Sick Panther Chameleon

[ChameleonPanther]

Hey guys, I need some help. My chameleon has been sick for about a week now. She's about a year old, I've had her for 8 months and got her when she was about 2-4 months old. I took her to the vet and found out she has an infection, which included mouth rot and and eye infection. I also found out she has eggs inside of her. I was given eye drops, a mouth wash, and calcium glubionate to give he (I gave her .90ml instead of the 0.09 I was suppose to give her the first 3 doses :/). She has since then vomited, had diarrhea, and refusing to eat. I took her to the vet again today, was given addition meds, and Emeraid Carnivore so that I can syringe feed her. After work, I bought her a bucket and sand so that she can lay her eggs. I removed the plants in her cage and placed the bucket inside. I placed her in the bucket but she climbed out after a few minutes, without digging. It has been an hour and she is just standing on the rim of the bucket sleeping. I'm afraid that she might be too worn out to dig into the sand and lay her eggs. There's about a foot worth of sand/water in the bucket. I've also covered the cage with a blanket so that she can have privacy.

Can anyone give me some advice that might help? Should I keep her uv light on to help her dig? I'm pretty worried that she might be passing soon.

 

[sharp229]

Do you have any pictures of her after the symptoms started to occur? Do you or the vet have any idea of when the eggs started to develop?

An eye infection and mouth rot should be relatively simple to treat as long as you caught them early, but egg binding is much more serious. If she isn't able to lay on her own the vet may have to give her oxytocin to help her lay. If it goes too long the only way to remove them is surgery and that is very risky.

Since it sounds like she is sleeping during the day she may not be strong enough to lay them normally. You could try starting some holes for her and see if she will use one, and I you may also want to try putting some fake plants in the sand. However, if she will not lay soon and is still going down hill, I would talk to the vet and see if something like oxytocin could help her.

 

[ChameleonPanther]

I tried to post 2 pictures that I just took right now but can't seem to get them off my sd card... She also has had discoloration on her skin but the vet believes it's all due to the same infection. The vet thinks the eggs started to develop within the last week. On the x-rays that they took Friday, he says that the eggs were barely visible (he wasn't too sure if they were eggs). Today when they took the x-rays the cluster grew and said they were definitely eggs. She seems to be moving around more right now that I had to wake her up to give her the meds but she doesn't seem to be taking to the bucket. I'm thinking I should keep her light on tonight to promote activity. I believe she has been sleeping all day. I'm sure she is worn out from all the people handling her the last few days.

 

[sharp229]

If the eggs did just start developing within the last week, it would be a while before she is ready to lay them. It usually takes around 20-30 days to lay from the day they start forming.

I would leave the lights on a normal schedule so that she does not get confused even more than she is. Even if the lights go off when she is laying, that is fine. It is not uncommon for them to sleep in their tunnel the night they lay.

If the eggs are still too small to be laid right now, I would worry more about getting the environment and the husbandry right. You mentioned the vet is giving her calcium, does he think she has MBD or is this just for the egg development? Do you have a good UVB light?

If you could copy and paste and fill out the following form, that would help. Pictures would also help a lot.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[ChameleonPanther]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female Panther. Has been in my care for 8 months.
Handling - A couple of times a week.
Feeding - Feeding crickets and superworms. They are gutloaded with the Flucker's Cricket Quencher and High Calcium Cricket Diet. The vet recently gave me a gutloader they use.
Supplements - I use the Rep-Cal Herptivite with Beta Carotene Multivitamin every other day.
Watering - I mist 3 times a day and used a dripper. Last week I got a bigger cage and a fountain to use for water. She drinks a few times a week. Since she has been sick she hasn't drank.
Fecal Description - He poop is pretty solid. Yellow and brownish coloring.. Sorry, I can't give a great description. She hasn't been checked for parasites but I was given medication for them (Flagyl Liquid). The vet did believe she may have parasites due to gas in the xray.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage, 36 x 18 x 18
Lighting - I recently replaced the UV light but do not have the brand name for it. She gets 12 hours of light from 7 to 7.
Temperature - The bottom is about 77 degrees and the took is about 93. I use a digital thermometer.
Humidity - The humidity is currently at 55% - since removing the live plants to make room for the sand bucket it has been difficult to keep it up.

Plants - I have a golden pothos, red hibiscus, and a small bamboo plant... Right now I only have the hibiscus in there since it is the only one that fits.
Placement - The cage is in my room, there is a fan and an air vent. It isn't a high traffic area. The top of the cage is about 4 and a half feet from the floor.
Location - Texas

Current Problem - Started with mouth rot and an eye infection. Now she is not eating or drinking. Also, she has eggs inside of her. The meds have helped with her mouth rot but her eye hasn't improved. She started the meds last Friday.

Sharp - The Vet gave her calcium but didn't mention anything about her have MBD. She advised me it was to keep her immune system up. Do you think I should take the bucket out and put the live plants back in there until she is ready to lay? I didn't know it took so long.

I took a pick of the left and right eye so you can see a comparison. It hasn't improved since starting the eye drops. I've also noticed that he belly has expanded but I'm assuming those are the eggs.

Thanks for your help!

 

[ChameleonPanther]

That is a bad picture of the right eye. She was still asleep when I took that picture. Her right eye looks fine and much better than that picture. However, the picture of her left eye is accurate and that is what worries me.

 

[zlew]

She does have some sinus/mouth infection going on. The vet may have to drain the pus. As for your husbandry, the egg laying difficulty (if there really is any) could be related to your lack of proper supplementation. She needs: Calcium without D3 everyday, calcium WITH d3 twice a month, and multivitamin twice a month. Too much multivitamin can be dangerous. It sounds like she only just started developing the eggs, so I would mainly focus on trying to help her infection. She may also be too hot, I would lower the temps at the top to about 85 or so, and towards the bottom down to seventy.

 

[ChameleonPanther]

Thanks guys for the help. Unfortunately, my chameleon passed away early this morning... The vet did mention the possibility that she might have had parasites and gave me medicine for that. Are parasites something she would have had while at the pet shop or while she was in my care?

 

[zlew]

It's hard to say. Sometimes, they just get parasites from a feeder or a dirty spot in their cage and it's really nobody's fault, so that's why a few poop tests a year are recommended

 

[sharp229]

Really sorry for your loss, didn't see this until just now due to work . The only thing I see that is really off in your husbandry is the supplementation and gut loading like zlew mentioned. You should dust at every feeding with plain calcium, calcium with D3 twice a month, and multivitamin twice a month. 93F is higher than it should be for a female panther (ideally 85) but it is not enough to have caused this problem.

In the pictures, it does look likely that there is some kind of sinus infection, and that is probably related to the eye problems as well. It also looks like she has a bruise on her side. However, I don't see any sign of MBD.

Because this happened so suddenly, and outwardly she does not look particularly bad, my guess would be it was caused by some kind of reproductive issue. But the only way to know for sure would be to have a vet do a necropsy if you still have her body.