Vet killed my cham
- Thread starter Rucalee
- Start date
WilcoxAE
Established Member
Sorry to hear. That really sucks and I had a very similar thing happen with one of my chams as well. Only I didn't notice the BRUISES on my cham until I got home and examined the body. She too was an "expert". There were no way that the bruises were that intense on the cham if there wasn't a lot of force applied.
WHY aren't one of us on here a vet?!
WHY aren't one of us on here a vet?!
Rucalee
New Member
Too much schooling!!
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I'm really sorry your cham also died.
Was your chameleon dead when you noticed the bruising? A dead chameleon looks really awful--they usually go all black and splotchy. It isn't bruising. Is that what you saw?
Did you talk to the vet about it?
Again, sorry for your loss.
JGuinan007
Avid Member
I had a vet actually break some ribs on Doughnut and she still does not like hands to this day because of it. I still have yet to find a good vet in Philadelphia area.
aeolis23
Member
Could you post some pictures of your chameleon before he died? With the patches etc?
Our vet really has to be rough (as in pulling hin chin down quite hard) sometimes to open the mouth of my friends jackson chameleon. Otherwise it's just impossible to open it, and if the vet needs to look inside his mouth, well then the mouth has to open... But a healthy chameleon can handle that, i'd even think when a chameleon refuses to open his mouth, it's a sign he still has the energy to be stubborn. Which is a good sign for his health I think...
Our vet really has to be rough (as in pulling hin chin down quite hard) sometimes to open the mouth of my friends jackson chameleon. Otherwise it's just impossible to open it, and if the vet needs to look inside his mouth, well then the mouth has to open... But a healthy chameleon can handle that, i'd even think when a chameleon refuses to open his mouth, it's a sign he still has the energy to be stubborn. Which is a good sign for his health I think...
ChamelioEstavez
New Member
Sorry to hear about your cham!
I was just wondering could it have been the antibiotics? Perhaps they are not Cham friendly. It sounds like the vet didn't handle your Cham well at all so probably doesn't have much experience with them. I'd be getting those antibiotics checked before risking another life.
Doctercookie
New Member
I am also in cincinnati, what is the name of this vet so i steer clear of them?
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Again, I'm going out on a limb and defend a vet.
Personally, I don't know how you could actually break ribs with rough handling unless Metabolic Bone Disease was the underlying problem. If she had MBD, it might be very easy to break ribs with very gentle handling, depending on how bad the MBD was and how weak the rib bones were.
I've seen an awful lot of wild caught chameleons but never seen one with obviously broken ribs. I have ever noticed. Broken tails, broken and broken sail fins are the most common type of fracture I've seen. I've seen pelvis injuries. Believe me, no one is rougher handling a chameleon than a collector who is terrified of the animal and is getting very little money for it. Many Africans think chameleons are evil thanks to Christian missionaries that associated chameleons with the devil. Expensive animals like Parsons are treated very well by their collectors and exporters simply because they get a lot of money for them. Melleri and quads are not.
I once looked at photos of a friend's necropsy and was positive I saw broken ribs. He hadn't noticed what I saw when he took the pictures or when he did the necropsy,. He retrieved the now stinking body out of the garbage and had a good look. There was nothing wrong with the ribs. He ended up bending them trying to break them and he couldn't because they were too flexible.
So, if your vet broke ribs handling her, I would look at some other reason the ribs were weak.
KLowery88
Avid Member
Not to detrack too much, but the way chameleon ribs articulate with their sternum, I can see how it might look like their ribs are broken. It's probably so that they can puff up and flatten to look large and then collapse back down. Like jajeanpierre said, they're made to be flexible.
Just like with doctors, there are good vets and bad vets though. Sharing your experiences, good or bad, helps inform others.
Just like with doctors, there are good vets and bad vets though. Sharing your experiences, good or bad, helps inform others.
DaChameleonKing
Avid Member
Sorry about your loss that vet shouldn't have handled him like that
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
Be careful! Some drugs have short shelf lives. You would also need to be certain that the drug you have is the appropriate one (and the right formulation and dosage) to use on that next cham's problem.
brownie64
Avid Member
I hate to disagree with you on this one, but I believe it is a fear brought on by superstition, and a witch doctor spreading nonsense more so than the Christians. Now if we were talking about snakes you might have something there.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I quickly read the first explanation for the superstitious fear of chameleons I came upon.
http://www.superstitions.biz/Supers...MELEONS-AND-LIZARDS-AFRICA-science-Top-10.htm
Doesn't really matter where the fear originated from, although Christians missionaries didn't deserve to be libeled by me. Bottom line, chameleons are feared and hated in Africa.
tim's owner
Member
I am a Christian and I want to say that the "serpent" is what is associated with the devil not the snake.
tim's owner
Member
But back to the point of the thread I am very sorry for your cham.
I am very worried about if I ever have to take my little guy to the vet as I have no "reptile specific" vets around here.
I am very worried about if I ever have to take my little guy to the vet as I have no "reptile specific" vets around here.
JGuinan007
Avid Member
The Vet broke my chams ribs. The vet tryed to flush my chams eye when she would not cooperate he grabbed her with his hand and held her in his fist so she could not move when I said something he told me she would be fine the next morning when i turned on her lights she was acting funny. When she puffed up It looked like half her lung was collapsed she could not or would not hiss there was a line of black on her skin a mid body to almost her back leg and to this day after it healed thereisa line of bumps on her ribs there on that side. As far as my poor husbandry I have lways used a UVB light, gutloaded my feeders (Dandelions, Kale, and Mustard greens), dust my feeder with calcium at every feeding except twice a month when I dust with calcium with D3 or repitivite, and Doughnut has never shown any signs of MBD.
Rucalee
New Member
I went to a guy yesterday that is one of the guys that runs out local reptile show to look for a new veiled. He dozens of them all in small plastic containers that were soaked inside. A couple adult panthers were also in small plastic containers. One was missing a foot, one the top of his tail and another was about to lose the tip of his tail. It was sad.
