Sven - Panther Chameleon acting ill, can he survive

T

TAnna22

New Member
Well now this one is hard. We have a panther chameleon that in the beginning when he was 5/6 months old was vibrant, active and alert. Now he is lethargic, pasty white, eyes beginning to sink in, and closing his eyes all day. I am so very emotional, I know something is not right. He is barely eating and drinking, although I was able to get him to drink a few drops of water this morning. He ate his calcium covered crickets 2 days ago took one small poop,
But now nothing, not even moving when I open the door to mist and feed. We are taking him to an exotic pet vet tomorrow, but am wondering if anyone else has had one with the same symptoms and has lived through the stress or illness?

Thank you,
 

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TAnna22 said:
Well now this one is hard. We have a panther chameleon that in the beginning when he was 5/6 months old was vibrant, active and alert. Now he is lethargic, pasty white, eyes beginning to sink in, and closing his eyes all day. I am so very emotional, I know something is not right. He is barely eating and drinking, although I was able to get him to drink a few drops of water this morning. He ate his calcium covered crickets 2 days ago took one small poop,
But now nothing, not even moving when I open the door to mist and feed. We are taking him to an exotic pet vet tomorrow, but am wondering if anyone else has had one with the same symptoms and has lived through the stress or illness?

Thank you,
Click to expand...
How old is he? Have you filled out a husbandry form?
 
Here is a Husbandry form.

If you answer these questions as thoroughly as possible, we can go thru all of your care and make suggestions as and where needed.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
Photos can be very helpful.
 
Do you have a good reptile vet with chameleon knowledge? When is the last time he had a good check up and a fecal test? If you don’t have a good vet, if you tell me where you are locate, I might be able to recommend a good vet.
 
Here is a Husbandry form.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Male, approximately 1 year old. We have had him 6 months.

Handling - We try not to handle him too much, but we do take him out when cleaning his habitat and the occasional outside venture to get natural sun.
Feeding - He eats mainly crickets, with the once a week superworm. We have tried the Dubai Roaches but no luck yet. He was eating around 2-3 crickets a day with no problems just 2 days ago, but then went from yummy eating to non movement at all eyes shut all day and stiff until we open the cage to mist.
Supplements - Unfortunately this is where I think we made our mistake, just until recently we made the mistake of not giving him a calcium vitamin product (ugh, why did I not know?). We purchased “Repashy, calcium plus.

Watering - We use a dripper and we mist at least 3 times a day as we live in a dry norther dessert environment. He used to drink all the time with no problems, off the live plants leaves and out of the dripper and even off our mister when spraying.

Fecal Description - His bowl movements looked normal with the white mucous and sold log after, there was a time in the beginning that it had an orange tinge, but did our research and found dehydration was from that, that was about 4 months ago and since changing our water intake for him there was never a problem after. He was pooping at least once a day. Now it’s been 3 days and nothing. We were trying to get a sample for the vet we found here locally, but he has not given anything for any infection. We do have an appointment tomorrow.

History - we recently began an addition and where his home was got a little uncomfortable with noise, so stress is on my mind for him, so we moved him just 2 days ago to a new area, but his behavior just got worse.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Cage is glass, 24x24x18 glass with a screen top. We made the mistake and kept the coiled small uvb light fixture until we just purchased a Reptisun 5.0 uvb light is 30” as we were beginning to build him a bee much larger can brained at least 3 times the size he is in now. 12 hours on, 12 hours off.

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - Humidity has stayed between 60-80% and have a temperature gauge in the back of cage to track.
Plants - We do use live plant and fake vines with wooden ladders on the sides of his cage. I can’t remember the name of plants but did do my research and made sure they were safe for specific chameleon. I also washed and rinsed ever leaf and changed out the soil to an organic soil and placed sanitized rocks over the top of the soil.
Cage Location : His cage was originally in the kids room as it was mellow and away from the hustle and bustle for the most part, but due to a karate addition project, noise and confusion began for at least a month. So we moved him to our front room, near a window but not too close, we close the windows at night to make it not too cold for him. He is not near any air vents.
Location - We live in the high, northern desert but maintain his temperature very well, although dry that is where I think we have done a great job keeping his cage appropriately misted. More misting in the morning and evening and lighter misting to make up for the dry weather during the day.
Current Problem - Our poor Sven started losing a lot of his Coker after his last shed about 4 weeks ago. That is where I did not think anything was wrong as he was shedding, but he never got his color back and began to not be as active as he was back when we first got home and even just 2 months ago. He is overly lethargic and shutting his eyes almost all day, today he is falling off his branches and it hard for him to move. His eyes are begging in sink in when he does open them. As I am writing this he just took a not healthy poop and is about to fall off into his plant. When I was grabbing his sample he began gape with his mouth wide open, again knowing this severe. I honestly don’t know if he is going to make it through the night.
 
Praying he makes it thru and the vet is able to help him recover.
From what you say of your husbandry, he hasn’t been getting any supplements and inadequate uvb. Without these things, his body just isn’t able to function. If he makes it, you’ll need to follow the supplement regimen the vet gives you for as long as the vet tells you.
Just fyi, the standard supplementation is phosphorus free calcium without D3 every feeding. Then once every other week each for a multivitamin and a D3. The Repashy Calcium Plus is basically an all in one multivitamin/D3 combo that would be used one feeding every other week.
I do suggest printing out a copy of the husbandry info you provided and give to the vet. It will save much time in asking tons of questions. Wishing you and your guy the very best. 💗
 
MissSkittles said:
Praying he makes it thru and the vet is able to help him recover.
From what you say of your husbandry, he hasn’t been getting any supplements and inadequate uvb. Without these things, his body just isn’t able to function. If he makes it, you’ll need to follow the supplement regimen the vet gives you for as long as the vet tells you.
Just fyi, the standard supplementation is phosphorus free calcium without D3 every feeding. Then once every other week each for a multivitamin and a D3. The Repashy Calcium Plus is basically an all in one multivitamin/D3 combo that would be used one feeding every other week.
I do suggest printing out a copy of the husbandry info you provided and give to the vet. It will save much time in asking tons of questions. Wishing you and your guy the very best. 💗
Click to expand...
Thank you.
 
MissSkittles said:
Praying he makes it thru and the vet is able to help him recover.
From what you say of your husbandry, he hasn’t been getting any supplements and inadequate uvb. Without these things, his body just isn’t able to function. If he makes it, you’ll need to follow the supplement regimen the vet gives you for as long as the vet tells you.
Just fyi, the standard supplementation is phosphorus free calcium without D3 every feeding. Then once every other week each for a multivitamin and a D3. The Repashy Calcium Plus is basically an all in one multivitamin/D3 combo that would be used one feeding every other week.
I do suggest printing out a copy of the husbandry info you provided and give to the vet. It will save much time in asking tons of questions. Wishing you and your guy the very best. 💗
Click to expand...
Unfortunately he died today. We are heart broken.
 
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