Unusual Newborn Baby Panther

[Mom]

Good evening, everyone.
Today my husband made an interesting discovery when a new egg hatched earlier this evening. A baby Panther with an abnormal head. This type of occurrence is a first for me, so I would love to know if any other members have ever come across any experiences like this one.

So far the baby seems healthy. It is a little wobbly when walking, but it's only about 30 mins old. The only abnormality is the head, which to me, resembles a head-butting dinosaur. As the next few days go on, I'll continue to observe it; but should I be concerned? All other hatchlings from this clutch and previous clutches in the past have been normal and healthy.

 

[JGuinan007]

Reminds me of Megamind or Leader (Samuel Sterns) of the Chameleon world!

Those might be good names

 

[phantomchameleon]

That... actually is very interesting. It possibly could be a skull deformity? I've never seen anything like this before.

 

[phantomchameleon]

And could you possibly post another pic of one other panther baby next to this one?

 

[Mom]

Mega Mind is a great name, and a great movie. I even think it's a boy. It was hard to tell because it was wiggly when I was observing it, but looking back at pics makes me think my first glance was right. And yes, let me snap a photo with a sibling so you can see the difference.

 

[Mom]

Looking back at the baby now, it actually looks like it may have some problem with the left arm. It looks weak when walking on that arm and explains the wobbly nature. It's arm kinda bows in.. Hard to explain. Not sure if this has anything to do with the way the baby grew inside the egg.. This baby actually took about 3-4 days to emerge from the egg, which isn't unusual.. Very strange. Anyways, here's another picture with a sibling. I'm sorry it's not the best picture, they don't stay still for long.

I'm hoping after some time out of the egg, maybe it will grow stronger and won't struggle as much on that left arm. But that still doesn't explain the unusual skull.

 

[phantomchameleon]

Looking back at the baby now, it actually looks like it may have some problem with the left arm. It looks weak when walking on that arm and explains the wobbly nature. It's leg kinda bows in.. Hard to explain. Not sure if this has anything to do with the way the baby grew inside the egg.. Very strange. Anyways, here's another picture with a sibling. I'm sorry it's not the best picture, they don't stay still for long.

Maybe it's a bone deformity in general, if theres a leg issue and the skull issue. Their head looks very very shiny. Is it scale-less on that part of the head?

 

[Mom]

The head does have scales. Hopefully all works out for this little one and there won't be any complications.

 

[phantomchameleon]

Please do keep us updated!

 

[Andee]

What were you supplementing the mother with?

 

[Mom]

My female has all the calcium. She gets her vit. With D3 and multivitamins every 2 weeks (and I offset them, so one week she gets D3 and the following week will me the
Multivitamins). And she gets her calcium without D3 daily. She has a healthy diet of hornworms, silk worms, pheonix worms and gut loaded crickets. She get misted 4-5 times a day as well as a dropper system. I've never had any problems with previous clutches are any other hatchlings from this clutch. It's just this little one.. Very strange, but unique.

As for the baby, last night the baby was on the branch with the rest sleeping. This morning I found it curled up on the bottom. It appeared to be sleeping, but didn't move when I misted it. I will check up on it after work and give an update.

Also, here's a photo of the mom.

 

[Andee]

What kind of multivitamins are you using? I honestly don't think it is likely a supplementation problem considering no one else out of the clutch had any problems and you didn't mention anything about an abnormal loss in eggs.

 

[Mom]

I'm not sure what kind of multivitamins at the moment, I will have to go home and look at the brand. But if I'm not mistaken, I think the multivitamin is the rep-cal brand. And there hasn't been any issues with any other previous clutches and no issues with this clutch other then this baby.

 

[Nursemaia]

The baby looks like it has hydrocephalus

 

[Link]

Maybe he was dropped on his egg.. on a serious note I've had one that's retained fluid in certain parts of the body but never seen a head like that could be a vitamin deficiency or something during pregnancy or the Egg was squished. How many eggs was in the clutch if I may ask

 

[Goose502]

I work in a neonatal intensive care unit, my guess is either a form of hydrocephalus or hydrops. It looks "puffy" all over in those pics. Has it been able to pass a poop or pee? I'm no veterinarian, I'm not sure chameleons can have either of those conditions, but both typically require a lot of intervention, and hydrops, depending on the type, could be a death sentence. Good luck, hope the little guy perks up and starts to get rid of all that fluid.

 

[Nursemaia]

I work in a neonatal intensive care unit, my guess is either a form of hydrocephalus or hydrops. It looks "puffy" all over in those pics. Has it been able to pass a poop or pee? I'm no veterinarian, I'm not sure chameleons can have either of those conditions, but both typically require a lot of intervention, and hydrops, depending on the type, could be a death sentence. Good luck, hope the little guy perks up and starts to get rid of all that fluid.

NICU takes a special kind of person. I agree with the hydrocephalus, he needs a little baby cham shunt

 

[Mom]

There was a little over 40 eggs in this clutch. They just started hatching a few days ago, and the first three to hatch before this one are healthy and eating and pooping just fine.

As far as seeing this one poop, I haven't been home to observe and it's hard to tell since all the little ones are kept together. When my husband came home from work he said he was climbing in tree, but when I got home a few hours later he was on the ground again. I just put him back in the flower pot I have in the enclosure, and the baby immediately started crawling around. So far I haven't witnessed it eat, but some it just hatched yesterday, so I will give it another day or two.

Considering how small it is, do you think a vet will be able to do anything to help fix the problem? I would love this baby to grow up with the rest, and become a strong, healthy chameleon. Despite its disabilities, it already has a special place in our hearts.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone for the feedback and advice I've gotten so far. Please keep sending good thoughts, a feel free to share any other information or stories. I will continue to update on the baby's condition over these next few days/weeks.

 

[phantomchameleon]

There was a little over 40 eggs in this clutch. They just started hatching a few days ago, and the first three to hatch before this one are healthy and eating and pooping just fine.

As far as seeing this one poop, I haven't been home to observe and it's hard to tell since all the little ones are kept together. When my husband came home from work he said he was climbing in tree, but when I got home a few hours later he was on the ground again. I just put him back in the flower pot I have in the enclosure, and the baby immediately started crawling around. So far I haven't witnessed it eat, but some it just hatched yesterday, so I will give it another day or two.

Considering how small it is, do you think a vet will be able to do anything to help fix the problem? I would love this baby to grow up with the rest, and become a strong, healthy chameleon. Despite its disabilities, it already has a special place in our hearts.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone for the feedback and advice I've gotten so far. Please keep sending good thoughts, a feel free to share any other information or stories. I will continue to update on the baby's condition over these next few days/weeks.

Maybe the chameleon will grow up normally overall? I doubt it, but it's always a possibility.

 

[Andee]

It sounds very much like he could have water retention in his brain. It causes some severe balance issues if I am correct.