Not eating, no poop

[narmstrong]

So my chameleon hasn’t eaten or pooped in close to a week. We kinda screwed up with some things but working on correcting; we have a new cage 2x2x4, new lighting, mister on order, live plants etc. however until everything comes in, chameleon is in a small glass enclosure. We didn’t supplement right but I have bought everything and have started to dust correctly but the chameleon is not eating. I haven’t seen a poop in about a week. It was going to the bottom a lot but I have been turning off basking light (didn’t realize you were supposed to). Stuck in a small live plant and the chameleon hasn’t been going to the bottom as much. We got it in Aug, thought it was a month old….. still seems pretty small for being 5-6 month old panther. I have tried feeding fruit flies, BSFL, dubia roaches, crickets and 2 other kinds of larvae. Nothing. I have a feeding cup that basically has been a death trap to the larvae, chameleon hasn’t figured it out. Why has it stopped eating altogether? How to get I get it to eat from a feeding cup? I have a shooting gallery coming but I’m afraid that’s not going to work. I’m also afraid with such a huge cage, free range hunting won’t work. I’m at a complete loss of what to do. I have spent a ton of time, energy and money learning what we did wrong, how to fix and getting everything for proper setup and husbandry.

 

[Logan435]

sometimes chameleons go on hunger strikes. My baby panther with h is about 5 months stopped eating for like 3 days but then he got back on track. Looks like a female and is very small. Has it been in a enclosure with any other chameleons that slows down there growing process a lot.

 

[narmstrong]

No it’s been alone since we got it. I’ve read about hunger strikes but after almost a week we are just concerned bc it’s been eating (fruit flies) and pooping well. I’m just so afraid of this large enclosure and it not being able to hunt (if it starts eating again). I read they will figure it all out. This is our first lizard. I found a vet if I need to go but with no poop to test I don’t know what they could do.

 

[Logan435]

No it’s been alone since we got it. I’ve read about hunger strikes but after almost a week we are just concerned bc it’s been eating (fruit flies) and pooping well. I’m just so afraid of this large enclosure and it not being able to hunt (if it starts eating again). I read they will figure it all out. This is our first lizard. I found a vet if I need to go but with no poop to test I don’t know what they could do i think that it’s ok to put a baby chameleon in their forever cage I have been using like a cup that I put in his enclosure and he knows where to go to get food. all chameleons grow at different rates like people. maybe she just likes to eat at a specific time or whatever just keep trying. It could be the stress of moving environments. I would put like 10-14 bugs in a cup and attach it it to a branch and leave the cage alone for the rest of the day besides for misting

 

[Logan435]

I think that it’s ok to put a baby chameleon in their forever cage I have been using like a cup that I put in his enclosure and he knows where to go to get food. all chameleons grow at different rates like people. maybe she just likes to eat at a specific time or whatever just keep trying. It could be the stress of moving environments. I would put like 10-14 bugs in a cup and attach it it to a branch and leave the cage alone for the rest of the day besides for misting

 

[narmstrong]

Ok. We haven’t moved it yet to new enclosure bc we are still waiting on some supplies like the mister and dragon ledges. I don’t want to stress it out by setting it up and then redoing it once everything comes in. Not sure when ledges will be here, they havent shipped yet (bought Thursday am).

 

[Logan435]

Ok sounds good

 

[kinyonga]

What specific supplements were you using and how often for each?
Now what are you using and how often for each?

You said you aren't seeing feces...but are you seeing urates?

How hot is it in the basking area?
Are the lights all off at night?
What UVB light are you using? Long linear or compact?
Basking bulb? Colored or white? All lights off at night?
Eyes closed during the day?

 

[narmstrong]

So we were using calcium with D3 a couple times a week. But I learned that wasn’t right. So I bought calcium with no D3 for every dusting, reptivite vitamins for every other week and now calcium with D3 every other week. But it stopped eating when I made this switch.
Seeing no urates, but I’m going to clean cage today and double check.
Basking area (use a CHE) is around 80-85, compact UVB. I bought a linear T5.0 HO but haven’t set up yet.
We were keeping basking on all night but learned not to so stopped a week ago and it isn’t on the bottom as much. I will switch it off after a couple hours when it goes to the bottom.
Eyes aren’t closed all day. Maybe some. It does get active a couple times throughout the day.
After doing a ton of reading I realized we made quite a few mistakes. Weren’t given good info at Repticon.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. You need to get the T5 uvb set up yesterday. Hang it above the current enclosure so that the distance between light and basking area is 8-9”. Bring basking temp down to 80. I’d be scheduling a vet visit for ASAP too. Your chameleon looks to have it’s eyes closed in all of the pics and it just doesn’t look good. They go downhill very fast so you need to act even faster.

 

[narmstrong]

Hi. You need to get the T5 uvb set up yesterday. Hang it above the current enclosure so that the distance between light and basking area is 8-9”. Bring basking temp down to 80. I’d be scheduling a vet visit for ASAP too. Your chameleon looks to have it’s eyes closed in all of the pics and it just doesn’t look good. They go downhill very fast so you need to act even faster.

Ok. I will call the vet today. The T5 is 24” and the current enclosure is really small. So should we go ahead and set up the bigger enclosure now and then redo it when we get the dragon ledges?
What does the eyes closed a lot mean? Been trying to research but haven’t found a good answer. I have noticed an eye bulge and then sinks in when it blinks. Been trying to look that up also.

 

[MissSkittles]

When a chameleon has it’s eyes closed during daytime, it means it’s very ill and failing. It’s a bad sign. You need a vet ASAP if your little one is going to recover from whatever is ailing him. You could set up the big screen enclosure but shorten it. Usually the floor panel can be moved. Remove the floor panel. Find a sturdy (about 1 - 2’ tall) item, put the entire enclosure over it and then set the floor panel on top of the sturdy thing. You need to give him more space, but not too much right now. The uvb is extremely important. I’m not sure about bulging eyes, but when they clean their eyes, they do bulge out a bit right before blinking and rolling the eye around to clean it. If his eyes are bulging at other times, that could be any number of things and only a vet can figure that out.

