Help please, Jackson (xanth) might be sick fell asleep during the day :(

S

Sterlingcham

New Member
I just baught my first chameleon (Jackson's) named Zeus and he was doing okay for the first day or two hunting eating and drinking and now the past three days he has been drinking still no hunting or eating and sleeping during the day I need help I don't know whats wrong

Your Chameleon - Jackson, Male, appx. 3 1/2 months old. I have had for 5 days now
Handling - I have only handled him once and the was to move him into the enclosure
Feeding - im feeding him crickets and mealworms. What amount? I fee him everydays at 11 am. I gut load with fruits and veggies all safeK
Supplements - Im using flukers and repti calcium supplements and I have not had him long enough to give him d3 or repti vite yet but I do have them for when that is needed
Watering - I mist and dripper system. I must 2-3 times daily and have a dropper system with a humidifier? Yes he drinks off the leaves and seems to live misting
Fecal Description - his droppings yesterday was normal white urate and poop is brown. No he has not been tested for parasites but I would assume the pet store did it.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - all mesh open air enclosure 16x16x32
Lighting - Brand is exo terra intense basking lamp 100w day lamp schedule is 12 hours on basking light 12 hours off
Temperature - 78-83ish from cool spots to basking spot (cage floor to basking spot)? 75 degree ferenheit. I have two thermometers one digital and one analog
Humidity -between 60-78 at it's highest when I mist?I have a humidifier running during daylight hours on low and a dripper system I also mist? I have two hygrometers one digital and one analog placed in various spots
Plants - Fake plants so far while juvenile all safe
Placement - no fans or vents that are close there is a fan in the room far away from him to circulate air? 2 ft off the ground
Location - I'm in Washington state Vancouver to be specific

Current Problem - He isn't hunting or eating and I caught him sleeping today 2 hours before lights out
 
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I would suggest a wider range of temps as jacksons like it to be colder with the basking spot only being between 80-82.
Also how long do you mist for as jacksons require longer mistings so that they can clean their eyes
 
Sterlingcham said:
Should I misting directly on him as well as the foliage and should I give home some pedialite :)
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IMO 30 seconds wouldn't be long enough for him to clean his eyes and drink. Most people do close to 5 minutes and you will wanna get him and his surroundings. I don't think pedialite is necessary quite yet, but maybe some others may think otherwise. If you can keep him drinking the not eating isn't as important yet.
 
Try to have your lights go on and off at the same times as sunrise and sunset. Make sure when his lights go off there is little or no other lights in his room that might keep him awake. 100 watt bulb sounds way to hot for a cage that size. Double check your temps. Night time temp are fine down to the mid 50's and they really do well with cool night temps.

Having a dripper is good as it allows them time to drink as much as they want.

Don't put any liquids in his mouth. It is easy to aspirate chameleons if you don't know what you're doing resulting in death.

Good luck.
 
Some take a while to acclimate..some things i would recommend changing asap to help this process happen.

1. 100 watt lamp needs to go. 40 watt house bulb is typically just about right if not just a tad bit warm.
2. Lots of live plants..Pathos at this age is a great plant.
3. Cool mist humidifier. Make sure you are monitoring humidity.
4. Make sure you are offering the correct size feeders (the distance between the eyes rule). Dont leave any in the cage overnight.
5. Mist the cage three times a day. For a few minutes each time.
 
Thank you I will change the light tonight and try the process tmrw I will also give u feedback as to hi success I think he is a monster and a beast and will make it through this .... I also wanted to know if this was weird when he drinks he stops and looks like he swallows like 10-15 times and then goes back to drinking and repeats. Is this normal??
 
Please any other suggestions are welcome I'm trying to learn as much as I possibly can. So I can get his (zeus) husbandry perfect so he will eat like a big and get huge :)
 
Ataraxia's suggestions are all good. You really want at least 10 degrees of difference between the basking temperature and the bottom of the cage with the basking temperature no more than 80-83. I understand that there will be days that is difficult, but if there will be whole months where that is difficult you need to consider ways to cool things down. Jacksons are not desert animals.

I strongly suggest a dripper. I think animals should have access to water as much of the day as possible and a dripper can do that for you. It can be as simple as a cup with some holes poked in the bottom. However, I will tell you that creating the perfect dripper can become a life quest....

As to your question on drinking...yes, they do that. It's like they smack their gums a few times or something. I'm assuming that it means they are getting all the last little droplets.
 
Thank you any other users that are to chime in I would love to hear all fascites because I'm a Cham lover and want to get everything perfect I'm building a larger cage as we speak probably 20"x20"x48" that should be sufficient for a 4-5 month old and older correct?
 
What about UVB? I saw a basking light but no mention of UVB light? Maybe try cup feeding so you can more easily control the food for the little guy. Gotta watch mealworms also, some Chams have problems with them. Maybe try some flies to get him eating again. Good luck, keep us posted.
 
Oh yes I forgot to write that down its a reptiglo 5.0 and he love laying under that too along with his bask light I am trying a normal 40w like was posted and I just took a temp with a temp gun and his bask spot is only 73 degree. Which should be higher correct? And he went straight to his UVB bulb after drinking today.
 
