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All of these problems started before I made any changes to the setup Char has had for the past year. (T8 with Calcium plus all in one repashy).
I only switched to the T5 yesterday and that is only because that is all the pet store had, no T8 bulbs. Kammers said this should be good but to make sure to use the 5% bulb it came with not the 10% I panicked and bought.
Took to a vet this a.m. Not sure how good the vet was as I could not be inside due to pandemic and they didnt tell me a bunch of info until I just called back about 20 min ago.
They felt vitamin issues and gave 2 injections and gave me a soultion to give daily for 14 days.
What they didnt say until I called back was they were confident Char is female due to lack of hind leg burs.
When I asked if she was trying to lay eggs then they said they considered that but did not feel it was this. (Never seen char lay eggs, but put a coco fiber nest in enclosure just now regardless)
Had the fecal samples pictures in my original post. They also didnt tell me they were sending these to labs until I called back a bit ago, so Ive worked myself into a tizzy with all this new info.
Are they going to run the fecal? So the only thing in your husbandry form that I see is the possibility of D3 overdose with both the repashy and the D3 additional supplement you were giving. @kinyonga your thoughts here. Do you see anything else? My only other thought is a parasite issue which we would know when the fecal comes back.
I think that's Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Make sure you keep the chameleon well hydrated. I hate it when the vets just give an antibiotic when there's no apparent reason for it.
Let's hope the fecal shows something.
Don't apologize ...you're not bothering anyone! This forum is here to help people and provide information so that the chameleons are helped too. We do the best we can but we don't always have all the answers either.
I assume the meds are oral? Just be careful not to get it into his lungs...ease it in and stay away from the windpipe.
Hope all goes well in the end! Keep us posted.
Hi hun look at this link for giving meds. http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2014/05/how-to-give-different-medicines.html Your wanting to aim for the back because their airway is in the front of the mouth.Also I have to lightly pinch his mouth open to give him the oral medicine that's not bad right? I try and if there is just no give from him I give up after a few seconds having gotten what little of the medicine I could in cuz I dont wanna injure him.
Hi hun look at this link for giving meds. http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2014/05/how-to-give-different-medicines.html Your wanting to aim for the back because their airway is in the front of the mouth.
And do not feel bad for asking anything. It could very well be he had an issue passing the wax worms and superworms which made him feel icky and sluggish. Wait until the fecal comes back and let us know. Not running the fogger at night would not do this.
Ok hun. So as far as the meds I am with @kinyonga on the fact that I also hate the idea of medicating when they have not given you a reason for it. Kinda scares me also that they gave meds when they did not even know what gender he is. I have gone through medicating with oral meds before. I found the easiest way was to inject the medication into a hornworm or give the feeder and inject into the side of the mouth toward the back while he took the feeder. Maybe call back and ask why they prescribed this med.Got it, did not realize the airway was up front. Blotted a little on his tongue this a.m. but not near the .5ml the vet prescribed should I try to do the rest now that I know where to squirt exactly and that pinching his mouth sides wont hurt him?
Personally my inkling is to let what little I got in do its work and wait until tomorrow to do this method for another full dose, so as not to add stress.
Also not feeding him today as I put 3-4 crickets in his mouth yesterday so he needs to skip a day, just trying to give him the whole room to himself for the day.
Have also increased the mistings to about 6: 1 long, 1 medium, and 4, 1 minute so as to keep humidity since that room can be dry in the winter and want to promote warmth and humidity.
Thank you for your kind words I just want to make sure I give my friend good care rather than flail around and make him sicker.
Antibiotic is only listed as SMZ TMP liquid, sort of a pink-grey in color.
Yes it is. It is easier on them.I think that's Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole.
Ok hun. So as far as the meds I am with @kinyonga on the fact that I also hate the idea of medicating when they have not given you a reason for it. Kinda scares me also that they gave meds when they did not even know what gender he is. I have gone through medicating with oral meds before. I found the easiest way was to inject the medication into a hornworm or give the feeder and inject into the side of the mouth toward the back while he took the feeder. Maybe call back and ask why they prescribed this med.
How is he acting today?
As far as the mistings.... I would do one in the morning about an hour before your basking fixture comes on and 1 in the evening after the basking fixture is off. This is best achieved when you stagger your lighting. So my T5 kicks on first at 8am then I have my mistking kick on for 2 minutes at 8:30 then my basking fixture kicks on at 9:30am this gives the cage a bit of time to drop in moist air so your not creating a hot wet environment which in turn puts him at risk for an RI. At night I follow the same my basking kicks off at 4pm I have a misting kick on at 4:30 and another at 5:30 then my T5 is off at 6:30pm. I have a dripper running during the day which gives a constant source of water.
It is a balancing game of making sure he is drinking but also not having the humidity too high within the cage. It takes a bit for a cage to dry back out to lower the RI risk. If you want to add a mid day misting then just kick the basking lamp off for 30 minutes prior and 30 minutes after the misting.
What many people in dryer climates do for upping ambient humidity is adding a fogger to the room. So put one in the room running and test your ambient humidity. It should be a cool mist humidifier and you can buy a regular one for people. This way the cage is not getting soaked and creating that constant moist hot air.
As for feeding. Right now ignore what I said about not feeding every day, wait until he is 100% again, so I would give him crickets.
I understand your concern. I have been there. So just take it day by day and be his advocate with the vet. If you can call around and see if you can find a vet with real chameleon experience. That way if you need to take him back in you have someone that you can count on knowing what to do for him.
This will better explain it. https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/This makes no sense, everyone I have talked to including the breeder says there should be a long misting session about an hour after lights on, cage dry out completely, mist again, repeat throughout the day.
I have never heard anything about needing to turn the basking lamp off to be able to mist.
Inversly my knowledge is that you absolutely cannot have a fogger with basking because that will cause the RI.
One more way to get meds into a chameleon with very little stress is to give him a cricket....while his mouth is opening and shutting chewing it ease the meds in (do not squirt the meds in). This same trick of slipping in the meds can be done when his mouth is opening and shutting while he drinks.
I suggested the eating bit because you said this..."Also not feeding him today as I put 3-4 crickets in his mouth yesterday so he needs to skip a day". How about drinking?The problem is he is not eating right now so I cannot use that method.
I suggested the eating bit because you said this..."Also not feeding him today as I put 3-4 crickets in his mouth yesterday so he needs to skip a day". How about drinking?