Rescue Meller's chameleon

[OldChamKeeper]

I think you were writing that while I posted mine. Please, you or anyone, please tell me if I contributed to Pascal's death. I think all of the changes he suffered today would have caused tremendous stress but if there is any way that I contributed, please tell me. I need to know.

That animal was dead before you tried to save it. No joke, nor sarcasm, nor unkindness in my words. Your pictures told me all I needed to see. I do have the experience to say what I have, there was nothing you nor he best Reptile vets around could have done for that poor critter by the time you took those pictures. Nothing more to say.

 

[JaniP]

I'm so so so sorry I came back hoping for some good news.

Your heart was in all the right places and you did your very best, and I am so glad you tried. Please don't beat yourself. The world needs more people like you. Rest easy, sweet pascal!

 

[brittbritt]

I'm very sorry about the sadness you're going through. It sounds like he was past the point of being able to be saved.

 

[bobcochran]

That animal was dead before you tried to save it. No joke, nor sarcasm, nor unkindness in my words. Your pictures told me all I needed to see. I do have the experience to say what I have, there was nothing you nor he best Reptile vets around could have done for that poor critter by the time you took those pictures. Nothing more to say.

Exactly!

 

[jhernandez5701]

Not even an hour ago I unexpectedly found myself "rescuing" a Meller's chameleon in horrible condition. I have two veiled chameleons currently and I had a Jackson's chameleon at one time, but I've never had a Meller's. This guys background is completely unknown to me. I can't even be sure of his age (but the guy claimed he was two).

I'll call him Pascal for now since it's the only name I've been able to think of.

Pascal is egregiously skinny. He almost seems to be nothing but skin and bone. There are clear indents between the muscles of his thighs and arms. I can see the outline of his kneecap. His tail is kinked. His scales look like some have peeled off (I thought they were bugs at first). He has a bulbous mass on two of his toes. There's a dark patch at the base of his tail (a bruise?).

I'm very concerned! I'm sitting at work with him on my desk. I don't know why I had to jump in like I did. Today is definitely not the day for me to be doing this, but the college kid that had him clearly didn't care about him. I thought I needed to intervene or no one else would. So now I'm at work with a sickly chameleon. Thankfully, the office temp isn't too bad (about 75 degrees). I have him sitting in the window for extra heat but I know it won't be much above the 75 degrees.

Pascal is acting like he has absolutely no energy. And judging by how skinny he looks, it's no wonder! What can I do? Please help me. I plan to run home as soon as I'm able to (I get off work in two more hours) and get him under some heat/UVB lamps. I have a dubia colony that I can offer him. I know that Meller's require a lot of humidity so I was planning to run a long shower for him as well. I don't have a cage large enough for him yet, so I'm going to let him free-range in the bathroom (with the mirror covered).

I mention these plans in case anyone has any better ideas. I need to get some weight on him quickly. Will dubias be enough? Should I try some silk worms instead? He's so big... would silk worms even satisfy him? What are other alternatives to fit his size? Can anyone give me a better concrete idea about his care? I found a few caresheets online but there aren't enough specific to Meller's to convince me that they are 100% correct. I don't feel like this guy can afford even one mistake.

Help!

Post pictures of him.

 

[Bryonier]

You guys are all so amazing. Thank you for the support. I cried until I had exhausted myself yesterday but I finally realized that you were all right. He was doomed from the start. He was so lethargic when I got him. The weak grip, the "dead" eye, the fact that he could barely hold himself up. There was nothing to be done. I wish a thousand times that I could have helped him... but at least he died warm. Believe it or not, that gives some small solace since I'm quite cold natured.

I'm really sorry, Bryonier, really really sorry.

I know you want some answers. You want to know if you had done something else, would there be a different outcome.

Did you hasten his death? To be honest, probably, but by how much? An hour? A day? Was that a bad thing? Absolutely not. He was likely doomed before you ever saw him, but at least you tried. The pictures suggested to me he was hours from death. He might have been in the process of dying when you picked him up. Did he suffer? Probably not. If he was extremely dehydrated he might not have suffered at all.. Studies have shown that (humans) feel a lot less pain and are a lot more comfortable before death when they are dehydrated, which is why a lot of dying patients are not given IV fluids.

If I were going to try to save that animal, I would have have driven him directly to an emergency clinic as soon as I took possession of him to get subcutaneous fluids. Would that have made any difference? To be honest, probably not.

He looked to be severely dehydrated and without any muscle mass. He might have been at the end stage of kidney failure. If it was kidney failure, it might have started when he was captured from the wild a couple of years ago and finally caught up with him and killed him now. He might have suffered chronic dehydration leading to kidney failure from the care while in captivity. It might be his previous owner's fault, it might not have been. That the kid didn't take him to the vet when the animal was in such obvious poor condition is inexcusable, but there might not have been anything any vet could have done to save him regardless of when he was treated. They don't put chameleons on dialysis and they don't do kidney transplants.

