Hard Poop?

[garrettt331]

I recently obtained a 4 1/2 month old male panther. I have had him since Tuesday. I am worried that he is not drinking enough, b/c one poop had a little white urate in it, but a second poop in the same day did not have any urate in it and was rock hard fresh. I have not seen him drink off any of the leaves in a couple of days. Is this normal? He also started going to sleep about an hour before lights out 2 days ago. Today he was not really active. He spent the majority of the day on one branch towards the top. Are these things normal to a young panther that is new in his surroundings?

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - Furcifer pardalis, male, 4-5 months, less than a week
• Handling - none
• Feeding – crickets and super worms, flukers high calcium cricket food, carrots, collard greens, apples
• Supplements – Calcium daily, Calcium with D3 2x month, reptivite 2x month
• Watering – Dripper 1 drop/3 sec, misting 3-4 times a day for 30 sec, not recently
• Fecal Description – Brown to black with a small white urate
• History -

Cage Info:
• Cage Type – Screen 2x2x4
• Lighting – reptisun 5.0 tube, 2 grow lights, 60 watt light bulb for basking
• Temperature – 69 at bottom- 84 at basking spot on 12 hour cycle from 5:30AM to 5:30 PM, 2 thermometers
• Humidity – 60-95% frequent mists and dripper, hygrometer
• Plants - Are you using live plants? Yes, schleffera, ficus, and hibiscus
• Placement – It is in a high traffic area, but a have a sheet over the front so he can’t see and the top is about 2 feet from the
• Location – College Station, TX

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. I would recommend a large variety of feeders and better gutload. Try some silkworms and small hornworms....that will help to hydrate him. The Flukers gutload is not any good. I recommend Cricket Crack to go along with your fresh fruits and veggies. Also make sure that you reptivite does not have D3 in it because it comes with or without D3 and you don't want to overdose him on D3.

He make not mind the high traffic. After he settles in, try removing the sheet. My guys all like hanging out with me in the busy areas of our house.

 

[garrettt331]

Thanks, I am a wreck making sure he is going to acclimate. I will switch feeds and look into some other feeders. I miss spoke it is herptivite, not reptivite. What about the hard poop and the lack of urate?

 

[jannb]

Thanks, I am a wreck making sure he is going to acclimate. I will switch feeds and look into some other feeders. I miss spoke it is herptivite, not reptivite. What about the hard poop and the lack of urate?

Sometimes they do one without the other. Just keep him well hydrated. Do you have a picture of him and his setup?

 

[garrettt331]

Not yet and his light are out now. I will post one tomorrow as soon as possible.

 

[Juliaf3]

Janns info is great. Everything I would say. I would add that you want your dripper to drip 1 drop every second. Is your misting from a hand mister, pressurized mister, or misting system? For more variety of bugs, check out lindasgonebuggie.com she has the perfect option for 1 chameleon owners with her "variety packs" I may have more to add once you post some pictures.


Another thing I like to ask new owners- have you looked for a reptile vet? Not saying he needs to go now. It is just better to get one found now and establish a relationship with one you feel has adequate knowledge for treating and caring for chameleons. It is better then frantically searching for one when he does need a vet as chameleons are notorious sickness hiders and can go from great to bad really really quick. Theres a lot of keepers from Texas on here who can probably suggest a good vet for you When I got my chameleon and confirmed I had proper husbandry I spent a majority of my time researching gut loads, and reading through post in the health section. People who post in the health section always post pictures so you can get a good idea of what to look for in your guy. It was particularly great for me because when my guy developed mouth rot I was able to recognize and catch it early! Anyway- looking forward to your pictures and more posts from you I see you joined in November but it appears these are your first posts, welcome to the forums!

 

[garrettt331]

I changed the drip rate to 1 drop/sec. I mist with a hand mister. I do have a vet capable of handling him as well. I have tried to get silkies, but they are sold out pretty much everywhere. I will probably make the move to dubias in the next month or so once i have room for them. His poop did have a urate in it this morning, but it was small. His dropping still seemed really hard for being fresh. His appetite is good and seems to have a strong grip (last night slept vertically on a ficus branch). I'm probably just worried and over thinking things, but it is just nice to get a confirmation that he is acclimating well.

 

[Juliaf3]

Hey that's an excellent set up! Looks great. Glad you seen a urate this morning and glad you have a vet! He's a different looking Panther! What locale is he?

Good job with the misting. I know using hand misters is time consuming. I had to mist my boys like that for about a month! You should go to the garden section at Walmart or lowes and get a pressurized mister. It will change your life and they are pretty cheap then when you really want to change your life get a misting system haha

 

[garrettt331]

Thanks! He's an ambilobe and probably looks different b/c those are his basking colors. He typically is a nice seafoam green with red turrets and red bands on his tail. Does he seem healthy to you?

 

[Juliaf3]

What I can see of him does. Nice straight arms- full eye turrets. Both very good things. Two main things I look at when trying to determine whether or not a chameleon is sick. Wavy looking limbs would indicate MBD- and sunk in turrets would indicate severe dehydration.

 

[garrettt331]

ok good! I do have one more question. If I were to purchase a mistking, would I also need to run the dripper?

 

[Juliaf3]

As long as he is staying nice and hydrated you won't have to.