Force Feeding

[GabeCastro]

Just had to force feed Jasper

He hasn't ate anything for the past 4-5 days. These past few weeks, i can count everything he's ate on one hand. So, as a last resort i finally force fed Jasper. Gave him 2 adult crickets and a super worm. Forgot to dust the crickets, but i did dust the super with a multivitamin.

All i do is pull gently on his neck, this opens there mouth a bit then i have my girlfriend place the cricket into Jaspers mouth. Just a note, i make sure i smash the insects head before force feeding. Last thing i want to do is have a cricket/super worm bite Jaspers tongue. And i don't stick the cricket down his throat. I let him bite the cricket and chew it himself. If he ever regurgitates it, i'd make a bug smoothie and use a syringe to feed him

I was surprised that he just knocked them down...Figure i'd go for atleast 4-5 crickets a day + a super or 2. I have no other option as of now, so force feeding is the way to go. Ordered some silkworms today, hopefully they'll be here by Friday. I'll try to stay away from over feeding Jasper. I don't want him to over eat since his appetite has been extremely low. I'll build it back up for him eventually.

Also plan on making a trip somewhere to get Dubia roaches and fresh crickets. I've had these calcium worms for the longest, they're all black now. So i want to find some more of these.

I really wish my vet told me about this type of stuff...I emailed him yesterday, and all he said was "Keep trying, keeping humidity up. Sent from my iPhone". Thankfully we have this forum. Just been reading through a bunch of peoples threads and force feeding was the way to go in my situation.

*side note: Jasper has coccidia & pinworms. I JUST read what pinworms do, they basically attack your chameleons digestive system and eat up all your chameleons nutrients they intake. Thus leaving Jasper with pretty much nothing. Panacure (This is what Japers currently on) is a highly intense antibiotic that stops the pinworms metabolism and eventually they die off. When theres allot of parasites dying off inside the chameleon, It's called "Toxic Shock". it stresses the chameleon out and lately Jaspers been really dark so i'm pretty sure he's going through that phase. His feces used to smell really bad, but not so much anymore. Only way to get rid of parasites is through the feces, Cleaning out their system. He's really active and i've been continuing to monitor him everyday. He was starting to look a bit skinny, so this is why i researched all this info and decided to forcefeed. I'll be continuing with force feeding untill he can get his own food. Also he's been drinking water pretty good.

 

[Decadancin]

I was wondering how Jasper was doing. Hope he recovers soon and is parasite free! Do you have to bring him back for a follow up visit after he is done with treatment?

 

[GabeCastro]

I was wondering how Jasper was doing. Hope he recovers soon and is parasite free! Do you have to bring him back for a follow up visit after he is done with treatment?

Hah, thanks for the interest. He's doing pretty good, still active alteast.

And yup. Once his meds run out i'd go in for another fecal test. See if his coccidia drops and if his pinworms are clearing up. He's still pretty strong, Just been dark in color lately. I'm pretty confident it's because of the pinworm / coccidia meds. He's just getting loaded with dead junk inside him so it's hard on him. Also being handled so much, forcefed, and having his cage rearranged all the time isn't helping with his stress levels haha.

We'll see, again thanks for kind words Decadancin!

 

[Kate]

Hah, thanks for the interest. He's doing pretty good, still active alteast.

And yup. Once his meds run out i'd go in for another fecal test. See if his coccidia drops and if his pinworms are clearing up. He's still pretty strong, Just been dark in color lately. I'm pretty confident it's because of the pinworm / coccidia meds. He's just getting loaded with dead junk inside him so it's hard on him. Also being handled so much, forcefed, and having his cage rearranged all the time isn't helping with his stress levels haha.

We'll see, again thanks for kind words Decadancin!

Sounds like you both are having a rough time. Hope Jasper gets better soon.

 

[biochemnerd808]

Jasper is lucky to have an owner who is taking good care of him!