That's a guess of what his problem was, only a guess, but it is a leading cause of death of chameleons and Melleri are a little more challenging to keep them hydrated because they drink for so long and so much.

Again, I'm really sorry. I'm sorry that you are feeling as if you contributed to his suffering. You didn't do a bad thing. Be kind to yourself.

Thank you for this. Everyone's kind words have really helped me and everyone's advice - I would like to believe - helped him (however tiny), but this started my turning point.

 

[jajeanpierre]

You guys are all so amazing. Thank you for the support. I cried until I had exhausted myself yesterday but I finally realized that you were all right. He was doomed from the start. He was so lethargic when I got him. The weak grip, the "dead" eye, the fact that he could barely hold himself up. There was nothing to be done. I wish a thousand times that I could have helped him... but at least he died warm. Believe it or not, that gives some small solace since I'm quite cold natured.



Thank you for this. Everyone's kind words have really helped me and everyone's advice - I would like to believe - helped him (however tiny), but this started my turning point.

Something else to think about--he might have been very, very old. I don't know how big he was, but you don't know if he was old on import and basically dying because of old age-related problems. The idiot who had him might not have done anything wrong except not deal with this final crisis and then pass him off to you. Just a thought.

I understand how upset you are over this, worrying that you added to this animal's suffering. Please don't be. Dying animals look pretty rough, they really do, chameleons even more so.

 

[Bryonier]

Something else to think about--he might have been very, very old. I don't know how big he was, but you don't know if he was old on import and basically dying because of old age-related problems. The idiot who had him might not have done anything wrong except not deal with this final crisis and then pass him off to you. Just a thought.

I understand how upset you are over this, worrying that you added to this animal's suffering. Please don't be. Dying animals look pretty rough, they really do, chameleons even more so.

That's a possibility that hadn't occurred to me. He said Pascal was only 2 years old but then he also said Pascal would live to be 40.

 

[Connorology]

That's a possibility that hadn't occurred to me. He said Pascal was only 2 years old but then he also said Pascal would live to be 40.

A lot of pet owners seem to think of animals as being "born" when they obtain them. If he was WC who knows how old he was when his previous owner got him. Two years plus however old he was when imported.

Sorry you had to go through all of this. It sounds like you did everything right - if you had done nothing, the animal definitely would have died, and even with you assisting the odds were still terrible. You shouldn't feel personally responsible though, you went above and beyond just by trying to help.

 

[Carlton]

All of this reminded me of the first time I tried to order a specific species through a pet shop. The pet shop was the good one I got the sick female jax from, very responsible and careful, and the only one I would use. They found what I wanted on their wholesale list, we did our homework (though this was in the old days when just about everything was imported and there was no web). The big day came, I went to the shop to pick him up, and out of a paper bag came this emaciated skeleton of the wrong species. Even though I'd never seen one of this species in person it was obvious the poor guy was at death's door. I was horrified, the shop was mortified. I took him to the best herp vet around and we tried to save him, but he didn't even make it through the night. The torture that poor creature went through just killed me. At least, the shop followed through and "fired" the wholesaler.

I know exactly what you are feeling including the misplaced guilt. You say you are "quite cold natured"? I don't believe that at all.

 

[Bryonier]

A lot of pet owners seem to think of animals as being "born" when they obtain them. If he was WC who knows how old he was when his previous owner got him. Two years plus however old he was when imported.

Sorry you had to go through all of this. It sounds like you did everything right - if you had done nothing, the animal definitely would have died, and even with you assisting the odds were still terrible. You shouldn't feel personally responsible though, you went above and beyond just by trying to help.

You make a good point about their ages. An oversight perhaps, or maybe even deliberate on his part. I wouldn't put anything past that a$$hole.

All of this reminded me of the first time I tried to order a specific species through a pet shop. The pet shop was the good one I got the sick female jax from, very responsible and careful, and the only one I would use. They found what I wanted on their wholesale list, we did our homework (though this was in the old days when just about everything was imported and there was no web). The big day came, I went to the shop to pick him up, and out of a paper bag came this emaciated skeleton of the wrong species. Even though I'd never seen one of this species in person it was obvious the poor guy was at death's door. I was horrified, the shop was mortified. I took him to the best herp vet around and we tried to save him, but he didn't even make it through the night. The torture that poor creature went through just killed me. At least, the shop followed through and "fired" the wholesaler.

I know exactly what you are feeling including the misplaced guilt. You say you are "quite cold natured"? I don't believe that at all.

That's a horrible story, but so very familiar. I've rescued more than a few of my pets but Pascal was the worst off by far. He's also the only one I have ever lost. It just angers me so much that it took so long to get him help. Like with yours... the fact that he had to suffer for SO long and JUST when there's hope it's already too late. It's just... cruel.

And hahaha. I meant "cold natured" as in I get cold easily. I'm the one in the office that's always freezing. During winter I just want to cry because it feels like my blood is ice. In my opinion, it's one of the worst feelings ever. So I'm glad, at least, that Pascal died warm. That was, at the very least, one comfort I was able to give him.