Plz Help. Male Panther Chameleon turning dark, constipated

[Herphor52]

I'm not sure what to do. This is the 3rd or 4th day hes turned dark/black. Hes been avoiding his heat lamp, and hasnt pooped in maybe a week. I'm worried that we may be oversupplementing to compensate for when we were undersupplementing. My bf sometimes feed him and he dusts the crickets really heavily. Another concern I have is that maybe the UVB I'm using is too strong. I have an Arcadia T5 12% bulb for desert species. I can let you know anything else that you need to know.

 

[Herphor52]

His colors were better this morning right as the light flipped on but then he quickly changed

 

[SharpShooter]

I'm not sure what to do. This is the 3rd or 4th day hes turned dark/black. Hes been avoiding his heat lamp, and hasnt pooped in maybe a week. I'm worried that we may be oversupplementing to compensate for when we were undersupplementing. My bf sometimes feed him and he dusts the crickets really heavily. Another concern I have is that maybe the UVB I'm using is too strong. I have an Arcadia T5 12% bulb for desert species. I can let you know anything else that you need to know.View attachment 224359

The 12% is Arcadias dessert UVB. Get that swapped out for the 6% ASAP please.

Then post the answers to the usual questionnaire here; https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

 

[Herphor52]

H

 

[Herphor52]

CHAMELEON INFO
panther, male, ~1.5 years old, had him for 10 months

FEEDING
Approx 10 crickets or mealworms daily
Gutloaded with apples, oranges, potatoes, collards, oats

SUPPLEMENTS
Repticalcium without D3 (5x weekly)
Repashy calcium plus (4x a month)
Herptivite (recently purchased, used once)

WATER
Manual pressure pump mister, using filtered tap water with reptisafe. Misted around 3 times daily for about 2 minutes until cage is dripping.

FECAL DESCRIPTION
constipated for about a week, before that he was constipated for a week and had massive poop, urate was yellowish at beginning and then off white.
Never been tested for parasites.

Cage Type
Screen, 2x2x4

LIGHTING
Linear T5 12% Arcadia bulb and fixture
Bulb was 10 months old, just replaced today

Temp
65 watt indoor floodlight, currently 78°, ambient temp 69°, using a temp gun (all living things brand)

Humidity
Humidity gauge is broken, need to replace

Plants What plants are in your enclosure?
Umbrella plant and Mass Cane

 

[Herphor52]

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The 12% is Arcadias dessert UVB. Get that swapped out for the 6% ASAP please.

Then post the answers to the usual questionnaire here; https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

Ok just posted thank you

 

[Graves923]

Dont feed mealworms. They are generally hard to digest and have been known to cause impaction in chameleons. Superworms are a better choice since their exoskeleton is not as tough as mealworms.

Increase your basking temp to around 90*. You stated that your cage temp is 78* which would be why he is dark. Chameleons will darken their color to help absorb heat and warm themselves. Having proper basking temps also aides in proper digestion. Without hot enough basking temps, chameleons digestion slows down.

 

[SharpShooter]

CHAMELEON INFO
panther, male, ~1.5 years old, had him for 10 months

FEEDING
Approx 10 crickets or mealworms daily
Gutloaded with apples, oranges, potatoes, collards, oats

Never feed mealworms to chams. This may be the cause of the constipation. Try to feed every other day and have a look at some of the better gut loads.

SUPPLEMENTS
Repticalcium without D3 (5x weekly)
Repashy calcium plus (4x a month)
Herptivite (recently purchased, used once)

Light dusting of calcium each feed (every other day). Calcium with D3 2 X a month and multi vit 2 X a month.

WATER
Manual pressure pump mister, using filtered tap water with reptisafe. Misted around 3 times daily for about 2 minutes until cage is dripping.

You need to know your humidity and mist accordingly. Allow it to dry out between mistings. Perhaps add a dripper or if you can run to it, an automated mister.

You don't say if you see him drink.

FECAL DESCRIPTION
constipated for about a week, before that he was constipated for a week and had massive poop, urate was yellowish at beginning and then off white.
Never been tested for parasites.

Whilst everyone aims for white urates, chams aren't all the same and off white or light orange is common.

Cage Type
Screen, 2x2x4

LIGHTING
Linear T5 12% Arcadia bulb and fixture
Bulb was 10 months old, just replaced today

Hopefully with a 6 or at very most a 10. The only way to know your UVB levels though is an expensive solar meter. Dependent on planting and cover as well as type of screen, each setup will be different.

Temp
65 watt indoor floodlight, currently 78°, ambient temp 69°, using a temp gun (all living things brand)

Temps are low at basking spot for a male. I run mine at 83/85 basking with ambient around 76. I also use a thermostat with the sensor on the basking spot for ALL my reptiles. It's the only way you can ensure correct temps and not risk burns. (Many of which end up asking for help here after burning their chams). Low temps may also be a reason for his colouration.

Humidity
Humidity gauge is broken, need to replace

Essential piece of kit, without which you won't have a clue.

Plants What plants are in your enclosure?
Umbrella plant and Mass Cane

Use plenty of real pants and especially the likes of pothos that can be trained to run along vines. If you can easily spot your cham, there's not enough cover.

So STOP mealworms immediately. I would also hold off any feeding for a day or so as all your doing is adding more to the already full bag of rotting food.

Personally I don't know of anything you can treat with. (Others may have some ideas). So that said, and this is a repeat problem, I would taking any of mine to a good reptile vet.

He needs clearing out and his foods being changed going forward.

Good luck with him.

 

[JoshD49]

Like @SharpShooter said ditch the meal worms and raise the basking stat. They need the correct basking temp to help digest properly. You can try hornworms to loosen his bowels up.

 

[MSPINAZ1]

ive heard the 12% bulb can hurt their eyes. could be why hes avoiding his basking spot ( which he desperately needs) and like everyone else is saying no mealworms. good luck. hope you post an update saying he feeld better.