jcarlsen
Chameleon Enthusiast
Chameleon Info:
Cage Info:
Current Problem - Two things: my panther seems to have gotten super worm fever, which I’ve read about on here, and doesn’t seem to have pooped in the last two weeks, give or take a few days. Now, I haven’t checked every single leaf, so there is the possibility he could have done it somewhere, but generally, his poops hit the floor of the cage, or are on a leaf that’s pretty visible.
So, as I mentioned in the info above, I got him hand feeding only in the last few months, and, of course, I was thrilled at how eagerly he went after super worms, so I would only feed those some days. Now he’s at the point where he won’t take anything but supers, or hornworms. I did a major clean of his cage about a month and a half ago, removing a dead pothos from one side, and a dead bromeliad. Both of which had a lot of roaches and supers burrowed in their soil. I got rid of all of those, but I have caught one super in the cage recently, and I saw Jasper eat one when he was sitting in his large pothos. There must’ve been a couple burrowed in that.
I’d read about the hunger strikes, and most of what I read was just to keep offering crickets and roaches and don’t give in with the worms. The only time I broke that was with the horn worms about two weeks ago following the orange urate. I’d seen him drinking, so I was confused, but it’d also been a while since he’d pooped before that, and I remember reading on the poop 101 that if they don’t go for a while there will likely be orange urate regardless of hydration.
So…I’m just a bit concerned. I’m offering roaches (not loose anymore due to their hiding abilities) and crickets every other day. The last time he ate was probably mid last week, and it was the last of the hornworms I’d gotten for him. When I had those, I gave maybe one or two fat ones every other day, hoping he’d poop. He doesn’t look like he’s lost any weight, though I confess I haven’t weighed him yet.
I’ve still got to figure out a good way to do that. He seems to look alright, but I’ll let the experts on here be the judge. Some days he moves around a bit and goes and hangs in his basking spot, and some days he doesn’t seem to go there much at all, though it’s hard to tell what he does when I’m gone…
I’m attaching pictures of Jasper, his enclosure, etc… Please let me know if you need any additional info from me.
Thanks again!
- Your Chameleon - Ambilobe Panther, Male, 10 months old. Since June 2nd 2015.
- Handling - A couple of times in a week, sporadically.
- Feeding - Attempting to feed crickets and dubias, but not interested. Previously was feeding too many super worms and he seems to refuse anything else, with the exception of horn worms. Recently been putting in 6 or so adult crickets and a few dubias in individual feeder cups every other day in the morning. The crickets generally get out of their cup, but roam around visibly enough to be eaten. I'm gut loading a mixture of leafy greens, sweet potato, carrot, apple, orange, depending on how I rotate the gut load. I usually coat the gut load with cricket crack or bumble dust.
- Supplements - Dusting with calcium at every feeding, lightly (though again he's not been eating, so it's hard to say he's getting any). Calcium w. D3 and Herptivite every other week.
- Watering - Mistking system with rain nozzle on rear left corner of cage, positioned above large pothos. Newly installed misting nozzle in front left corner of cage spraying diagonally right, just under the basking spot which stays dry. Mister goes off for 4 mins at 7am, 2 mins at 10am, 1 min at 1pm, 1 min at 4 pm, and 1 min at 7pm. I also have a dripper positioned above the pathos for when he hides in there and I've seen him drinking in different areas.
- Fecal Description - Last visible droppings were roughly 2 weeks ago, possibly a bit more, and the urate was very orange. It had been a while before that since he'd pooped. I got him some hornworms to make sure he's getting hydration and help his bowel movements.
- History - Adopted from sunshine chameleons. No other health issues that I've observed. I made the mistake of feeding one too many super worms because I was excited at the prospect of him hand feeding, and he seemed to love those the most. He also hasn't shed since Late September. I'd seen him yawning/stretching for the past several weeks sporadically, but I figured he would've shed by now.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - 24x24x48 Dragonstrand Keeper series, with half the back and sides covered with plastic wrap to retain humidity and protect electronics nearby. Drainage tray underneath with bulkhead and tube leading to waste bucket for overflow. This is the kit I got from Canvas Chameleons: https://www.canvaschameleons.com/product/panther-series-adult-male-package/
- Lighting - Tropical Blaze T5 HO 24” Double Fixture with Arcadia 6% and 6.5K daylight bulbs. Lights on at 7am, off at 8pm, after which I place a cover on his cage to filter out any ambient room light.
- Temperature - Cage floor is generally in lower to mid 70’s to the basking which ranges around 90-95. Though if I position the probe directly on top of the branch, I get closer to 100. Lowest overnight temp around 67. Temps measured by probe on basking branch, and small heat gun.
- Humidity - Humidity ranges from 40%-60% depending, sometimes getting a little low with the cold season. I’m using the misting system as mentioned above, plus I have a room humidifier positioned nearby the cage. Measuring with included humidity needle probe from canvas chameleons adult panther kit. It’s positioned in the middle, left front of the left side of the cage.
- Plants - Large pothos in back left corner, with leaves and vines stretching all the way down to the floor. Croton Petra in rear right, newly added. Both have been washed and treated before placing in the cage.
- Placement - Cage is in living room. It’s next to a couple of heat vents, but the air from these vents does not blow in the cage’s direction. There are just two of us in the apartment, and we’re generally out during the week days. Top of the cage would roughly be about 6 or so feet. Just above my head and I’m 5’9”.
- Location - Boston, MA.
Current Problem - Two things: my panther seems to have gotten super worm fever, which I’ve read about on here, and doesn’t seem to have pooped in the last two weeks, give or take a few days. Now, I haven’t checked every single leaf, so there is the possibility he could have done it somewhere, but generally, his poops hit the floor of the cage, or are on a leaf that’s pretty visible.
So, as I mentioned in the info above, I got him hand feeding only in the last few months, and, of course, I was thrilled at how eagerly he went after super worms, so I would only feed those some days. Now he’s at the point where he won’t take anything but supers, or hornworms. I did a major clean of his cage about a month and a half ago, removing a dead pothos from one side, and a dead bromeliad. Both of which had a lot of roaches and supers burrowed in their soil. I got rid of all of those, but I have caught one super in the cage recently, and I saw Jasper eat one when he was sitting in his large pothos. There must’ve been a couple burrowed in that.
I’d read about the hunger strikes, and most of what I read was just to keep offering crickets and roaches and don’t give in with the worms. The only time I broke that was with the horn worms about two weeks ago following the orange urate. I’d seen him drinking, so I was confused, but it’d also been a while since he’d pooped before that, and I remember reading on the poop 101 that if they don’t go for a while there will likely be orange urate regardless of hydration.
So…I’m just a bit concerned. I’m offering roaches (not loose anymore due to their hiding abilities) and crickets every other day. The last time he ate was probably mid last week, and it was the last of the hornworms I’d gotten for him. When I had those, I gave maybe one or two fat ones every other day, hoping he’d poop. He doesn’t look like he’s lost any weight, though I confess I haven’t weighed him yet.
I’ve still got to figure out a good way to do that. He seems to look alright, but I’ll let the experts on here be the judge. Some days he moves around a bit and goes and hangs in his basking spot, and some days he doesn’t seem to go there much at all, though it’s hard to tell what he does when I’m gone…
I’m attaching pictures of Jasper, his enclosure, etc… Please let me know if you need any additional info from me.
Thanks again!
