very close eye on him and do my best to ensure his husbandry is as perfect as I can get it and keep his life as stress-free as possible.
For reference, we did weekly vet visits, once Treebeard started to improve a bit and we knew his infection was going down we moved to visits every 10 days. This was due to the antibiotic needing to be refilled - the actual medication was only good for 10 days and then it would expire, or be less effective.
All in all for vet visits, tests and medication from October to December the total cost was $1,014.70. I am hopeful that IF this happens again, it won't be as expensive the next time because we have a better general idea of what may be occurring and know what antibiotics Treebeard responds well to.
If anyone comes across Entamoeba Invadens in their collection and/or has a similar experience with their chameleon, please do feel free to reach out to me at any time. I would be happy to offer any help and support that I possibly can.
We have finally finished up with the antibiotics, he is back to his normal spicy self and has been given a clean bill of health by our vet. We are, over the next several months supposed to keep a very close eye on him. If the infection comes back that means there is still something going on with him that we missed.
What our vet suspects is going on though, is his liver is most likely shot. As some of you may recall, when I got Treebeard in December of 2022, he started showing signs of being ill. It took quite some time for us to figure out what was going on but eventually he was diagnosed with Entamoeba Invadens (a nasty parasite) in March 2023. With the amount of time it took to discover this and treat him, I'm sure a considerable amount of damage was done to his internal organs, specifically the liver. This can then make the animal easily susceptible to infections and other health issues for the rest of their life.
We can do an MRI to actually look at his liver and see if that for sure was the root cause of all this, however our vet does not recommend doing such an expensive and stressful test on a 'bright happy lizard', just to know for ourselves. Instead what she recommended is ensuring his husbandry is dialed in and decreasing any stress in his life that may lower his immune system.
She also informed me that if she is correct in her guess, this may be something that we have to deal with randomly throughout Treebeard's life and unfortunately I am sure this will also affect his lifespan if thats the case.
For now, I will continue to keep a very close eye on him and do my best to ensure his husbandry is as perfect as I can get it and keep his life as stress-free as possible.
For reference, we did weekly vet visits, once Treebeard started to improve a bit and we knew his infection was going down we moved to visits every 10 days. This was due to the antibiotic needing to be refilled - the actual medication was only good for 10 days and then it would expire, or be less effective.
All in all for vet visits, tests and medication from October to December the total cost was $1,014.70. I am hopeful that IF this happens again, it won't be as expensive the next time because we have a better general idea of what may be occurring and know what antibiotics Treebeard responds well to.
If anyone comes across Entamoeba Invadens in their collection and/or has a similar experience with their chameleon, please do feel free to reach out to me at any time. I would be happy to offer any help and support that I possibly can.
TwinCitiesCrickets
New Member
I love this and I love thinking about him having his own tree. Thank you for sharing all of it. I absolutely LOVE chameleons!!
