jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have a problem with one of my quads who now seems to be falling at night and maybe during the day. Last night I heard her fall several times, and if I remember correctly, there was a scraping sound from the screen, not just a little thud. I put her back up in the bush and left lights on for a few minutes for her to settle before turning them off but a few minutes later she would fall again. This happened at least three times.
I have been noticing that she is spending more time on the bottom. I thought perhaps poor health, but she looks fantastic and is eating and gaining weight. I wasn't sure if she was hunting crickets at the bottom or was trying to die on me, but she kept looking really good, eating and gaining weight. If I handled her, she would grab onto my finger like a little pit bull. Yesterday when she was on the bottom, I saw her finishing swallowing a cricket. I have branches/bendy vines that go to the bottom. If I walk up to the cage when she is on the floor, she will usually slink up one of the vines so she knows how to get up off the floor and isn't stuck down there because she can't figure out an escape. The crickets tend to congregate at the bottom.
Temperatures are low enough so she is not escaping heat. She has lots of cover to get away from the UVB (Arcadia) is she wants. A recent fecal was negative.
She is a wild-caught Trioceros quadricornis quadricornis from the early February import. I bought her a day or two after she arrived in the US. Her weight Feb. 5th was 17g. Today's weight is 45g.
She has managed to rip most of her toe nails off, front and back. She had been kept in a Reptibreeze that I would carry out for natural sunlight, weather permitting. She tended to sun herself on the screen, belly to the sun, regardless of what perching/plants/cover I gave her. She is now housed in a Dragonstrand with three solid sides.
As and aside, I found that a lot if not all of the wild caughts that I took out for natural sun preferred to bask upside down or on the side with their bellies exposed to the sun. It didn't matter what perching/cover I offered, they positioned themselves so their belly got the sun. I suspect that they have thicker skin on their backs to protect themselves from the strong equatorial sunlight which is a lot stronger at the higher altitudes they live at. Their bellies didn't need that protection, so UV could penetrate more easily now they live in the north. I've lived near the equator and the difference in the strength of the sunlight is noticeable to me, even though I live quite far south in Texas. I find the sunlight "watery" here even in the summer.
Back to my quad--she also has what seems to be an overgrowth of bone at the growth plate of one or more of the bones at the elbow in both front legs. When that started, I took her to the vet who ruled out MBD and did a thorough exam and found the legs and joints working perfectly and the vet found her in really good health. We didn't do x-rays. I think it is physitis from rapid growth and possibly over nutrition, which is the cause of physitis in foals.
She is one of my "suicidal" wild caughts who will fling herself trying to escape me. I suspect that might be why she ripped off so many toes--rather than trying to move away from me carefully when I opened the cage door to service it, she would often just throw herself away.
I think she ripped the ends of her toes off when housed in the reptibreeze screen and is now having trouble gripping branches because she has very few claws. I want to put more perches/branches in.
What size perching is best for an animal that has no/few claws? Any other thoughts? Thanks.
I have been noticing that she is spending more time on the bottom. I thought perhaps poor health, but she looks fantastic and is eating and gaining weight. I wasn't sure if she was hunting crickets at the bottom or was trying to die on me, but she kept looking really good, eating and gaining weight. If I handled her, she would grab onto my finger like a little pit bull. Yesterday when she was on the bottom, I saw her finishing swallowing a cricket. I have branches/bendy vines that go to the bottom. If I walk up to the cage when she is on the floor, she will usually slink up one of the vines so she knows how to get up off the floor and isn't stuck down there because she can't figure out an escape. The crickets tend to congregate at the bottom.
Temperatures are low enough so she is not escaping heat. She has lots of cover to get away from the UVB (Arcadia) is she wants. A recent fecal was negative.
She is a wild-caught Trioceros quadricornis quadricornis from the early February import. I bought her a day or two after she arrived in the US. Her weight Feb. 5th was 17g. Today's weight is 45g.
She has managed to rip most of her toe nails off, front and back. She had been kept in a Reptibreeze that I would carry out for natural sunlight, weather permitting. She tended to sun herself on the screen, belly to the sun, regardless of what perching/plants/cover I gave her. She is now housed in a Dragonstrand with three solid sides.
As and aside, I found that a lot if not all of the wild caughts that I took out for natural sun preferred to bask upside down or on the side with their bellies exposed to the sun. It didn't matter what perching/cover I offered, they positioned themselves so their belly got the sun. I suspect that they have thicker skin on their backs to protect themselves from the strong equatorial sunlight which is a lot stronger at the higher altitudes they live at. Their bellies didn't need that protection, so UV could penetrate more easily now they live in the north. I've lived near the equator and the difference in the strength of the sunlight is noticeable to me, even though I live quite far south in Texas. I find the sunlight "watery" here even in the summer.
Back to my quad--she also has what seems to be an overgrowth of bone at the growth plate of one or more of the bones at the elbow in both front legs. When that started, I took her to the vet who ruled out MBD and did a thorough exam and found the legs and joints working perfectly and the vet found her in really good health. We didn't do x-rays. I think it is physitis from rapid growth and possibly over nutrition, which is the cause of physitis in foals.
She is one of my "suicidal" wild caughts who will fling herself trying to escape me. I suspect that might be why she ripped off so many toes--rather than trying to move away from me carefully when I opened the cage door to service it, she would often just throw herself away.
I think she ripped the ends of her toes off when housed in the reptibreeze screen and is now having trouble gripping branches because she has very few claws. I want to put more perches/branches in.
What size perching is best for an animal that has no/few claws? Any other thoughts? Thanks.
