Chameleon maybe sick. I NEED HELP FAST!!!!

lukelin12345

lukelin12345

Member
Ok so I have had my jackson chameleon for around 6month now. I just bought a new terrarium for him(30x18x18). I hardly ever hold himand when ever I do he gets stressed out So when I was building his new cage I had to get him out and he got some dark Color and I though maybe its just from the stress. But now all hes does is he sits on his little branch all day doesn't eat and I haven't seen him drink water lately. Before I moved him into tlhis new cage he hardly ever ate for two week and I thaught maybe its a hunger stick that they some times have. But sender its been about 3 weeks now I'm getting kind of scared. Please I need some help
Thanks
Luke
 
Your chameleon- its a male Jackson chameleon around a year old. Ive had him for around 5 to 6 months

Handling-hardly ever hold him only when needed

Supplements- i use repto-Cal with d3 and reptolife(militia vitiam) made by tetrafauna and flickers reptile vitiam without d3. My schedule is Mon. Cal without d3 Wed. Multics vitiam Sat. Cal with d3

Watering- I have a Hubbard mister that sprays his terrarium every 3hours for 30 seconds. In his old cage I used to always see him drink noe I haven't seen him.

Fecal Description- haven't seen any droppings lately. That's might be the problem!!!

History- nothing that comes to my mind.

Cage- he is in a 30x18x18 reptibrezz.

Lighting- I'm useing a 25 watt heat bulb for his basking spot and a repti 5.0 for his uvb light. The lights turn on around 6:40 am and turn off 9:30pm

Temp- the basking is no higher than 82 and the other areas are in the 70.

Humidity- the humidity rarely drops below 60%. I use a exp terra humidfire

Plants- I'm using fake and life plants cant remember what type of plant it is but I know for sure that it is safe for them. Look at fl chameleon website to make sure

Location- I live in right across the river from Cincinnati Ohio. The tank is on a small table and the top of it stands around 5 foot tall. It isn't by any fans or anything and its far away from any other animal tanks in my room.
 
Does reptolife have Vitamin d in it?

I still need to know more info.
Like what type of feeders were offered before the strike, how often and amount were given at each feeding.
I need a description of the last feces. Particularly the urate was it white ,yellow or orange?


Jacksons are really finicky to there care. Thing that commonly cause strike is over supplementing, abuse of insects like super worms or meal worms, dehydration, illness...

If you cant provide pictures.
Does he gape much?
Is his mouth/lips swollen at all particularly in the corners?
Is he sleeping throughout the day?
 
I feed him almost all the time crickets. Every once and awhile i would give him some mealworms. I gave him 3-5 crickets every two days and he would eat all of them. He usually went to the bathroom in his water dish that the water from the misting dripped into. Ill post some pictures asap

luke
 
/Users/rlindeman/Desktop/mail.jpeg
this was him in his old cage
/Users/rlindeman/Desktop/mail-4.jpeg
these are the supplements
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this was him the night after i moved him in his new cage, eyes closed looks like he was sleeping but don't know if he is.
/Users/rlindeman/Desktop/mail-1.jpeg
this is his cage
/Users/rlindeman/Desktop/mail-3.jpeg
this was him after i came home from football today, when i woke up this morning he was moving around but then stopped right when he saw me
 
Your pictures aren't showing on the forum post.
The questions Ataraxia asked are important to answer.
 
Also what does gape nean? I have noticed that he has been moving during the day or night but when I'm in the room he stops moving and closes his.
 
Your vitamin schedule seems pretty strong.

I dislike tetra supplements- had a really bad experience trying them on a group of baby bearded dragons once. Made their skin hard and thick and not shed right. Caused lots of problems.

The calcium has phosphorous. Kind of like someone who formulated it read something about it being necessary for the calcium in the proper ratio so they included it without really understanding what they were doing. Problem is, phosphorous is already present in about everything the product is sprinkled on, so adding it to the product is overkill and can bring the ratio out of balance.

Sorry I don't have any good advice for your cham. Really hard to say. If you have a mist system or can set one up, extra time in the mist might help if he's plugged up or dehydrated- both things would effect his appetite...

If he starts eating again- toss the supplements you are using and go with products recommended here on the forums...
 
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sorry just noticed about your mist system- you could try longer times. Personally I like 20 minutes or so 1-2x per day. I know short times work for people as well, but some chams take a while to decide to actually drink. If he hasn't been drinking, making the mist available for an hour or so might tempt him and do the trick. don't force it though- allow him to go in or out of the mist as he wants...
 
I've only uploaded pictures by going to my user profile, clicking on the statistics tab, uploading to my albums and then copying the URL to a post.
Surely there is a simpler way, I just haven't bothered to learn about it.

