Rip Lewis and don't know why.

[kk1020man]

Cage Type - 12"X18"X24" exo-terra
Lighting - Using exo-terra 12 light 26 watt repti-sun. From 9 am to 9pm. The basking light is a 75 watt zoo-med.
Temperature - Under the basking high is 90 and away from basking is 78-82Humidity - they are aroun 50 and misting 3-4 times a day for about a 1 min.
Plants - Using fake and have climbing branches.
Location - In our bedroom in a corner. No breezes, no fans on.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, 4-5 months, male.
Feeding - 15 or so crickets that were gutloaded before feeding, and 1 or 2 wax worms a week. We are using calcium no d3 4 times a week, d3 2 times a week, and vitamins 1 time a month.
Watering - We use misting schedule and yes we see him drink.
Fecal Description - We see brown droppings with white included.
Current Problem - He just died today.

Today when I got home my girlfriend told me that lewis died today when she got up in the morning. She was about to feed him when he was on the bottom on his side with his tongue hanging out. I was at work all day so I did not get to see him. Yesterday he was acting fine. He was acting normal showing no sign of sickness or anything, he ate less crickets than normal but other than that no change. He showed his same coloring like always, green and when he went to hunt his colors always changed. He didn't have mbd, and didn't show any signs of sickness. I don't know where we went wrong. I purchased him from a reptile shop in san antonio texas. We had him for around a month and a half.

 

[Julirs]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Sounds like you were doing everything right. The only question I would have would be was the exoterra a glass enclosure? High temps and humidity can cause URI's that can act quickly on any cham. Also the cage seemed a bit small for a cham that age.

 

[kk1020man]

open air.

It was an open air on all sides. There was no glass in the enclosure. I just don't know why all of a sudden this happened. If he was sick wouldn't he show a sign? I already miss him. You can check out my pics by clicking my image and go to pics. I could not upload them all. I want to know what went wrong so when I get another I will learn from this. He was an explorer in his cage.

 

[Julirs]

Cage looked great. This may be a stupid question-but are you sure Lewis was a boy?

 

[Julirs]

When was the picture in the post above taken?

 

[kk1020man]

This was taken about a week ago and right after we got him out of the cage, he was a little upset, but I thought it was nice colors. Yes he was a male, he had the spurs on the back feet. I know that females may become egg bound and may die if you don't let them lay. Thanks for asking all these questions to find out might have went wrong.

 

[Julirs]

Sometimes you just don't know what happens. Buy from a breeder next time-they mail order just fine and are much healthier. Mine came from FL Chams-mail order (all 7 of them) and they are all healthy and my male at 8 months is 16" long. I lost my first also, and I know how hard it is. Don't be afraid to start again.

 

[kk1020man]

Thanks that helps alot. I want to start again but just want an answer if any. I have lewis in the photo contest when he is praying, check it out he is cute. Thank you for posting.

 

[Hempa]

I´m sorry for your loss.

But I think it´s hard for anyone to tell you what the reason was. Like Julirs said it seemed like you were doing everything right.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

what kind of fake plants? around 5 months, they'll often start to nibble on plants. I've had a subadult female die shortly after purchase due to impaction caused by ingestion of fake plants. she had ripped fake plants off their stem - they were not plastic, but that fake ivy used for crafts. I only use that with babies.

 

[MWheelock]

I'd probably recommend a necropsy (autopsy on animals). Your regular vet should be able to do at least a gross necropsy, looking for worms, abnormal lesions, foriegn bodies (you could do this yourself if you are up for it.)

This might not give you a definitive answer, but it might as well.

Matthew

 

[kk1020man]

Yeah he did try to nip at some fake plants but they are the plastic plants used in aquariums. I would do a necrotopsy but taking to a vet is out of the question right now, with some money probs. We went to a couple reptile stores and they looked at pics and our setup and they had no reason for him passing so soon, except he may have gotten sick before we got him and it just caught up to him now. We looked at getting another in about a week or two. We will not give up. Thanks again for all people that replied. If anyone else has had this happen or heard of this happening please reply. thank you

 

[DkRhodes]

sorry about your loss.

 

[nateboston78]

Sorry for your loss. Get back in the saddle and if you really want to know what happened, you could think about getting an necropsy from the vet. If you plan on acquiring another cham, be sure to disinfect and clean up all your equipment to prevent any contamination.

 

[John33871]

sorry for your lost, happened to me too, i just tried again a year later. dont give up on chameleons. again sorry