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Hello there! I have a male Jackson's chameleon roughly 8 1/2 to 9 inches long and I've had him for about 6 months. Around the time that I got him I tried joining a chameleon forum but I wasn't able to use it at all because it required email activation and I never got the confirmation email despite repeated requests to resent it. Anyway, he is my first chameleon and I'm still quite new. He has become very sick literally overnight and he was an active, voracious eating, readily drinking picture of health just a few days ago and now his eyes are sunken in and he's extremely weak, especially his grip. He can barely hold onto a branch and isn't moving around much at all and is too weak to eat or drink. I know sunken eyes and lethargy are mostly a sign of dehydration and I've noticed he's been eating and drinking less than usual lately but I thought that was normal since it's winter and he just shed recently, besides, I feed every other day and his habitat is crawling with insects that I try hard to gut load and calcium dust. I mist the habitat heavily every few hours since my house is dry and he usually jumps at the chance to drink. I contacted the nearest veterinarian that deals with reptiles and I'm waiting on a response. I have fears it's already too late and doing anything is pointless. Besides, I can't really afford a vet visit that's too costly. Well, as I'm waiting on the response from the vet, is there anything I can do for him for the time being?
There is one nice thing about this. Just a few days ago my Mom and I got a wonderful picture of him and in this last picture he is just as healthy and lively as he was until this overnight sickness and I think it's the best picture of him I have. When I picked him up earlier he opened his eyes briefly and had a semi decent grip on my hand. It's like he was saying goodbye and shaking my hand for the good times these past 6 months.
