My panther keeps loosing weight!

C

Creativecorns

New Member
I am in dire need of any advice.
I am very worried about my male Panther as I have noticed he has been pretty lethargic and is loosing a lot of weight. I have him setup in an outdoor enclosure with natural sunlight and water him every day. With feeding I feed every other day between super worms, crickets, and horned worms. I notice he does look at them but takes a long time to hone in on them and will only eat one or two every feeding. Also noticed he doesn't use his tongue to eat them he usually will just try and grab them as why I started putting a feeding cup cause they started to escape. He just doesn't seems very active as he used to be but I have no clue what I would be doing wrong. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thank you!
 

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It would be beneficial for everyone if you could fill out the "How to Ask For Help" form. That way everyone will hopefully have all the information they need to try and help you. I'm so sorry your little guy isn't feeling well. I hope a senior member will be able to help you and get him better soon.
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - male panther chameleon aprox 2 years old I have had him since he was 3 months old.
Handling - not very often. Only to check up on him to see how healthy he is
Feeding schedule- every other day
Supplements- zoomed reptivite and repticalcium every feeding
Watering - I use a hose every morning and sometimes in the afternoon. I see them drink in the Am
Fecal Description - droppings are consistently a brown color and never been tested for parasites.
History -

Cage Info:
Cage Type -wire mesh about 3ft wide and 6ft tall
Lighting - I am using natural sunlight
Temperature - basking spot ranges from around 80-90 throughout the day. Low at night is about 78
Humidity - He is outside and FL is always humid
Plants - yes all live photos and ficus trees.
Placement -In the back left corner by a wooden fence. Gets periodic sunshine throughout the day
Location - Central Florida

Current Problem - chameleon is losing weight and not eating as often as he usually does. Being a little lethargic
 
I would highly recommend a fecal to check for parasite. Parasites will make them lose weight and eventually kill them if they go untreated. Reptivite should only be used once every two weeks at the most. If he stays outside all the time he probably needs very little supplements at all.
 
I hadded the same problem a few months ago with my cham, she started to lose weight because she was kinnda emotionaly sad and didn't drink too much water and either eat worms or crickets. I put her a bowl with super worms at the bottom of the cage and sometimes she just pick one with her mouth because her tongue didn't reach to catch the worm even when the worm was an inch far from her mouth i don't know why but i could see her tongue go all the way to get the worm but didn't reach it and catch it i don't know why, so, before that i saw that she didn't felt that good, her behavior was very diffrent from the start, my cham was 8 months old when that happened i don't know how old is yours but i think is that he is growing fast, mine did grow fast and got big like an inch long in a month so, that was the problem with mine they felt like weak for a week, and after, they start doing normaly. Hope he gets better soon and start eating well, just in case make sure to see first if his tongue reach the food with his tongue because a few shots after the first they start losing tongue strenght at the moment and thats when they have to go reach the food with their mouth.

Hope my info can help u find what your lil boy is passing now.
 
I will keep a close eye on him and see how he is doing. He just isn't active like he normally is so it might also be because of the change in weather mane he is slowing down.
 
You may have two quasi-related issues happening here.

1) Slow weight loss and loss of appetite is a common sign of parasites. If he has not had a fecal check done by a vet very recently, you must have one done ASAP.

2) Inability to use the tongue properly can usually be related to a few things, the most common being injury, dehydration, or a nutritional imbalance. Is his tongue "floppy" or does he miss his aim? Or does he not try to use it at all?

If you are truly giving the reptivite at every feeding, he may be getting way too much vitamins, like D3. Too much D3 can cause health issues, just like too little can - it needs to be in balance with the calcium levels.

PLAIN calcium with no D3 at every feeding
Multivitamin with D3 every other week (twice a month) only

I would still recommend that you go to a vet for a check up. There are plenty of good vets in Florida with chameleon experience:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/area-area-country-vet-list-32880/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/veterinarian-resources-67/
 
Last edited:
Yes that will make them go slow when the weather is changing too so, don't panic my friend, he will get well soon you'll see. And if his eyes are getting shrunk and his skin isn't shinie is because they need water to drink. But only they will drink it if they want to so don't worry.
 
Not being able to shoot the tongue out is usually from a nutrient imbalance, an infection or an injury...not from losing strength from shooting it out too often.
 
kinyonga said:
Not being able to shoot the tongue out is usually from a nutrient imbalance, an infection or an injury...not from losing strength from shooting it out too often.
Click to expand...

You're right KINYONGA, it was because she didn't eat that well before that happened so that puts her in a nutrient inbalance, and there is when i saw she didn't handle her tongue too well when she tried to hunt and had to get the food with her moth. Yesterday she went to surgery because my damn dog smach her with his feet and biting her when i was at work and soon as i got home she was mad and had a broken jaw in half so the bone from her jaw can be seen because she couldn' shut her mouth and there was a lot lot lot of blood allover the cage so i took her to the doctor and got surgery yesterday so, today i'll pick her up and see what they did to her. Hope she's ok:(

Hope to hear good news from your cham soon Creativecorns!!
 
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