Hello everybody, hopefully somebody here can offer me some help. I'm concerned about my new panther, I've had veiled chameleons in the past with zero issues but this is my first panther chameleon.
I'll provide as much information as I can in the first post, but I'd be happy to respond to any questions ASAP so somebody with some expertise could hopefully help me out.
Sex: Male
Age: Approximately 15-20 months
Time owned by me: One week today
Enclosure: 24x24x48 Zoomed screen cage with drainage hole, fake vines, plants, etc, with two live potted ficus plants on the bottom.
Lighting/Heat: One 5.0 UVB bulb and one 100w basking bulb, 12 hours on, 12 hours off. There is a nighttime bulb and I know they are sensitive to light, but this gives off little enough light that it's invisible to me in a dark room.
Watering/misting: 3-5 times daily for several minutes each, also has access to a big dripper 24/7. Have a misting system arriving tomorrow.
Feeding on: Super worms, mealworms, crickets, gutloaded. Dusted Monday and Wednesday with calcium and Tuesday and Thursday with a multivitamin.
Feces: Almost totally white, have seen very little of the brown portion since I've had him.
So here's the timeline on the problem. I purchased him last Tuesday, the previous owner said he was eating well on crickets and super worms and refused to touch roaches, but also liked silkworms and hornworms. I've yet to try feeding him silkworms or hornworms, I can confirm that he has no interest in roaches. The previous owner also mentioned that he had a very friendly demeanor and would accept, and in fact preferred, to eat straight from his hand. He said that after feeding the chameleon would also insist on climbing onto his arm for at least a few minutes each day.
Day 1: Got him home around 8 PM, previous owner had him on an 8 AM to 8 PM schedule, he went right to sleep as I tried to maintain this schedule.
Day 2: Lights on at 8 AM, fed him around 10:30 AM and he ate 3-4 super worms. Immediately crawled onto my hand, let him explore for a few minutes, returned him to his cage. Offered super worms again around 2:30 PM, ate 2. Lights off 8 PM.
Day 3: Lights on 8 AM. Activity was almost identical to the day before. Lights off at 8 AM.
Day 4: This is where the problem starts. Slightly less active though still drank plenty and moved around, ate 2 super worms all day and would not accept them from my hand. I had to drop them on branches in front of him before he would eat them.
Day 5: Changed light cycle, lights on at 10 AM. Further decreased activity. Still active enough that I didn't have any flags raised. Did not eat or even respond to the food around him. Lights off 10 PM.
Day 6: Lights on 10 AM. Did not eat. Slightly more active than day 5. Lights off 10 PM.
Day 7 (today): Lights on 10 AM. Has not eaten. Has remained in the same spot all day until I last tried to give him some food, and he decided to move near the light.
It's also worth noting that I have seen him yawn twice since I've had him, neither time did I observe any excess mucous around his throat or mouth that would indicate a respiratory problem. On one of the two occasions he seemed to be rather angry, doing what looked like a face stretch with such vigor that he began to shake on his branch before yawning and returning to normal. One yawn was almost immediately after the lights came on, the other about 3 hours before the lights went off. I do not remember the specific days on the yawn other than that the aggressive yawn was on day 5.
He's been lazy today. No interest in food even when placed right in front of him. No interest in coming out onto my hand. Movements seem slower and more deliberate than usual.
Eyes seem rounded and alert, not sunken. Cask seems to be well rounded and not sunken.
I plan to take him to a vet within a few days if his condition does not improve. In the meantime, if anybody has any idea what may be wrong with him, advice would be appreciated. I've attached a photo though he's not in an optimal place for photo taking at the moment.
I'll provide as much information as I can in the first post, but I'd be happy to respond to any questions ASAP so somebody with some expertise could hopefully help me out.
Sex: Male
Age: Approximately 15-20 months
Time owned by me: One week today
Enclosure: 24x24x48 Zoomed screen cage with drainage hole, fake vines, plants, etc, with two live potted ficus plants on the bottom.
Lighting/Heat: One 5.0 UVB bulb and one 100w basking bulb, 12 hours on, 12 hours off. There is a nighttime bulb and I know they are sensitive to light, but this gives off little enough light that it's invisible to me in a dark room.
Watering/misting: 3-5 times daily for several minutes each, also has access to a big dripper 24/7. Have a misting system arriving tomorrow.
Feeding on: Super worms, mealworms, crickets, gutloaded. Dusted Monday and Wednesday with calcium and Tuesday and Thursday with a multivitamin.
Feces: Almost totally white, have seen very little of the brown portion since I've had him.
So here's the timeline on the problem. I purchased him last Tuesday, the previous owner said he was eating well on crickets and super worms and refused to touch roaches, but also liked silkworms and hornworms. I've yet to try feeding him silkworms or hornworms, I can confirm that he has no interest in roaches. The previous owner also mentioned that he had a very friendly demeanor and would accept, and in fact preferred, to eat straight from his hand. He said that after feeding the chameleon would also insist on climbing onto his arm for at least a few minutes each day.
Day 1: Got him home around 8 PM, previous owner had him on an 8 AM to 8 PM schedule, he went right to sleep as I tried to maintain this schedule.
Day 2: Lights on at 8 AM, fed him around 10:30 AM and he ate 3-4 super worms. Immediately crawled onto my hand, let him explore for a few minutes, returned him to his cage. Offered super worms again around 2:30 PM, ate 2. Lights off 8 PM.
Day 3: Lights on 8 AM. Activity was almost identical to the day before. Lights off at 8 AM.
Day 4: This is where the problem starts. Slightly less active though still drank plenty and moved around, ate 2 super worms all day and would not accept them from my hand. I had to drop them on branches in front of him before he would eat them.
Day 5: Changed light cycle, lights on at 10 AM. Further decreased activity. Still active enough that I didn't have any flags raised. Did not eat or even respond to the food around him. Lights off 10 PM.
Day 6: Lights on 10 AM. Did not eat. Slightly more active than day 5. Lights off 10 PM.
Day 7 (today): Lights on 10 AM. Has not eaten. Has remained in the same spot all day until I last tried to give him some food, and he decided to move near the light.
It's also worth noting that I have seen him yawn twice since I've had him, neither time did I observe any excess mucous around his throat or mouth that would indicate a respiratory problem. On one of the two occasions he seemed to be rather angry, doing what looked like a face stretch with such vigor that he began to shake on his branch before yawning and returning to normal. One yawn was almost immediately after the lights came on, the other about 3 hours before the lights went off. I do not remember the specific days on the yawn other than that the aggressive yawn was on day 5.
He's been lazy today. No interest in food even when placed right in front of him. No interest in coming out onto my hand. Movements seem slower and more deliberate than usual.
Eyes seem rounded and alert, not sunken. Cask seems to be well rounded and not sunken.
I plan to take him to a vet within a few days if his condition does not improve. In the meantime, if anybody has any idea what may be wrong with him, advice would be appreciated. I've attached a photo though he's not in an optimal place for photo taking at the moment.
