OldChamKeeper
Chameleon Enthusiast
Some of those here know me. Those that do, know a bit about Atlas.
Atlas was my first Parson in nineteen years. Prior to him I worked with and helped rehab a fair number of them way back in the late eighties to early nineties before the importation ban resulted in them not being available at all. It was easily one of the most exciting days in my adult life when I got a box from Garrett containing a tiny male parson weighing less than 70g. Worth every penny too. That was back in early 2015.
I used all my experience (and a chunk of change) to build him a proper indoor habitat along with a nice outdoor one too. He had the best life he could short of just being left in the wild (although he was was captive hatched, 05/16/2014)
It was in March of 2016 I screwed up. I left large hornworm in his cage and completely forgot how strong their grip can be. Instead of the worm flying into his mouth, he had to run to it. The result was a damaged tongue. Think a pulled muscle or a torn Achilles. Regardless, it never healed and he never again could shoot for his food. I spoke with the best among us and utilized the best Herp vet. The simple truth was there was nothing to do but let time heal it. While there was never any visible injury, the animal couldn't shoot more than an inch. He also refused to cup feed. I let him go without food for 10 days once to get him to start cup feeding, but I broke first. So I would get him to open his mouth three days a week and feed him a few roaches. Once in his mouth he ate them on his own without issue.
And so our routine continued for over four years. Multiple times every week. It didn't matter, this was my Parson. He got hurt because of me and that damn hornworm. He grew from 70g to 774g over that time. with over 600 of those grams during the force feeding years. He was growing, it was working. If you can grow a Parson, you're doing something right. Let alone over that many years.
So today, I went in to grab his nose and get a few roaches in him like usual. He was in his sleeping spot which was odd, then I realized his tail was just straight, not holding a branch. When I got around to his face his eyes were sunken in. He was gone. He drank the day before like normal, had one roach too. No issues.
I did not see anything wrong with him. Guessing some type of organ failure. Nutrition wasn't optimal, nor the manner by which he ate. I considered a necropsy, as I have with some past animals, but instead opted to just put him to rest.
Thanks for all the encouragement over the years. This is still the best source for chameleon info out there (even if you are all a bunch of panther and veiled lovers).
Atlas was my first Parson in nineteen years. Prior to him I worked with and helped rehab a fair number of them way back in the late eighties to early nineties before the importation ban resulted in them not being available at all. It was easily one of the most exciting days in my adult life when I got a box from Garrett containing a tiny male parson weighing less than 70g. Worth every penny too. That was back in early 2015.
I used all my experience (and a chunk of change) to build him a proper indoor habitat along with a nice outdoor one too. He had the best life he could short of just being left in the wild (although he was was captive hatched, 05/16/2014)
It was in March of 2016 I screwed up. I left large hornworm in his cage and completely forgot how strong their grip can be. Instead of the worm flying into his mouth, he had to run to it. The result was a damaged tongue. Think a pulled muscle or a torn Achilles. Regardless, it never healed and he never again could shoot for his food. I spoke with the best among us and utilized the best Herp vet. The simple truth was there was nothing to do but let time heal it. While there was never any visible injury, the animal couldn't shoot more than an inch. He also refused to cup feed. I let him go without food for 10 days once to get him to start cup feeding, but I broke first. So I would get him to open his mouth three days a week and feed him a few roaches. Once in his mouth he ate them on his own without issue.
And so our routine continued for over four years. Multiple times every week. It didn't matter, this was my Parson. He got hurt because of me and that damn hornworm. He grew from 70g to 774g over that time. with over 600 of those grams during the force feeding years. He was growing, it was working. If you can grow a Parson, you're doing something right. Let alone over that many years.
So today, I went in to grab his nose and get a few roaches in him like usual. He was in his sleeping spot which was odd, then I realized his tail was just straight, not holding a branch. When I got around to his face his eyes were sunken in. He was gone. He drank the day before like normal, had one roach too. No issues.
I did not see anything wrong with him. Guessing some type of organ failure. Nutrition wasn't optimal, nor the manner by which he ate. I considered a necropsy, as I have with some past animals, but instead opted to just put him to rest.
Thanks for all the encouragement over the years. This is still the best source for chameleon info out there (even if you are all a bunch of panther and veiled lovers).
