Mobile Veterinary Services

Kraken was my favorite Blue Bar Ambilobe Panther Chameleon. He was purchased as an adult in March 29, 2002. He had some old scars and a partially broken rostral process. He seemed in overall good health. His weight was 140 grams when purchased. A fecal exam revealed only hookworms and he got dewormed for those. He ate and drank well for the following few weeks and gained a lot of weight (160 grams). He bred to one of our Ambilobe females and continued to do great for us. Around the middle of June, Kraken started to reduce its food intake but continued to drink normally and acting his usual self. This was followed by constant weight loss and slight dehydration. Bloodwork revealed no abnormalities and fecal exams were negative. The dehydration was corrected by providing SQ fluids which helped a lot. Even after a slight period of improvement, Kraken continued to worsen and got to a weight of 110 grams. His eyes started to look sunken and his appetite was almost gone. Again one last run of medical intervention was attempted (IV fluids, bloodwork, steroids, Emeraid) but with no significant success. Given the fact that the animal looked miserable and was in for a long and possibly painful "wasting away" process, euthanasia was elected. He was put to sleep on August 8, 2002 at my house and he will be greatly missed.

No medical reason was found to explain Kraken's condition. It was certainly not an infection of any kind and not any kind of injury. The most logical explanation is a failure to acclimate to captive conditions due mainly to the old age the animal was purchased. A very good friend of mine refers to this as the "honeymoon" period where the animals do great for several months before slowly wasting away due to long term stress. It is a pity that Kraken can't continue to be with us but there is a lesson to be learned from every experience and there is certainly a good one to be learned from this case.

Ivan Alfonso, DVM