Woke up to my baby dead :'(

[sydneymarie93]

I woke up this morning about 6 am to turn his lights on. He was up and moving around I didn't think anything was wrong. I woke up 3 hours later to find him slumped over on his vine and all black. My hearts broken and my only guess would be he was already sick when I bought him from Petco. I've had him a month and a week and I have done everything right I feel. I came to this site and received so much good advice from established breeders. I'm just not understand this :'(

RIP King Leonidas

 

[aeolis23]

That's terrible On the picture he doesn't seem ill. And dropping dead in 3 hours without any signs of illness, that's strange.. Are you planning for an autopsy? Take care..

 

[SocialNumb]

Sorry for your loss. RIP King Leonidas.

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Sorry for your loss! How strange!

 

[Meg4433]

Sorry for your loss. RIP King Leonidas.

Sorry for your loss

 

[alphakenc]

It's almost unbearable
When so much hope
Turns in deep sorrow....
Death leaves a heartache
No one can heal,
Love leaves a Memory
No one can steal....

 

[sydneymarie93]

That's terrible On the picture he doesn't seem ill. And dropping dead in 3 hours without any signs of illness, that's strange.. Are you planning for an autopsy? Take care..

I thought the exact thing. Everything seemed normal with him. Other than the fact he was bought from Petco. Went there in tears this morning and promised I would never buy an animal from then again nor my family if I have any say. I have a feeling it was the crickets I was buying through Petco. Its the only thing that makes sense to me.

 

[Carlton]

I woke up this morning about 6 am to turn his lights on. He was up and moving around I didn't think anything was wrong. I woke up 3 hours later to find him slumped over on his vine and all black. My hearts broken and my only guess would be he was already sick when I bought him from Petco. I've had him a month and a week and I have done everything right I feel. I came to this site and received so much good advice from established breeders. I'm just not understand this :'(

RIP King Leonidas
View attachment 148762

Horrible! He looks beautifully healthy in your pic. It had to be something pretty traumatic and unexpected. Without a necropsy no one can guess. There's certainly a chance that no one could have predicted it regardless where he came from. I'm so sorry!

 

[ChamDE86]

RIP Leonidas! This one is a shocker for sure, especially since he looked pretty healthy in the photo.

 

[ulamachula]

so sorry for your loss the little fella looked pretty healthy

 

[LindsayG]

I'm very sorry for your loss. It's so incredibly hard losing our babies, they become family. It's even harder when it's so unexpected and without reasons why. My thoughts are with you. RIP King Leonidas!

 

[nightanole]

From reading, most of the drop deads occur right before they are full grown. Birth defects show up such as heart and brain problems, and once the body gets so big, they just can support it.

I dont think you could have done anything different, it wasnt the crickets or the house, it was just time. I am sorry.

 

[sydneymarie93]

I don't know what could of happened. He has never fell or anything before. He's always been good with climbing on his branches and vines. He was doing so good this morning. Im just in such a state of shock. I will be calling around to try and get an autopsy done. Petco was very unsympathetic. Told me since it was a week past the 30 days since I bought him the most they could do is offer me half off on another one. I told them they are dumb as rocks if they think I would ever get another animal through them. Makes me wonder if they sell you sick pets just so they can sell you another when it dies.

 

[sydneymarie93]

From reading, most of the drop deads occur right before they are full grown. Birth defects show up such as heart and brain problems, and once the body gets so big, they just can support it.

I dont think you could have done anything different, it wasnt the crickets or the house, it was just time. I am sorry.

Wow I did not know that. Thank you

 

[Carlton]

I don't know what could of happened. He has never fell or anything before. He's always been good with climbing on his branches and vines. He was doing so good this morning. Im just in such a state of shock. I will be calling around to try and get an autopsy done. Petco was very unsympathetic. Told me since it was a week past the 30 days since I bought him the most they could do is offer me half off on another one. I told them they are dumb as rocks if they think I would ever get another animal through them. Makes me wonder if they sell you sick pets just so they can sell you another when it dies.

We certainly see many chams from this chain that are obviously sick and malnourished, but your panther doesn't seem to fit that category. He really did look healthy. The kinds of health problems we usually see are metabolic bone disease (MBD), stunted growth, eye problems that may or may not be infections or signs of malnutrition, and dehydration. Your cham shows none of these.

I know you're upset, anyone would be! Some things to consider:

IMHO nightanole is probably right, and Petco probably had very little to do with it. In fact they probably had him a very short time...he wasn't there long enough to show signs of poor care. Unless they happen to get their panthers from a really seedy breeder with lots of reported deaths, there's no way to know if there is some genetic defect that caused his death.

I can appreciate why they would not offer a full replacement after 30 days. So much can happen to an animal that's out of their control that long. NOT saying you weren't taking good care of him...but other customers might have treated their animal badly and then demand a replacement for something they caused. If fact, I'm a little surprised they offered half price on another panther. If they offered another panther like this one I wouldn't necessarily assume it would have the same problem.

 

[alphakenc]

Hi sydneymarie93,Carlton got a point,I understand your frustration right now,so it might be hard for you to get another chameleon right away,cause nothing will ever replace your love King Leonidas....but if you do decide to buy another chameleon, please looking into their enclosure environment,ask the person you buying from as many questions as you can,find out all the important factor thru this forum when you doing your research,so you can prevent the same outcome happen again....time will heal your broken heart,but you be prepared and be a smarter chameleon lover when you ready to decide move forward to your next destiny.
P.S maybe you can ask for your store credit,u can even use that credit towards your pet supply(hint...)

 

[brownie64]

Sorry for your lose. I too think he looked real healthy sometimes it just goes that way. I had a female veiled that done the exact thing too me. One minute she is eating from my hand. I go outside for 15 minutes come back in she is lying dead on the bottom of her enclosure. Nobodies fault just happened.

 

[gotwqqd]

Talk to the manager. Maybe bring him pictures of the animal timestamped to show he was well cared for. Ask about possible genetic defects? then maybe you can get another at half off with reassurances if it passes you can get a refund. Pictures daily showing animals health?

 

[Carlton]

when you doing your research,so you can prevent the same outcome happen again....

I think most of us feel this was not a husbandry problem but more likely an unpredictable traumatic death and most likely not preventable.

 

[alphakenc]

I think most of us feel this was not a husbandry problem but more likely an unpredictable traumatic death and most likely not preventable.

Yes Carlton,I totally agree,I meant to say for her next chameleon purchase,looking into every angle,just in case is a different situations. But You are correct on this one with the unpredictable traumatic death and most likely not preventable.