Hey guys! I'm looking for some closure, and wanted to turn here for some info.
5 days ago I got home from work, and saw my beautiful little guy sleeping at the top of a plant that had tipped over. So I picked the little knucklehead up and put him onto his perch, where he usually likes to sleep and hang out. Since it was about 5am, he usually sleeps so I left him alone and hopped on my computer. About 20 or 30 minutes later I got tired and wanted to go to sleep. So I go back and start to admire him a little bit more. Except he's on the floor of his cage. I was a little concerned, so I figured that I'd monitor his behavior when I wake up. So I picked him up again, put him on another perch, one that he couldn't fall off of and just went to sleep. I've only had my friend a little less than a year, and he was a year old when I got him. But when I woke up, he was dead. He had fallen off of his perch, and was white as he can be. I immediately rushed him to the vet, who told me that he had passed away long before I got him to the vet.
I am a good care taker for chameleons. My guy was a Nosy Be Panther, who always had food crawling around his huge cage that I custom made. I don't want to type out all of the specs, but please trust that I put in the necessary research to ensure a healthy and happy environment for him to live in. He always had food, water, the proper temp, lights, misting system, and everything. The last time that I brought him to the vet though she was concerned about his weight. When she weighed him, he was about 150 grams. After he died he was 120 grams. She gave me a package of some liquid food for him. Something that I'd have to put into a syringe and drip onto his lips so that he would lick it off his face. I brought it home, and life happened where I simply forgot to give it to him. But I would always make sure that I had food ready and available for him, too. Sometimes an insect would get out of his cage, and I'd pick it up and place it right in front of him. And when I had him out, I had worms that he'd normally love to eat, but he wouldn't eat them, so I just assumed that he wasn't hungry.
I e-mailed the vet after the unfortunate happened, and I got this response:
John,
I am so sorry for you loss. I understand how emotional it is to lose a pet and I feel for you. We are always our own hardest critic especially when there has been a big loss so I understand why you feel responsible. It is extremely hard to say whether doing anything different at home would have made for a different outcome. Reptiles are so good at hiding symptoms that it is very hard to tell sometimes what is truly significant and what is not. We can only to our best and try to give them the best of everything. I know that you loved him so much and wanted the very best for him. I think the fact that you have already thought of improvements to make to the cage and care before getting another pet shows how much you really do care about your pets. I wish that I could tell you exactly what went wrong with Alladin. I am very concerned about an underlying organ issue like kidney disease or liver issues since he declined so fast but I cannot say for certain. He definitely became weak and continued to lose weight and that can be from so many possible causes. I hope you find some comfort in knowing that we understand your sadness. Again I am so sorry for your loss,
Dr. Jamie
As helpful as they are, I feel like it doesn't narrow down what did happen. I just have to trust her. But I am turning to this forum to see if anyone else has had a similar experience. Also, how long did it take you to get a new chameleon ? I am still very distraught over losing my chameleon because I loved him so much! At first I was going to sell everything, but now I'm thinking that I'm going to keep and improve his cage and eventually get a new one when I am done with my grieving process.
5 days ago I got home from work, and saw my beautiful little guy sleeping at the top of a plant that had tipped over. So I picked the little knucklehead up and put him onto his perch, where he usually likes to sleep and hang out. Since it was about 5am, he usually sleeps so I left him alone and hopped on my computer. About 20 or 30 minutes later I got tired and wanted to go to sleep. So I go back and start to admire him a little bit more. Except he's on the floor of his cage. I was a little concerned, so I figured that I'd monitor his behavior when I wake up. So I picked him up again, put him on another perch, one that he couldn't fall off of and just went to sleep. I've only had my friend a little less than a year, and he was a year old when I got him. But when I woke up, he was dead. He had fallen off of his perch, and was white as he can be. I immediately rushed him to the vet, who told me that he had passed away long before I got him to the vet.
I am a good care taker for chameleons. My guy was a Nosy Be Panther, who always had food crawling around his huge cage that I custom made. I don't want to type out all of the specs, but please trust that I put in the necessary research to ensure a healthy and happy environment for him to live in. He always had food, water, the proper temp, lights, misting system, and everything. The last time that I brought him to the vet though she was concerned about his weight. When she weighed him, he was about 150 grams. After he died he was 120 grams. She gave me a package of some liquid food for him. Something that I'd have to put into a syringe and drip onto his lips so that he would lick it off his face. I brought it home, and life happened where I simply forgot to give it to him. But I would always make sure that I had food ready and available for him, too. Sometimes an insect would get out of his cage, and I'd pick it up and place it right in front of him. And when I had him out, I had worms that he'd normally love to eat, but he wouldn't eat them, so I just assumed that he wasn't hungry.
I e-mailed the vet after the unfortunate happened, and I got this response:
John,
I am so sorry for you loss. I understand how emotional it is to lose a pet and I feel for you. We are always our own hardest critic especially when there has been a big loss so I understand why you feel responsible. It is extremely hard to say whether doing anything different at home would have made for a different outcome. Reptiles are so good at hiding symptoms that it is very hard to tell sometimes what is truly significant and what is not. We can only to our best and try to give them the best of everything. I know that you loved him so much and wanted the very best for him. I think the fact that you have already thought of improvements to make to the cage and care before getting another pet shows how much you really do care about your pets. I wish that I could tell you exactly what went wrong with Alladin. I am very concerned about an underlying organ issue like kidney disease or liver issues since he declined so fast but I cannot say for certain. He definitely became weak and continued to lose weight and that can be from so many possible causes. I hope you find some comfort in knowing that we understand your sadness. Again I am so sorry for your loss,
Dr. Jamie
As helpful as they are, I feel like it doesn't narrow down what did happen. I just have to trust her. But I am turning to this forum to see if anyone else has had a similar experience. Also, how long did it take you to get a new chameleon ? I am still very distraught over losing my chameleon because I loved him so much! At first I was going to sell everything, but now I'm thinking that I'm going to keep and improve his cage and eventually get a new one when I am done with my grieving process.
