Not Eating and Orange Feces

[Tolstoy]

My 10 month male panther is not eating. I took him to a vet that specializes in exotic reptiles and got some blood work done (his calcium levels were lower than his phosphorus). The vet mentioned that this may be a sign of kidney failure so I'm really worried. How long will it be before i know if his kidneys are in trouble.

Overall he is active, healthy-looking and well hydrated (I have been forcing him to drink water). His feces is orange at the end. Is this something I should worry about?

Yesterday I noticed that he was trying to eat the soil. I put large stones over the soil but just now I noticed that he was trying to eat those as well.

Set Up:
18" x 18" x 24" cage
Live on Ficus and fake vines
Basking temp :87-100 degrees
Cage temp at bottom: 60-70 degrees
Diet: Normally eats mealworms, superworms, and crickets (will not willingly eat any of these right now) Dusted with Calcium +D3 and Multi-vitaman
Misting: 3x per day

 

[RAFASTAR23]

If his kidneys are in trouble it is very serius!
How long have you had him? Is he wild caught or captive bred?
The cage you have him in is small for a panther chameleon his age. I have two panthers One is 4 months in a 18"x18"x30" and the other is 5 1/2 month old (but large for his age) in a 24" x 24" x 48".

 

[carol5208]

are you dusting with a plain calcium? If not you should be dusting your feeders at every feeding with that and using the calcium with d3 a couple of times a month or so. Also use the multivitamin a couple of times a month also.

 

[Dupontman2]

Also you said basking temp was 87-100. That is too hot, the 90's and def. the 100 is to hot!

 

[Ekaj13]

Orange urate is an indication of dehydration. You need to be providing more opportunities for him to hydrate himself. Use a dripper and frequent mistings to keep humidity up.

I wouldn't worry about the blood test issues. This could all stem from the dehydration, which is also the most important thing to fix quickly.

 

[Ekaj13]

I would also suggest giving him daily showers of approx 15-20 minutes. You can search the forums on techniques for doing that.

Edit- once you get his hydration fixed you should look at proper supplementation and get him a bigger cage. That cage is far too small, he should he in a 48" tall cage.

 

[jojackson]

Ditto EKaj, re hydration.
A variety of well gutloaded (fed) feeders will see an overall better calcium phosphrus ratio.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

To rehydrate your cham you can try putting him in the shower for a while, but put a plant or some kind of stable perch in the tub for your cham to sit on and aim the shower spay at the wall, not at your cham directly. You only want the mist bouncing off the wall to hit your cham, and the water should be warm, not hot. It's best to have a plant so they can lick the droplets off the leaves. Mine readily drink in the shower, even when they're well hydrated.

My cham used to bite at the shiny rocks in his plant too thinking they were wet because he was thirsty. Just make sure that the rocks are bigger than your cham's head so he can't swallow them.

The off balance blood levels concern me because it could mean that your cham does not have adequate calcium levels for proper bone growth and metabolism. You didn't mention gutloading in your setup, which is a very important part of chameleon husbandry. You need to work through the food chain to provide the nutrients your cham needs by feeding those things to your crickets. The link in my signature has nutritional info on commonly available fruits and veggies. You should use veggies higher in calcium than phosphorus (excessive phosphorus inhibits calcium absorption) and avoid oxalates and goitrogens as they too can inhibit calcium absorption. Feed your crickets dark leafy greens like mustard, collard, turnip greens or pesticide free dandelions all the time, and mix in other things as well. A search for "gutloading" here on the forums will provide you with a plethora of information on it.

As others have said, it sound like your temps need to be lowered.

Good luck, sounds like you're on the right track and you've done your homework. Everyone starts off with things to fix/change. Feel free to ask more questions about specifics!