Is my Cham sick?? His poop isn’t normal anymore :(((
- Thread starter McBoredFace
- Start date
McBoredFace
Member
He even falls asleep with it open sometimes. It’s pretty funny. But again I’ve already checked with plenty of jackson owners and lots of them just like chillin with their mouth open for no reason.
McBoredFace
Member
He’s a good full body picture of him so you can see what he fully looks like. The reason his mouth is open this time is definitely cause he got mad at me cause I kept picking him up for a good picture when he wants to just roam around on my bed lol
McBoredFace
Member
so yeah he looks healthy. It’s just his poop and his drinking water that have been a problem and I don’t know how to fix it. Hopefully when I call the vet tomorrow I’ll be able to come in ASAP. I also looked at giving him a shower for the hydration but I can’t cause the shower water is the same as our tap water and the tap water in Philadelphia will make you sick.
McBoredFace
Member
Here, I know this forum is old but if you read brought it many people with a good temperature still had their Jackson’s opening their mouths for no reason even thought they were healthy. And many other forums said the same thing so I know the mouth opening isn’t an issue either...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/my-chameleon-keeps-opening-his-mouth.55978/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/my-chameleon-keeps-opening-his-mouth.55978/
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
Your husbandry needs work. A lot of chameleons benefit very little to none from constant short mistings. Jacksons are montanes, he should be getting at least a 10 minute misting in the morning IMO. Followed by a long one before light lights out with to 80-90% at night.
Mealworms and crickets dont make up a suitable diet, you need more variety and if you've read anything on these forums people talk about how useless mealworms are pretty much every other thread.
He was apparently not very normal and healthy, this gets said constantly. If you have no experience with chams how do you know what is "normal and healthy". There is a likely chance he had something at Petco and it is getting worse.
You're keeping a montane, which are more delicate with their care requirements. They still require supplementing, but in a very controlled manner. Calcium alone isn't enough in most cases, preformed vit A is still necessary. And What are you gutloading with?
I just saw you say he falls asleep with his mouth open? That's not funny at all, that is an obvious sign he isn't right. Chameleons don't fall asleep during the day unless they are very sick.
That uvb should be replaced as well, the CFL bulbs are pretty much useless.
I'm sorry to be hard on you, but having been on this forum for a little bit, you should have read into these things already. They're pretty much common knowledge.
Mealworms and crickets dont make up a suitable diet, you need more variety and if you've read anything on these forums people talk about how useless mealworms are pretty much every other thread.
He was apparently not very normal and healthy, this gets said constantly. If you have no experience with chams how do you know what is "normal and healthy". There is a likely chance he had something at Petco and it is getting worse.
You're keeping a montane, which are more delicate with their care requirements. They still require supplementing, but in a very controlled manner. Calcium alone isn't enough in most cases, preformed vit A is still necessary. And What are you gutloading with?
I just saw you say he falls asleep with his mouth open? That's not funny at all, that is an obvious sign he isn't right. Chameleons don't fall asleep during the day unless they are very sick.
That uvb should be replaced as well, the CFL bulbs are pretty much useless.
I'm sorry to be hard on you, but having been on this forum for a little bit, you should have read into these things already. They're pretty much common knowledge.
Mawtyplant
Chameleon Enthusiast
Is your uvb at the right or at the left? In both position your chameleon have no uvb at all ( i test the reptisun and past 4 inch... it's useless I'm not at home at the moment but I'm gonna check all this with you later, Jackson need colder temp and higher uvb, is he wild caught or born in captivity?
McBoredFace
Member
Damn... now I’m really worried. And no I don’t think you’re being hard on me. You’re telling me what I need to do to keep him healthy and I appreciate it greatly. I just thought after what I read on many different forums that the mouth opening was normal and his husbandry was fine. But now he’s sick so clearly I was misinformed. Okay so what exactly should I do besides longer misting and getting him more supplements?
Also I gutload the crickets with lots of different fruits and veggies... again someone told me that was fine. Is it not?
Also he doesn’t open his mouth to sleep all the time. That was just once and it was night time.... but I have noticed he is opening his mouth more and more and I was worried at first but again I was reassured by other people it was a Jackson’s thing. So I’m sorry I listened to the wrong people then.
