Okay, so I just bought my Husband a baby Blue Bar Ambilobe Panther Chameleon for over $400, and we brought it home on Monday. He's about 2 months old. We ordered a mister online, should be here soon, but we have been misting ourselves and humidity is always between 60-75. He has vines, a bar UVB Light, a night light that goes on automatically when the temps drop below 81 at night, and a 75 watt basking light for during the day, that keeps his temps 84-87 degrees. I have a dripper on the screen cage and it drips onto the leaves, down into the water bowl. Okay, so the day we brought him home, I noticed he was in shed, but he seemed fine, I put crickets in there, but didn't see him eat. I know they are very hard to care for, and very sensitive and what not. This is our first Chameleon but we researched like crazy before we actually brought him home. On Monday, I noticed he was not doing well, I still had not seen him eat, he was falling off his vines, so I called the store I got him from, which is a great store, and I know them very well. He in turn called the breeder, and told me that my Chameleon was dehydrated, due to the move (a 15 minute ride, but needless to say) they shut themselves down. He instructed me to get Pedialyte, Ensure (not chocolate) and feed it to him from a dropper, a little less than a teaspoon worth, with more ensure than pedialyte (I got the unflavored one). He also said it would take a few days for me to notice him better, and for him to be better, and to do it 2 x's a day. So, I got it, I fed it to him and he would open his mouth to me, after a few times, and later that night he seemed to be doing great, moving around not just falling off his vines, and he also had a bowel movement while I was feeding him. So I went to bed happy that he was better. The next morning I went to drop feed him again but could only give him a little because he was moving his mouth to the left and right like he didnt want any and I just thought okay hes doing okay, and he doesnt want to eat. But later that day when I got home he was baddd, i found him hanging upside down from his vines, I thought he was dead. I went to feed him, he ate some and then all of a sudden his tongue came completely out of his mouth, at least an inch out, just hanging there, I put him back in his cage, i called the pet store, he said to spray his mouth, which I did and it had no effect. He said it didnt sound good and he would get me a replacement from the breeder. but I couldn't let the little guy die, I saved him twice from falling off his vines, then just put him low so he wouldnt fall and hurt himself. His tongue was still hanging out of his mouth, I came to check on him every 20 minutes and I would find him hanging from his tail, tongue out and I thought he was dead, i would spray him and he started to move, and this happened all night, I thought he died about 30 times because I really didnt think he was going to make it. Then this morning, I think he might be doing better, but Im uncertain, but I saw him put his tongue back in his mouth this morning, I couldnt believe it... So I have a Chameleon that I have no idea what is wrong with it, and I'm supposed to be getting a 'replacement' next week, does anyone have any ideas about this?? It just seems so strange, and out of whack. I'm not trying to give up on him just because I know I'm getting a replacement next week, I'm not that kind of person and I'm still trying to save Stanley's life!! Please help!! Thanks.
Hi.. sorry to hear your little guy is doing so poorly. It certainly sounds like he isn't doing so hot. Can you tell us more about his setup? What kind of cage is he in and what size? His night temps are awfully high.. 81 degrees at night.. wow. Unless your house temps fall below 65 at night, get rid of the night light. Also, 84-87 for a small chameleon doesn't give him much of a gradient. Any way you can reduce the heat lamp so that some of the spots in the cage drop into the mid 70's? Get rid of the water bowl.. unless it is screened and your chameleon can't get into it. Tell us more. Can you tell us everything about his setup? You said he is 2 months old.. how big is he?
Unfortunately, he passed away last night. He was dead when I got home from work. But he has a nice size screen cage, he was about 3 inches, not including his tail, never had his eyes open since we got him on Monday, and I am going to the pet store right after work to see whats going to happen next. I'm really not comfortable with getting a new 'replacement' from the same breeder. I feel so horrible about everything, and they are treating it like I lost a shoe, referring to getting a 'replacement' As far as temps go, our house is colder at night, we dont have the heat on because its summer here, and we often use the A/C. Even though he is in our bedroom, and the A/C is on the opposite end of the house, in the livingroom, it can still cool the house down well, it would never be freezing in there but we didnt want his temps to drop that much since the A/C is set on 60 degrees. On the bottom of his cage its of course cooler, which when we researched they said it should be. I really did everything by the book and I dont think I'm very bad with reptiles for me to kill something 100% healthy in a matter of days, especially with him showing ill signs the next day. They said they are a lot of work with the Panthers, but we knew that and were ready for it. I feel we did not get a healthy Chameleon, a healthy Chameleon I expected to get after paying over $400. I still don't know what happened, or why he was sick but I am so sad, this poor little guy didn't deserve it, and I feel so bad. I just need to keep telling myself that I did everything I could, and I did everything the breeder and the store said to do. He died with his tongue out of his mouth, I dont know what thats about?? I'm so confused.
This is very sad, sorry to hear he passed away. You are not having much luck lately are you, first the sav now the cham. Did they both come from same store ? If so I would be very wary of getting anything else from them, in case they have problems in the store, may be husbandry or something they use in there could be affecting all their animals, I'm not saying there is just possible though. I would ask for a refund and shop around rather than a "replacement".
They aren't from the same place, and I really like the people where I got the Chameleon from and he ordered it from a breeder just for me. The savannah I got from someone I didn't know from a whole in the wall. And I should have known better, it sucks. But they never crossed paths, never in the same room, different tanks, so I don't know. Just a string of bad luck I assume. When I go back later I am going to ask for a refund and let him know I'm not comfortable getting from the same breeder. Thanks
Hi.. if the cham never opened his eyes, then he came in sick. No doubt about it. Chameleons only leave their eyes closed during the day for any length of time when they are sick. The tongue out could be a couple things. Most likely, it went along with the eye thing. Did he seem to gasp for breath or make small popping sounds when he breathed? If so, he had a respiratory infection. Another thought.. drip feeding a cham is a tricky thing, especially when they are young. It is very stressful for them, and can lead to them inhaling the liquid into their lungs. If he did that.. yeah, it could cause that too. But, bottom line is.. most chams die with their tongues out. I don't know why. For your future chameleon, you might want to consider having the night light turn on when the temps reach 65. It really is a good thing for them to cool down at night. Let us know how it goes. You paid a pretty penny for that cham, and if you do get a refund, I can definately recommend some very good, reputible breeders that can ship you a healthy cham for that price, or more likely, lower. Heika
