Marty needs a little help please...

[jglefler]

Marty is back to sulking in his "bed". He isn't moving around and I will have to torment him with these blasted meds in a few minutes. I hate this more than he does. I thought he was pulling out of this funk yesterday. Now, I am starting to wonder if he is nearing the end of his life cycle due to all he has been through.

I have ordered all sorts of stuff for this little guy to try to help. He has been to the vet, prayed over, and pampered. I don't know what else to do. I am discouraged and running out of hope and money. It breaks my heart to watch him go downhill like this. I think my next pet will be a pet rock.

 

[hallenhe]

Poor thing. My guy had to have a ten day course of antibiotic injections a couple months ago, and it was at least as hard on us as it was on him, and he was definitely sulking. You've been very willing to work with Marty and, whether he knows it or not, you have done him good. Don't give up hope yet.

 

[jglefler]

Poor thing. My guy had to have a ten day course of antibiotic injections a couple months ago, and it was at least as hard on us as it was on him, and he was definitely sulking. You've been very willing to work with Marty and, whether he knows it or not, you have done him good. Don't give up hope yet.

Thanks for the encouragement. We aren't going to give up on this little guy. I did a bit of a tune up on his vines to better accommodate his new umbrella plant and cleaning around it. He still isn't eating crickets but the good news is, he will at least eat a wax worm. I have been putting mustard greens in his cage but he just ignores them and stays in his little bed/vine all day. I wish I would have had all the stuff figured out for him when I first got him that I do now. Chams are a bit like life. By the time you have things figured out... it's often very late in the game.

 

[jglefler]

Got the meds administered. This poor little guy is so sweet during this whole ordeal. He HATES it but never hisses or gets nasty. The rubber "secretary's finger" was a great idea I came up with. I noticed that the vet had rubber gloves that helped with traction while pulling down/backward on Marty's chin to get his mouth open enough to get the syringe in. I tried the surgical gloves I had but they are silicone based and obviously don't grip like rubber will. So, I remembered a secretary's finger I had. Washing and drying the rubber finger conditions it and helps it grip even better. I stretch the rubber finger over my thumb and use my thumb to draw hie mouth open. Still difficult but as good as it gets.

After tormenting Marty with the meds we treated him to a sunny window on his new play tree. The sun isn't out very often in Michigan winters, so this is a treat for him. He loves a sun bath.

 

[Carlton]

Baytril is bitter tasting and can make them feel a bit sick too. I don't know how acute a cham's sense of taste is, but I try to ease the misery by diluting the dose in a little bit of fruit flavored Pedialyte. Plus, the extra fluid helps too.

One thing to remember...he'll forget his ordeal pretty quickly once it ends.

 

[jglefler]

Baytril is bitter tasting and can make them feel a bit sick too. I don't know how acute a cham's sense of taste is, but I try to ease the misery by diluting the dose in a little bit of fruit flavored Pedialyte. Plus, the extra fluid helps too.

One thing to remember...he'll forget his ordeal pretty quickly once it ends.

Great tip. I will go out and get some right away. Thanks.

 

[jglefler]

How much Pedialyte

How much Pedialyte would you suggest I add to his meds and water? 50/50, 25/75, or what? Thanks in advance.

 

[Carlton]

How much Pedialyte would you suggest I add to his meds and water? 50/50, 25/75, or what? Thanks in advance.

I don't know what the volume of his meds is in ml, but you don't want to add much at all. Too much fluid force fed can result in aspiration. Draw the dose of Baytril into the syringe and then draw up a ml or two of the Pedialyte instead of water just to dilute the taste. Does that help?

 

[jglefler]

I don't know what the volume of his meds is in ml, but you don't want to add much at all. Too much fluid force fed can result in aspiration. Draw the dose of Baytril into the syringe and then draw up a ml or two of the Pedialyte instead of water just to dilute the taste. Does that help?

Sounds great. I picked some up tonight. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little easier on my boy. Thanks.

 

[jglefler]

On Christmas eve Marty continued to sulk in his "bed". Then, on Christmas day he gave us his own little Christmas miracle. He came out of his sulking corner and moved up to his basking area for the first time in about a week. The only other time he was out of his bed/corner was when we brought him out. This time he came up on his own. This was very encouraging to us. He came up to bask again today.

One thing I am a bit concerned about is this. The vet must have screwed up and shorted us on the Baytril. I think there will only be enough for perhaps 7 days and he prescribed 10 days of 1 ml per day. He gave us more than enough of the Metronidazole which he prescribed 1/2 ml per day. I suspect whoever prepared the meds reversed the quantities. Now I am concerned that we will short Marty on the Baytril and create a bug resistent situation in his system. I think the vet's office may be closed for an extended period over the holidays. If I am remembering this correctly it will mean that I won't be able to refill the script until it is too late to have a continuous 10 day dosing. Do you folks think 7 days of Baytril is long enough to administer without creating a bug resistant environment in his system?

The other concern is this. It has been about 15 days since he has had a bowel movement. I am not sure exactly how long it has been but that is my best guess. He has been going about 10 to 12 days between bowel movements recently which has been a big enough concern but this is very worrisome. I thought that giving him 3 cc twice per day of 50/50 water and Pedialite by syringe would get him moving, but, nothing so far. He also has stopped eating for the past two days.

 

[jglefler]

ZooMed Ballast

I received the T8 UVB tube from ZooMed today. The lady I spoke to at ZooMed was right. I simply received a defective T8 bulb from a supplier. The replacement T8 ZooMed kindly sent me lit right up on the same ballast/hood that is used for the old T12 style. She said they haven't changed their ballast from T12 to T8 and both bulbs work in the same hood. I also received the 100 watt PowerSun bulb made by ZooMed today. Marty basked under it for about an hour and seems to really like it.

