My veiled chameleon is very ill someone please help

K

Kaytie

New Member
Hello, my name is kaytie, I am completely new to this forum so I hope I am posting in the right place, super sorry if I am...... I have a 3 year old male veiled chameleon (winston), he has been acting strangely this past week, he started to hang from his jungle by his front legs, then started to fall over when walking, then started staying at the bottom of the tank and again kept falling over, I keep finding him laying on his side, he has stopped eating (normaly eats 3 adult locus a day depending on his appetite I dust them with calcium d3 powder twice a week, he occasionally eats cucumber aswell, and he loves fresh mint) he seems to be sleeping alot and is just all around lethargic, he kept climbing so far up his jungle vine then falling to the bottom, so I have placed him on a clean towel at the bottom of the tank, he has a uva and uvb bulb and the temperature is around 36°+ in the day and drops to around 25° in the night (when it foes get colder as I live in the UK I put a night bulb in for him) I'm really really concerned as he has no life in him and he is normaly very active and full of life but atm he seems to have nothing in him :( he is also still full of colour he hasnt been dehydrated as I have been managing to get him to take some water and I tried the skin test and his skin pulled back. I'm really really concerned can someone help please
P.s (he is on a towel because he kept falling and I was worried he would hurt himself and because he is at the bottom it seems to be keeping him warm, I didnt know what else to do)
 

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Hi Kaytie, I would suggest taking him to a vet ASAP, a sleeping chameleon during the day isn’t a good sign so he should be seen as soon as you can.

if you fill in this form with as much information as possible some of the more experienced members may be able to assist you.


Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------
 
That cage isn’t really the best you need branches and more spaces to clump also he could have MBD witch is lack of UVB light
 
.Luke. said:
That cage isn’t really the best you need branches and more spaces to clump also he could have MBD witch is lack of UVB light
Click to expand...


The cage was re arranged to stop him falling to far down.
He's currently with a vet and new bulb already in there
 

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Glad to hear he is with the vet. The uvb needs to be at the top. It’s their sun so need to be either on top if it is mesh or mounted to the roof if wooden.
If I was you I would try to replace the top of the Viv for mesh so you get more airflow and can mount the lights outside to reduce burn risk.
 
Rhea’s mum said:
Glad to hear he is with the vet. The uvb needs to be at the top. It’s their sun so need to be either on top if it is mesh or mounted to the roof if wooden.
If I was you I would try to replace the top of the Viv for mesh so you get more airflow and can mount the lights outside to reduce burn risk.
Click to expand...


Its only there temporarily we needed the heat to get to him as he was right at the bottom of the tank and he was so so cold to touch, we put a night bulb in throughout the night just to try and keep him warm, this morning he was free so it was helping heat him, it not staying there, managed to get him to see a vet today waiting to here what she says
Kaytie said:
Hello, my name is kaytie, I am completely new to this forum so I hope I am posting in the right place, super sorry if I am...... I have a 3 year old male veiled chameleon (winston), he has been acting strangely this past week, he started to hang from his jungle by his front legs, then started to fall over when walking, then started staying at the bottom of the tank and again kept falling over, I keep finding him laying on his side, he has stopped eating (normaly eats 3 adult locus a day depending on his appetite I dust them with calcium d3 powder twice a week, he occasionally eats cucumber aswell, and he loves fresh mint) he seems to be sleeping alot and is just all around lethargic, he kept climbing so far up his jungle vine then falling to the bottom, so I have placed him on a clean towel at the bottom of the tank, he has a uva and uvb bulb and the temperature is around 36°+ in the day and drops to around 25° in the night (when it foes get colder as I live in the UK I put a night bulb in for him) I'm really really concerned as he has no life in him and he is normaly very active and full of life but atm he seems to have nothing in him :( he is also still full of colour he hasnt been dehydrated as I have been managing to get him to take some water and I tried the skin test and his skin pulled back. I'm really really concerned can someone help please
P.s (he is on a towel because he kept falling and I was worried he would hurt himself and because he is at the bottom it seems to be keeping him warm, I didnt know what else to do)
Click to expand...


