Panther Chameleon won’t eat and hasn’t shed

[dsqrd]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Jett is a 9 month old Male Ambilobe Panther Chameleon. I got him around a month ago.
• Handling - I handle him once or twice a week, mainly just to move him to clean the bottom of the cage.
• Feeding - I feed him about 15-20 medium sized crickets a day, i put them inside of a shooting gallery. I gut load them with Repashy bug burger. He was eating superworms as well but i started weaning him off of them as he was quickly becoming addicted.
• Supplements - I dust his food in Repashy Calcium plus every time i feed.
• Watering - I run a mist king system that goes to his cage and the other 4 chameleons i have in his room. His cage gets misted for 90 seconds 6 times a day. I see him drinking occasionally but not often.
• Fecal Description - His droppings are a little hard and a semi dark brown color. He has never been tested for parasites.
• History - He was eating perfectly fine about a week ago, i think it may have to do with me running the ac now that it’s hot where i’m at.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - He is in an Exo-terra medium x-tall screen cage. 24x18x36
• Lighting - I am using a 50w exo terra basking bulb, and a reptisun t5 hood with a 5.0 bulb. The lights are 12 hrs on and 12 hrs off.
• Temperature - Basking spot is 84-86 and cage floor is around 70-72. The lowest night temperature is around 69. To measure them i use a temp gun.
• Humidity - I’m not sure what the humidity percentage is but my other 4 chameleons are all on the same regiment and they don’t seem to have any problems. I use a mistking to mist the cage for 90 seconds 6 times a day.
• Plants - The plants i have inside his cage are Pothos, Caladium, umbrella plant, and the main plant is a Camellia plant.
• Placement - My cage is in my guest room converted to reptile room. None of the chameleons can see eachother. It is near a portable ac unit to keep the temperature constant but is not in it’s direct path. It is not a high traffic area. From the floor to the top of the cage is 6ft.
• Location - I am located in Davis, CA.

Current Problem - The current problem i am concerned about is that Jett has not been eating pretty much at all for a little over a week. He also hasn’t shed since i got him, which was a month ago, and is losing weight. I weighed him last week and he was 68g and then today I weighed him and he is 64g. He has little to no interest in his food at all, and it’s concerning me.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Give me a bit and I’ll go thru your husbandry.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll be putting my feedback in bold and will split this into two parts.

• Your Chameleon - Jett is a 9 month old Male Ambilobe Panther Chameleon. I got him around a month ago.
• Handling - I handle him once or twice a week, mainly just to move him to clean the bottom of the cage. Just curious what you use to clean.
• Feeding - I feed him about 15-20 medium sized crickets a day, i put them inside of a shooting gallery. I gut load them with Repashy bug burger. You could broaden this with some fresh produce. He was eating superworms as well but i started weaning him off of them as he was quickly becoming addicted. You should really add a bit more variety. Attaching graphics for you.
• Supplements - I dust his food in Repashy Calcium plus every time i feed. This could be at least part of the problem, if not the entire one. I’ll guess that you got him from Kammerflage and are following the same supplement regimen they use. If so, the main problem is that you’d have to follow all of their husbandry to go along with it. Calcium Plus has high levels of everything and it works fine for Kammerflage because of the rest of their husbandry - for example they use T8 uvb lights instead of T5. Vitamins D3 and preformed A are fat soluble and can easily and quickly build up in the body to toxic levels. A much better regimen and what I recommend is to lightly dust with a phosphorus free calcium without D3 at every feeding except one every other week. That one feeding you’ll use Repashy Calcium Plus LoD or ReptiVite with D3. This goes along with the current standards of husbandry that you are following.
• Watering - I run a mist king system that goes to his cage and the other 4 chameleons i have in his room. His cage gets misted for 90 seconds 6 times a day. I see him drinking occasionally but not often. Six times a day is a lot. Usually we mist for at least 2 minutes, 2-3 times a day - before lights go on and off and optionally sometime during the day. You want the enclosure to have time to dry out. You don’t say when you are misting, so I’ve no idea if some of those are during the night, which is ok.
• Fecal Description - His droppings are a little hard and a semi dark brown color. He has never been tested for parasites. Parasites are the number one thing that came to mind when I read your post. Even something as ‘minor’ as pinworms can drastically affect the appetite and stunt growth. You definitely need to get him tested for parasites. This usually means a vet visit as by law, vets can’t treat any animal they haven’t seen.
• History - He was eating perfectly fine about a week ago, i think it may have to do with me running the ac now that it’s hot where i’m at. Is the ac affecting his basking temps at all?

 

[MissSkittles]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - He is in an Exo-terra medium x-tall screen cage. 24x18x36 That’s just a bit small. It would be better if it were either taller or wider.
• Lighting - I am using a 50w exo terra basking bulb, and a reptisun t5 hood with a 5.0 bulb. The lights are 12 hrs on and 12 hrs off. Has your uvb bulb been changed recently or do you have a solarmeter 6.5 to test output?
• Temperature - Basking spot is 84-86 and cage floor is around 70-72. The lowest night temperature is around 69. To measure them i use a temp gun. Ok, but the temp gun can only measure surfaces and not air. Usually it’s best to use a thermometer with a probe end at basking area.
• Humidity - I’m not sure what the humidity percentage is but my other 4 chameleons are all on the same regiment and they don’t seem to have any problems. Knowing your humidity is quite important. Hygrometers are inexpensive and can save you not just potentially large vet bills, but the life of your chameleons. For panthers, the ideal range is between 50-70%, but I personally prefer to keep them at 50-60% during the day. At night, you do have a temp drop below 70 so could boost your humidity during the night as high as you can. You can either get a cool mist fogger or just add some night time mistings (if you don’t already) Defintely get a hygrometer though. High heat plus high humidity increases greatly the risks for respiratory infection. I use a mistking to mist the cage for 90 seconds 6 times a day.
• Plants - The plants i have inside his cage are Pothos, Caladium, umbrella plant, and the main plant is a Camellia plant. Ok
• Placement - My cage is in my guest room converted to reptile room. None of the chameleons can see eachother. It is near a portable ac unit to keep the temperature constant but is not in its direct path. It is not a high traffic area. From the floor to the top of the cage is 6ft. Good
• Location - I am located in Davis, CA.

Current Problem - The current problem i am concerned about is that Jett has not been eating pretty much at all for a little over a week. He also hasn’t shed since i got him, which was a month ago, and is losing weight. I weighed him last week and he was 68g and then today I weighed him and he is 64g. He has little to no interest in his food at all, and it’s concerning me. The only things that I see in your husbandry that could affect his appetite is he is being over-supplemented and the fat soluble vitamins are building up and he’s starting to feel sick or parasites. If he did come from Kammerflage, the risks of parasites are low, but they can never be zero. He could have had a cricket that transmitted a parasite to him. I suggest changing your supplements as I outlined and getting a fecal done. As for the not shedding, that could be from the supplements or the humidity. Get a hygrometer and make sure your humidity is within ideal range. Unless the ac is blowing directly on him or cooling off his basking temps, that shouldn’t be an issue.