My Poor Baby

[ReqRep]

Oh it is so hard to see them like this. We had a Jackson for a long time and Sadly he got very sick a few months ago and he didn't pull through. Check to see where you are getting the food from. Ours did really well for years and then we got a bad batch of crickets from Petco. (that was the only thing that had changed in his routine). It was almost like he was poisoned. Unfortunately the vet wasn't able to do anything. We raised our own crickets, and then there were two places we would get them as well when we were running low or if they were to small to give him. The last batch of crickets that we had from Petco smelt awful. I didn't think of it at the time, but I should have realized. The vet said if they are too large and are a very dark color it is best not to feed them those ones. Good Luck. They are such beautiful creatures.

We buy our crickets from Georgia Crickets 2,000 at a time. We own a number of reptiles, and we churn through crickets quite quickly. I actually just finished setting up a cricket colony about a week ago, so hopefully within the next month or so we can stop purchasing them all together. I've never had an issue with the crickets from Georgia Crickets, so I really do not think that has anything to do with it. Thank you for the input though.

@Andee Do you think it's worth putting her in a kind of 'bare bones' vivarium for a few days? I've taken a lot of the plants out of her current viv because they literally prevented her from finding the basking spot. As i mentioned she appears to be relying 100% on touch to find her way around, and I noticed she was staying around the bottom of the viv where the amount of flora was much less. I took some out and she seems to be able to get around easier, but I still worry it's too much. Here's what I'm considering, but I want your opinion first. I'm want to put her in a smaller viv, with minimal branches and vegetation and only the heat lamp, put her in a room by herself away from the other reptiles, give her 100% peace except for hand misting a few times a day for about 48 - 72 hours. Do you think this is too extreme?

 

[Andee]

I would switch her around especially if she's relying on touch, she could fall too easily. What makes you think she can't find a basking spot? Jackson's don't bask a lot

 

[ReqRep]

I would switch her around especially if she's relying on touch, she could fall too easily. What makes you think she can't find a basking spot? Jackson's don't bask a lot

You would or would not? I just want to be certain. I mean she would literally go days without moving from the bottom of area of the vivarium. She used to bask, but as of late she hasn't at all unless I specifically moved her up to the basking area. I normally did this because she would be very cold to the touch. There was a pretty clear 'line' where the flora really started to get thick in her viv, and she never seemed to venture above that point. The few times she did I noticed she was struggling significantly to find her way around.

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Correction please, she did not get a chameleon from me! Though I have attempted to be helpful with her challenges (mostly related to her experiential/knowledge chasm existing as created by the age of the chameleon she chose to buy as well as her choice of the age of the chameleon she got).

Though we all start off as novices, I do think it is important to 1) learn as much as we can before adopting a new pet, 2) ask lots of well thaught through questions to help breach the knowledge gap we have (and ask the correct people), 3) apply what we learn and realize before we aquire the pet that our mistakes are usually fatal (especially with chameleons) . 4) Get a mentor to help, guide to help prevent catastrophies.

For heavens sake new commers, please open your ears and heed the advice of those who know what they are doing and talking about! Those who are not willing to pay attention to the advice received and promptly apply what they learn, should realy rather get a pet rock! Seriously!

In defence of @serenaj25, I appreciate your attempts to learn and grow and become a better chameleon keeper! Next time please get a much older chameleon! But let's wait a while and learn a little more first!

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Correction please, she did not get a chameleon from me! Though I have attempted to be helpful with her challenges (mostly related to her experiential/knowledge chasm existing as created by the age of the chameleon she chose to buy as well as her choice of the age of the chameleon she got).

Though we all start off as novices, I do think it is important to 1) learn as much as we can before adopting a new pet, 2) ask lots of well thaught through questions to help breach the knowledge gap we have (and ask the correct people), 3) apply what we learn and realize before we aquire the pet that our mistakes are usually fatal (especially with chameleons) . 4) Get a mentor to help, guide to help prevent catastrophies.

For heavens sake new commers, please open your ears and heed the advice of those who know what they are doing and talking about! Those who are not willing to pay attention to the advice received and promptly apply what they learn, should realy rather get a pet rock! Seriously!

In defence of @serenaj25, I appreciate your attempts to learn and grow and become a better chameleon keeper! Next time please get a much older chameleon! But let's wait a while and learn a little more first!

Omg i know your very serious beyound !!. But pet rock hehehe . I think I might pee my self !!. Your the best . You need to write a book in all the spare time you have lol .

 

[Andee]

Would not* sorry @ReqRep. However you can remove some of the denser foliage and it may help a smidge.

Thanks for the correction @Matt Vanilla Gorilla! I agree with everything you posted. There is only so much help that can be offered before it's just pointless if the person decides not to do anything about adjusting their care. <3 Love ya Matt <3 You are such an amazing person and breeder.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Would not* sorry @ReqRep. However you can remove some of the denser foliage and it may help a smidge.

Thanks for the correct @Matt Vanilla Gorilla! I agree with everything you posted. There is only so much help that can be offered before it's just pointless if the person decides not to do anything about adjusting their care. <3 Love ya Matt <3 You are such an amazing person and breeder.

Beyond Amazing !!. He needs to get to it though Matt is making me wait !!.

 

[ReqRep]

@Matt Vanilla Gorilla While we haven't interacted on her yet I really agree with everything you said. I have wanted a Chameleon most of my life, but I knew up until now I was not financially or educationally stable enough to support one. I did as much research as I could before getting my first Chameleon, and it paid off greatly. Unfortunately picking up little Charlize here was a brash decision that was made by my heart and not my head, so I was far less familiar with her needs. That said, these forums have been integral in my success with these animals. @Andee has been beyond amazing, and has definitely been that mentor figure you mentioned. I've tried to take everything she, and everyone else I've spoken to, have said to heart. I've learned so much through these forums, and I'm quite thankful for the small, but reliable, support system they've offered me.