Edit, im absolutely heartbroken, I'm sitting here in absolute tears..... ive spent the last few days trying to do everything I could to help winston, i bought a new 150w uva and uvb bulb went and got new xterra nutrients with glucose (to try and boost his energy, all recommendations from the pet store id looked at buying live plants and was going to alter his diet thanks to advice from here) I moved everything to the bottom of the tank (with a towel) to try and stop him from hurting himself aswell... but I knew he was really ill, I rang several vets who either wouldn't answer the phone or the ones who did would not see winston as they didn't have anyone there who specialised in chameleons or exotic animals, I managed to find a company called origin vets, who put you in contact with a vet who deals with exotic pets, i managed to get him to one of those vets today and they have told me his heart rate was really low and that they found a lump on his liver (tumor) and that there is nothing they can do and that the best thing for him is to be put to sleep and its absolutely breaking my heart, I keep thinking its all my fault and that I've done something to cause this and its absolutely horrible, I'm gonna miss him so much he was such a character we called him winston because he used to have this grumpy little look at times and it reminded me of winston churchill, he was so feisty and quite funny, he would do some funny almost yoga poses on his vine, he loved to take locus from me and he would scrape the glass for me to get him out, he would then climb up my arm sit on my head and watch one side of the room with one eye and the other side of the room with the other, he loved exploring my living room and climbing me like a tree I'm gona miss him so so much ........ I wanted to thank everyone who helped and given great advice in these last few days. Thank you.
 
It is very hard to lose a loved one, and our chameleons are certainly loved ones. Sorry for your loss.
 
So sorry to hear the bad news. I just read the post about his vet visit.
He sounds like he has given you a lot of pleasure.
 
Kaytie said:
Its only there temporarily we needed the heat to get to him as he was right at the bottom of the tank and he was so so cold to touch, we put a night bulb in throughout the night just to try and keep him warm, this morning he was free so it was helping heat him, it not staying there, managed to get him to see a vet today waiting to here what she says



Edit, im absolutely heartbroken, I'm sitting here in absolute tears..... ive spent the last few days trying to do everything I could to help winston, i bought a new 150w uva and uvb bulb went and got new xterra nutrients with glucose (to try and boost his energy, all recommendations from the pet store id looked at buying live plants and was going to alter his diet thanks to advice from here) I moved everything to the bottom of the tank (with a towel) to try and stop him from hurting himself aswell... but I knew he was really ill, I rang several vets who either wouldn't answer the phone or the ones who did would not see winston as they didn't have anyone there who specialised in chameleons or exotic animals, I managed to find a company called origin vets, who put you in contact with a vet who deals with exotic pets, i managed to get him to one of those vets today and they have told me his heart rate was really low and that they found a lump on his liver (tumor) and that there is nothing they can do and that the best thing for him is to be put to sleep and its absolutely breaking my heart, I keep thinking its all my fault and that I've done something to cause this and its absolutely horrible, I'm gonna miss him so much he was such a character we called him winston because he used to have this grumpy little look at times and it reminded me of winston churchill, he was so feisty and quite funny, he would do some funny almost yoga poses on his vine, he loved to take locus from me and he would scrape the glass for me to get him out, he would then climb up my arm sit on my head and watch one side of the room with one eye and the other side of the room with the other, he loved exploring my living room and climbing me like a tree I'm gona miss him so so much ........ I wanted to thank everyone who helped and given great advice in these last few days. Thank you.
Click to expand...
I’m so very sorry. Unfortunately cancers often just occur and you can’t blame yourself. You did all you could these past couple of days to keep him comfortable and let him pass with dignity and no more suffering. It takes a lot of strength to put our much loved animals to rest. Keep him in your heart always. 💗
 
It was so hard, I'm just devasted and in shock, I new he was really ill but I really thought he would pull through, he was as tough as nails and its just broken me that this happened to him and I just hope he wasn't in any pain. Thank you so much for you kind words xxxxx
 
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