Chameleon Smells Skunky

jannb said:
I have spent thousands on my pets plenty of times.......chemo, ultra sounds, cat scans, surgeries and so much more and by no means are we rich but we do have charge cards.....my husband works in the service dept. at a car dealership and I work 3 months a year for H&R Block. I will never regret trying to provide for my pets needs right to the end. They are part of our family and that's the least I can do for them. I hope when I get to be 80 that my kids will do the same for me.
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ditto. caring for the pet and taking it to the vet/doctor when needed is part of being a responsible pet owner, is it not? People who feel lizards are "throw away" pets not worth a vet visit really ought not to own one. Just because something is old doesnt mean its not worth it.
Happily the OP does clearly care about the animals well being. Only you know what is best for your pet.
 
And the smell seems to be stronger near the base of his tail
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Rofl, why are you sniffing your lizards butt anyway? :D

Get the droppings checked for parasites/infection/bacteria.
Meds for the other problem may possibly be contributing, but parasitic infestation/infection is the likely bet, though it may be just the roaches.
8 years is impressive, you have indeed done something right. I can only hope my yearling does as well in my care. Well done! :)
 
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OK, I didn't actually take a whiff of his cloaca. I just noticed the smell is stronger near the tail than the head.

better?
:rolleyes:
he he.
Dena
 
Would you mind sharing with us what you have done to get your cham to live for eight years??????? Maybe fill out the ask for hep form. I sure hope I can get mine to live a long life. Jann
 
Jann,

I did everything the care sheets said to do for a panther.

Where is the ask for help form? I'd be happy to share my experience.

Thanks,
Dena
 
Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Furcifer pardalis, Ambanja Panther Chameleon, male, 8 years old. Owned him 8 years.
* Handling - I handle him once a week or less in the winter. Twice a day in summer- to transport him to his indoor and outdoor cages. I mostly handle him to check him over, clean his eye out or give medicine.
* Feeding - Primarily hybrid cockroaches. In summer, wild caught bugs including Japanese beetles, grubs from the soil, other beetles, flies, grasshoppers and crickets. What amount? In winter one or two 1" roaches a week. In summer he may get a few bugs a day, on average. I mostly feed him in the morning or late morning. I gut load my roaches with a mixture of non-fat dry milk, wheat germ, baby rice cereal, bee pollen, ground nuts- all mixed together. Also organic carrots, broccoli, occasionally leafy greens.
* Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? RepCal w. Vit D in the winter. Not on schedule- maybe once or twice a month.
* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? HabbaMist set to spray for one minute per hour, also hand mist for a few minutes once each morning- sometimes a second time if the air seems dry. When I mist him for longer than a minute, I see him drink.
* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Watery portion, gelatinous brown portion, white crusty portion- almost in equal amounts. Never tested for parasites. The watery portion was unusual. He usually just has the brown jelly and white crusty parts.
* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. explained in previous posting.


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? 2W x2D x 4'H. Wood frame, plastic 1/2" mesh lining the inside, window screening lining the outside - they are about 1/2" apart so bugs can't escape yet the chameleon can climb freely.
* Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 2- Reptisun 2.0, 2- full spectrum daylight fluorescents, on about 12 hours a day, I adjust it with the daylight outside. Shorter in winter, longer in summer. He was outdoors most summers, except this past one because it was too cold and rainy.
* Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? I used to have a basking spot with a 100Watt incandescent, but it must have been too hot because he never went near it. So, I no longer do. Plus, my chameleon is so old, he doesn't move around much to thermoregulate, so I will move him if he appears to be in a cool spot for too long. I use a space heater to maintain a daytime temp of around 75-85 F. It's warmer near the overhead lights atop his cage. At night heaters and lights go off and the room naturally cools off to 65 - 75 degrees. I use an indoor/outdoor thermometer outside his cage. Placing one part near the lower part of the cage and the other sensor higher, about a half a foot lower than the lights. I also have a "tempgun" and used that religiously until I was confident of what I was doing.
* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I am not sure what the humidity level is. My hygrometers were inexpensive and seemed unreliable. I used to run a humidifier, but it was too wet in the room and caused mold growth on the window. So, I had to stop that. There are a lot of plants in the room and in his cage so, I think the humidity is around 60%. When I used the humidifier it was probably 90% at times.
* Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I have relied on pothos for most of his life. I've also brought in other plants, including umbrella plant, gardenia, ficus, ferns- but I usually neglect the plants and then remove them from the cage.
* 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? It is in a half bath/laundry on top of the dryer (which vents outdoors). The room has a floor heater vent. The vent is about 4' away from his cage. The space heater has a fan in it, I place that right near the floor vent- away from the cage to heat the room higher than the rest of the house. This is a low traffic area. We close the door, so noise is low too. The top of the cage is probably at 6'.
* Location - Where are you geographically located? Central Connecticut, USA.

