Panther chameleon passed away and I dont understand what happened please help!

[Marinewife34]

I am very sorry for your loss.

I went through the exact same thing last year with my beautiful veiled. My boy had been healthy one day and swallowing his tongue the next. Then when he seemed on the mend from that he took a sharp turn and I had to euthanize him that morning. He was only 2 years old.

I too chose not to necropsy him, it's just too hard to do to your baby. So I understand where you are coming from. To me your husbandry seems right and you did everything for him. So it must have been something internal that is hard to explain and find, sometimes things just happen. Don't beat yourself up too bad, it will hurt for awhile and you may feel like you can never get back into the hobby. However, with time your wounds will heal and you may want to try again (it has taken me nearly a year to come back to the forums and want to return to the hobby). Life is delicate but the love you receive from animals makes every moment precious. Particularly with chameleons.

Again, I am so very sorry for your loss. But you have a whole community who's hearts break with you, so you are not alone.

Thank you and I'm sorry for yours as well, it is really hard, chameleons really are amazing. Pascal was the best animal I've ever had I know it's gonna take me a while like you said. it helps having everyone on this forum helping me through this and especially knowing that I wasn't doing anything wrong, He will always have a special place in my heart. It's hard passing by the spot he was at and him just not being there. He was just such an amazing animal. Thank you again for your reply and your help.

 

[jajeanpierre]

@Marinewife34 I'm really really sorry for your loss. I know you want to know "why" but you might never know. Even if the vet did a necropsy, you might not have an answer.

I know they sometimes get an aneurysm in the main artery leading towards their tail. @ferretinmyshoes, a reptile vet, mentioned that as a not-so-uncommon cause of sudden death in a perfectly healthy animal. You would not know that was the cause of death unless a vet performed a necropsy. I've had sudden death from acute respiratory failure caused by lung worms (confirmed by a vet who did the necropsy). That animal was a wild caught. Your vet's test wouldn't have picked them up.

Most other causes of death are not sudden although they might appear sudden to the owner who hasn't noticed the subtle signs of illness. Few deaths are sudden at all, but even sudden deaths might not have an obvious cause, even when a really top notch vet is doing the necropsy.

Again I'm sorry for your loss.