Chameleon Faded Almost Completely - HELP

[kelgan]

Hi everyone, so my girlfriend and I have a panther chameleon who has lost almost all of his colour and is now grey and dull. At first we thought it was due to shedding but it has now been over a month and he is completely white. We didn't want to believe it and I think that attributed to us waiting so long to make a post about it - although we noticed the colour shift we blamed shedding and now realize something is seriously wrong and need some opinions.

We are extremely broke at the moment and want to take him to the vet but it doesn't seem like something that is a possibility at this time so were wondering if there were any suggestions or insight on what is wrong??

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Amobile panther cham, male, 1 year old, in our care for 10 months.

Handling - Once a week, not for very long

Feeding - He eats 10-15 crix every 2nd day, we also feed him 1-2 assorted worms usually twice a week (horn, butter or silk usually) and also twice a week he gets some fruit (usually grapes) and sometimes greens (bak choy). We gutload crickets with a variety of fruits and veggies (carrots, apples etc.) and gutload mixture.

Supplements - Reptibreeze calcium plus on all his food, vitamins twice a month

Watering - misting and dripper. 3-5 times a day misting, completely soaked. 20 minutes of dripper a day usually. He drinks it.

Fecal Description - Also another concern, he hasn't been pooping often. Maybe once a week now. Probably 3 or 4 times the past month. They look normal (obviously very large) otherwise for the most part.

History -He had a mouth infection when we first got him. Brought him to the vet, got medicine, he got better. Now he has a scar but otherwise no other problems we are aware of.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen mesh, 24x24x48

Lighting - not sure the brand... or the power... but the guy at the reptile pet store hooked us up with them. One UVB and one heat lamp, after describing our terrarium etc. to him he recommended them. But the UVB was bought in August and the heat last month so they should still be good.

Temperature - Trying to keep an average temp around 75-80, basking around 85. Lowest at night is 65 BUT we try our best to keep it around 70, and it usually is.

Humidity - trying to keep around 40-60 humidity, we have a repticarpet at the bottom to keep humidity up.

Plants - Up until recently we had 2 LIVE plants. One ficus benjimina, and one umbrella plant. We found a long, long pink skinny worm thing in one of his plants under a rock (placed there so he didnt eat the dirt - also to mention he LOVES dirt and will even move the rocks to eat it). So were terrified he ingested a parasite and this is what is causing his colour. We also threw out both his plants and are buying new ones tomorrow. Probably of the same species.

Placement - In the bedroom. He is on top of a desk so the top of his cage reaches the ceiling (probably 6-7 ft tall).

Location - Toronto, Canada. AND ITS BLOODY COLD! We were scared it may have been lack of UVB problems and wish we could take him outside for some real sun but thats not a possibility

Current Problem - So basically the serious fading of colour, lack of pooping. He has an extremely generous appetite, but does seem a little sad and lazy. PLEASE HELP we love him so damn much and want to do anything in our power to help him.

I attached some pictures to show the drastic loss

 

[TreyLcham]

Well i can try to help with the color prob My chameleon was a Blue Bar Ambilobe when i first got him at 2 1/2 months old today he is around 7to8 and went from a blue bar to a red bar for a 2month period and now came back to blue bar again lol. I have been told that depending on the chameleons mood they will change there colors. Try to bring him outside and put him a an open bush and see if his color get bright. I have noticed that my panther chameleon Thor like to be way brighter in color outside than inside so i decided to change his cage plants and stuff and now he is fine here are some pc of him now and before

and after about 3weeks of taking him outside to have fun and sunbath a lil.

 

[kelgan]

I would but we live in Toronto, Canada. Its freezing cold outside until at least late May early June and even then it isn't that warm

 

[teoo OoT]

wow thats such a difference in color

 

[ChameleonRave]

Everything seems right, but I did skim through really quick. He doesn't look sick what so ever from those colors. They some time do go through a color change from my memory of my past Panther Chameleons.

A suggestion though, you could contact a vet and they may set up payments for them to see the Chameleon. I have done that in the past when I could afford it completely, I paid what I could and eventually paid it off by making small minimal payments that they required.

Best of luck. Hopefully he will gain his colors back.

 

[TreyLcham]

Also if u can get a water heater from the petstore or fish store and if u have a misting system heat the water up all day everyday at about 90 degrees when it comes out it wont be that hot cause of how small the mist is but it will still worm him up which sometimes make the chams look more worm in colors at least for mine it does( I only do this in the winter so he doesn't freeze his but of)

 

[ridgebax1]

He sure looks like he is getting ready to shed. Omar was faded for quite sometime before he started to shed. As they get closer to adulthood they do not shed their whole body like they did when they were babies. It looks like the area behind his head looks like it is starting to lift off. Some members will put their chams in the shower for 15-30 minutes. They put a plant in the shower and direct the water from the shower head to strike the wall and the spray will bounce off the wall and onto the cham. Are you hand misting or do you have an automated mist system? I use both and have my dripper set up so it drips constantly when the lights are on. At night (sometimes I forget) I turn off the dripper.
My other question is what type of calcium are you using? Does your calcium contain vitamin D3? If so it should only be used twice a month. If your calcium is plain then that is OK for daily use and then still supplement twice a month with the Calcium with D3 and twice monthly with vitamins. One of the forum members here uses liquid calcium and liquid vitamins.
You should find out what your UVB is in terms of wattage and output to make sure it is the correct light for your cham. Pet stores are notorious for giving out incorrect info and selling stuff you either don't need or are just wrong.

 

[Saldarya]

It does look like he is ready to shed and due to the fact of the cold weather, you are running your heater much more which is removing more humidity than even your normal dry winter climate.

Go with the shower method, daily if needed. It cant hurt and if it is a shed, may help it get going.

 

[kelgan]

we've been putting him in the shower.... he sleeps in the day now though and today we even had to pet him to get him to wake up which is extremely bad

 

[carol5208]

I would get your chameleon to a vet. He seems to be getting worse if he is sleeping during the day. Not good

 

[kelgan]

We've been showering him daily and he loves it. Also cut a hole in the mesh to let more UVB through. He sleeps still but less and also started pooping daily (more or less). Hopefully good signs

 

[kelgan]

He's getting better more/less. MAKES ME SO HAPPY. Been keeping up the showers no more sleeping in the day and he's back to doing normal chameleon tings