Chameleom seems rather small for his age...

ChamDE86 said:
Has he ever been checked for parasites? You're also not answering some of the questions that are being asked by other members. How many crickets and how often are you feeding? Also, where exactly did you hear that dusting should only happen once a week? There is also no mention of a vitamin supplement which you should be dusting twice a month along with the Calcium D3.
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10-15 crickets daily, along with 3 hornworms daily. I read online a while back that vitamin supplements should be used once a week, but it would seem noe that that person had no idea what they were talking about... D3 calcium is used VERY RARELY, however. I understand they don't need a lot of it.
 
Night heat has been shut off and will stay off from now on. I would like to get live plants for him, but it's hard to find them in the harsh winter months.
 
Don't feel too bad as it is not too late to fix everything. You need to get a vitamin supplement ASAP. Reptivite seems to be popular among members on here. Start dusting with "calcium WITHOUT d3" at every feeding and then implement the calcium WITH d3 & vitamins every two weeks. I honestly believe he may need to be checked for parasites because it doesn't make sense that he's eating that much everyday and not gaining any size.
 
MiyagiCham said:
Night heat has been shut off and will stay off from now on. I would like to get live plants for him, but it's hard to find them in the harsh winter months.
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OK go to Lowes or Home Depot and get a potho plant they are always in stock in your area in the inside nursery/lawn and garden a lot of the time in a hanging basket and sometimes called golden pothos or just "great house plant" -no kidding about that either- so find a pic and know what it looks like when you get there cause the employees have no clue if you ask (Mikesyring pic above has a pothos in the cage) don't go to Lowe's that place sucks go to Home Depot ok here are some mo pics https://www.google.com/search?q=pot...ved=0ahUKEwj87pCW15bKAhXHuBoKHdNXAtQQ_AUIBigB
 
Oh, I said that I use calcium WITH D3 and calcium WITHOUT D3. The one with D3 is used maybe once a month, so even less than the normal supplements (Which I will start using on a daily basis.) I will try to have him checked for parasites, but I do not know of any exotic animal vets in my area. Are there any signs I can look for that can point out parasites in his system?
 
JGuinan007 said:
OK go to Lowes or Home Depot and get a potho plant they are always in stock in your area in the inside nursery/lawn and garden a lot of the time in a hanging basket and sometimes called golden pothos or just "great house plant" -no kidding about that either- so find a pic and know what it looks like when you get there cause the employees have no clue if you ask (Mikesyring pic above has a pothos in the cage)
Click to expand...
Alright, Pothos it is! I have heard that its great at maintaining humidity AND is hard to kill, which is good for me because I do not have a green thumb when it comes to plants! I also want to buy some hibiscus in spring once it becomes available, as I have heard some chameleons enjoy eating hibiscus.
 
MiyagiCham said:
Oh, I said that I use calcium WITH D3 and calcium WITHOUT D3. The one with D3 is used maybe once a month, so even less than the normal supplements (Which I will start using on a daily basis.) I will try to have him checked for parasites, but I do not know of any exotic animal vets in my area. Are there any signs I can look for that can point out parasites in his system?
Click to expand...
The Calcium with D3 should be done once every two weeks. I personally do it once every other Saturday, makes it easy to keep track of. You can get Reptivite or something similar which has the D3 and multivitamin in one. Weight loss or slow growth can be signs of parasites. I would get him into a vet as soon as you can just to make sure.
 
So far the best vet I've heard of in Philadelphia is Dr.Dennis he works for the Zoo also but is very hard to get appointment his office recommended me to another vet when my chameleon had what I thought was an eye emergency but I don't think he knew about chameleons and broke some of her ribs when he was holding her anyway Dr. Dennis office # is 215-333-8888
I have been having a hard time with this as well People on this site seem to know way more than the vets in Philadelphia area that I have seen
 
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MC,

Thank you for your quick reply. As you can see members are replying like mad with a bevy of advice. As to the questions posed:

Feeding-Mainly gutloaded crickets, trying to start getting him eating hornworms. Try a variety of insects. The more the better. There's a new post that is great on all ava. insects we feed our beasties.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...rything-you-have-ever-fed-yours-chams.146375/

Supplements-Calcium no D3, calcium with D3. Calcium w/ no D3 daily. D3 and vita x2 per mo.

