Sick/Odd Behavior...?

[John1993]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Parsons, Female
• Handling - Multiple times per week (daily)
• Feeding - Gutload: Organic carrots, leafy greens, berries. Feeders: Crickets, Dubia, Hornworm, Superworm, occasionally stick/snail.
• Supplements - Daily phosphorous/D3 free calcium. Monthly reptivite and d3.
• Watering - Mistiking, 5x/day for 3 min each.
• Fecal Description - Normal
• History - My male parsons recently died. He had a very large cage - which has been unoccupied - and I decided to move my female parsons into the cage for an upgrade. She was completely normal before being moved into the cage but is now displaying sick behavior which I'll mention below.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Built it myself, probably around 2x size of Dragon Strand Atrium. (She was in Atrium before)
• Lighting - 2x reptisun 5.0 UVB, Basking light.
• Temperature - 75-90 F?
• Humidity - Optimal
• Plants - Schleffelra and Pothos, some ficus.
• Placement - Corner of large room

Current Problem - Ever since moving into the new cage, she's been displaying a lack of appetite, odd movement patterns (Hard to describe, imagine twitching sideways while walking), darker colors, and her eyes are sunken. I don't really know what could be causing this; it's been 3 weeks since I moved her into the new cage so I don't think it's her just acclimating to the new environment.

Pictures:

 

[ERKleRose]

Did you completely sterilize the cage before moving her in there?

 

[John1993]

Did you completely sterilize the cage before moving her in there?

No. I would not see why this would be beneficial. My other chameleon died of old age, no parasites or infection.

 

[ERKleRose]

No. I would not see why this would be beneficial. My other chameleon died of old age, no parasites or infection.

Irreguardless, you should’ve. Are you sure he didn’t die of anything besides old age? I would take her to the vet, sounds bad

 

[John1993]

Irreguardless, you should’ve. Are you sure he didn’t die of anything besides old age? I would take her to the vet, sounds bad

Yes I am sure. He was diagnosed with cancer.

 

[ERKleRose]

Sorry to hear that. I would take your female to the vet soon, especially since this has been going on for weeks (if I’m reading your post right)

 

[John1993]

Sorry to hear that. I would take your female to the vet soon, especially since this has been going on for weeks (if I’m reading your post right)

I have already sent in samples, still waiting for a response. Was just wondering if anyone has experienced this.

 

[Deo32]

Probably stress, though that can’t explain the odd walking.

 

[Jesspete]

Pictures didnt attach.

 

[Decadancin]

Although the other chameleon had cancer, that doesn't mean that is the actual cause of death. The immune system could have been compromised and made the animal weaker and susceptible to infections, etc. I would suggest a vet visit even though you are waiting for the results (fecal?) just to be on the safe side.

As you said, it doesn't sound like she is trying to acclimate to the enclosure.

 

[John1993]

Although the other chameleon had cancer, that doesn't mean that is the actual cause of death. The immune system could have been compromised and made the animal weaker and susceptible to infections, etc. I would suggest a vet visit even though you are waiting for the results (fecal?) just to be on the safe side.

As you said, it doesn't sound like she is trying to acclimate to the enclosure.

Blood and fecal

Also my pics are apparently too large to be posted here, anyone know how to fix?

 

[ERKleRose]

Blood and fecal

Also my pics are apparently too large to be posted here, anyone know how to fix?

Take a screenshot of the pics and post the screenshots

 

[John1993]

Just wanted to update:

She passed away. Unknown cause - both to me and vet. Samples were analyzed and everything.

Sucks because her babies just hatched too, kind of a bad omen.....at least I have dozens of these guys, though I hope whatever took her doesn’t get them too.

 

[JacksJill]

I'm sorry for your loss.
Is there any chance that your crickets ate any moldy food? There are some threads on that topic. Don't feed the same feeders to the babies that she was getting.

 

[ERKleRose]

Just wanted to update:

She passed away. Unknown cause - both to me and vet. Samples were analyzed and everything.

Sucks because her babies just hatched too, kind of a bad omen.....at least I have dozens of these guys, though I hope whatever took her doesn’t get them too.

I’m so sorry for your loss

 

[John1993]

I'm sorry for your loss.
Is there any chance that your crickets ate any moldy food? There are some threads on that topic. Don't feed the same feeders to the babies that she was getting.

I replace my carrots and stuff daily and the container is definitely not molding, so I don’t think that was the issue..also the babies are around 2 months old so they’ve been eating the same stuff for awhile and parsonii babies eat metric tons of food... if there was an issue with feeders they’d probabaly be in some trouble right now...