URGENT! Chameleon at bottom of cage DAY and NIGHT? Help!

Bellabijou

Bellabijou

New Member
I am slightly freaking out bc our 4.5 year old veiled has been at the bottom of the cage (according to our neighbor, who is watching him this week and sending pics) yesterday all day, last night, and is still there this morning (but has moved over). The worst thing is that I am on vacation and cannot physically be there to see Ziggy, and now I’m worried sick about him! She said that he moved over and has plenty of branches to climb up on, and he still reacts and opens his mouth when she gets close to him. He is not dehydrated whatsoever and his colors are still green and his eyes have a good bulge to them. I am concerned that he fell or is weak. I don’t have time to post all of his living details (as I struggle to enjoy the last of my vacay) but I have been concerned about his casque morphing and slightly tilting. I believe he might have has MBD when he was young in the pet store. We did not give him calcium for most of his life (I know, I feel completely and utterly ashamed and we were heavily misinformed by the petstore) but I just started a calcium and vitamin supplement routine according to more experienced members. He has a massice screen enclosure, is misted every day and readily drinks, has a UV linear bulb and heat bulb. He has been very healthy his whole life and the picture look like a healthy chameleon, but just on the cave floor. I am extremely panicked bc I can’t make my neighbor take him to the vet and we will not be back until Saturday. What should I tell my neighbor to do/what could this be? I am so panicked.
 
I forgot to add, his legs were slightly bent as a young cham (I am never EVER buying animals from PetSmadf) and straightened out as an adult. I have liquid calcium on hand. Should I tell her to give him that? I am so worried about our little guy
 
First of all, relax and put into perspective the fact that your family and you deserve to end this vacation in happiness.
Second, in my experience they just get it into their heads sometimes that they want to be in a certain spot - think about it, if you were in a relatively small space for an extended time you might start acting weird too about your physical space.
He probably can't be handled, but you might suggest putting in something sturdy like if you know you have a spare branch or something around and see if he can be prodded/convinced to climb it just to see if he is walking/climbing OK to rule out a broken leg.
But again, I wouldn't worry too much, from what I understand they regularly fall out of trees so a fall of a couple feet shouldn't be a problem.
 
Franquixote said:
First of all, relax and put into perspective the fact that your family and you deserve to end this vacation in happiness.
Second, in my experience they just get it into their heads sometimes that they want to be in a certain spot - think about it, if you were in a relatively small space for an extended time you might start acting weird too about your physical space.
He probably can't be handled, but you might suggest putting in something sturdy like if you know you have a spare branch or something around and see if he can be prodded/convinced to climb it just to see if he is walking/climbing OK to rule out a broken leg.
But again, I wouldn't worry too much, from what I understand they regularly fall out of trees so a fall of a couple feet shouldn't be a problem.
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I’m going to disagree with @Franquixote . They do not fall out of trees regularly when they are healthy. You have made several threads lately about the deteriorating health of your Cham. He probably did fall from being weak due to lack of nutrition. It does no good for you to panic on your vacation but when you get back it’s time for the vet
 
Franquixote said:
First of all, relax and put into perspective the fact that your family and you deserve to end this vacation in happiness.
Second, in my experience they just get it into their heads sometimes that they want to be in a certain spot - think about it, if you were in a relatively small space for an extended time you might start acting weird too about your physical space.
He probably can't be handled, but you might suggest putting in something sturdy like if you know you have a spare branch or something around and see if he can be prodded/convinced to climb it just to see if he is walking/climbing OK to rule out a broken leg.
But again, I wouldn't worry too much, from what I understand they regularly fall out of trees so a fall of a couple feet shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response! He has a branch next to him that he can readily climb on but I will be sure to ask my neighbor to see if she can do some prodding.
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
I’m going to disagree with @Franquixote . They do not fall out of trees regularly when they are healthy. You have made several threads lately about the deteriorating health of your Cham. He probably did fall from being weak due to lack of nutrition. It does no good for you to panic on your vacation but when you get back it’s time for the vet
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Yes, I do believe he might be weak and I feel so bad. I actually get back Friday night, so Saturday is going to be vet day. For now, should I tell her to just leave him at the bottom of the cage? I don’t have any substrate down there and I’m worried about him getting cold! I don’t want him to have to stay down there helplessly when he could be basking or catching crickets.
 
Can he be handled? If he can you should ask your neighbor to pick him up and feel his grip on her fingers/allow her to really examine him and take pictures for you.Also if he can be handled see if she can put him back up at the top near his lights to get some warmth and uvb. If he falls or goes down again then you'll know if he's weak or not. Also, I too disagree with the statement that they regularly fall. Males are bit clumsy but I wouldn't say falling is a normal thing for an animal who lives in a tree. Usually they fall if weak, can't get a proper grip, or was fighting another cham and lost. Not saying that being at the bottom of the cage is not normal, I mean I had a sick cham named Charlie who would be at the bottom all the time but he was sick,meanwhile I have a healthy chameleon named Tony who only goes to the bottom if he has't been let out in a while because he knows the door opens from somewhere down there too and he'll walk the length of the cage and push the walls. But if he can't figure it out he goes back up top. So yours staying down there is concerning. Just have your neighbor keep an eye on him and don't stress yourself out. But if you're really worried you could always ask them to take the cham to the vet for you that way you know for sure whats going on and won't have o wait till saturday. Hope everything works out!
 
