my chameleon choked and died, but now its alive again...what next?

[napoleontheimpaler]

as i just said the chameleon choked during feeding, its only about 6 weeks old and i turned away for 2 seconds and when i looked it was standing on its back legs with its mouth open swinging from side to side rapidly, i managed to grab it and calm it down, and squeezed what was inside out

it chocked on a bigger then pinhead sized cricket

then it fainted and its tail curled up and it went realy pale and its head turned black, i was sure it was dead, it also deflated and looked like kin and bone, it would open its mouth every 30 second or so but i thought that was just nerves in it...

i then gave its chest a couple of pumps with my finger and out of nowhere its legs started moving like it was trying to gain balance, then it inflated itself again and after about 10 mins of that repeating itself, it finaly had the strength to stand up again...

its now sitting on its branch but wont move and wont open its eyes, i hope it will be alright, i can imagine its very stressed out after what just happened

has this happened to anyone elses lizrds before? and did they lizard survive? will mine survive?

 

[PrettyInInk87]

Wow, quite the little fighter. What type of Chameleon is it and can you provide any pictures? Where are you located? It's about 10 pm where I am and if he's sitting there with his eyes closed well he might be asleep since it is so late at night. Any other information would be great.

 

[JackP308]

You did chest compressions to a chameleon ? Sounds like you actually saved its life more less. Make sure there is no more cricket lodged in its throat or whatever. Id imagine it should be fine probably just traumatized for now. You'd get some better help letting people know more specifics about your lizard and setup . Sounds crazy glad he bounced back for you hopefully things work out for the best.

 

[vegas shooby]

as i just said the chameleon choked during feeding, its only about 6 weeks old and i turned away for 2 seconds and when i looked it was standing on its back legs with its mouth open swinging from side to side rapidly, i managed to grab it and calm it down, and squeezed what was inside out

it chocked on a bigger then pinhead sized cricket

then it fainted and its tail curled up and it went realy pale and its head turned black, i was sure it was dead, it also deflated and looked like kin and bone, it would open its mouth every 30 second or so but i thought that was just nerves in it...

i then gave its chest a couple of pumps with my finger and out of nowhere its legs started moving like it was trying to gain balance, then it inflated itself again and after about 10 mins of that repeating itself, it finaly had the strength to stand up again...

its now sitting on its branch but wont move and wont open its eyes, i hope it will be alright, i can imagine its very stressed out after what just happened

has this happened to anyone elses lizrds before? and did they lizard survive? will mine survive?

u need to watch the size of the feeders your feeding your chameleon poor dude

 

[napoleontheimpaler]

You did chest compressions to a chameleon ? Sounds like you actually saved its life more less. Make sure there is no more cricket lodged in its throat or whatever. Id imagine it should be fine probably just traumatized for now. You'd get some better help letting people know more specifics about your lizard and setup . Sounds crazy glad he bounced back for you hopefully things work out for the best.

its a veiled chamelon and its now 537pm i live in australia

they not cheap lizards over here, so they sell for an avergae 500 aussie dollars, which is why im so worried...i took a photo of it while it was dead so ill upload it soon as possible to show you guys

 

[napoleontheimpaler]

You did chest compressions to a chameleon ? Sounds like you actually saved its life more less. Make sure there is no more cricket lodged in its throat or whatever. Id imagine it should be fine probably just traumatized for now. You'd get some better help letting people know more specifics about your lizard and setup . Sounds crazy glad he bounced back for you hopefully things work out for the best.

i pretty much sqeezed a full cricket out of it, by pushing from behind its front legs and up to its head, and then i seen the crickets legs so i pulled it out with my fingers, then it died...my girlfriend was screaming and was very upset aswell when she seen the chamelon shaking etc, so i was trying to do the best i could under extreme pressure, it seems fine now, climbing aorund the tank again, but its realy black and hasnt channged back to a nice green colour yet

 

[PrettyInInk87]

its a veiled chamelon and its now 537pm i live in australia

they not cheap lizards over here, so they sell for an avergae 500 aussie dollars, which is why im so worried...i took a photo of it while it was dead so ill upload it soon as possible to show you guys

Awesome, I don't know how much money that is but I hope he pulls through. Just give him some time to rest and recover from the experience, give him LONG warm mistings to make sure he's well hydrated, and keep a close eye on him. Keep us updated on his progress...

