Noticed Cham was acting strange, couple hours later found her in cage :(

Shan.pod1228

Shan.pod1228

Member
I am so very heartbroken right now. I noticed rose hanging onto the back of one of her pieces of driftwood with her mouth open at about 4-430 yesterday afternoon. I lifted her butt up to see if she was having trouble pulling herself up, but she gripped onto my fingers and walked herself back up onto her log (I should of realized something was really wrong at this point if she was letting my hands get anywhere near her without running away). I walked away at that point, I was getting ready to go meet a friend for a bit. When I came back 10 minutes later she was in the same position as before. I took a video so I could share it with you guys or a vet if she continued to act like this. I planned to call a vet this morning if she was still acting strange today. I left my house a little before 5 to meet my friend. When I came home, at a little after 7, I found her unresponsive, tangled in the plant she was hanging over earlier.
I feel like such a failure. The past couple of weeks she finally seemed like she was coming around. She was eating, drinking, and pooping normally. Still scared of me, but I could actually feed her from tongs on a regular basis.
The only thing I can think that has happened recently is an issue she had eating a hornworm. This past Thursday I got her to eat a hornworm, I don't know if the hornworm was too big or if it just went in the wrong way (straight down her throat) , but she struggled for a good couple minutes trying to eat the thing. The entire time I stood there watching, freaking the f out trying to decide if I should do something to help her or if that would just freak her out more and cause her to have more of an issue getting it down. After a stressful few minutes she finally regurgitated it. She didn't eat all of her crickets and dubia that day which isn't unusual for her, some days she would eat everything I gave her, others she left some roaming around her cage. But the next day she was eating some bsfl out of a dish with no issue. Part of me thinks the hornworm may have bit down on her tongue or some part of the inside of her mouth and that's why she was having such a issue getting it down, I don't really know though if that is even possible. I'm so baffled by what could have happened. Sunday morning she was acting relatively normal, wouldn't take any food from tongs, but that's not unusual, she was always hit or miss when it came to hand feeding. I saw her drinking water from the top screen of her cage and meandering around and just generally acting normal. I don't know if maybe the hornworm actually did some damage and she got a little infection and maybe her tongue was swelling up because of that. I just don't know. Everything went downhill so quickly... I feel so terrible.
 
I'm sorry, I didn't realize the video didn't post with my original post. Everytime I try and attach it a line goes through the file name and an error saying the file does not have an allowed extension comes up.
 
From how you described it sounds like heavy venting possibly overheated. Looking forward to your Questionnaire. You may have to send the video to yourself via text then copy and paste from text to here
 
The first Pic is from a couple weeks ago, it was the first time I saw any type of pattern on her and the second was from this past Tuesday.
 

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Thank you... It's a Hibiscus in the front. Took forever for the leaves to come back after it lost them all when it went from northeast fall temps to the tropics in a matter of a few hours.
 
Based on the pics it appears that you know what you are doing. That lite green leafy tree has more of a maple leaf shape then the spade shape I've seen on most variety of hibiscus. Without the flowers it's difficult to tell
 
So sorry four your loss these Chams are really incredible at hiding illnesses. Again I’m so sorry and I hope this doesn’t stop you from continuing to learn about these amazing creatures.
 
I've definitely learned a lot in the past couple months, but it's all still new to me. I got my girls at the end of September. If there is a way for you to look up my one and only other post I made you can look at the husbandry form I have on there, until I have a chance to fill out a new one. Not much has changed really except the addition of a fogger.
 
Sure thing. You can always see your posts from your profile for future reference. That’s how I found your old one.

Hard to know what would’ve caused what happened to happen...

Your husbandry seems pretty good after the changes you made. But unfortunately you have no idea how they were kept before you got them. The fact that they were bought at an expo doesn’t bode well... all the veileds I’ve seen at expos have been in rough shape to begin with.

Cohabitation could have also played a part in her decline. I’m going to guess the seller at the expo had them together before you even got them. Cohabitation has been known to cause stress and thus a weaker immune system.

She could’ve very well already had internal issues due to her past before you even got her. That’s the risk of expo purchases from unfamiliar breeders (that’s even if they bred them as most cham sellers at expos don’t).

Hopefully you find comfort in knowing you did everything you could to give her the past life in the time she had with you.
 
I’m so sorry about Rose. Reading your previous post though, it looks like you had some concerns about her from the start. Most likely whatever happened to her was due to her conditions prior to you getting her. While I know it is little consolation, you did gave her a good life and did all that you could. She’s free in cham heaven now, frowning at the angels.
 
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled chameleon, about 5 months old. I've had her for about 2 months
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I Only have to move her from Viv to Viv at this point.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Crickets and dubia are the main, they also get bsfl, hornworms, and silkworms. I gutload with repashy bug burger, roach chow, and veggies and fruits.
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? The crickets are dusted with repashy supercal nod daily and I have give them herptivite and calcium with d3 rotating every other week
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a mistking set up. I mist 3 times a day, first thing in the morning for 3 minutes, for 5 minutes in the afternoon, and then for 3 minutes a couple hours before the lights go off. I also added a fogger, it goes off for 10 minutes every 3 hours. I have seen her drink
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Brown poop with white sometimes yellowish urates
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. I got them from DBD pets at a recent reptile expo in my area. She spent the first couple weeks of life with me stressed from being housed with another female I got at the same time. I was hoping to be able to keep them together, but quickly realized that would never work and put them in their own separate spaces as soon as I could.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? She was in an exoterra 24x24x48 screened enclosure.
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Both have t5ho 5% linear bulbs that run the length of the vivs. They both have basking areas with 75w bulbs and sepearte plant light bulbs on each Viv as well. The lights are on a 12/12 schedule from 7a to 7p.
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking areas are 80-85 throughout the day and the cage floor is generally in the 70-75 range. At night my house generally stays around 68-70. I have 2 digital thermometer/hygrometer combos, one up by basking, one down by floor. Also checked with digital infared laser thermometer.
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? They are generally 30-35 by basking and 40ish down lower.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Yes. A schefflera, croton, and hibiscus.
  • 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? Both cages are in a back room in my house where my 9 year old beardie lives. Not really high traffic, though their room is off of my mudroom which is high traffic. Both cages are about 6' off the floor.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? I am in upstate, NY.
 
Thank you all for the responses and kind words. She just went so quickly I felt like there had to be something I missed. I haven't been able to figure out how to upload that video. If I send it to myself in a message then the quality really takes a nosedive :(
 
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