R.I.P. Vishnu and Sita

PygmyBeardie

New Member
The one i found first (Vishnu) was horrifying. His eyes were gone his mouth was open, his usually fat belly was flat as a leaf, the skin under his jaw was falling off the bones so you could see the roof of his mouth from below, and his belly was torn open a little and the cloaca was festering, and he smelled like death... But i didn't notice until later because i was crying so hard. I immediately started looking for the other two and found another body not far from the first. It was Sita, the only girl and the youngest, and she looked like she had died overnight... I was so upset... She was my favorite. But i was so relieved when i found the third alive and apparently well....

I think they died of a fungal infection, so i took the other one to the vet because Sita obviously died of exposure to Vishnu, and the other (Kartikeya) is susceptible to the same thing. The vet gave me antibiotics and told me to clean out his tank (so there goes my weekend). He's back in his tank now, and it's sooo empty in there :c he's staying up near the top i think because it smells on the ground where i found the others. Smart dude. The two that died were Sita, the only girl and the sweetest and cutest (and likely the youngest) of the whole lot, and Vishnu, the big guy that was gentle and seemed to be the oldest of the lot. I buried them... They will be sorely missed, by me and kartikeya both :c

R.I.P. Vishnu, Rhampholeon temporalis
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R.I.P. Sita, Rieppeleon brevicaudatus
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Sita and Vishnu have both been buried now, and hopefully they can find peace, on that rainbow bridge where all pets go. I cannot express how much I will miss them.
 
I am sincerely sorry for your loss :(

The second picture is splendid.

Good look for the future! May this learning experience be useful for dozen of chameleons that will follow! :)
 
Consider purchasing a small 10g tank to house your last pygmy in until you can get everything out of your other one. If it was fungal then you might want to consider starting completely over with the terrarium. Sorry for your loss though, pygmy chameleons are so much fun!
 
I am so sorry for your loss. I would do as Chad said and not keep the one you have left in that same house. I would be terrified that he'd catch it and die too.
 
Sorry about that, it happens more than we would like with WC specimens.
If memory serves you got these from LLL?
You would really have no idea how old they were or what parasites they were carrying.
Are you guessing on the fungal diagnosis?
I would (without seeing them in person) guess it was parasitic load combined with the stresses of importation.
As far as we know these are not terribly long lived animals and having imported adults is a risk.
Again, sorry to here you lost them. It is easy to get attached to these guys.

-Brad
 
They both died so close to eachother, I can only assume it wasn't coincidence. I found a dead plant in there yesterday covered in fungus... I didn't even see it before. When they died I took their bodies to my forensics teacher, Dr. Berkemeier. She immediately diagnosed a fungal infection based on the smell and look of their bodies.
 
I'm sorry for your loss but must ask...how long were they dead before you noticed? Flesh falling from the bones on the face, and other things you mentioned sound like they (or at least the 1st one) were passed away for quite some time.(perhaps several days?) If not, I would be very leery of contaminating not only the remaining cham but yourself. If this was an overnight occurrence, it sounds pretty nasty. Be careful and use good quarantine procedures.
 
Sad story - sorry to hear it.

I would also doubt fungal (but I'm not a vet). I do know that molds grow relatively slowly and to cause that much damage is a short time frame would be unlikely. Also, mold on leaves is very common and exposure to these types of mold occurs in high levels on a daily basis just from outdoor decomposition of organic materials. Most "leaf molds" are not considered to be pathgenic (cause of infection)...at least in humans.

Regardless, it looks like a weekend of cleaning out an enclosure is your best bet. No fun at all considering what you've been through.
 
I don't know how long the first one was dead. With the high temperatures and humidity, the decay process is sped up significantly, so it could have been anywhere from 1.5-3 days, I think.
 
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