GrandJean
Established Member
This Post had me recalling a few times were I encountered a chameleon going in a death spiral.
Sometimes you have to administer food, water or meds forcefully. At times, specifically with WC, the situation can get ugly and it just feels like you did more harm than good after giving treatment.
Forcing something on an sick, aggressive WC Panther for example, just doesn’t work out well. The added stress can finish them off faster than the meds can save it.
I have been researching and tinkering around with « fogging » hydration lately. Im testing it on one of my Chams and have been getting real nice urates. Got me thinking, could we get meds into a chameleon this way?
After some research I learned that Nebulizing medication is common with small rodents for RI. Its also much easier on internal organs. I also found a few articles about using it on snakes and in on case chameleons.
You put the rodent in a box, mix the medication with saline formula, and nebulize (with a nebulizer, not a fog machine) for 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
This would be SO MUCH less stress on a Chameleon, if all we had to do is handle them gently and put them in a dark box for 15 minutes. Almost game changing I would say.
Now this changes all the rules for « dosing » ratios and I wouldn’t try it today, but This could be really interesting to look into as the hobby evolves.
Sometimes you have to administer food, water or meds forcefully. At times, specifically with WC, the situation can get ugly and it just feels like you did more harm than good after giving treatment.
Forcing something on an sick, aggressive WC Panther for example, just doesn’t work out well. The added stress can finish them off faster than the meds can save it.
I have been researching and tinkering around with « fogging » hydration lately. Im testing it on one of my Chams and have been getting real nice urates. Got me thinking, could we get meds into a chameleon this way?
After some research I learned that Nebulizing medication is common with small rodents for RI. Its also much easier on internal organs. I also found a few articles about using it on snakes and in on case chameleons.
You put the rodent in a box, mix the medication with saline formula, and nebulize (with a nebulizer, not a fog machine) for 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
This would be SO MUCH less stress on a Chameleon, if all we had to do is handle them gently and put them in a dark box for 15 minutes. Almost game changing I would say.
Now this changes all the rules for « dosing » ratios and I wouldn’t try it today, but This could be really interesting to look into as the hobby evolves.