Also in my other thread when I was getting everything I needed for him we talked about how he won’t eat any other kind of bugs besides the crickets and occasionally the meal worms. Remember Jamest0o0? So how do I get him to eat other bugs?
But now that I know everything I was doing wrong I promise I’ll be fixing it all right now and I’ll let you know how it goes. If I have any questions I’ll ask as well.
I also got him one of those syringes to try and get him to drink water... should I try doing that or no? I haven’t used it yet.
Also I gutload the crickets with lots of different fruits and veggies... again someone told me that was fine. Is it not?
Also he doesn’t open his mouth to sleep all the time. That was just once and it was night time.... but I have noticed he is opening his mouth more and more and I was worried at first but again I was reassured by other people it was a Jackson’s thing. So I’m sorry I listened to the wrong people then.
Also in my other thread when I was getting everything I needed for him we talked about how he won’t eat any other kind of bugs besides the crickets and occasionally the meal worms. Remember Jamest0o0? So how do I get him to eat other bugs?
But now that I know everything I was doing wrong I promise I’ll be fixing it all right now and I’ll let you know how it goes. If I have any questions I’ll ask as well.
I also got him one of those syringes to try and get him to drink water... should I try doing that or no? I haven’t used it yet.
McBoredFace
Member
As for the uvb light I have which one should I switch to?
McBoredFace
Member
And I’m hoping he was captive bred but I heard with petstores you never know. And the uvb is on the right and the basking is on the left. I’m also cleaning out his cage and scrubbing it down too and then setting it up all over again the correct way. Hopefully it’ll help. I just really want him to be okay. Did I at least catch what was wrong soon enough before it got unfixable? Please tell me he still has a chance :/ Durnehviir means everything to me. He’s my little dragon baby. I can’t lose him
Graves923
Chameleon Enthusiast
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/
Read through the caresheet I linked. The resource section has a ton of articles to help you out as well.
I recommend finding a reputable exotic vet with chameleon experience to atleast give him a health check. There are quite a bit of red flags with his behavior and droppings.
For the open mouth, do you hear any popping or clicking noises when he breathes? What are you using to measure the temps in the cage? If you are using a zoo-med thermometer I would suggest replacing it with a laser temp gun which can be bought for under $20 at any hardware store. Ive had issues with the zoo-med ones being almost 20*F off.
Read through the caresheet I linked. The resource section has a ton of articles to help you out as well.
I recommend finding a reputable exotic vet with chameleon experience to atleast give him a health check. There are quite a bit of red flags with his behavior and droppings.
For the open mouth, do you hear any popping or clicking noises when he breathes? What are you using to measure the temps in the cage? If you are using a zoo-med thermometer I would suggest replacing it with a laser temp gun which can be bought for under $20 at any hardware store. Ive had issues with the zoo-med ones being almost 20*F off.
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
You need a linear UVB, buy the biggest one you can fit on top of your viv.
McBoredFace
Member
I just misted him for a while and took him out to collect his feces to see it again. And usually he goes to the bathroom same time frame every morning like clock work. It’s too early for him to go but for some reason he urated on me it was all slime and a little yellow glob in the middle and that was it. No poop. I’m waiting to see if at his usual time frame if he’ll poop. Now him just urating, is that normal? Or do they always urate then poop? Or is he getting worse for doing that?
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
As far as I can tell you haven’t caught what’s wrong yet. Everything we have mentioned so far are husbandry fixes, the root of the problem still hasn’t been identified. that’s what the vet is for.
McBoredFace
Member
No clocking noises. Nothing in his mouth looks out of the ordinary.
And yeah I just realized the thermometer is zoo med. I’ll get that gun. And the humidity is measured with the temp as well near the bottom and it’s a... darn! It’s a zoo med too. I’ll switch them out asap.
McBoredFace
Member
I thought repti sun wasn’t good?
McBoredFace
Member
Okay :/ I’m waiting for the vet to call back now. I just hope they have dealt with a Jackson’s chameleon before. I heard it’s hard to find a good vet for them. I’m trying Ryan’s small animal hospital? In Philadelphia. If you guys are better at figuring out by the website if it’ll be the right vet I can really use your help finding one.
McBoredFace
Member
And he did the just urate again without pooping but this time it was just clear slime farting out little bubbles. I heard him wet fart basically and that’s how I noticed.