We have a rescued full-grown male Veiled chameleon, and I've had to feed him by hand since day 1 because he doesn't hunt due to calcium deficiency. He is getting stronger all the time, but still doesn't hunt (at least he climbs now and doesn't fall off the branch!). He recently had surgery for an abscess on his nose ridge.

Anyway, at the same time you are giving him crickets/worms (pulling down his throat to open his mouth) you can also drip a little Kern's papaya juice with some calcium powder suspended in it into his mouth with a syringe or an eye dropper. This extra liquid intake will help flush out Jasper's system - help him get rid of any dead worms inside him. Our Leonard loves the papaya juice - this was a trick my reptile rescue friend shared with me. I chase each feeding with about 1-2cc of papaya juice (Leonard is a LARGE cham, so not sure how much your Jasper would take... don't want to over-do it!). Leonard is used to being handled, since he was hand-fed in the rescue facility as well. Not sure how easy this would be on a cham that hates being touched.

I hope this helps!

 

[GabeCastro]

Sounds like you both are having a rough time. Hope Jasper gets better soon.

Thanks Kate! def has been a journey but i'm glad Jasper is showing some signs of improvement

Jasper is lucky to have an owner who is taking good care of him!

We have a rescued full-grown male Veiled chameleon, and I've had to feed him by hand since day 1 because he doesn't hunt due to calcium deficiency. He is getting stronger all the time, but still doesn't hunt (at least he climbs now and doesn't fall off the branch!). He recently had surgery for an abscess on his nose ridge.

Anyway, at the same time you are giving him crickets/worms (pulling down his throat to open his mouth) you can also drip a little Kern's papaya juice with some calcium powder suspended in it into his mouth with a syringe or an eye dropper. This extra liquid intake will help flush out Jasper's system - help him get rid of any dead worms inside him. Our Leonard loves the papaya juice - this was a trick my reptile rescue friend shared with me. I chase each feeding with about 1-2cc of papaya juice (Leonard is a LARGE cham, so not sure how much your Jasper would take... don't want to over-do it!). Leonard is used to being handled, since he was hand-fed in the rescue facility as well. Not sure how easy this would be on a cham that hates being touched.

I hope this helps!

Kerns? I'll give it a try, won't mind if i drink it myself aswell haha. Thanks for the tip though, i'll give it a shot. I'll let you know how it goes this week. I'll try and pick up some tomorrow.

 

[biochemnerd808]

Good luck! And just for the record, I don't recommend the papaya juice long term, or as a substitute to good misting and another water source (e.g. drip). But for the in-between time where extra liquid is essential, it's awesome. It has literally saved our Leonard's life.

 

[Mmcbain1]

Sorry to hear that you had to force feed Jasper. Good to know he is still holding on. When you decide to go back to the vet consider a different one if your not happy! keep us posted.

 

[mcbdz]

Glad to here you see improvement. Have you been able to take him outside for that awesome CA sun. That may help his appetite and keep all his digestion moving. Hope he's all better soon.

 

[GabeCastro]

Sorry to hear that you had to force feed Jasper. Good to know he is still holding on. When you decide to go back to the vet consider a different one if your not happy! keep us posted.

Thanks, My vet is cool. I can understand why he responds kind of blunt. It is over email anyways. In person he's really informative and all around a good vet.

Glad to here you see improvement. Have you been able to take him outside for that awesome CA sun. That may help his appetite and keep all his digestion moving. Hope he's all better soon.

You know what, i haven't let him go outside in about 2 weeks...The weather over here hasn't been too well in the bay. This past couple of days has been sunny, but still in the low 70's. Hopefully today warms up around noon. I'll take him outside. Also wanted to give him a warm shower, maybe it'll help him out even more.

 

[GabeCastro]

Good luck! And just for the record, I don't recommend the papaya juice long term, or as a substitute to good misting and another water source (e.g. drip). But for the in-between time where extra liquid is essential, it's awesome. It has literally saved our Leonard's life.

Thanks, I'll be gone all day but tomorrow morning I can give it a shot w/ the juice. Glad to hear it really helped your big boy, i'll let you know how it goes.

-Gabe