 

[summoner12]

I received the T8 UVB tube from ZooMed today. The lady I spoke to at ZooMed was right. I simply received a defective T8 bulb from a supplier. The replacement T8 ZooMed kindly sent me light right up on the same ballast/hood that is used for the old T12 style. She said they haven't changed their ballast from T12 to T8 and both bulbs work in the same hood. I also received the 100 watt PowerSun bulb made by ZooMed today. Marty basked under it for about an hour and seems to really like it.

How close to the lamp is the basking spot?

 

[jglefler]

How close to the lamp is the basking spot?

The bulb is 2" above the screen cage top and then another 10" to the vine where he basks. The bulb is about 12" away from the vine overall and must travel through a black fine mesh metal screen. The bulb is the 100 watt puv-11. I had to re-configure the vines to get him the required minimum distance away. The bulb is just left of center, near the back of the cage, so he can go either way and get away from it in a cooler part of the cage.

 

[summoner12]

The bulb is 2" above the screen cage top and then another 10" to the vine where he basks. The bulb is about 12" away from the vine overall and must travel through a black fine mesh metal screen. The bulb is the 100 watt puv-11. I had to re-configure the vines to get him the required minimum distance away. The bulb is just left of center, near the back of the cage, so he can go either way and get away from it in a cooler part of the cage.

Just keep in mind I am sure he will climb around a bit... If I remember right your cage isn't very tall? I would move the lamp higher and place his basking spot a tad higher so he has room to self regulate his time.

Check out the UV Guide page on the Power Sun lamps. Look at figure 5.a to get an idea of the levels of output at different distances.

12" from the lamp through screen is pretty safe to me, might wanna bring it up a tad.... but if you notice him closing his eyes there might be an issue with the lamp, so keep an eye out.

 

[jglefler]

Just keep in mind I am sure he will climb around a bit... If I remember right your cage isn't very tall? I would move the lamp higher and place his basking spot a tad higher so he has room to self regulate his time.

Check out the UV Guide page on the Power Sun lamps. Look at figure 5.a to get an idea of the levels of output at different distances.

12" from the lamp through screen is pretty safe to me, might wanna bring it up a tad.... but if you notice him closing his eyes there might be an issue with the lamp, so keep an eye out.

Thanks for the heads up. I really appreciate it.

 

[jglefler]

Mixed bag

There continues to be a mixed bag with Marty's progress. It is very encouraging that he loves his new PowerSun light and was up under it right away this morning. The downside continues to be... no poop. He has gone well over two weeks now. If he doesn't unload today or tomorrow I will ask the vet if he needs to come in for an enema. Hopefully the vet will be open tomorrow so I can check on this and get the boy a bit more of the antibiotic to finish out the 10 day treatment.

 

[summoner12]

Have you tried giving him a warm soak? I think an enema would be a bit over kill.

Do you have a laser temp gun? Can you determine his body temp under his basking spot? I know the Power Suns can have a fair amount of heat but, you are using it at 12"... might be too far in regards to correct heat. The MV lights used at ReptileUV have a supplemental basking lamp next to the MV lamp for heat. Maybe you should try putting a 50w spot lamp pointed at the same place his MV is directed at, if you find the basking temp isn't warm enough.

 

[pssh]

A lot of people find that their chameleons poop when they shower them. Try that as well as the warm soak.

 

[jglefler]

Have you tried giving him a warm soak? I think an enema would be a bit over kill.

Do you have a laser temp gun? Can you determine his body temp under his basking spot? I know the Power Suns can have a fair amount of heat but, you are using it at 12"... might be too far in regards to correct heat. The MV lights used at ReptileUV have a supplemental basking lamp next to the MV lamp for heat. Maybe you should try putting a 50w spot lamp pointed at the same place his MV is directed at, if you find the basking temp isn't warm enough.

Good point. I actually turned on some other basking lights on for him because the temp seemed a little cool. He got up under them for about an hour and moved on. I have a laser thermometer. I will monitor him in this new set up for a couple of days to see how his temp goes. He doesn't like it very warm and will start to gape if I get it much past 72 degrees in the center of the cage.

We went out for about 6 hours this evening and... SURPRISE! Marty dropped a nice deuce while we were gone. Not as big as I expected it would be after all this time. One decent size dropping with a mostly orange urate. At least there was a small amount of white in the urate. Perhaps 90 percent orange and 10 percent white. That's an improvement over the last movement which was 100 percent orange urate. He must have unloaded around 4:00 to 4:30 pm because we left home at 4:00 and he usually heads to bed around 3:30 to 4:30 but was still moving about when we left. I gave him a warm shower shortly before we left and that may have helped things along. My best guess is the poo was on the floor of his cage for approximately 6 hours by the time we got home. I collected it into a zip-lock bag and refrigerated it as soon as we got home. I hope this will be usable for a stool analysis if I get it to the vet tomorrow. Thanks again for all the help. You folks are the greatest. It's a real kindness that you provide.

 

[jglefler]

This morning Mr. Wonderful came out right away to bask. He chose to stay in the mid range of the cage where his body temp is 74 degrees. Fortunately the vet is open today so I can get the rest of his Baytril and have his deuce analyzed. He is such an amazing little guy. One would think he would be so afraid of me by now that he would hiss and hide from me as soon as he sees me. Instead, he is fairly calm and patient with this whole process. He allows me to put my hand into his cage to clean and tend to things with very little hesitation. He is a bit more leery of me now than he was before, but, he is amazingly forgiving for what he has been through. He will "puff" at me on rare occasions as I torment him with meds but is SO classy in his response to the ordeal. He is doing better but still has some ground to cover before he is out of the woods.