Constipation problem? Should I worry?

[bcornellier]

I have a 10 months old male ambilobe panther. I have noticed recently that his droppings are less and less frequent, and I am wondering if I should worry about constipation problems. When younger, he was extremely regular. Every day at the same time, like a clockwork. Now, it went from every 3 or 4 days to once a week! However, he doesn't seem bloated at all; he eats with appetite; he is lively and active; he shows no symptoms of dehydration or any other illnesses; and his droppings, even though massive (well, only once a week, so...) are fine in consistency and urate is perfect, all white without any brownishness or orange in it. With droppings twice a week, I have been told not to worry, since older chameleons tend to become less regular. But now only once a week... I don't know what to think anymore.

His diet is composed of 7 or 8 medium-sized crikets a day, 6 days a week, plus one butterworm, silkworm, superworm OR (more rarely) Hornworm (I try to alternate). The crickets are provided with rich and varied gut load made out of different veggies, greens, Flucker's orange cube, and a home made dry gutload. He is watered with an automatic mister, and he responds quite well to it. His enclosure is maintained at room temperature (73-74 F) and basking spot should be in the vicinity of 82-84 F.

Any comments or suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanking you all in advance.

 

[Lovereps]

Please answer all the questions completely

That way, if there is something wrong which could be causing the problem, we can tell you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
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?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

Pictures are helpful

 

[bcornellier]

Thank you.

In addition to what I have already written, here are the info you requested:

Cage: all wall and ceiling made out of mesh screen; 36X24X24
Lighting: Reptisun 5.0; regular 100 watt incandescent light for basking
Temperature: controlled room temperature (day and night) at 73F; 84-85F at basking spot.
Humidity: maintained using a humidifier at 55-60%
Plants: Pothos, umbrella, ficcus, one plastic
Placement: Quiet room, very low traffic; cage sitting on a corner table.
Location - Montreal

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon: Ambilobe panther, male, 10 months old. My first chameleon. I have been taking care of him for almost 6 months now.
Handling: Never did. He won't let me. But he responds well to hand feeding.
Feeding: 7-8 Crickets, 6 days a week, plus one worm a day (either butterworm, silkworm, or superworm, more rarely hornworm). Gutloading for crickets: sweet potatoes, endives, dandelion leaves, squash, romaine, bell pepper, fluker's orange cubes, home made dry gutload (ground almond, bird seeds with pre-formed vit-A, bee pollen, dulse, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds).
Supplements - Calcium no-D3 twice a week; Herptivite twice a month; calcium with D3 twice a month; MinerallO twice a month.
Watering: Automatic mister, 4 times a day for 4 minutes. He is responding well and doesn't show any symptoms of dehydration.
Fecal Description: Very big and rare, moist but consistent; urate is white. Nothing wrong here, apart from the fact that it happens less and less often.

Current Problem: Droppings only once a week or longer. Constipation?

 

[sandrachameleon]

As they get older, they poop less frequently. Perfectly normal. Each of mine tend to eliminate waste every week to 9 days. So long as he is still active, still eating, still pooping at least every 14 days without straining, and the poop is normal consistency with normal white urate, dont worry. If you worry anyhow, increase hydration and use of silkworms, butterworms and hornworms and reduce the use of crickets.

 

[bcornellier]

As they get older, they poop less frequently. Perfectly normal. Each of mine tend to eliminate waste every week to 9 days. So long as he is still active, still eating, still pooping at least every 14 days without straining, and the poop is normal consistency with normal white urate, dont worry. If you worry anyhow, increase hydration and use of silkworms, butterworms and hornworms and reduce the use of crickets.

Once again you come to my rescue with your wisdom, Madame Sandra. Sounds like a good and reasonable description of what is going on with my cham. It's been 9 days now. Hopefully he'll "poop" tomorrow. Could temperature have anything to do with this? I change the basking lamp today (put a 100 watts regular light bulb) so that basking temp would go up to 84-85 F (as opposed to only 80-81 F before; with that bulb, basking temp went up to 90F in the summer, but late in the Fall, it seems I need a stronger bulb). Could lower temp slow down digestion?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Could lower temp slow down digestion?

Absolutely.

 

[bcornellier]

Absolutely.

Once again, thank you so much for your help.