We lost our Dexter baby

[mrvoodoo]

Sunday I noticed he had gone to sleep a little earlier than normal, but didn't really think it was much of anything. About a half hour to 45 minutes before we normally cut his lights off (8pm or so). Monday I woke up, turned his water on and didn't really notice much - he was hiding under his favorite leaf, but didn't come out to drink like he normally did and again I didn't think much of it since sometimes he would come out afterwards and drink from the leaves. A couple hours later my wife called me at home and told me that he fell to the bottom of the cage, said he was struggling to get up. I had been off work for 3 weeks so I wasn't able to take off and rush home, unfortunately even if I had it wouldn't have done any good.

She called me back about 30 minutes later crying really hard, she said he was looking very bad and then it happened - his mouth gaped slightly, his tongue shot out a little way and his whole body changed colors. She was devastated watching our baby boy go.

I'm not sure what would have caused his illness, but I do have a suspicion that a not so healthy for him insect might have snuck in through the top of the cage (that is wire mesh). We have had a few lady bugs sneak into the house and a brown recluse not long ago. The water was fresh, the crickets he had this past weekend were petsmart crickets. He was somewhere between 1-2 years old - the only explanation is that a wild critter got in there with him (either poisoned or poisonous).

I've talked it over with the wife and while we love Chameleons we're going to wait a few months before we look at adopting another baby. I've got a potential to be leaving for a job in Japan and don't believe that they'll allow me to bring a chameleon with us.

Dexter was an awesome Jackson. We never had problems with him accepting crickets from our hands, off of the vine, or out of his feeder cup. He never nipped at us and was actually eager to be held (would climb onto you with no manipulation). He'll be dearly missed and never replaced in our hearts.

Here he is posing for the November photo contest:

 

[brighteyez]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I can only imagine how hard it must be to have such a sudden death like that. We are all here for you if you need anything!~

 

[Malicious]

Sorry for your loss mate. I hope theres a DexterV2 in your future.

-Jay

 

[moody232002]

it is really horrible watching them and i feel for you & your wife, my very first veiled solo died in my hand.it's devastating

 

[jannb]

I am so sad to read about your loss of Dexter. That was the cuties pic of him. He was a beautiful boy. Jann

 

[mrvoodoo]

Thanks for the kind words Jan and everybody. Yes there is a Dexter V2 in the plans for the future.. gotta fill up his several hundred dollar cage sometime, but not just yet and we may try another cham - perhaps a panther (Oorena Meenas are my faves *nosy fally* by appearance) or Mellers if I can find one.

 

[beeze]

I am sorry to hear about little Dex. That was a great photo of him.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Jason, (Thought I'd go ahead and cut/paste my PM here.)

Sorry to hear about your loss . It's always possible that a poisonous insect could be responsible for what you described. I recently did a necropsy on a Panther that a Black Widow (several found in the enclosure ) was the suspect in its death. However, I didn't find any evidence of ingestion or a bite. I did find heavy parasite loads that might have been at least part of the problem.

In a situation like yours, being able to eliminate most or all other husbandry possibilities until there isn't anything else left but; for example, an insect bite is about all you can do . Especially with WC chameleons, parasite issues can even take them down overnight. In another friend's WC Panther (in his possession for only ~2 weeks), I found a roundworm coming right out of a main artery of the chameleon's heart . Talk about a heart attack. He had dropped dead just as if he had one.

Bottom line: You do all of the husbandry related things "by the book" and most of the time nothing ever goes wrong until old age takes them. In the end, all you do is your best and learn from any mistakes that you can spot .

In my case, my ~5yr-old Panther was diagnosed with cancer back in November. He's still doing pretty well considering, but the long-term prognosis is bleak.

Hang in there and when you are ready to try again, get a captive hatched Panther or Veiled from a reputable breeder so that your odds will be at their best .

 

[hallenhe]

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss; my first cham was a Jackson's and I was devastated when he died. I'm glad to see you're not ready to give up on chams just yet.