bayleeshayne
New Member
Hello, I have enjoyed reading this forum for about a year now and have several chameleons of my own. But I come here looking for answers that I was never given. This week I lost my beloved 9 month old Jackson's, Delilah. But her cause of death has me at a lost and come here for answers.
I took her into the vet when I discovered black skin on her lower jaw and left forearm, which had a blister-like raise to it. I suspected it to be a burn, she was one to climb on the lights when she has a chance. So I decided to take her into the local "herp vet" and get her looked at. I live in Bozeman, Montana, so herp vets are not common and are hard to find, let alone find a good one. I brought her in on my shoulder, she was eating, she was lively and sassy like she always was. She was her healthy normal self. The vet looked her over and decided, without doing a skin scrape, that she had a bacterial infection when I had insisted it was only a burn. She weighted in at 50g, the weight she had been for around two months. She went ahead and gave her 2cc of the antibiotic enrofloxacin, commonly known as Baytril. Delilah was extremely upset about it and did everything she could to get away, she was very strong and lively. The vet could not even get her mouth open she was so strong. The vet then placed her in a cardboard box with a stick and heated water bottles and sent me home with seven more shots and topical creams (that I will never get the chance to even use). I started to head home.
When you go seek advice from a vet you have confidence that they made the right decisions. This all happened around 3pm. By the time I got home it was 5:30. I kept the box warm, and there were air holes. I opened the box to let her go home, and she was dead. Shoved, face first into the corner of the box, dead. I was at a loss. How could she go form being to healthy and strong to dead in at most 2.5 hours. She could have died instantly, but I didn't know, I was in a Schrodinger's cat dilemma. Upon discovering her, her skin was already necrotic and her tongue was out. I demanded answers.
I called the vet and she told me to bring her in for an autopsy. Once she completed the autopsy she called me with infuriating answers. She told me her cause of death was because she was bound up with eggs. EGGS. She is a confirmed Jackson cham. Uniquely Jackson's give birth to live babies. The vet then continued saying there was up to two generations of "eggs," Delilah was only 9 months old, if she did lay eggs she wouldn't even be old enough to have two generations in her! She continued with saying she had hookworms. Delilah never had an issue with losing weight or not eating, she had a very healthy diet of captive bred superworms, roaches, crickets, and the occasional waxworm as a treat. She was very lively and loved to go long walks when I let her explore the house plants for an hour while I watched TV. I never saw worms in her stool, nor did it ever look abnormal. But wait theres more. The vet then says her lungs were hard and black. Delilah never showed any signs of a RI. There was no gurgling, mouth gapping, mucus, and lethargy. The vet conclude that all these things together killed her. She did not state anymore information about other organs. I wanted to know about her kidneys. I have not (if there even is one) obtained the written report yet.
Delilah was a healthy cham with a burn, then was dead in a matter of hours. I did research on enrofloxacin and found that it causes kidney failure and is easy to overdose. I just need answers. My sweet baby is dead and there is no explanation besides the antibiotic. And if it was found to be the antibiotic I want to be able to confront this vet. The fact that this vet is the recommend herp vet for my area is nauseating. I apologize for the length of this post, but it was necessary to get all the facts in and I hope someone here can provide me with an answer that will let me sleep at night. I will do my best to provide anymore requested information. Thank You All.
--Baylee
I took her into the vet when I discovered black skin on her lower jaw and left forearm, which had a blister-like raise to it. I suspected it to be a burn, she was one to climb on the lights when she has a chance. So I decided to take her into the local "herp vet" and get her looked at. I live in Bozeman, Montana, so herp vets are not common and are hard to find, let alone find a good one. I brought her in on my shoulder, she was eating, she was lively and sassy like she always was. She was her healthy normal self. The vet looked her over and decided, without doing a skin scrape, that she had a bacterial infection when I had insisted it was only a burn. She weighted in at 50g, the weight she had been for around two months. She went ahead and gave her 2cc of the antibiotic enrofloxacin, commonly known as Baytril. Delilah was extremely upset about it and did everything she could to get away, she was very strong and lively. The vet could not even get her mouth open she was so strong. The vet then placed her in a cardboard box with a stick and heated water bottles and sent me home with seven more shots and topical creams (that I will never get the chance to even use). I started to head home.
When you go seek advice from a vet you have confidence that they made the right decisions. This all happened around 3pm. By the time I got home it was 5:30. I kept the box warm, and there were air holes. I opened the box to let her go home, and she was dead. Shoved, face first into the corner of the box, dead. I was at a loss. How could she go form being to healthy and strong to dead in at most 2.5 hours. She could have died instantly, but I didn't know, I was in a Schrodinger's cat dilemma. Upon discovering her, her skin was already necrotic and her tongue was out. I demanded answers.
I called the vet and she told me to bring her in for an autopsy. Once she completed the autopsy she called me with infuriating answers. She told me her cause of death was because she was bound up with eggs. EGGS. She is a confirmed Jackson cham. Uniquely Jackson's give birth to live babies. The vet then continued saying there was up to two generations of "eggs," Delilah was only 9 months old, if she did lay eggs she wouldn't even be old enough to have two generations in her! She continued with saying she had hookworms. Delilah never had an issue with losing weight or not eating, she had a very healthy diet of captive bred superworms, roaches, crickets, and the occasional waxworm as a treat. She was very lively and loved to go long walks when I let her explore the house plants for an hour while I watched TV. I never saw worms in her stool, nor did it ever look abnormal. But wait theres more. The vet then says her lungs were hard and black. Delilah never showed any signs of a RI. There was no gurgling, mouth gapping, mucus, and lethargy. The vet conclude that all these things together killed her. She did not state anymore information about other organs. I wanted to know about her kidneys. I have not (if there even is one) obtained the written report yet.
Delilah was a healthy cham with a burn, then was dead in a matter of hours. I did research on enrofloxacin and found that it causes kidney failure and is easy to overdose. I just need answers. My sweet baby is dead and there is no explanation besides the antibiotic. And if it was found to be the antibiotic I want to be able to confront this vet. The fact that this vet is the recommend herp vet for my area is nauseating. I apologize for the length of this post, but it was necessary to get all the facts in and I hope someone here can provide me with an answer that will let me sleep at night. I will do my best to provide anymore requested information. Thank You All.
--Baylee