Watering-Mainly spray bottle or dripper. Mist you little guy w/ 3 good 5 min. sessions per day if possible. Use warm water in you pressurized spray bottle. Consider a Mistking. Use the dripper as well.
http://www.mistking.com/

Fecal description-Typical white or brown. Yes, you should see fecals on a daily or almost daily basis. There should be 2 parts. The fecal and the urate. The urate should be white, sometimes with a tingle of yellow, but mostly white. (good tell for dehydration if mostly yellow to orange) There's a lot of good posts on here to explore this topic
.
History-Has had right eye irritation, sometimes open, sometimes closed. THis is a issue that maybe solved with more frequent mistings as he may have something in his eye. I'd like to see a close up of his eye. Keep an "eye" on it and if it's getting worse, find a vet.

Cage type- Homemade screen cage, unknown dimensions but over 3 feet tall. Good deal, the bigger the better, but if he has roughly 24x24x36, he should be good. More plants/ vines the better.

Lighting-Standard 100w bulb for basking, UVB 5.0, night time heat lamp. Good, as indicated, loose the heat lamp. They need a flux down to 60* or so at night.

Temperature-typically 85-90 during day for basking. 75-80 in non-basking spots. Basking may be a little warm for a panther. 75-80 seems right for non-basking spots.
Humidity- anywhere from 40 to 70. Good. Make sure you get at lest three readings at 70% after misting.

Plants- None, haven't purchased any yet. Yikes!!!! Load the enclosure up. I know it may be difficult to find in Philly in the witer months, but you might check Home Depot or Lowes for Ficus Benjamina, pothos and an umbrella plant.

Placement- my bedroom. I'm hardly in there so it's a good place for him to be away from people. Central air vent on other side of room. Good
Location- Philadelphia Cool! I'd like to see the city oof brotherly love and the liberty bell one day.

Current problem-He seems to be very small for an 8 or 9 month old panther cham. Your husbandry seems to be off a little, but perhaps it can be corrected with a few adjustments. Do you have a current vet? Have you had a fecal done? You mentioned that he had a rather large sperm plug discharge recently?
 
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JGuinan007 said:
So far the best vet I've heard of in Philadelphia is Dr.Dennis he works for the Zoo also but is very hard to get appointment his office recommended me to another vet when my chameleon had what I thought was eye emergency but I don't think he knew about chameleons and broke some of her ribs when he was holding her anyway Dr. Dennis office # is 215-333-8888
Click to expand...
JG, very cool to get that # up so quickly. Little worried about him "man-handling" the critters, but maybe a friendly, gentle reminder to "go easy" if you see him again. Most folks/vet staff that work in Zoo's are fantastic, but you have to remember that they've got a lot on their plate and deal with a menagerie of animals. Nonetheless, If he's rep. specific, then.......
 
Alright, I'll have to schedule an appointment with one of the vets soon. I'd do anything for my little guy, but I still hope the vet bill isn't too much... lol!
 
MSMorgan said:
MC,

Thank you for your quick reply. As you can see members are replying like mad with a bevy of advice. As to the questions posed:

Feeding-Mainly gutloaded crickets, trying to start getting him eating hornworms. Try a variety of insects. The more the better. There's a new post that is great on all ava. insects we feed our beasties.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...rything-you-have-ever-fed-yours-chams.146375/

Supplements-Calcium no D3, calcium with D3. Calcium w/ no D3 daily. D3 and vita x2 per mo.

