TW/CW Sick/dying chameleon

[KharmaChameleon23]

Hi all,
This is a sad post to make and I’m not too sure what it’ll accomplish, but I want to start by saying my chameleon has passed away. If you don’t want to read how or why please stop reading now.
so I got my chameleon in February and thought he was a boy, come to find out he’s a female, but I kept his make pronouns because gender is fake. Beside the point, he was a very healthy dude, ate a lot, was sassy, and loved to be held and hand-fed. In August I set up his branches too close to the light and he got burned pretty bad, so I took him to my local reptile vet and they gave me oral antibiotics and a burn cream to put on his scars. He started doing much better, back to eating and climbing. Then in the first week of December he was ready to lay his eggs. I created a deep laybin for him and he came back up no apparent issues. I misted his cage and fed him a couple crickets. He ended up laying 57 eggs which I know is a lot. Then he didn’t seem interested in crickets so I went out to get liquid vitamins and calcium. After a couple days of not eating or drinking, he threw up the vitamins I tried to give him so I decided to take him into the same vet. The diagnosed him with mbd (which they didn’t say was an issue the last checkup) depression, anorexia, and severe dehydration. They sent me home with a/d wet dog/cat food and advised me to feed him 5mL a day. Along with a shot of antibiotics in each limb every 3 days. 3 days after the vet visit, Kharma died. Mostly I just want to know if what they prescribed was correct or maybe to share with someone else for things to watch out for or something. I’m still grieving so words of judgement are not appreciated right now. I’m just so sad I couldn’t do more for him.
thanks for reading

 

[Flick boy]

So sorry for your loss

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

I'm so sorry, I can't answer your question but I'm really sorry for your loss, this is my worst fear and I cant imagine what your going through.

 

[CBee7726]

Hi all,
This is a sad post to make and I’m not too sure what it’ll accomplish, but I want to start by saying my chameleon has passed away. If you don’t want to read how or why please stop reading now.
so I got my chameleon in February and thought he was a boy, come to find out he’s a female, but I kept his make pronouns because gender is fake. Beside the point, he was a very healthy dude, ate a lot, was sassy, and loved to be held and hand-fed. In August I set up his branches too close to the light and he got burned pretty bad, so I took him to my local reptile vet and they gave me oral antibiotics and a burn cream to put on his scars. He started doing much better, back to eating and climbing. Then in the first week of December he was ready to lay his eggs. I created a deep laybin for him and he came back up no apparent issues. I misted his cage and fed him a couple crickets. He ended up laying 57 eggs which I know is a lot. Then he didn’t seem interested in crickets so I went out to get liquid vitamins and calcium. After a couple days of not eating or drinking, he threw up the vitamins I tried to give him so I decided to take him into the same vet. The diagnosed him with mbd (which they didn’t say was an issue the last checkup) depression, anorexia, and severe dehydration. They sent me home with a/d wet dog/cat food and advised me to feed him 5mL a day. Along with a shot of antibiotics in each limb every 3 days. 3 days after the vet visit, Kharma died. Mostly I just want to know if what they prescribed was correct or maybe to share with someone else for things to watch out for or something. I’m still grieving so words of judgement are not appreciated right now. I’m just so sad I couldn’t do more for him.
thanks for reading

I'm sorry that you lost Kharma, it's always hard losing a pet.
Chameleon husbandry has a huge learning curve, and just as it is hard to find the right info on keeping chams, it is just as hard to find a good vet. Do you know if your reptile vet has experience with chameleons specifically?
Unfortunately I can't comment specifically on the treatment given. However, sometimes we do everything we can to take care of our little friends and it still just doesn't work out.

 

[Ramrod]

Nothing I could say would ease the pain of your loss except I'm sorry you had to deal with the situation.
Good luck for the future.

 

[Beman]

I do remember a picture you posted. A friend of mine was trying to help you but you stopped responding... https://www.chameleonforums.com/media/laying-eggs.52871/

It is too bad that you did not post sooner since you have been a member since October. There are many many keepers that could have helped you with your girl. Females are harder to care for. And when they are not on the correct feeding schedule and do not have the correct temps their bodies produce a ton of eggs. This is extremely hard for females. Takes a lot of energy for them to pass them all. Takes a lot out of their body to make the eggs.

This is further exacerbated when they do not have the correct UVB lighting or supplementation. When MBD comes into it this creates secondary issues. Bone density decreases. So for a female the simple act of laying eggs can kill them, much less trying to lay an extremely large clutch.

Typically chams with MBD are given liquid calcium and the vet prescribes a certain amount and schedule based on the weight. MBD is not visible until it is in more advanced stages... So for new keepers that do not know a lot about correct husbandry, supplements, and lighting this ends up being an extremely common issue that happens. And unfortunately is one of the most common reasons for a cham dying. Because new keepers do not have the knowledge to know what to look for. We see this a lot here.

While we are not Vets and we do not know what the vet saw that they were treating with antibiotics. I will say that most of us will not take our chameleons to a Vet that is not an exotic Vet. Regular vets are not trained the same way an exotic vet is.

I am sorry you lost your girl. Loss is never easy. From what you wrote it sounds more like a combination of a lot of things that led to her passing.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’m so very sorry for all that you went thru and your loss of your cham. Unfortunately there are way too many sources of misinformation about proper husbandry and it’s difficult to figure out what is correct. You obviously loved your cham and did your very best - no judgement here. I can’t comment on the care given by your vet as I truly don’t know. I do know from personal experience that not all vets are very knowledgeable about chams, even though they see and treat them. I wish you healing.

 

[Sullydatechie]

Loss is so hard especially when you work so hard to care for your cham the best you can. We put our hearts and souls into caring for our pets which is what makes this loss so deep. I send to you condolences and please know we are here to help. I wish I had known about this group with my last panther. He probably would still be alive today if I had. Hugs.

 

[.Luke.]

That is sad sorry... you need to tell how to sex a chameleon because the breeder can mess up or send the wrong one

 

[Fchamel]

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[kinyonga]

So sorry for your loss.
I wish I could answer your question about the treatment...but there is no way of knowing for sure now. If you decide to get another one, please post on here first so we can help you make sure you have everything set up right first. Hugs.