Help panther chameleon is dying I think!

M

michaeloneos

New Member
Hey I have a male panther chameleon who is getting sick and im afraid dying. It started out a few weeks ago when he refused to eat much maybe one cricket or worm a day but I figured he had gotten to his adult appetite since I've have him for over a year and he was getting to around 2 years. Then shortly after I noticed his eye was a little milky like it had goobers in it but I was able to remove the film with ease. After that I thought it might have been the humidity so I bought a fog machine and started misting even more. He is now eating much more but I've noticed his eye is really ichy although I cannot see anything is it he also has this hard crusty thing coming out of his anus(not poo) and he's becoming more lethargic but he still eats and drinks so im very confused. Id rather not take him to a vet for money reasons. If anyone has any experience in this whatsoever im all ears thanks.
 
more info

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - red bar panther chameleon, male, and approximately 2 year s. Ive had him for just over a year?
Handleing- about once every couple days for a few minutes he's very friendly
Feeding - mainly crickets but also horned and silk worms from time to time. Its been a little random lately since he's been eating less but before about 5 crickets daily. Im gutlaoding them with some lettuce and fluckers high calcium cricket diet.
Supplements - i dust the crickets a few times a week with exo terra multi vitamin
Watering - i have a waterfall, humidifier, and i mist him about 3-6 times daily and i do see him drinking
Fecal Description - he poos every day and it looks the same as always but its never been tested.
History - not much history other then hes been healthy and happy

Cage Info:
Cage Type - i have a 2'x2'x4' mesh cage
Lighting- 10-12 hours of light and I use one of those exotic terra deep dome lights that costs like 60 bucks for one bulb and an all living things light with a zoo-med 60 watt bulb
Temperature - temperature is about 60-80 and under the basking spot probably like 90
Humidity - i live in a very dry climate so it varies on where he is but most humid is about 70-80% under the humidifier
Plants - i do have live plants I forget the names but I know they are not toxic to chameleons I did the research before plus he doesnt eat them
Placement - his cage is in a spare room by himself low traffic and no fans
Location - alberta
 

Attachments

  • 20140318_130454.jpg
    20140318_130454.jpg
    208.2 KB · Views: 429
I'm no vet, but I've read that eye issues could be caused by a vitamin A deficiency . I would recommend contacting a veterinarian to at least get advice as well as doing research online. Good luck, hope your guy pulls through. :)
 
That dry thing looks like spermplug to me. Give him a good mist, if you could 2-3 times a day. It should fall off. Hopefully it is not his hemipenes. How long is it there for?
 
I thought it was a sperm plug too but its been there for about 4 days and I gave it a gentle pull and something from inside came out with it not sure what but I let go and it slipped backn it. Grossed me out whatever it is.
 
i would say a spermplug as trevor used to get them stuck....give him a good worm shower and it would come out.
 
michaeloneos said:
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - red bar panther chameleon, male, and approximately 2 year s. Ive had him for just over a year?
Handleing- about once every couple days for a few minutes he's very friendly
Feeding - mainly crickets but also horned and silk worms from time to time. Its been a little random lately since he's been eating less but before about 5 crickets daily. Im gutlaoding them with some lettuce and fluckers high calcium cricket diet.
Supplements - i dust the crickets a few times a week with exo terra multi vitamin
Watering - i have a waterfall, humidifier, and i mist him about 3-6 times daily and i do see him drinking
Fecal Description - he poos every day and it looks the same as always but its never been tested.
History - not much history other then hes been healthy and happy

Cage Info:
Cage Type - i have a 2'x2'x4' mesh cage
Lighting- 10-12 hours of light and I use one of those exotic terra deep dome lights that costs like 60 bucks for one bulb and an all living things light with a zoo-med 60 watt bulb
Temperature - temperature is about 60-80 and under the basking spot probably like 90
Humidity - i live in a very dry climate so it varies on where he is but most humid is about 70-80% under the humidifier
Plants - i do have live plants I forget the names but I know they are not toxic to chameleons I did the research before plus he doesnt eat them
Placement - his cage is in a spare room by himself low traffic and no fans
Location - alberta
Click to expand...

Try sitting him in a shallow container of warm water to soften the sperm plug. Hopefully it will loosen it. Try not to pull it as it could cause a prolapse. Your gutloading could be improved. Try looking up sandrachameleons blog. It will give you some ideas. You should be aiming to dust your feeders with plain calcium daily. Calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivitamin twice a month. Waterfalls are ok as long as you clean it thoroughly daily as it breeds bacteria, chams tend to poop in them and feeders drown in them. Can't comment on your lights as I don't know them. Your temps seem ok but it is important to measure correctly and not guess. Humidity shouldn't be a constant 70-80%. It needs to peak 70% several times a day and the viv should dry out between misting. The gunk you saw round his eye suggests an infection which needs to be seen by a vet.:)
 
Thanks everyone for the quick responses I appreciate it. Ill try the warm water see if it'll fall out and do you know of any eye drops or techniques I could try before going to the vet?
 
You could try normal saline drops. Usually found in contact lens department. Make sure it doesn't contain preservative.
 
michaeloneos said:
Do I just put it in the infected eye once a day?
Click to expand...

If there is infection there it won't cure it, it will only clean them so it really depends if the gunk returns. It could be a sinus infection that needs an antibiotic. You say he is unwell. Chams hide illness very well and by the time they show signs of illness an infection may be hard to treat.
 
That's definitely a small sperm plug, warm mistings is a must until he "poops" it out or he might strain himself trying to remove it, especially since its been almost a week already. If you have a MistKing I'm sure it'll come out no problem as its a natural process for male chameleons. I wish you the best of luck!
 
I tried sitting him in warm water for a little bit and it seemed to loosen a bit but I didn't pull it ill try that a few more times I think that will come off. Im not sure of the source of vitamin A is though I looked on the container and it didn't have any ingredients listed kind of wierd I might get a new dusting powder.
 
You need three different powders as stated in previous post unless you go for an all in one. I'm using the repeshay cal lod but it's a personal choice and one that suits your situation.
 
michaeloneos said:
Ill check that one out an all in one would suit me much better
Click to expand...

It's not quite as simple as using one "all in all" dust, because some ingredients are necessary at different intervals. However, I have not tried the Repashy products yet. If you use the wrong formulation every time you will end up overdosing several different vitamins. Believe me, if there was a perfect single dust that worked for all chams we'd love that!

Dust lightly with PLAIN calcium (no added D3) daily, dust with calcium that has added D3 once every other week, and dust with a herp multivitamin once a month.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Veiled Chameleon cowering on the ground
Replies
14
Views
581
kinyonga
K
N
Help!! Mel isn't doing well...
2
Replies
26
Views
593
Beman
Beman
Sailouchai
Sick panther chamelon
Replies
1
Views
174
MissSkittles
MissSkittles
S
Please help!
Replies
10
Views
241
jannb
jannb
M
Throwing up food?
Replies
5
Views
255
MissSkittles
MissSkittles
Back
Top Bottom