Gutload

[Amateur Chameleon]

Hello everyone! I have a 6 month old Jackson's Cham (I think) and I think there may be problems with how I am caring for him.
He spends most of his time on his basking branch...could this be a problem?
He also has runny urates. They are white but runny, fecal is fine. WHAT IS THAT!
I feed him crickets, mealworms, wax worms, super worms, horn worms
Gutload is orange, apple, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion, collard greens, carrot, hemp seeds, and oak leaf.

I am very new to the hobby and am worried about my Jorge.
If anyone sees any problem with what I mentioned above, please respond or scold me for what I am doing wrong.
I am freaking out...please respond.

 

[nstd]

how often do you feed the worms? I would cut out the mealworms.
What's your basking temp? SOMETIMES when it is NOT warm enough, they will perch there all day.

 

[Amateur Chameleon]

I feed worms twice a week
Baking around 80 and he lays there and when I lower it he immediately opens his mouth to cool down

 

[jamest0o0]

runny urates seems alarming, but i'm not sure either. I think most chams if the temp is right will bask most of the day. I have a panther, but i know jackson's like cooler temps, not sure how cool though you'll need someone with more experience than me to give you advice on that. I'm sure there's caresheet info on that as well. Your gutload seems solid to me. As nstd said, ditch the mealworms, use size appropriate superworms instead and feed only a couple times a week max. Wax worms should be a treat, from what i've read here, 1 worm a week if that is probably best. You could even do without them entirely, but i like having them around for the rare occasion. Maybe add in dubia, orange heads, silkworms, butterworms, bsfl, for variety? I use all of those, they're easy to keep and make nice additions to feeding schedule. Crickets/dubia/orangeheads are my staples.

 

[AZChamFan]

Hornworms can cause runny stools. It's probably nothing to be overly concerned about - just don't over-do them. It still wouldn't hurt to have a fecal done to rule out parasites just to be safe. I wouldn't change your basking temperature too much. I've had jacksons for quite a few years and mine have always spent a lot of time under their basking lights. I keep mine at around 83 to 85 degrees. This is fine as long as they can easily escape to a cooler part of the cage if they wish. Don't go over 85 though - that's about the upper limit. Also juveniles prefer slightly cooler basking temps so for your guy 80 is perfect until he's maybe 9 months or so and then your could raise it a few degrees if he's still spending almost his entire day there.

I agree with what someone else said - stop the mealworms altogether and easy on the waxworms, superworms are ok as an occasional treat, and dubias would be a great addition to his diet.

Your gutload is actually better than what most new owners do! I use oranges sometimes but not all the time as an exclusive water source. It wouldn't hurt to sprinkle a powdered high quality gut load on your greens, etc. such as Repashy Superload just to add even more nutrition and variety.

 

[Amateur Chameleon]

can you recomend a good reptile vet. I live in northeastern Oklahoma

 

[jamest0o0]

So the thought just popped in my head, are you sure the "runny urates" aren't the sperm plug?

 

[Amateur Chameleon]

No, I've seen his plug and it was different. Question:how often do they drop those?

When I see him defecate, his fecal is first and then comes a mess of solid and liquid white goo.
His fecal looks fine and I have only seen him drop the plug once and that was when I first got him.

 

[AZChamFan]

can you recomend a good reptile vet. I live in northeastern Oklahoma

If you check in the Health Clinic forum you'll find a resource of vets right at the top.