Not eating and lethargic after first shed

[Pejaustin]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, about 7 months old, have had him for 2.
• Handling - once a week, this past week I have handled him twice to give him a hydration shower, since his urate seemed unusual
• Feeding - when we first got him, I was feeding him five to six crickets a day, usually with a superworm or a few silkies once I get home from work
• Supplements - calcium on every cricket without d3, once every two months I put the d3 calcium on the worms I give him so I know for sure he gets it
• Watering - manual misting, I have a roommate who works from home, and both my partner and I work from home often as well so there is always someone around to mist him during the day, and I do it myself in the morning and evening
• Fecal Description - poops have become infrequent, every other day at the most, and usually with orange urate and almost no feces, what little there is is green and watery.
• History - he just finished his first shed (with me), at first I thought that was the cause of the lethargy and loss of appetite, and he is more awake now, than he was during the shedding, but still can be found at his basking spot with one or both eyes closed during the day

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 48x24x24 Zoo Med screen vivarium
• 
  
• Lighting - 100w UVB and UVA lamp during the day, heat only lamp during the night
• Temperature - basking spot sits at around 90 during the day, and the Botton of the cage is at around 70. during the night temps at the top stay at around 80, but he likes to sleep farther down where its about 70.
• Humidity - I rely on mister and humidifier for humidity, I don't stop misting until it gets to at least 60% but usually it gets down to 30 or 20 by the time I mist him again
• Plants - fake ficus and fake pathos for climbing / hiding
• Placement - in the living room area, but not super high traffic
• Location - Brooklyn, NY

Current Problem -
As I said above, since his first shed began, almost two weeks ago, he has been lethargic and had no appetite. his Urates indicate dehydration to me but nothing I do seems to fix it, I mist more, add a makeshift dropper for a day, bring him into the bath on a live plant, nothing. his bowel movements are nonexistent, all urate, with an orange tint, and some green, watery feces, or none at all. I have tried giving him all types of different feeders, different sizes too, and he won't eat anything. his seems to finally be more awake as of yesterday, but still not eating. and today, he gets to his basking spot and goes almost completely black! which I know is sometimes to get warmer, but can also indicate stress. Should I go get him tested for parasites? I'm really not sure what could be wrong with him right now. I did try turning his sunlight off at 30 min intervals earlier this week to see if he was getting too much UV, and he did seem a little more awake, but it didn't change his appetite. Thanks for your help in advance! I will attack some pics

 

[Thehippie]

• Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, about 7 months old, have had him for 2.
• Handling - once a week, this past week I have handled him twice to give him a hydration shower, since his urate seemed unusual
• Feeding - when we first got him, I was feeding him five to six crickets a day, usually with a superworm or a few silkies once I get home from work you should feed him in the morning so he has more time to digest.
• Supplements - calcium on every cricket without d3, once every two months I put the d3 calcium on the worms I give him so I know for sure he gets it is there a multivitamin used every other week? calcium with d3 should be used every other week
• Watering - manual misting, I have a roommate who works from home, and both my partner and I work from home often as well so there is always someone around to mist him during the day, and I do it myself in the morning and evening mist for 2-5 mins at least 2 times a day
• Fecal Description - poops have become infrequent, every other day at the most, and usually with orange urate and almost no feces, what little there is is green and watery. this may be time for a fecal check.
• History - he just finished his first shed (with me), at first I thought that was the cause of the lethargy and loss of appetite, and he is more awake now, than he was during the shedding, but still can be found at his basking spot with one or both eyes closed during the day

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 48x24x24 Zoo Med screen vivarium
• 
  
• Lighting - 100w UVB and UVA lamp during the day, heat only lamp during the night you have a compact uvb. you need a linear uvb. preferably a t5ho light fixture. 6% uvb or 5.0 uvb
• Temperature - basking spot sits at around 90 during the day, and the Botton of the cage is at around 70. during the night temps at the top stay at around 80, but he likes to sleep farther down where its about 70. the basking should be at 85 for a juvenile, increase to 90 when he is 9 months to a year
• Humidity - I rely on mister and humidifier for humidity, I don't stop misting until it gets to at least 60% but usually it gets down to 30 or 20 by the time I mist him again
• Plants - fake ficus and fake pathos for climbing / hiding
• Placement - in the living room area, but not super high traffic
• Location - Brooklyn, NY

please see my notation in red

 

[Thehippie]

there could be a number of things contributing to his lethargy. it could be insufficient lighting, he could be too hot, it could be parasites or bacteria that makes his fecals look like that. i think your best bet is to get a fecal and make the husbandry changes and see how he seems after a month or so.

edit: this is all an educated guess it could very well be a different problem

 

[cloverthechameleon]

Does this heat only lamp you use at nightime give off light or is it a ceramic heater ? Light at night time is very problematic with chameleons, even if it’s a ceramic heater and gives off no light 80 at night time is very very high. Your guy is Probably sleeping lower to avoid the heat. Your enclosure can get down to 55 at night time without causing issues. I get my enclosures down to the low 60s at night time in the winter and actually have seen Benefits from a good night time drop. As stated above a linear t5 uvb is a must. Are you gut loading the insects you feed your guy? If so with what ?

