Two weeks ago, Cleo had been off her food a bit and was acting a bit listless. I knew this was a serious situation. Any sign of illness is cause for concern in a Chameleon. I took her to the Vet right away. Her stool was free of parasites however the vet thought perhaps her intestinal flora was a bit unusual. The vet couldn't find any literature on any treatments or even if treatment was needed. I introduced wax worms to Cleo's diet and she seemed to perk up. The vet called a week ago, still concerned, but I told her that Cleo had perked up. We decided to wait and see. A weeks later she had an intestinal prolapse and despite antibiotics and a purse string suture, she died the next day, apparently the result of massive intestinal infection.
Right up until her death, Cleo was looking very healthy and happy. She was eating and drinking normally even though she was on death's door. To a casual observer or even to a trained professional she appeared healthy. Chameleons are amazing at hiding illness. You have to know your Chameleon. Even a minor change in behavior could signal serious illness. Even then, by the time you notice illness, it is often too late. Most importantly, trust your instincts and don't wait - when you see any signs of concern - RUN to your local vet. It didn't help in this case but your vet is your best bet.
The necropsy showed Cleo's entire intestinal tract was necrotic and no treatment in the world would have helped. Would massive antibiotics have helped two weeks earlier? Perhaps. Or perhaps they would have further destabilized Cleo's normal intestinal flora and hastened her death. Second guessing now is not productive. Today I will give all our cages a thorough cleaning with bleach (naturally the Chameleons will be out of the cages until the bleach and fumes are all long gone).
Since Thor had contact with Cleo just a few weeks ago, I will isolate Thor from the others in another room as a precaution. Thor's stool will be examined on Monday. Cleo will be sadly missed.
Cleo arrived in our family on July 12, 2002. She is an excellent example of a female Mount Meru Dwarf Jackson Chameleon. In the top two pictures she has just seen Thor for the first time and is showing some stress colors. I don't think she's receptive at this time. The bottom two pictures show her in a more relaxed state.
If you would like to see a short MPEG movie of Thor and Cleo meeting for the first time you can click here. Thor started a slow side to side dance and after a few moments, Cleo joined in. Although only 5 seconds of the movie are shown here, this dance lasted 10 minutes until I finally separated them.
Cleo has just arrived and even showing her to Thor was probably not a very responsible thing to do. She needs time to unwind and grow accustomed to her new cage and surroundings. Later this summer I will introduced them again and with any luck we will have some little babies.
Female Dwarf Jacksons are live bearers. They have anywhere from 3 to 18 babies with 9 being a common sized litter. While the mother does not nurture the babies in any way they seldom eat or harm the babies. Still, it's best to get the babies in a separate cage ASAP just to be safe.