?

[RexandRain]

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Screen 16Wx16Lx36H
* Lighting - a Zoomed basking bulb and a tube light reptisun
* Temperature - I am not sure about the temperature I have a heat blowing on the cage during the day set to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
* Humidity - I don't know
* Plants - yes but I don't know what kind of plant I am using
* Placement - I have the cage by a window that gets about 2-4 hours or sunlight on sunny days
* Location - My house is in central ohio USA


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - a male panther about 1 1/2 years old I have been caring for him about 6 months
* Handling - at least once a day

* Feeding - I feed him 7-10 crickets gutloaded with apples carrots and lettuce etc
* Supplements -
* Watering - I usually try to continually mist for about a minute. I have a dripper for hi malso
* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
* Current Problem - his eye goes closed when he is in the cage but when I take him out it is fine. is he needing more sleep or what?

 

[jojackson]

I am not sure about the temperature I have a heat blowing on the cage during the day set to 80 degrees Fahrenheit

Find out!

Humidity - I don't know

Find out! Probly too dry

I have the cage by a window that gets about 2-4 hours or sunlight on sunny days

Beware overheating!

 

[luevelvet]

I would recommend acquiring a thermometer and see what the temps are without the heater blowing towards him. They don't need every inch of their cage to be at least 80, just an area to bask that gets to 82-84. Also, what is the ambient room temp?

Hot air heaters run very very dry and *could* be a cause for eye issues like this.

Keep us updated.

Luis

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

I am not sure about the temperature I have a heat blowing on the cage during the day set to 80 degrees Fahrenheit

Find out!

I agree.

Also what wattage is the basking bulb?

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Cage Info:

* Lighting - a Zoomed basking bulb and a tube light reptisun
* Temperature - I am not sure about the temperature I have a heat blowing on the cage during the day set to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
* Humidity - I don't know
* Plants - yes but I don't know what kind of plant I am using



droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

If you would like assistance I would also recommend you provide answers to the other incomplete questions.

A pic would also be helpful

 

[RexandRain]

I am not sure about the wattage.
I took to heater out and everything.

as for the previous history I know that he was in a cage twice as big as the one I have him in now. ( I am trying to get the same size cage or a bigger one for him)
I know that humidity is too dry for him in the because I took him in the bathroom and let the shower on while he sat on top of the show curtain railing and he seemed to enjoy it in there and his eye was opened and everything.

I am thinking of getting a mini humidifier to put in the cage. and maybe moving his cage to a different location in my house because my mom doesn't like him in the computer room :\ I put him there next to my PC so I can keep him company during the day.

 

[pssh]

They don't really like company. You need to know the temp and humidity. What do his poops look like? You also need to know what king of plant he has. How do you supplement? How long are The lights on for? Do you feed him that much everyday? If so, that's too much, feed him about 7-8 crickets three days a week or so.

 

[RexandRain]

the lights are on everyday from 8:30am-8:30 pm is that too long?
yea I normally feed him that much everyday I guess I should stop
his poop looks healthy.
I tried to get a picture of his eye going closed but he opened it as I took the pic
here is a picture of his cage maybe somebody could I identify it?
my bro thinks it could be anything from a vitamin deficiency to respiratory infection.

 

[pssh]

What supplements do you use? What do his poops look like? If you don't know if the plant is safe, don't use it. Use a safe nontoxic plant(s)

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

That plant in the picture is fine its an umbrella. 12 hours is not too long but it is probably light before they come on. I would have the lights come on when the sun comes up and off at sun down.

It is important you know your wattage of the bulbs. It should be labeled on the bulb somewhere. It may be directly related to your problem.

Before you jump to URI or vitamin deficiency I think you should address the lack of humidity. Try spraying a couple more times a day and adding another "REAL" plant. Like an umbrella or ficus.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."I am not sure about the temperature I have a heat blowing on the cage during the day set to 80 degrees Fahrenheit"...the blowing air may be irritating the eye. Its important to know the temperature in the basking area and the rest of the cage.

You said..."I have the cage by a window that gets about 2-4 hours or sunlight on sunny days"...the sunlight passing through the window will not provide it any UVB.

The lights on the cage should be on 12 to 14 hours a day.

You said you have been caring for him about 6 months...with no supplements??

You said..."gutloaded with apples carrots and lettuce"...its important to use a wide variety of things to feed to the insects...such as dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, etc

You didn't list supplements...its important to dust with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus found in most insects we use as feeders.

I also dust with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month to ensure that they get enough D3 without overdoing it. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to problems so don't overdo it.

I also dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene (prOformed)won't build up in the system like prEformed vitamin A will. However, its not known if all/any chameleons can convert it so some people give a little prEformed once in a while. Excess prEformed vitamin A can interfere with the D3 and push the chameleon towards MBD so be careful with it.

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important in bone health and other systems and need to be in balance. You need to look at your supplements, what you feed to the insects and what you feed to the chameleon when trying to balance them.

 

[RexandRain]

What supplements do you use?

You said you have been caring for him about 6 months...with no supplements??

I use calcium with D3 that is all I've been using.

You said..."gutloaded with apples carrots and lettuce"...its important to use a wide variety of things to feed to the insects...such as dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, etc

before I had switched to this I had just been using Carrots.