 

[narmstrong]

When a chameleon has it’s eyes closed during daytime, it means it’s very ill and failing. It’s a bad sign. You need a vet ASAP if your little one is going to recover from whatever is ailing him. You could set up the big screen enclosure but shorten it. Usually the floor panel can be moved. Remove the floor panel. Find a sturdy (about 1 - 2’ tall) item, put the entire enclosure over it and then set the floor panel on top of the sturdy thing. You need to give him more space, but not too much right now. The uvb is extremely important. I’m not sure about bulging eyes, but when they clean their eyes, they do bulge out a bit right before blinking and rolling the eye around to clean it. If his eyes are bulging at other times, that could be any number of things and only a vet can figure that out.

I don’t have anything to set the floor panel on. We have already drilled holes into it for drainage and have all that setup. I’ve had several ppl say that the larger enclosure is fine so I went ahead and bought it.

 

[narmstrong]

When a chameleon has it’s eyes closed during daytime, it means it’s very ill and failing. It’s a bad sign. You need a vet ASAP if your little one is going to recover from whatever is ailing him. You could set up the big screen enclosure but shorten it. Usually the floor panel can be moved. Remove the floor panel. Find a sturdy (about 1 - 2’ tall) item, put the entire enclosure over it and then set the floor panel on top of the sturdy thing. You need to give him more space, but not too much right now. The uvb is extremely important. I’m not sure about bulging eyes, but when they clean their eyes, they do bulge out a bit right before blinking and rolling the eye around to clean it. If his eyes are bulging at other times, that could be any number of things and only a vet can figure that out.

So went to the vet. Very sick. She believes something is wrong with his liver based on the color of its mucosa. It only weighs 1.8 grams at 5-6 months old. So we have 4 medications and a nutritional supplement with calcium. She said it could take 1-2 weeks before we see any improvement. So I guess it’s just a waiting game to see if the meds work. I was told to keep it in its small enclosure until I can get it to eat from a feeder cup, keep heat emitter on at night to keep the temps stable.

 

[kinyonga]

Sorry to hear that your chameleon is sick but it's good that you got him to he vets so quickly.

How did the vet see the liver? The vet isn't judging the liver by the mouth color did she?
What 4 meds did he put the chameleon on? What's the nutritional supplement?

 

[narmstrong]

She went off the color however I found a thread about this and the pics shown were not the same as what we saw. There was no way to do blood as the Cham is just too small. She put it on milk thistle, meloxicam, calcium, enroflixacin and critical care carnivore which the is the nutritional suppl.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’m so glad you didn’t delay in getting your little one to a vet. Even though you’ll continue using the current small enclosure, do make sure to get that T5 uvb set up with 8-9” from basking area and make sure to provide him with areas to be in the shade from it as he wants. Maybe put a small live plant, like a pothos in for him. Praying he pulls thru.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."She went off the color however I found a thread about this and the pics shown were not the same as what we saw"...of the inside of the mouth????

You said..."There was no way to do blood as the Cham is just too small"... Not surprised by that.

You said..."She put it on milk thistle, meloxicam, calcium, enroflixacin and critical care carnivore which the is the nutritional suppl."....I'm not surprised by any of these.keep the chameleon well hydrated while she's on these to prevent kidney damage.

 

[narmstrong]

I’m so glad you didn’t delay in getting your little one to a vet. Even though you’ll continue using the current small enclosure, do make sure to get that T5 uvb set up with 8-9” from basking area and make sure to provide him with areas to be in the shade from it as he wants. Maybe put a small live plant, like a pothos in for him. Praying he pulls thru.

I have to figure out how to raise the T5 up, I dont have anything to prop it up. I have a small polka dot plant in there along with his fake vine. I know the fake plant isn’t ideal but it is providing some shade. They did say to raise his temp in his enclosure. I think it’s sitting at 75-80 but they want it higher so I gotta go get a incandescent bulb. This little enclosure doesn’t allow for much stuff above his cage.

You said..."She went off the color however I found a thread about this and the pics shown were not the same as what we saw"...of the inside of the mouth????

You said..."There was no way to do blood as the Cham is just too small"... Not surprised by that.

You said..."She put it on milk thistle, meloxicam, calcium, enroflixacin and critical care carnivore which the is the nutritional suppl."....I'm not surprised by any of these.keep the chameleon well hydrated while she's on these to prevent kidney damage.

I didn’t see the thread until I got home. It’s tongue is all yellow/ green looking. The thread I saw the tongues were still pink. It’s tongue was pink but now it’s yellow. Idk. This vet has great reviews and is the vet my pet sitter (who is a vet tech) recommended. If I don’t see improvement in 2 weeks I will go back. I have spent a lot of time on this forum trying to get answers and have t found anything. I don’t want it to die. Just feeling very defeated.

 

[MissSkittles]

You’ll have to get creative and look around for things to hold the uvb light above the enclosure. What is the height of the enclosure? It looks to be only about 12-18” high. If so, you could assemble at least 3 sides of the screen enclosure you have, lay it on it’s side and set the small enclosure inside, resting the uvb light on the screen enclosure. Blocks of wood, various containers, etc could be set beside the small tank and used to prop the uvb light up. Check the dollar store for wire bins that might work. Uvb is essential. Be very careful about increasing the temp…don’t want to bake the poor little guy. Personally I’d keep temp no higher than 80-82.
I’m sorry that your cham and you are going thru this and I pray he’ll bounce back.