 

[Pejaustin]

Does this heat only lamp you use at nightime give off light or is it a ceramic heater ? Light at night time is very problematic with chameleons, even if it’s a ceramic heater and gives off no light 80 at night time is very very high. Your guy is Probably sleeping lower to avoid the heat. Your enclosure can get down to 55 at night time without causing issues. I get my enclosures down to the low 60s at night time in the winter and actually have seen Benefits from a good night time drop. As stated above a linear t5 uvb is a must. Are you gut loading the insects you feed your guy? If so with what ?

good to know! I'll try and change up his nighttime temps and see if that helps.

as for gut loading, I use cricket quencher, supplemented with potato slices or whatever fruit I have at home when I get a new batch of cricks.

 

[Pejaustin]

there could be a number of things contributing to his lethargy. it could be insufficient lighting, he could be too hot, it could be parasites or bacteria that makes his fecals look like that. i think your best bet is to get a fecal and make the husbandry changes and see how he seems after a month or so.

edit: this is all an educated guess it could very well be a different problem

I mistyped about the d3, that is twice a month not once every two months.

The misting is always at least for 2 minutes, and I have a multivitamin I add to the calcium once every other week as well.

as for the basking lamp, its not linear or compact, its a reptile UVB Lamp,

 

[cloverthechameleon]

I mistyped about the d3, that is twice a month not once every two months.

The misting is always at least for 2 minutes, and I have a multivitamin I add to the calcium once every other week as well.

as for the basking lamp, its not linear or compact, its a reptile UVB Lamp,

Ditch the night time heat totally. Looks up gutloading on these forums. By the looks of it you have a double fixture with a compact UVB light, upgrade that to a linear T5 HO uvb light Arcadia makes a good one id go with the 6% bulb, zoomed also makes a good one although its life time is shorter id go with a 5% one if you go zoomed.

 

[Thehippie]

I mistyped about the d3, that is twice a month not once every two months.

The misting is always at least for 2 minutes, and I have a multivitamin I add to the calcium once every other week as well.

as for the basking lamp, its not linear or compact, its a reptile UVB Lamp,

no, the uvb output comes in a compact bulb. there are 2 types of reptile uvb. the one that is linear. and the one that is compact. the one that is compact (which you have) does not penetrate deeply enough into the cage to give the chameleon enough uvb. the linear does. you need to get a t5ho linear fixture because all the "reptile uvb" bulbs that fit in the domes are compact and may release enough light for a crestie or other reptile but not a chameleon.

edit: add a dripper, he looks a little dehydrated.

 

[Pejaustin]

no, the uvb output comes in a compact bulb. there are 2 types of reptile uvb. the one that is linear. and the one that is compact. the one that is compact (which you have) does not penetrate deeply enough into the cage to give the chameleon enough uvb. the linear does. you need to get a t5ho linear fixture because all the "reptile uvb" bulbs that fit in the domes are compact and may release enough light for a crestie or other reptile but not a chameleon.

edit: add a dripper, he looks a little dehydrated.

I'm not describing it correctly, don't have the box it came in anymore, but it looks like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Evergreen-Pe...ords=uvb&qid=1584120891&s=pet-supplies&sr=1-8

 

[cyberlocc]

no, the uvb output comes in a compact bulb. there are 2 types of reptile uvb. the one that is linear. and the one that is compact.

Actually there is 4, there is a linear T5/T8, the Compact Coil Bulb, The Mercury Vapor/Metal Halides like OP has, and now there is LED bulbs starting to come on the market (though they are junk).

I knew what you meant OP, was going to comment before but didn't. I am not a huge fan of MVB bulbs, but they do work, I hear.

The issue with MVB/MH especially with Chams, is they put out alot of UVB, and they tie the UVB to the basking area, so they cannot get just UVB or Just Heat. Of course it would mostly be that way in nature too, so there is that.

 

[Thehippie]

Actually there is 4, there is a linear T5/T8, the Compact Coil Bulb, The Mercury Vapor/Metal Halides like OP has, and now there is LED bulbs starting to come on the market (though they are junk).

I knew what you meant OP, was going to comment before but didn't. I am not a huge fan of MVB bulbs, but they do work, I hear.

Oh I see, well 2 common types

 

[cyberlocc]

Oh I see, well 2 common types

Ya MVB/MH bulbs are not very common with Chameleons, because they are expensive, and put out a lot of Heat, and a lot of UV, so more used for Snakes and Desert Species, like beardies ect.

 

[Pejaustin]

Ya what I have is a Mercury vapor lamp I'm pretty sure, is that unsafe for chams?

 

[cyberlocc]

Ya what I have is a Mercury vapor lamp I'm pretty sure, is that unsafe for chams?

Its not unsafe, its just different and somewhat harder to get placed correctly, and more expensive than other options. I dont care for them, but they do work.