Not Feeling Well After Move... Sick or Just Adjusting?

[vickibugg0918]

Hi!

We moved into a new home (less than 10 min away) on Friday. Illy (our almost 2 year old Cham) was kept inside his very large cage and transported via work van (this kept him as stable as possible and in the dark). During the short ride he did very well - roaming the cage, eating worms and remaining his "happy" green. We then moved him into the living room, similar to where he was in the old house, and that is where he remains. He immediately started eating his superworms and acting fine, however, today he is lying on the floor of his cage and not moving much at all - still "happy" green - but obviously not acting normal as he doesn't often go to the bottom of his cage and he almost never lays down. There was also a pile of worms on the floor of the cage near him that were either thrown up or that came out as stool - we are not sure. When we open the cage and go to touch him he starts to hiss - which is normal for him.

Please see pictures. Do you think he is sick or dying? Or is he just adjusting to the move and new surroundings?

Thank you for your help!

 

[jajeanpierre]

Does he thrash if you pick him up? Maybe writhe and roll on his side or back?

 

[kinyonga]

Could he have fallen while he was being transported?

If you move a chameleon again I would recommend that you put him in a small pet pal with a towel on the floor for him to grip where he can't fall or bounce around much.

 

[vickibugg0918]

Hi!

We moved into a new home (less than 10 min away) on Friday. Illy (our almost 2 year old Cham) was kept inside his very large cage and transported via work van (this kept him as stable as possible and in the dark). During the short ride he did very well - roaming the cage, eating worms and remaining his "happy" green. We then moved him into the living room, similar to where he was in the old house, and that is where he remains. He immediately started eating his superworms and acting fine, however, today he is lying on the floor of his cage and not moving much at all - still "happy" green - but obviously not acting normal as he doesn't often go to the bottom of his cage and he almost never lays down. There was also a pile of worms on the floor of the cage near him that were either thrown up or that came out as stool - we are not sure. When we open the cage and go to touch him he starts to hiss - which is normal for him.

Please see pictures. Do you think he is sick or dying? Or is he just adjusting to the move and new surroundings?

Thank you for your help!

Sadly, illy passed away this morning. We are heartbroken and confused as to how he was perfectly fine one day and then dies the next

 

[jajeanpierre]

Sadly, illy passed away this morning. We are heartbroken and confused as to how he was perfectly fine one day and then dies the next

I am very sorry for your loss.

I've had something similar going on and necropsies traced it to a toxin, aflatoxin.

Aflatoxins are produced by molds in the Aspergillus family and are a very deadly toxin. They grow on moldy grain, and the suspect is that they became contaminated at the cricket farm from contaminated feed. Commercial cricket farms feed a corn-based feed which is very easy to contaminate. Superworms are fed the same food.

Aflatoxicosis can be a slow poisoning or can be acute with death happening in hours.

The description you gave of your chameleon is very similar to some of my own poisoned animals.

It looks as if the superworms were rejected by his body, either passing them quickly through the system undigested or vomiting them up.

I asked earlier if he thrashed or appeared to be writhing in pain when you stimulated him. Did he? In my severely ill animals, my handling them triggered what appeared to be convulsions or seizures.

I recently posted a thread about my experiences:
www.chameleonforums.com/threads/aflatoxicosis.158656

In my situation, it appears the toxin was a slow build up. They can become acutely ill and die within hours from very contaminated feed.

I think it is more common than people and vets realize because it is very difficult to diagnose which was why I shared my horrific experience.

Again, I'm sorry for your loss.