Possible parasite and Anemia

[Gwendalyn.brock]

My chameleon has been sleeping more than usual so I took him to a vet last Sunday because I was worried about him and that vet examined him and told me that he was perfectly healthy just cold so I changed the heat lamp bulb to a higher wattage and he seemed more active but I wanted/needed another opinion because he seems like he's losing weight even though he hasn't changed how much he eats and drinks. The second vet said that he possibly has a parasite and is anemic. He's treating the parasite and supplementing with carnivore care alongside the crickets. My question is how do I ensure that he is getting enough nutrients?

 

[kinyonga]

Did the vet test a poop sample for parasites?
What med did he put the chameleon on for this?
How did he determine it was anemic?
Is there iron in the carnivore care?

 

[Gwendalyn.brock]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
• veiled chameleon, male, 2.2yo
• How long has it been in your care?
• 2 years
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• rarely, he'll occasionally come to me
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• crickets (5-15 every other day) and they eat high calcium cricket diet, have cricket quencher, a cricket block, and eat mostly spinach and a variety of fruit(mango, apple, orange, berries), occasionally horn worms
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• zoo med calcium without D3 at every feeding, zoo med calcium with D3 every 2 weeks, and Repti-Cal herptivite every 2 weeks
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• monsoon automatic mister goes off every 2 hours for 2 minutes, He's still drinking
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• Droppings look normal brown with white
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Reptibreeze 24x24x48
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Zilla tropical 15w uvb light (tube not bulb) and his heat lamp is zoo med (i think) 75w day bulb, lights on automatically at 430am and off at 430pm
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Lowest temperature at bottom of cage is 75-77, middle 80-90, top 90-100. I have 2 thermometer/humidity gauge and my apartment stays at 75-77
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Humidity stays at about 70% all year, he has the mister, as well as just Austin stays pretty humid. He has a humidity gauge
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? No, they keep dying and I can't afford any attention the moment.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Cage is in my room, I put it close to the middle of the room so he wasn't near venta or fan, I love alone so the only time I'm in there is to feed him and when I sleep. How cage is about 2 feet off the ground.
• Location - Where are you geographically located?
• Austin, Texas

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about
Posted above problem

 

[Gwendalyn.brock]

Did the vet test a poop sample for parasites?
What med did he put the chameleon on for this?
How did he determine it was anemic?
Is there iron in the carnivore care?

He did a stool sample and put him on ponazuril 50mg/ml. He also did all the lab work he could on him but I don't believe there is iron in the carnivore care

 

[kinyonga]

Glad he ran tests and didn't just randomly treat him!

You said..."they eat high calcium cricket diet, have cricket quencher, a cricket block, and eat mostly spinach and a variety of fruit(mango, apple, orange, berries)"....I would recommend dropping the spinach...it binds calcium and adding dandelion greens, kale, collards, squash, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, mustard greens, zucchini, etc. Instead.

I think the anemia will be corrected once the parasites are gone...but I'm not a vet and it's just my best guess.

 

[Gwendalyn.brock]

Glad he ran tests and didn't just randomly treat him!

You said..."they eat high calcium cricket diet, have cricket quencher, a cricket block, and eat mostly spinach and a variety of fruit(mango, apple, orange, berries)"....I would recommend dropping the spinach...it binds calcium and adding dandelion greens, kale, collards, squash, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, mustard greens, zucchini, etc. Instead.

I think the anemia will be corrected once the parasites are gone...but I'm not a vet and it's just my best guess.

Right now with the grocery stores having very little selection at the moment, do you think just sweet potatoes and fruit would be good until everything gets back to usual?

 

[kinyonga]

That should be fine for a while...but go easy on the fruit.

 

[Dbash44]

Right now with the grocery stores having very little selection at the moment, do you think just sweet potatoes and fruit would be good until everything gets back to usual?

Not sure where you’re located, but you could always go to a plant nursery if ones open and see if any of those veggies are available. And if you’ve got a green thumb them just water it and give it sunlight and let it produce more for you.