black striped eye turrets; strange behaviour

[tdotcham]

Stayed at my parents house last night thinking I would be able to sleep in.. got a couple calls waking me up from the gf saying i needed to come back as the chameleon was acting wierd.

Apparently she found him on the base of the cage in the morning and he wasnt walking around and be his active self. She described his colours were blackened, so I raced over to the house.

I found him chilling on top of the rocks covering the soil for his tree, which seems to be where hes constantly headed. When i slowly tried to pick him up he wasnt having it and locked his grip so i let him be.

his eye turrets have black stripes (uploading pictures now) which is unusual and I have never seen these colours from him. However when i started his dripper he seemed to brighten up and walk fast through his cage without any sign of injury. he was bright red, however still held his black lined eye turrets.

for now i am leaving him be and monitoring him every while. i put him up in his basking area, however he seems to be keen on the bottom of the cage.

and i thought id post a picture of him from a few weeks ago to relate and his home

 

[tdotcham]

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Male ambilobe, 1.5 years old, in my care for 5 months from chromachameleons
* Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Every so often I take him out to either put him on his free range hibiscus tree or just to check up on him
* Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? feeding around 4-5 crickets daily, superworms and silk worms occasional treat. crickets are gutloaded with sweet potato, orange, apple, kale.
* Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? monday-friday repcal calcium w/o d3. zoomeds reptivite rotated daily. - supplementation schedule provided by chromachameleons
* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I mist 2-3 times a day, and fill a dripper which drips for approx 20 minutes after misting. Dripper runs 2 times a day usually when im home for the day 3 or 4 I mist for about a minute or two until his foilage is dripping constantly.
* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
not tested for parasites, his urates are fine however sometimes a little orange.
* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Purchased from Harry at chromachameleons


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? 2x2x4 cage, wood back and bottom (both sealed and water proofed) the rest is all screen.
* Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 15" repti glo 5.0, 60w basking bulb. Lights on at 7am, lights off at 6pm (dark outside)
* Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Digital thermometor/humidity gauge. room temp of about 75, basking around 80-82 on basking vine.
* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
W/O misting humidity around 30%, after misting as high as 90%... digital guage placed on top of screen
* Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
3ft umbrella tree, and another umbrella tree on the bottom
* Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? In my gf's bedroom. the cage is 4ft tall, ontop of a 2.5 foot stand. his basking area is about 6ft high relative to standing height
* Location - Where are you geographically located?
Toronto, Canada


Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

described above

 

[Jamelon]

i hope things work out! hopefully the pics come soon so someone more experienced can help out. You might want to have a fecal done just to be safe but thats all ii can really suggest, hopefully someone more experienced will chime in

 

[tdotcham]

thanks for the kind words. i dont think a fecal would relate to this issue but i do plan on getting one during christmas break. i did add a new umbrella tree and redo the lower half of his cage however hes been fine the other 3 days after I arranged it so im not sure if he is suddenly stressed out a bit?? he is still on the bottom of his tree hanging out, this time hanging upside down on the base of the tree..

pictures!

 

[Jamelon]

I dont know what to say, he looks awesome to me Wish you luck though! hopefully more trained eyes will be able to help you

 

[tdotcham]

hes never displayed stripes in his eye turrets like this, and his actions of sitting towards the bottom of his cage concerns me.. i know its likely nothing but i was worried he may have fallen or something.

when you get a call saying your chameleon is showing black around his eyes and such u start to kinda panic

 

[Jamelon]

oh yeah i understand the panic, i just got my little girl a couple of months ago and when i brought her home a couple of days being in the cage she was closing her eyes, i was freaking out haha but all is fine now I wish you the best of luck, keep us updated

 

[jessica]

He looks like he seen a female or something that aroused him, may be the flowers in the cage? My Nosey Be gets excited every time he sees my orchids lol.

 

[Chuck G]

The eyes are normal. Did he see a female?

 

[tdotcham]

I have never seen him display stripes in his eye colours, and it only started this morning when my girlfriend found him on the base of the cage.

i only have one chameleon so the only female he would have seen is my girlfriend. the flowers have been in there for 2 months

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

He seems fired up like he has seen a female. all my male panthers show striped eye turrets when they see a female. They also show striped eye turrets when they are really fired up. IDk what he could have see to get him fired up though. There isnt a mirror anywhere within his view that he may have seen himself in is there?


Justin

 

[tdotcham]

no mirrors, and he wont fire up infront of a mirror regardless... i have tried a bunch of times to see his full colouration

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

Huh, i dont know then. something fired him up/stressed him out you just gotta find out what now. I dont know why he would be down by the bottom so much though.


Justin

 

[pssh]

Is your girlfriend wearing anything bright? I would take out the flowers. It sounds like he's on the hunt for a lady. Many males show black on their eye turrets when they see a lady.

 

[carol5208]

I have never seen him display stripes in his eye colours, and it only started this morning when my girlfriend found him on the base of the cage.

i only have one chameleon so the only female he would have seen is my girlfriend. the flowers have been in there for 2 months

It is normal! Although it doesn't happen often with mine either. But one day he had black striped turrets for about 4 hours. I will post a pick here in a minute and show you!!! Nothing of concern from what I can see! Just some cool coloration!!!!

 

[james L]

Like everyone else said, he is fine. He is just angry or horny.

 

[carol5208]

Here is a pic of my cham about 3 or 4 months ago. Only seen him do it once since then.

 

[Ace]

Carol, Romeo is too good looking not to breed...and thats the truthIMHO!!!!

 

[carol5208]

Carol, Romeo is too good looking not to breed...and thats the truthIMHO!!!!

awe thanks Ace! I know he is ready, he leaves his "little deposits" all over the cage!!

 

[pssh]

Ha, Hyperion got so excited about his lady that he mated with her who knows how many times over the last 5 days AND left plugs allllll over Eris' cage. He is dark now that he isn't with her.