Hope this helps!
-Dena
 
Thanks Dena. Its interesting to see what other successfull keepers routines are.

Let us know if he stops being a stinky pants or if parasites or whatever are found. With wild caught insects as a frequent part of his diet (which may otherwise be a positive contribution to his lifespan), I suspect parasites are possible.
 
You are welcome.

My answers are pretty general. It's been 8 years of trying different things. So, I wouldn't recommend anyone try to follow mine to the letter.

For example. I forgot to include that I've fed him silkworms in the warmer months (when I could get them shipped to me).

All the best!
Dena
 
Follow up

Ok, so since I've posted, I've gone to feeding primarily crickets. 'Blue', my chameleon is very lethargic. His coloration is dull/gray. It took him 3.5 weeks to poop.

The brown part of the poop was just like a pile of hard stuff- not gelatinous- and the urate part was all crumbled into white dots. Since he pooped on a paper towel, and the enclosure gets automatically misted throughout the day, I'm assuming his poop was watery.

I brought it to the vet the same day (not sure how many hours old) and they said it was negative for parasites.

Now what?

The exotic animal vet said they can't do a blood test for parasites. They would like another poop sample. So, I've got to wait a few more weeks (when he next poops) :( before I can have that done. I'm very worried about him.

His eye has improved. I haven't had to remove any goo with a q-tip. And he's off all meds. That's the good news. I think the vet is right, he has trouble clearing debris from his eye because there's a problem with the closing mechanism in his eye. [This was something we noticed when he was less than a year old. I took him to the vet because there was debris in his eye and he kept rolling it.]

Thanks for reading and your advice!
 
As said before, he's quite a senior guy. Another fecal won't hurt, but if anything shows up I would be very cautious about treating for it due to his age. Chances are he has a few bugs in his system but if the number isn't overwhelming I think I would leave him alone. I wonder if he would do a little better on soft bodied feeders like hornworms, waxworms and silkworms? Might be easier on his GI tract.
 
Carlton,

Thank you for your reply!

I would love to give him hornworms and silkworms. Can you recommend vendors who would ship them in the freezing cold to Connecticut? I'm not sure they will.

I've never fed him hornworms before, but I bet he would love them.

Have you had a bad experience treating your cham for parasites? Is it taxing and/or stressful to their system?

Thanks!
 
DMPanther said:
Ok, so since I've posted, I've gone to feeding primarily crickets. 'Blue', my chameleon is very lethargic. His coloration is dull/gray. It took him 3.5 weeks to poop.

The brown part of the poop was just like a pile of hard stuff- not gelatinous- and the urate part was all crumbled into white dots. Since he pooped on a paper towel, and the enclosure gets automatically misted throughout the day, I'm assuming his poop was watery.

I brought it to the vet the same day (not sure how many hours old) and they said it was negative for parasites.

Now what?

The exotic animal vet said they can't do a blood test for parasites. They would like another poop sample. So, I've got to wait a few more weeks (when he next poops) :( before I can have that done. I'm very worried about him.

His eye has improved. I haven't had to remove any goo with a q-tip. And he's off all meds. That's the good news. I think the vet is right, he has trouble clearing debris from his eye because there's a problem with the closing mechanism in his eye. [This was something we noticed when he was less than a year old. I took him to the vet because there was debris in his eye and he kept rolling it.]

Thanks for reading and your advice!
Click to expand...

My panther went 30 days without poop and he ate very little during this time. I put him in a tepid shower and bam....he went.
 
Draetish,

Thanks for the idea.

I'm not so concerned about the time between poops, but that he's ill and it's going to take weeks before I can get my next sample.

I don't think my chameleon like showers in the bathroom. I think the water is too forceful for him and I can't adjust that. I mist/shower him using a handheld pump sprayer and nowadays spray him for about 5 minutes straight. He drinks the water, but has never pooped while I was spraying.

He usually poops when no one is watching. I was thinking of setting up a webcam so I can check in on him throughout the day- since the vet said the poop has to be less than 3 hours old when they test it.

What techniques have others used to stimulate their chameleons to poop?

Any tips on setting up a webcam? I have a Mac laptop with camera, but the room is too humid to leave the computer running in there.

Thanks everyone!
 
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