 

[PrettyInInk87]

i pretty much sqeezed a full cricket out of it, by pushing from behind its front legs and up to its head, and then i seen the crickets legs so i pulled it out with my fingers, then it died...my girlfriend was screaming and was very upset aswell when she seen the chamelon shaking etc, so i was trying to do the best i could under extreme pressure, it seems fine now, climbing aorund the tank again, but its realy black and hasnt channged back to a nice green colour yet

May we have a bit of information on his cage set up, lighting, supplementing schedule, feeding schedule, and gutloading? It would be great if you could fill out the "How to Ask For Help" questions and paste here.

Edit:https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[jrh3]

Awesome, I don't know how much money that is ..

Thats about 506 U.S. Dollars.

 

[carol5208]

Glad the little guy came back. What size crickets are you feeding him and how old is he?

 

[JackP308]

around 6 weeks old he OP stated and the crickets were said to be bigger than a pinhead so assuming 1/4 or 1/2s ..

 

[sallyb]

OMG i`m not surprised your girlfriend was terrified, I would have been too. It`s just amazing that you managed to bring him back. I really hope the little guy settles down again - it probably terrified him too. Thanks to your quick thinking he`s still here

 

[ChameleonsInMyHouse]

its a veiled chamelon and its now 537pm i live in australia

they not cheap lizards over here, so they sell for an avergae 500 aussie dollars, which is why im so worried...i took a photo of it while it was dead so ill upload it soon as possible to show you guys

WOOHOO! HEY LOOK EVERYBODY! A CHAM IN AUSTRALIA!!!! haha im actually so happy, i started a thread chams in austraila about a week ago, where in australia do you live? anyways, yes im glad he is doing much better, but you cannot feed any feeders that are wider between the space of the head. (the length of the feeder must be able to fit in the space between the eyes.

 

[Hoj]

really interesting/scary story thanks for sharing and im glad that he is ok it does sound like you saved the little guy, GREAT JOB!!!!

 

[JackP308]

WOOHOO! HEY LOOK EVERYBODY! A CHAM IN AUSTRALIA!!!! haha im actually so happy, i started a thread chams in austraila about a week ago, where in australia do you live? anyways, yes im glad he is doing much better, but you cannot feed any feeders that are wider between the space of the head. (the length of the feeder must be able to fit in the space between the eyes.

Your thread was the First thing I thought of when he mentioned location, I guess he must had stolen it from the museum

 

[PrettyInInk87]

Thats about 506 U.S. Dollars.

Whaaaaaaaaaat? Wow...

 

[donnak0125]

as i just said the chameleon choked during feeding, its only about 6 weeks old and i turned away for 2 seconds and when i looked it was standing on its back legs with its mouth open swinging from side to side rapidly, i managed to grab it and calm it down, and squeezed what was inside out

it chocked on a bigger then pinhead sized cricket

then it fainted and its tail curled up and it went realy pale and its head turned black, i was sure it was dead, it also deflated and looked like kin and bone, it would open its mouth every 30 second or so but i thought that was just nerves in it...

i then gave its chest a couple of pumps with my finger and out of nowhere its legs started moving like it was trying to gain balance, then it inflated itself again and after about 10 mins of that repeating itself, it finaly had the strength to stand up again...

its now sitting on its branch but wont move and wont open its eyes, i hope it will be alright, i can imagine its very stressed out after what just happened

has this happened to anyone elses lizrds before? and did they lizard survive? will mine survive?

Yes, that happened to me. My ~9 mo old female veiled was quite ill and I didn't realize till it was too late. I believe she choked due to a large gular edema, which I didn't realize (I thought her throat was normal...). She choked twice. Both times she turned white with black spots and totally unresponsive. It was devastating to say the least. Hope everything turns out better with yours.

 

[Dabugman]

I am not a vet or a herp vet, and I have only had my first (panther) for a couple of months now--but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night, so here's my two cents.

You say he fainted and he died. Seems like he didn't exactly die. He did shut down like in a coma or having fainted. It is interesting that we refer to that part of the human brain that takes over when we are unconscious as the "reptilian brain." So you definately and heroically saved your guy's life and he is probably in shock and shaken up pretty bad. So, I would keep him feeling safe, warm and hydrated.

If he had actually died and come back to life, well many believe that has happened (see Bible, The) and happens (those claims about people "dying," seeing a light, and then coming back to their bodies). But to me, "died" means toes up, boot hill, pushing up daisys, the grim reaper, kick the bucket, the Big D, croak, give up the ghost--and to come back from that, you better be the Son of God to pull that one off

 

[donnak0125]

Ah-Oh...Ready or not, this may turn out to be a VERY LONG, INTERESTING THREAD, with an avalanche of posts..? LOL

 

[svinyard]

Its official, technicalities aside...you chameleon is now named Lazarus.