Update on Walker

[GabeCastro]

Nice one! He's lucky to have such a dedicated daddy! Give him a kiss from me x

Lol...I can't imagine Max kissing a chameleon hahahah.

Glad to hear walkers doing good! I knew he'd pull through. Great job for yourself aswell. You took action on a problem asap and it's already healing up.

 

[maxttu]

Both eyes are wide open and very alert. There looks to be some skin around the turrets.

 

[shaunaroxanne]

Yay! He looks good

 

[GabeCastro]

You should mist walker with hot water (comes out warm) to help loosen that stuff up. Use a Q-Tip and gently massage the nasty stuff out. Be sure the qtip is warm, be extra gentle aswell. Once cleaned up a nice shower should be good. Did he have an infection in both eyes?

So far he's lookin good!

 

[Lovereps]

What a difference some medications and time make!
3 days ago he seemed worse for the vet visit.
Glad he is looking so good.

 

[maxttu]

Update: the right eye is still jacked up. I was a bad daddy and left his meds in San Antonio over the weekend. I gave him his small dose of baytril and applied the eye drops today. <crossing fingers>

He is getting lots of mistings and saline flushes in between treatments. Water intake is ok, but he's still not eating. I may have to start force feeding. Any thoughts on force feeding? His fat pads still look ok and I don't want to cause anymore undo stress.

It took me about 5 minutes to get him to open up today to take his meds. I know he was stressed out. Poor guy.

 

[laurie]

Walker loves you, he will forgive you forgetting. But if it happens again he will start begging to come live with me. He is going to be fine, Max, it will just take a tiny bit longer.

 

[maxttu]

Walker loves you, he will forgive you forgetting. But if it happens again he will start begging to come live with me. He is going to be fine, Max, it will just take a tiny bit longer.

You're always so supportive, Laurie! Thanks so much!

 

[ataraxia]

Hey maxttu, i cant help but to notice the buldge in the front of the turret. I would suspect he may have skin from his last shed that may have made its way in. Its not uncommon. I dont think personally you are dealing with a vit A deficiency.

I would find a better vet in your area and have them look into the turret for removal of the skin, debris or possible infection.

He can be off of food for other reasons and taking meds will be another reason to add. I would not worry about force feeding as of yet. He will be able to go a good distance.

Have you checked inside his mouth (bottom lip) between the nostril and turret on the left hand side?

Just my personal opinion again...The course of action from your vet seems to be a broad one and it may very well prove out. Without truly investigating/testing for the underlying cause it just seems the vet is guessing.

 

[crocky]

Keep on keeping on! He is looking better and better!

 

[little leaf]

hang in there with him - he is so SO very pretty - I just love to look at pics of him, even in his pic that he does not feel well , he is just stunning

 

[maxttu]

He can be off of food for other reasons and taking meds will be another reason to add. I would not worry about force feeding as of yet. He will be able to go a good distance.

Have you checked inside his mouth (bottom lip) between the nostril and turret on the left hand side?

Just my personal opinion again...The course of action from your vet seems to be a broad one and it may very well prove out. Without truly investigating/testing for the underlying cause it just seems the vet is guessing.

What would we be looking for inside his mouth? I know the vet did inspect inside last week and didn't seem to show any concerns.

I figured the meds would mess with his appetite. Just being a worried dad.

 

[maxttu]

Crocky and Cheryl, thanks for the support!

 

[GabeCastro]

Def not what I was hoping to hear, sorry you're going through all this Max...

Has Walker had a recent fecal test? if not get one asap.

As for force feeding...Thats a whole different ball game. When i had to force feed jasper it hurt me seeing him struggle and stress out. My best advice is to just hold him in one hand, use another to open his mouth then have someone else drop a feeder in his mouth. I used a credit card with sanded edges to get him to open his mouth. Jasper was super docile and never tried to bite me which made it almost impossible to get his mouth open.

Trust me, you'll hate yourself after force feeding but it needs to be done if he's not eating. They also sell these devices that hold the chams mouth open. I'd recommend PMing ferret for the name and also how to properly use it. Just be careful by howmuch you force feed, my vet told me keep it under 3-4 bugs a day.

Since crickets are not much, you may want to force feed other feeders like silkworms. They can get good nutrition and water, but they also need something more hearty to digest (Dubia). Maybe even a butter worm since they're high in calcium.

I noticed once my chams mouth is open, whatever he chomps on he'll take down and continue chewing. You may also want to get some liquid calcium and do two small drops a week to help him out with supplements. This should hold him down untill he gets better, def don't want walker to miss supplements.

You can also mash up silkies, dubias, and other good feeders to make a shake. Just mash it up then use a syringe to feed walker a bug smoothie.

Sorry you have to go through all this man, this is def the hardest thing to do when having a cham. Hang in there buddy!

-Gabe

 

[ataraxia]

It could remanence from a bug, could be infection, could be it is normal and it is just how his lips formed. Just take a peek the next time you get his mouth open. Look between the lips and teeth.

 

[maxttu]

Update: I gave Walker a drop of fish liver oil yesterday, swabbed his right eye with saline and misted the crap out of him.

This morning he looked like he felt better and drank tons of water.

I hadn't seen him eating anything for at least the last week (offered crix, superworms and soldier flies) and offered him a nice-sized mantis that chamhoudini so graciously gave me yesterday and BAM!! Walker- 1 Mantis- 0

The sad news: he is void of all color. I'm thinking that he is going to start a shed, but he's never been this dull before. I refused to take a photo of him like this because y'all expect to see pretty things from him.

Long story short: he's medicated, swabbed, watered and hydrated. What else can a Cham dad do...

Just in case y'all have forgotten what my boy looks like:

 

[lisagr07]

Max, I'm praying that he'll be back to his old self soon! Just keep doing what your doing!! Your a good Cham dad!!!!!

 

[carol5208]

awe poor Walker. I hope he gets better soon! What do you man void of all color? That sounds weird.

 

[maxttu]

Max, I'm praying that he'll be back to his old self soon! Just keep doing what your doing!! Your a good Cham dad!!!!!

Thanks, Lisa! I'm doing my best.

 

[maxttu]

awe poor Walker. I hope he gets better soon! What do you man void of all color? That sounds weird.

Carol, he's just very dull. No blues, reds, etc. Y'all know that I'm partially colorblind, so I'll say that he's gray?