Watering-Mainly spray bottle or dripper. Mist you little guy w/ 3 good 5 min. sessions per day if possible. Use warm water in you pressurized spray bottle. Consider a Mistking. Use the dripper as well.
http://www.mistking.com/

Fecal description-Typical white or brown. Yes, you should see fecals on a daily or almost daily basis. There should be 2 parts. The fecal and the urate. The urate should be white, sometimes with a tingle of yellow, but mostly white. (good tell for dehydration if mostly yellow to orange) There's a lot of good posts on here to explore this topic
.
History-Has had right eye irritation, sometimes open, sometimes closed. THis is a issue that maybe solved with more frequent mistings as he may have something in his eye. I'd like to see a close up of his eye. Keep an "eye" on it and if it's getting worse, find a vet.

Cage type- Homemade screen cage, unknown dimensions but over 3 feet tall. Good deal, the bigger the better, but if he has roughly 24x24x36, he should be good. More plants/ vines the better.

Lighting-Standard 100w bulb for basking, UVB 5.0, night time heat lamp. Good, as indicated, loose the heat lamp. They need a flux down to 60* or so at night.

Temperature-typically 85-90 during day for basking. 75-80 in non-basking spots. Basking may be a little warm for a panther. 75-80 seems right for non-basking spots.
Humidity- anywhere from 40 to 70. Good. Make sure you get at lest three readings at 70% after misting.

Plants- None, haven't purchased any yet. Yikes!!!! Load the enclosure up. I know it may be difficult to find in Philly in the witer months, but you might check Home Depot or Lowes for Ficus Benjamina, pothos and an umbrella plant.

Placement- my bedroom. I'm hardly in there so it's a good place for him to be away from people. Central air vent on other side of room. Good
Location- Philadelphia Cool! I'd like to see the city oof brotherly love and the liberty bell one day.

Current problem-He seems to be very small for an 8 or 9 month old panther cham. Your husbandry seems to be off a little, but perhaps it can be corrected with a few adjustments. Do you have a current vet? Have you had a fecal done? You mentioned that he had a rather large sperm plug discharge recently?
Click to expand...
No, I haven't had a fecal done on him before, probably a pretty important thing to have done. Also, he did have a rather large sperm plug recently. He had some trouble pushing it out so I had to give him some... assistance. Ew! But as you may have noticed from the previous pictures, his hemipenal bulge is rather large. This increase in size only happened after he was able to push out the plug, so I am a little worried about it. I do have a photo of the plug and a close-up of the bulge if you would like to see it.
 
MiyagiCham said:
No, I haven't had a fecal done on him before, probably a pretty important thing to have done. Also, he did have a rather large sperm plug recently. He had some trouble pushing it out so I had to give him some... assistance. Ew! But as you may have noticed from the previous pictures, his hemipenal bulge is rather large. This increase in size only happened after he was able to push out the plug, so I am a little worried about it. I do have a photo of the plug and a close-up of the bulge if you would like to see it.
Click to expand...

You bet, post the pics. If not I, someone will be able to comment on why. I imagine that it is swollen, due to inflammation. Nonetheless, hopefully is healing, but...
 
Like I said in your other thread on this topic: he looks pretty thin to me. A parasite check and a check on those hemipenes should be done ASAP.

I'd definitely prioritize the parasite check, and feed him as much as he wants of well-gutloaded feeders daily- maybe twice daily. This is not a replacement for a proper check, though! That should be done regardless. You could even try offering more of the smaller-sized feeders: they are often easier to digest than fewer larger feeders: for example, if you're feeding 10x 4week crickets, try 15-20 3week crickets. What are you gutloading with?
 
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MissLissa said:
Like I said in your other thread on this topic: he looks pretty thin to me. A parasite check and a check on those hemipenes should be done ASAP.

I'd definitely prioritize the parasite check, and feed him as much as he wants of well-gutloaded feeders daily- maybe twice daily. This is not a replacement for a proper check, though! That should be done regardless. You could even try offering more of the smaller-sized feeders: they are often easier to digest than fewer larger feeders: for example, if you're feeding 10x 4week crickets, try 15-20 3week crickets. What are you gutloading with?
Click to expand...
His food is being fed things like spinach, carrots, apples, and fluker's cricket quenchers.

Here's the photos of his bulge and plug:
 

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