Before you jump to URI or vitamin deficiency I think you should address the lack of humidity. Try spraying a couple more times a day and adding another "REAL" plant. Like an umbrella or ficus.

his cage is too small for two plants but I will get a humidifier for his cage. does anyone know where I can find one locally (I live in a town where department stores are nearly everywhere, wal-mart k-mart, Jacks Aquarium and pets etc.)

here is a picture of his eye. I know it is hard to tell but that is the best I could get.
when it is opened it is more sunken in then his other eye. could this be an indicator of anything?

 

[RexandRain]

*bump*.....

 

[pssh]

First off, he needs a bigger cage. At pears 24x24x48. You are keeping him in a cage suitable for a female adult, not a male. He could be stressed because of the lack of room. Chameleons can overdose on D3, so you can't use it too much. You should mainly be using a plain calcium without D3 everyother feeding, caclium with D3 twice a month, and a multi vitamin one or two times a month.


He may have an eye infection, or he could have something in it. I can only guess at what's wrong with him as I'm not a vet. I'd take him to a good chameleon vet if he was mine. Closing of the eye usually indicates something is wrong with it. Only a vet can examine him and tell you what's wrong. Make sure to print the help form and give it to the vet so he can read it.

 

[eisentrauti]

There are better titles than "?"

 

[Markwjr]

No offence, but you seem extremely passive about the suggestions being made and the decisions that you make pertaining to them. You seem to be complying with some of the demands, the ones that suit your situation best. All the suggestions offered are whats best for your chameleon. The fact that things were terrible, now theyre just bad is fine and dandy, but what these fine people are trying to do is bring it from its bad state to a thriving one. If you want him happy, you need to be feeding him and the feeders a variety of food. He needs more than just crickets and the crickets need more than what youre feeding them (even though youve upgraded from just carrots). If you want him happy, you need a new cage. Your cage now is 16x16 as a footprint. A 24x24 cage wouldnt be adding too much more of a footprint, and its for the good of the chameleon. You need a thermometer and a humidifier. You need to check the wattage of your bulb. These things are not hard to do. Checking the bulb takes 30s and a humidy gauge and thermometer will run you $5 combined if you find the right places.

I dont mean to sound cross, but if you want some progress, youre going to have to do the work. You signed up for this, and you owe it to your beloved chameleon to do what is right for him. I hope you all the best and I cant wait to be updated again.

Mark

 

[Markwjr]

Ive edited your photo to try and make the eye mor apparent. I found, for some odd reason, it is more obvious if you take away all the chameleons pretty colors. Well, anyways, I hope this helps get a good look.

 

[RexandRain]

No offence, but you seem extremely passive about the suggestions being made and the decisions that you make pertaining to them. You seem to be complying with some of the demands, the ones that suit your situation best. All the suggestions offered are whats best for your chameleon. The fact that things were terrible, now theyre just bad is fine and dandy, but what these fine people are trying to do is bring it from its bad state to a thriving one. If you want him happy, you need to be feeding him and the feeders a variety of food. He needs more than just crickets and the crickets need more than what youre feeding them (even though youve upgraded from just carrots). If you want him happy, you need a new cage. Your cage now is 16x16 as a footprint. A 24x24 cage wouldnt be adding too much more of a footprint, and its for the good of the chameleon. You need a thermometer and a humidifier. You need to check the wattage of your bulb. These things are not hard to do. Checking the bulb takes 30s and a humidy gauge and thermometer will run you $5 combined if you find the right places.

I don't mean to sound cross, but if you want some progress, youre going to have to do the work. You signed up for this, and you owe it to your beloved chameleon to do what is right for him. I hope you all the best and I cant wait to be updated again.

Mark

Your right I've gotten myself into this mess now I need to get it out.
Right now I am 60% sure it was the humidity because I have been giving him humid showers where I let him sit on the shower curtain railing with towels covering it and his eye has gotten better. More so than the picture.
I had a humidity Gauge and a Thermometer I hung them in the cage but I took them out because he kept try to climb on them and they were falling with him.
I found the hydrometer and I put it in the cage right now it is reading in between 50-60 about 58. That is way too dry right?

the basking bulb is 100w the reason I could not tell this before was because the box I had the bulb in was lost but I found it
a 14w tube florescent bulb. reptisun 5.0

will cauliflower work for gutloading? and celery?

If you want him happy, you need to be feeding him and the feeders a variety of food. He needs more than just crickets

he won't eat anything else I've tried giving him superworms but he ignores them. He only ate Crickets cause his previous owner only fed him crickets.

oh yea I don't know if this would be anyhelp but I just noticed that my Lava lamp on my desk is off. and his eye was doing better. could it be my lava lamp? I started noticing when I moved my PC desk upstairs.

 

[Markwjr]

Celery is mostly water. Same with cabbage/lettuce and kale. There are beter things out there that arent so much empty calories..but it will give him some nuitrition. Couldnt hurt to add it to the gutloading process, I suppose. Take my advice with a grain of salt here. I am no nuitrition expert..

Mark

 

[RexandRain]

Celery is mostly water. Same with cabbage/lettuce and kale. There are beter things out there that arent so much empty calories..but it will give him some nuitrition. Couldnt hurt to add it to the gutloading process, I suppose. Take my advice with a grain of salt here. I am no nuitrition expert..

Mark

well I thank you for your advice. I just needed a slap in the face thats all.
I have seem a gutload mixture at the pet store it is for crickets(do you recommend this?) I remember using it for my older bro when I cared for his Cham before I got my own.
I added in some cherry tomatoes and an orange with carrots again.