Gaping is sitting around with the mouth open.

If he has been sitting with his eyes closed during the day, then he is sick and needs to be checked by a vet who truly knows how to treat reptiles.
All too often, people are given the wrong instructions on how to care for their cham--usually from the places they bought the cham from.
Obviously, you care alot about your cham because you got him a new enclosure and you're trying to help him by posting here.

With the information that you have posted, I can tell you that , in addition to the actual supplements being problems as Fluxlizard said, his supplement schedule is unhealthy and that that might be the cause of his health problems.
There may be other things but you haven't answered all the questions., so I couldn't say for sure.

Jackson's (and other montane types of chams) need and can only tolerate about half of the amount of supplements that Veiled and Panther chams need.
A good schedule is typically
Calcium without d3 every other feeding like this for every other day dusting http://www.joshsfrogs.com/food-nutr...s/rep-cal/rep-cal-calcium-without-vit-d3.html
Calcium with d3 once a month like this http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/rep-cal-ultrafine-calcium-with-d3.html
A multivitamin once a month like this one http://www.joshsfrogs.com/food-nutr...nhancers/rep-cal/herptivite-multivitamin.html

The problem with too many supplements is that excess of D3 and other vitamins/minerals can damage internal organs, so it is important that the vet be aware of the D3 and vitamin frequency as a possible cause of his current problem.
Giving him more water---much longer mistings and more often--may help him to flush out the excess.
Your vet may prescribe a medication to help with this, too.



Unless you already know a vet who is very knowledgeable about chameleons, you can have a look here to find a vet.

Have a look here:
http://www.arav.org/find-a-vet/
And here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/veterinarian-resources-67/

As Fluxlizard mentioned, too much phosphorus is also bad
Here's why too much phosphorus is bad:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/wha...ase-mbd-looks-like-how-happens-how-fix-95071/
 
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Thanks for the help guys. Ill call the vet and see what they say. But he isn't gapping. Also what supplements do you guys use?
 
My Jackson's get RepCal calcium without D3, RepCal calcium with D3 and Reptivite multivitamins, on the schedule that I listed earlier.

The fact that he isn't gaping just means that it probably isn't pneumonia.

If he is napping during the day, it means that he has now become too weak to be able to hide his illness.
 
My mom took the chameleon to the vet today the vet said that there was nothing wrong. So I asked my mom today to see if he was sleeping during the day and she said he was. Now what should I do
 
The only thing to do is to see if your mom will take him to a vet that has a special interest in reptiles.
It would be best if you wrote down all the symptoms you have noticed--not eating for 3 weeks, sleeping during the day and any others, so that the vet knows what to look for
In an earlier post to you, I put a link to ARAV vets , so that would be a good place to look for a vet who knows how to diagnose and treat reptiles.
I also had a second link there for other sites to look at for a good reptile vet.
I hope all goes well for your cham.
 
What color are his urates?

Im not sure of your capabilities but im going to give advice that CAN cause harm if done incorrectly.

Id buy some liquid calcium. Reptile brand or calcium glubionate. I would personally administer .05-.1ml every other day. I would shower him or set your misting sessions longer. 15-30 minutes/3 times a day. Your cage must have drainage for this.. This is an attempt to help flush his system.

The important thing with any ill animal and adminstering anything orally. Is to take your time. I truly cant stress that enough. Literally just a drop in the front of the mouth and let the animal swallow. Sometimes it will take them minutes to swallow, you just have to be patient. If your not seeing the animal drink during the misting sessions and the urates are not solid white. This could also be the time to administer fluids. A 50/50 mixture with plain pedialyte and bottled water.
 
lukelin12345 said:
My mom took the chameleon to the vet today the vet said that there was nothing wrong. So I asked my mom today to see if he was sleeping during the day and she said he was. Now what should I do
Click to expand...

Lovereps said:
The only thing to do is to see if your mom will take him to a vet that has a special interest in reptiles.
It would be best if you wrote down all the symptoms you have noticed--not eating for 3 weeks, sleeping during the day and any others, so that the vet knows what to look for
In an earlier post to you, I put a link to ARAV vets , so that would be a good place to look for a vet who knows how to diagnose and treat reptiles.
I also had a second link there for other sites to look at for a good reptile vet.
I hope all goes well for your cham.
Click to expand...

Great advice Lovereps. Luke, if your mom needs persuading please ask her to look at this forum. Sleeping during the day is a sure sign there is something wrong. A vet who knows lots about chameleons is a bit more difficult to find but there are things that a vet who knows exotics can do to help.
 
I just wanted to let everyone know that my chameleon passed away yesterday. I was scheduled to go to a vet in Cincinnati on this saturday. Which i could have found out what was wrong with him so i don't make this mistake again
 
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