Please help!!! is my baby sick?? :(

[byari1234]

My cham is a bit aggressive and we had to try to handle him to give him a shower misting because he was dehydrated, he freaked out went all the way to the bottom of the cage and im concerned that he may have injured himself trying to run from us or he may have MBD. this happened about 4 days ago, he seemed completely fine after the incident. But today I noticed that he will not step on one of his arms... :/ he is only holding it up like he's waving, which I wish he was lol .... is this a really bad sign? does it look deformed ?

p.s I bought silkworms and im not sure if those need to be dusted or not. I honestly tried half and half (some dusted and some not) because I wasn't sure and couldn't find any info.. any tips?
p.s.s im not sure if he is a he? lol does anyone have an idea of the sex? someone told me they should have spurs? but he doesn't but hes colorful and has the crest on his head?

 

[Andee]

You have a panther male, spurs are only for veiled chameleons so they won't show up on your chameleon. Silkworms do not need to be dusted. His leg looks fine to me but I can't really tell by the pics. Have you hand tamed your chameleon?

 

[byari1234]

You have a panther male, spurs are only for veiled chameleons so they won't show up on your chameleon. Silkworms do not need to be dusted. His leg looks fine to me but I can't really tell by the pics. Have you hand tamed your chameleon?

oh ok thank you! I was just concerned with the fact he would not step on that hand?? I have no idea why then again that just started today?

honestly ive been trying to hand feed.. but he never responds to my hand. I try to put something tasty like a horn worm or something I know he loves but hell never go for it.. I have no idea how to train him to do so or how to get him to be more friendly. he's very scared and he bit me the other day when I tried to take him out for a little :/ I know its not recommended to force them like that but I thought if I just passed that hurdle and got him on me he would see its not so bad?? I don't know... I just hate how much he hates me lol

 

[Andee]

Some chameleons never become handle able. But the best way is to hand feed. Sometimes you just need to stand there, hand out stretched with the prey in your fingers, not really looking at him. Try it every other day. Don't offer that specific prey item unless hand feeding.

 

[byari1234]

Some chameleons never become handle able. But the best way is to hand feed. Sometimes you just need to stand there, hand out stretched with the prey in your fingers, not really looking at him. Try it every other day. Don't offer that specific prey item unless hand feeding.

that's what ill start doing thank you so much!!

if I may ask? do you think making silkies a staple feeder vs crickets is a good idea? I found that they are the "healthier" choice but im not sure if that was best?

 

[Andee]

They may be healthier but they can't be used alone, soft bodied feeders that are fed too often can cause diarrhea. I feed one large silk or two mediums once a day to my adult panther. They need chitin in their diet for roughage.

 

[byari1234]

They may be healthier but they can't be used alone, soft bodied feeders that are fed too often can cause diarrhea. I feed one large silk or two mediums once a day to my adult panther. They need chitin in their diet for roughage.

thank you so much for all the help! i really appreciate it, he fell asleep now and hes holding himself with the hand i thought was injured and there is no obvious deformity so maybe he was in the mood to say hi! lol

 

[cass737]

I went for a year without being able to handle my panther, every single day I tried hand feeding him and then one magical day he decided he would take it from me.....a few weeks of hand feeding later he eventually climbed right up onto my hand. Every day now he comes to the front of the cage in the mornings and climbs onto me for his morning shower. One of the things that I think helped a lot in getting him to trust me was that I never and to this day have never physically picked him up. He has only ever gone somewhere when he has decided to climb there!

 

[Ronandex317]

Some chameleons never become handle able. But the best way is to hand feed. Sometimes you just need to stand there, hand out stretched with the prey in your fingers, not really looking at him. Try it every other day. Don't offer that specific prey item unless hand feeding.

Never thought if the looking away thing. Good advice, and I will try it Thursday when my local pet store gets hornworms in