Bellabijou said:
Yes, I do believe he might be weak and I feel so bad. I actually get back Friday night, so Saturday is going to be vet day. For now, should I tell her to just leave him at the bottom of the cage? I don’t have any substrate down there and I’m worried about him getting cold! I don’t want him to have to stay down there helplessly when he could be basking or catching crickets.
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No if your going to be back tomorrow tell her to leave him be for now. You don’t want to put him back at the top of the viv only for him to fall again making his situation even worse. If he is strong enough and he wants to go back up he will do so on his own.
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
No if your going to be back tomorrow tell her to leave him be for now. You don’t want to put him back at the top of the viv only for him to fall again making his situation even worse. If he is strong enough and he wants to go back up he will do so on his own.
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Hm, you're right I didn't think about that. Also I did't realize she was coming back tomorrow. Disregard my advice.
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
No if your going to be back tomorrow tell her to leave him be for now. You don’t want to put him back at the top of the viv only for him to fall again making his situation even worse. If he is strong enough and he wants to go back up he will do so on his own.
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Alright, I’ll tell her to keep an eye on him and continue sending pics. Hopefully he’ll be alright until I can get home to him :) I’ll tell her to continue to mist him and give him drinks. Hopefully we don’t have any hungry crickets in the cage that might find him at night :confused: I think he will be fine after a good vet appointment - he’s always been hardy! Thanks everyone for the advice (y)
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
No if your going to be back tomorrow tell her to leave him be for now. You don’t want to put him back at the top of the viv only for him to fall again making his situation even worse. If he is strong enough and he wants to go back up he will do so on his own.
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Ok, good news everyone - I’m finally home (although it’s past midnight :wideyed:) and Ziggy is still here :). Bad news is that he is still at the bottom of the cage. While he is still at the bottom of the cage, he has moved around the cage floor and has changed positions, so obviously he isn’t too weak to even move at all. Phew. I am going to cross my fingers and try to see if there’s any vet openings for tomorrow, but until then I’m going to let him be and put a heater in the room where his cage is to hopefully bring some heat. I didn’t want to move him because he is sleeping, so I am going to try to pick him up in the morning. I gently blew some air onto him just to make sure he was okay while sleeping, and he puffed up in his sleep (awww :p). His eyes do look a bit more sunken than usual (I mean they do sink in when he sleeps a bit anyways) and I’m not so sure he has eaten in one or two days since there are so many crickets still in his cage. He did drink for sure according to my neighbor. Any further advice if I can’t get into the vet tmrw? I’m still worried and obviously something isn’t right, because he would have pulled himself up on the many branches that are around him. He’s gone without high temps for 3 days so I am super panicked about that too. I have liquid calcium that I can give him (I’ve heard about that being used for nutritional deficiencies) but I think I’m going to hold off. I am a little delirious after 9 hours of travel so I think I’m going to go catch some z’s. Until then I think he will be okay.
 
Thanks! Ok, yeah I’ll stay away from that because he is obviously weak. His hand is in his poop at the bottom of the cage o_O - I’m going to try to take care of this. The exotics vet is booked until Thursday, so I’m going to call another vet or it’s going to look like a trip to the emergency vet :/
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
I don’t know if you should give the liquid calcium or not but if you do please research how to do it correctly. Someone just killed their Cham about three days ago while forcefeeding a liquid...
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I called an emergency vet and briefly talked with the exotics vet. She told me to soak Ziggy in a bath of Pedialyte (which I have read is an outdated care technique), so I did that. I put liquid calcium drops into water to dilute it and he readily drank that. I can't afford the vet right now, ($195 + $99 visit fee, not including any medications), which I feel horrible about because I know that I am 100% responsible for his well-being. He ate probably 2 crickets, but I watched him catch them and his tongue movement was very slow. I feel so bad, as I suspect he is suffering from MBD and I didn't even know it until now. I am honestly so stuck right now because I don't know if he will pull through, and I feel like keeping him hydrated with calcium water is only going to prolong suffering. Should I continue to bathe him in Pedialyte? I fear that the damage is already done and he will not improve. I noticed little head tremors, which breaks my heart b/c I know that this is associated with MBD. The poor guy can barely support himself. The vet told me he is a "geriatric" chameleon and is considered pretty old for a veiled, but I know that they can live longer than 5 years. I want him to pull through, but I really don't know what's going to happen here. It's been a very stressful morning. :(
 
If he’s 5 then it just might very well be his time, but by no means am I saying to give up. @jannb i believe you are the resident veild expert, what do you think about the bath? I thought they were discouraged, any other advice for her?
 
Pedialyte is sticky. I would think that would be a sticky mess. Where do you live? I know a couple of really nice ladies that take in rescues. They have good chameleon vets. I can help you get Ziggy to one of them so he can get the medical attention that he needs. Without a good vet you probably will not be able to save him. Older chameleons have the same health issues that we get as we age. He will need a check up from a vet with chameleon experience, an x-ray and blood work. Once he’s problem is dignosed, there’s plenty of good meds out there for chameleons now.
 
jannb said:
Pedialyte is sticky. I would think that would be a sticky mess. Where do you live? I know a couple of really nice ladies that take in rescues. They have good chameleon vets. I can help you get Ziggy to one of them so he can get the medical attention that he needs. Without a good vet you probably will not be able to save him. Older chameleons have the same health issues that we get as we age. He will need a check up from a vet with chameleon experience, an x-ray and blood work. Once he’s problem is dignosed, there’s plenty of good meds out there for chameleons now.
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The bath wasn’t too bad with messiness, but supposedly the lady said that they can absorb electrolytes through their butt, lol. I live right outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I’d definitely be open to rescuers who might be more experienced than I am. Emergency vet visit prices are crazy, and I know that this one vet we took him to previously is booked until Friday - yikes! I definitely want him to get through this though! He was always a vibrant and alert chameleon until now :(
 
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