Just had my first hunger strike

[arkist]

Greetings, I have a 8-9" Jackson chameleon. I have been feeding him gutloaded, calcium dusted crickets. I have had him for only one week. Sunday he ate very little, and today, nothing.

I had heard that mealworms have very little nutritional value, so I looked into superworms at the local pet store. I swear when I opened their container they were half they size of the ones that sit next to me now. Anyway this recent occurance has left me yet again realizing how little I know.

1. I had to give one superworm to hold him over till tomorrow when I can pick up some smaller worms, he ate it as soon as I put it down but it took him about 30 seconds to swallow it. Am I mistakin in thinking that the supperworms are too big for him?

2. I have only seen one poo from him, it was white. Today I found two: one was a white goo with a small yellow spoungy looking piece on the end of it. The other looked like moist rat poo. What are these? Whats the difference? Are they normal?

3. Sorry for all the questions, but the more I know the more I realize I know nothing. The last couple of days, whenever he basks he stands almost sideways on the branch. This is normal correct.

Thanks for all your patience guys.

 

[summoner12]

Chams poo/pee at the same time for the most part. If you get a white bit and a brown bit, your doing good. If the pee half is yellow or orange your cham is dehydrated. As far as poo goes... As long as its there and not bloody or I dunno really weird looking, then your fine.

Maybe someone can add something about the poo...

 

[Trace]

1: Supers are probably a bit big for your jax. Unlike other lizards, chameleons do chew their food before swallowing so that's probably what you saw. House flies are wonderful for picky eaters! Try some of those.

2: The white part is urate (pee) and the brown part is the fecal matter. Both sound pretty dang normal to me. The urate part should be white - that indicates a nicely hydrated chameleon. Orange urates indicates dehydration. A small orangey part to his "poos" are normal too.

3: Normal! He is lateral basking to expose more of his body to the sun, thus causing him to heat up faster.

Cheers!
t

 

[arkist]

Thanks guys! you all have been a ton of help.

Trace: Can I help Soc get his head shed off? Its all starting to come off, but hes having a hard time stratching between his horns

 

[Trace]

Can I help Soc get his head shed off? Its all starting to come off, but hes having a hard time stratching between his horns

HAHA! Poor guy.

If the skin is loose enough, it should fall off eventually. If he a patient chameleon, you could take it off with some tweezers. A drop of baby oil on that shed will help it loosen and fall off.

Do not pull off skin that isn't completely shed. It may cause it lift the scales underneath and start up infections and other ickies.

What is your humidity like? High humidity will help with his sheds in the future.

Good luck!
t

P.S. "Ickies" is a proper medical term!

 

[arkist]

yea I had not intention of taking off what had not yet been sheed, just that which can not escape his horns

humidity drops as low as 50 percent, 80+ during mistings. I have a humdifier on him just to maintian humidity levels because the misting system I orginally designed before I purchased him failed me misserably. I'm currently working on a new one.

Since when is ickies not a medical term