My panther chameleon is vomiting/regurgitating his food

[JacksJill]

I agree that feeding cat food long term can have repercussions. I have found powdered crickets, a human protein powder, for sale on Amazon and feed that moistened with added calcium and bee pollen. So far so good. I have only used this on one chameleon so far for 2 weeks.

 

[kinyonga]

@JacksJill the powdered crickets would be easier than crushing insects.

 

[JacksJill]

It's been very easy just mix with water and calcium and feed. She hates me but seems to like it once she gets some and will even lick it off of her face. They are roasted and grain fed so not perfectly natural but I think better than Carnivore Care or cat food IMO.

 

[saskiat]

Thanks guys!
The most important thing was to not feed him hard chitinous things.
The food I was told to get is Royal canine convalescence support. does not have vitamin A as far as I can tell.
I could try blending some insects (poor bastards)
This morning I gave him a grasshopper (I shoudnt have but he was looking all hungry and expectant, thought I'd try)
So far he has not vomited again! (last time was friday) the grasshopper is still in him.
Soo just maybe things aren't as bad as I expected. I really hope he vomited because he was just too cold (room temperature is 20 c)
But we'll se how he fares.

 

[snitz427]

Thanks guys!
The most important thing was to not feed him hard chitinous things.
The food I was told to get is Royal canine convalescence support. does not have vitamin A as far as I can tell.
I could try blending some insects (poor bastards)
This morning I gave him a grasshopper (I shoudnt have but he was looking all hungry and expectant, thought I'd try)
So far he has not vomited again! (last time was friday) the grasshopper is still in him.
Soo just maybe things aren't as bad as I expected. I really hope he vomited because he was just too cold (room temperature is 20 c)
But we'll se how he fares.

I know the insect availability is a bit different across the pond, but I would try to find some silkworms or hornworms to try. Very soft and high moisture count... if you're still having issues where you need to avoid crunchy bugs.

 

[saskiat]

So just wanna give an update, in case anyone ever has a vomting cham themselves.
He hasn't vomited after friday last week (when I made this post)
And he still eats everything and shoots his crickets accurately.
I gave him cat food for 2 days but he hated it and I felt bad, so I switched to normal insects again.
He still eats a lot and it fattening up a bit again (or at least I think so)
I bought some silk worm eggs, but it will take a while before I can feed them lol.

So its still a mystery why he got sick like that. It must have either been too cold or maybe there was something wrong with the pet store crickets
(like they had a disease and it gave my chameleon a stomach bug, just like rotten food can do to humans)
I am happy he at least does not have kidney disease

 

[Syreptyon]

Cat food?? Just so you know for the future, that is not an acceptable food for chameleons under any circumstances. It isn't even an acceptable gutload ingredient. Way too high in protein and can lead to gout.

 

[saskiat]

sadly, I just saw some vomit again.. I really don't understand why this is happening.
Today he mis-shot his food bowl multiple times, which is worrysome.
Even stranger: the vomit consisted of only crickets. Lately I have been feeding him more varietie (wax moths, grasshoppers) and those were nowhere to be seen in the vomit.
Is it possibly he does this on purpose? like he dislikes crickets and spits them out?
It such a weird thing.
I also caught him in the bottom of his cage, and he shot his tongue into his plant soil, eating what I presume is dirt or feces.
Why would he do that?

 

[JoXie411]

I also caught him in the bottom of his cage, and he shot his tongue into his plant soil, eating what I presume is dirt or feces.
Why would he do that?

They eat dirt when they aren’t getting the nutrients they need

 

[saskiat]

They eat dirt when they aren’t getting the nutrients they need

Is there anything I can improve about my nutrient scheme?
Its something the breeder of my chams told me, and his animals got quite old I believe
Its:

5 days a week: Repticalcium without D3
Once a week: Minerall outdoor without D3
Once every 2 weeks: reptivite with D3 (they both seem to really dislike the taste and noticably eat less on days I feed this)
Once every 2 weeks: Minerall indoor with D3

In total its D3 once a week, mineral/calcium once a week and normal calcium 5 days a week.
I gutload feeders with apple, pear, nutrogrub formula and other veggies
I used to gutload with catfood and grains/oats but stopped after getting advice here.

 

[kinyonga]

Is he pooping? What substrate do you have in the cage? Is there perlite in the plant soil? Fertilizer?

 

[JoXie411]

5 days a week: Repticalcium without D3
Once a week: Minerall outdoor without D3
Once every 2 weeks: reptivite with D3 (they both seem to really dislike the taste and noticably eat less on days I feed this)
Once every 2 weeks: Minerall indoor with D3

This sounds like way to much @JacksJill can you take a look at this supplement schedule

as for gutload I would at some greens and you can look into insect fuel by Arcadia lots of ppl love that gutload my own vet recommends it over other gutloads

https://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/earthpro-insect-fuel-50-250g/

 

[saskiat]

Is he pooping? What substrate do you have in the cage? Is there perlite in the plant soil? Fertilizer?

I am pretty sure he is pooping. I cant always find his poop, but today I saw sperm plugs (they only come out when pooping right?)
There is no substrate in the cage itself, only in the plant pot. It is filled with just regular potting soil, no perlite and I dont think theres any fertiliser.
The plant has been standing therefor over a year, so any fertiliser would have probably washed out.
Other than that there are some dead leaves and feces on the bottom of the cage and in the soil of the plant pot probably.

 

[JacksJill]

5 days a week: Repticalcium without D3
Once a week: Minerall outdoor without D3
Once every 2 weeks: reptivite with D3 (they both seem to really dislike the taste and noticably eat less on days I feed this)
Once every 2 weeks: Minerall indoor with D3

In total its D3 once a week, mineral/calcium once a week and normal calcium 5 days a week.
I gutload feeders with apple, pear, nutrogrub formula and other veggies

D3 should only be every 2 weeks and vitamins every 2 weeks on opposite weeks. I'm not familiar with nutrogrub.

 

[kinyonga]

Wondering if the vomiting can be due to an impaction?

 

[GoodKarma19]

Wondering if the vomiting can be due to an impaction?

I skimmed the thread - has he pooped at all? If he hasn't, I'd be very suspicious of an impaction. If the food has nowhere to go (guts not mobile), it'll come right back out the mouth.