some pics of my sick boy. (help sheet included)

[flashjord101]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - 2 year old male Ambilobe panther chameleon. raised since a baby.
Handling - Daily handling. He loves to come out.
Feeding - alternating crickets and silk worms. cricket crack and greens for gutload.
Supplements - Alternate miner-all, calcium with vit D, Herptivite. (however I am only going to give hm the vit d and herptivite once a month from here out)
Watering - Mist king. 5 minutes every two hours. I do see him drink.
Fecal Description - Never tested for parasites. fecal usually looks healthy brown with an orange ring and then white urate.
History - Came from Kammers.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - DIY cages screen enclosure. 48x24x24
Lighting - 2 repitsun 5.0 tubes. 12 hours on.
Temperature - basking is at 80-85 degrees F. doesn't drop below 60 at night.
Humidity - ranges from 50 85%. humidity comes from the mist king only.
Plants - Ficus Benjamina
Placement - Cage is in dining room. It is relatively close to a cieling heating vent. We have been using it at night. The cage is about 4 feet away from the vent a 3 feet below it. The top of the cage is about 6 feet from the floor.
Location - Venice beach CA.


Current Problem - Here is my situation with Harold. Male Ambilobe Panther 2 years old. Hes been happy and healthy until yesterday he started grasping his front leg with his back feet as he climbed etc. sometimes knocking him off balance and maybe even a fall or 2. I knew this could be a sign of MBD so I took him to the vet . She did xrays and blood test. Bones and everything look good. She said kidney's looked a bit odd so she sent the xray to a colleague and we should have results from the blood test tomorrow.

However she did say he is extremely dehydrated, which surprised me because he eats and drinks regularly and his urate has been white (she said that white urate could actually mean dehydration in this case...) . I have the mist king go for 5 min every 2 hours (which I will increase).

I have increased his misting cycles to 10 minutes every ten hours. Harold is very lethargic. I tried the shower method but he did not drink. I am now soaking him in warm pedialyte as per the vet. I will be searching out a new vet for a 2nd opinion. He has not eaten today and just seems miserable. His movements are very slow and he continues to trip himself by grabbing his front leg with back foot.


The pictures of him yellow and stressed are at the vet. The pictures of him on the branch is him today. He's been staying out of the heat light. There is also a pic of him in the shower (method) grabbing his leg. the blurry pic. I'm concerned about how stressed he is at the moment.

Any help and advice is much appreciated. It's very upsetting to see my pet sick and unhappy.




thanks,
Jordan

 

[Carlton]

He doesn't look dehydrated to me at all. However, I think you have been oversupplementing him with the Herptivite (if you were giving it to him more than once a month) and the calcium with D3. How old is your UV bulb? If over 6 months in use replace it and get him outdoors in sunlight if you can.

He looks sort of bloated or overweight. His torso looks very massive. His casque looks almost too full and there is a sort of collar around his neck that could be fat or edema. The appearance of edema could be masking dehydration but I don't really think so. If he was dehydrated you would see orange or very hard discolored urates and constipation. I don't think a white urate is correct "of dehydration in this case" to quote your vet. What she may be wondering is some problem with kidney function and I would definitely pursue that aspect.

If this were my cham I would NOT do the Pedialyte soaks. You don't know what is going on and this could mask the true problem or make it worse. Wait for the blood work before "treating" him.

 

[flashjord101]

thank you this is helpful. I agree, didn't think he was dehydrated and I am seeing a new vet tomorrow night. I'll hopefully have blood results. I have been diligent to change UV bulbs every 6 months. He is so lethargic right now and is having trouble balancing and climbing. He keeps grabbing his his leg and I'm nervous of falls. At this stage I'm concerned about over stressing him. I'll take your advice and leave him be until blood work, (no pedialyte baths and no more shower method) wait for blood work and try a new vet. I just hope he makes it that long. He's in bad shape. Very upsetting. I will post a picture of the position he has chosen and is not moving from it. Very odd for him.

 

[flashjord101]

Here is the position he has chosen

He is so uncomfortable. It almost seems like he has had a stroke the way he has difficulty balancing and climbing. sorry the pics are upside down. He is more hanging vertically with his head down. holding on with left front foot and two back feet and tail. Body is not supported on the branch (just in the air) and right foot is not grasping anything he's just kind of holding it up. I tried to adjust him to get him in a more standard position but decided to let him be.

 

[Carlton]

He is so uncomfortable. It almost seems like he has had a stroke the way he has difficulty balancing and climbing. sorry the pics are upside down. He is more hanging vertically with his head down. holding on with left front foot and two back feet and tail. Body is not supported on the branch (just in the air) and right foot is not grasping anything he's just kind of holding it up. I tried to adjust him to get him in a more standard position but decided to let him be.

Try putting a heap of towels under his plant so if he falls he may feel comfortable enough just to stay there. I'm not worried about the fall itself, just that he is comfortable. Poor little guy!

 

[flashjord101]

Already did that. 1st reaction from my g-friend thank you!