I'm finally at the point where I'm looking into getting a Panther, as they're the type of Chameleon I've always wanted. I feel like i've learned so much about these animals through my Veiled and little Charlize here, so I think I'm ready to start exploring and educating myself on Panthers so that I can finally get my dream Chameleon.

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Smart thinking! I would personally wait till the new one is completely out of the woods and stable!

 

[ReqRep]

Smart thinking! I would personally wait till the new one is completely out of the woods and stable!

That's certainly the plan! Still, it's never too early to start reading up :]

 

[serenaj25]

Serenaj25 you probably shouldn't respond to this thread since you have no experience with montanes but you also have no experience with successfully keeping a chameleon healthy from what I know. You got an extremely healthy baby from an amazing breeder from what i know and you are still doing badly with them and that's because you refuse to take advice.

dude really? you don't know about my experiences as a chameleons keeper i unknowingly got mine from a breeder on craigslist who turned out to be not so trustworthy after all. i did everything i could to save him and fyi i had all of his cage set up correctly and i did everything just as well as the next guy, and even reached out for help from exotic vets and @Matt Vanilla Gorilla please don't assume things about time that aren't true and don't be negative towards me when i am trying to help other members on this site.

 

[serenaj25]

@serenaj25, I don't mean to come off as harsh (I would have editted my original post but it has been too long), it's just... I honestly think you should get some more experience under your belt. You started out with healthy babies from Kammer's and from @Matt Vanilla Gorilla, there should be no reason they got as sick as they did if you asked the forum within time and the breeders you got them from. Especially if you take them to the vet when it gets bad. I honestly don't think you have enough experience yet to give sound advice... I don't want you to think I am mad, I don't want you to think I am putting you down, because I am not. But this situation is nothing like yours. This jackson came from a petstore and she was in horrible condition from the get go, she needs extremely different care than any species you have had so far, in my opinion she's not too far gone to just write her off as some statistic that some are just not meant to make it. In my opinion, the infection that was originally in her eye has caused her eyes to likely be more sensitive to lighting than most chameleons. It just takes time to figure it out.

@ReqRep I definitely agree with just misting her well the next few days, turning her uvb light off, and not feeding for a couple days. Just give her some time to destress. She is likely majorly freaked out. Unless you see her spiraling down even worse, then I would worry <3

and to add from that, my baby from kammerflage kreations is alive and well....

 

[serenaj25]

Correction please, she did not get a chameleon from me! Though I have attempted to be helpful with her challenges (mostly related to her experiential/knowledge chasm existing as created by the age of the chameleon she chose to buy as well as her choice of the age of the chameleon she got).

Though we all start off as novices, I do think it is important to 1) learn as much as we can before adopting a new pet, 2) ask lots of well thaught through questions to help breach the knowledge gap we have (and ask the correct people), 3) apply what we learn and realize before we aquire the pet that our mistakes are usually fatal (especially with chameleons) . 4) Get a mentor to help, guide to help prevent catastrophies.

For heavens sake new commers, please open your ears and heed the advice of those who know what they are doing and talking about! Those who are not willing to pay attention to the advice received and promptly apply what they learn, should realy rather get a pet rock! Seriously!

In defence of @serenaj25, I appreciate your attempts to learn and grow and become a better chameleon keeper! Next time please get a much older chameleon! But let's wait a while and learn a little more first!

i really appreciate all of your help and efforts to helping me keep my 2 week old baby alive. when i got him i had no idea he would be so tiny. the baby i have now is almost 4 months old and extremely healthy.

 

[serenaj25]

Serenaj25 you probably shouldn't respond to this thread since you have no experience with montanes but you also have no experience with successfully keeping a chameleon healthy from what I know. You got an extremely healthy baby from an amazing breeder from what i know and you are still doing badly with them and that's because you refuse to take advice.

and this is also untrue. i don't know why you seem to not like me so much. only one of the chameleons out of many that i have owned passed away and that was because of conditions that were out of my control. please stop assuming things about me that just aren't true!

 

[ReqRep]

@Andee @Matt Vanilla Gorilla @serenaj25

No offense to any of you, but it would be super if this drama could be dealt with elsewhere.

 

[Andee]

How is Charlize today? You kept her uvb be off all day right?

 

[serenaj25]

@Andee @Matt Vanilla Gorilla @serenaj25

No offense to any of you, but it would be super if this drama could be dealt with elsewhere.

Dont worry its over now I didn't mean any harm, I just didn't want people on here to think I am a bad chameleon keeper because it just isn't true. I want people to still take my advice seriously. I really hope your cham gets better you can start a conversation with me if you need any help I have been doing lots of research on Jacksons

 

[ReqRep]

How is Charlize today? You kept her uvb be off all day right?

No changes today. The UVB was off all day, and the only interaction she had was a few brief misting sessions. I tried to be extra quiet and careful while feeding everyone else as well.

 

[Andee]

Does she have on sleeping colors? When she has her eyes closed during the day? I just want to make sure the lack of light hasn't caused her to think it's night time.... what are you dusting with? ... you have been doing carnivore care right?

 

[Andee]

Does she have on sleeping colors? When she has her eyes closed during the day? I just want to make sure the lack of light hasn't caused her to think it's night time.... what are you dusting with? ... you have been doing carnivore care right?

I am sorry @serenaj25 .... I should have asked correct questions before assuming things and definitely shouldn't have... brought it up in a thread like this.