I have also tried cup feeding him but he seems to not like to go get the critters I'm also now feeding pheonix worms and waxworms but he has not eaten any yet I'm just trying to run his appetite up so he doesnt get sick or starve to death or get too stressed of course
 
Sterlingcham said:
I have also tried cup feeding him but he seems to not like to go get the critters I'm also now feeding pheonix worms and waxworms but he has not eaten any yet I'm just trying to run his appetite up so he doesnt get sick or starve to death or get too stressed of course
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whatever his problems are feeding him wax worms will make them worse. have you been feeding waxworms all along? waxworms are one of the worst things you can feed a cham, especially a montane.

imo 40 watts household bulb max for uva in a cage that size.
imo, temp guns are a poor choice for a measurement of a specific spot. particularly lower $ ones and particularly if they have too wide of d/s (distance to spot) ratio, and particularly if you dont know what a distance to spot ratio is, or how to interpret it.
imo zilla hygrotherm for $20 is a much better tool for monitoring of basking temps and humidity there is a digital sender for each on a 56" lead, also records highs and lows of each. there is one pictured in my cf public albums.

a temp gun can provide significantly misleading readings if its got a wide distance to spot ratio or you are not sure how to interpret it.

specifically what kind of temp gun is it? i can look it up and see what its d/s ratio is and then help you better understand its shortcomings and maybe give you a better idea of how to use it (or when not to)

you werent really too specific on your care sheet. the quality of info you give on your care sheet the better quality of advice you will receive. there are lots of fruits and veggies that are cham unhealthy and imo, a new keeper isnt likely to know what they are.
since there are many nearly identically named supp and calcium products, it would be easy for a new keeper use them inappropriately.

how old is this reptiglo ? uvb light source should be replaced as often as every 6 mths. a cham will go down hill in a matter of days without it. if its not some form of hypervitaminosis then imo, the next place to look would be the uvb. if you are unsure of your uvb, it would be wise to get him some natural daylight as soon as possible.
a healthy xanth can go for weeks without eating, imo hydration is way more important. imo, xanths rarely thrive when kept with mostly fake plants.
imo, i would avoid the pedialite, and instead concentrate on learning its husbandry requirements, so you wont need it.
i dont know why you would assume that the pet store had performed a fecal, common sense says thats just something they never do. why would they spend up to $50 on an animal that they likely purchased for $25 and can only sell for a hundred?, and then what if it comes back dirty? are they then going to spend up to a couple hundred $ more, to fix the problem? it just doesnt make sense.

just to be clear there is some sort of metabolic issue, in his environment or his diet/supp that is affecting his appetite and food could likely be a large part of that. placing a disproprtionate value on trying to get him to eat when his diet is already likely imbalanced, is only going to make whatever problem there is worse imo, i would hold off on food for at least several days and then try again with different feeders like bbfs after some of the other issues are resolved/dialed in. jmo
 
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okay as for the case of the uvb/uva bulb its an repti glo 5.0 and its only a week old so i doubt that is my issue also i changed the light from the 100w to the 40w as requested and it seems to be much better i also have been misting longer and directly on him as to stimulate his thirst and hunger he is moving around a lot better then yesterday and ate 3 phoenix worms today so he got a nice little snack and I'm sure he is doing better now because of it he hasn't slept all day and he seems much better looking. he also does have natural sunlight coming in through windows that don't filter uv rays so he is also getting that while he isn't under his repti glo.

i also want to touch on the subject of the heat gun as to tell u that i am a professional in installation and maintenance of air ducting and air conditioning i also work with furnaces and things of extreme heat and as such need very accurate equipment to do such this heat gun is a professional grade laser directed heat signature gun which are very accurate and i know how to use it i can promise you that so as for heat gina I'm positive of his heats and therefore i just don't know if 76-78 is quiet high enough for him but i am a newbie so any suggestions would help.

now onto the fact of gut loading i researched gut loading for rickets and other insects that need gut load and i cam up with concoction of baby carrots calla greens and a lil cat food for feeders and i do not gut load my phoenix's because they are already packed and i mean packed full of nutrients especially the darker ones .

so with that said i don't know if those are bad things to feed my little feeders before feeding them to my lil guy Zeus but i have read in many different places wether on here or just offline that what I'm feeding my feeders is fine and a ton of other people do it.

i am also tring to find him a new plant's and stuff so he will love it even more in the but he seems to be doing much better today then the last couple now because of the changes so I'm happy

any comments or additives in my husbandry are always welcome because I'm just so addicted to these little guys now that i want him to live perfect and be as happy as possible :D
 
p.s.s i don't think he has a URI or a respiratory infection because his fecal matter looks normal as all can be and it is regular and his irate is a bright healthy white with no discoloration and a abundance of it so i think he is fine on that aspect too i just know that chams aren't suppose to sleep during the day so thats why i thought he might have been sick
 
p.s.s.s hahah sorry for so many post messages but about the waxworks he hasn't eaten a single one and i will get rid of them immediately now that i know they are no good for chams i just thought they were a lil faty and thats why they weren't perfect for chams but i was gonna give him like one every other week but now i know that they are not good they will become trash
 
Sterlingcham said:
p.s.s i don't think he has a URI or a respiratory infection because his fecal matter looks normal as all can be and it is regular and his irate is a bright healthy white with no discoloration and a abundance of it so i think he is fine on that aspect too i just know that chams aren't suppose to sleep during the day so thats why i thought he might have been sick
Click to expand...

Just for future reference fecals check for parasites and such.
RI's can be figured out by having an abundance of mucsus in the mouth/throat and a "cough"
 
Also glad to see he is doing better :)
And its always good to see someone take initiative to better their chameleon :)
 
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