Really weird poop...help!

[ChrisnLisa]

So I just found this in my deremensis enclosure. I have never seen anything like this before. His urates were completely covered in a very thick gelatinous goo. He had a big white part and then orangey chunks. I removed it all from the goo and broke apart the chunks and it looks like dried urate...like if he were dehydrated.

It is hard for me to believe he could be dehydrated at all. He has a constant dripper on and a humidifier that is 15 min on and 45 min off every hour to keep his humidity at 80%. Any ideas what this goo situation is all about? Please help!

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/cfunk138/DSC00611.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/cfunk138/DSC00619.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/cfunk138/DSC00624.jpg

 

[Electric]

hmm that is weird looking, my panther does have some runny/gelly droppings once in a while when he has been drinking alot and is having big amounts of silkworms, but nothing with that amount of 'gel'. I know nothing about deremensis but assuming it is a wild caught animal, could this be parasite related?

 

[ChrisnLisa]

We thought it could be parasite related as well. Although the place we got him from assured us that he was sold to them from a breeder that stated they were captive bread and born. I'm not so sure that is the case now. We know that there are very few breeders of these types of chameleons in this country. The store that we bought him from really is one of the best in the state. So we took their word for it. He has had some other ongoing problems since the day we bought him. We are trying to negotiate with the store about getting him to a vet. It is going to happen regardless but we feel that they should flip the bill for a straight herp vet not their general exotic vet.

 

[Will Hayward]

Captive Bred chameleons can have parasites also. Parasites can even be transfered via food items.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

I've seen this in a couple of our chams once or twice. This is possibly what may have happened: The orangey urates may have been produced when the cham (for whatever reason- and sometimes it's for their own reasons) did not take in enough water. This was followed by a period of taking in very adequate water. The dehydrated urates are irritating to the lining and need a little help being passed, so the body (once it gets adequate water) forms this gel around them. This passes with the good white urates. Sometimes the poo will be coated like this as well. This is what we were told: If it happens once or twice, it's no problem. Be sure the cham is drinking, and the next urate/fecal should look normal. SOmetimes the lining got irritated enough that they will form this gel a few times, and then go back to normal fecals.

Some chams don't like drippers. We have found that we have to experiment with each of our chams to be certain we've found the right watering method for each particular animal. This is crazy, I know. But, in the end, it's not the method of watering that's so important, it is whether or not the cham is actually drinking enough. But if he continues to pass the white urates, then you know he's fine.

It's a good idea to get any cham examined and a fecal test done for parasites. And, yes, we have even done fecal exams on our feeder insects!

 

[ChrisnLisa]

Oh no I'm aware of captive bred getting parasites. He has just not been in our care for very long at all. I think a total of not even a month. He had a toe infection supposedly from retained shed after the stores humidifier went out for five days or so. They misted them still but apparently there is no replacement for a humidifier. We noticed it once we got him home (2 hours away) and in to his enclosure. We ended up bringing him back to them after about three days. They took him back into their care and had their vet take a look at him. He advised applying a triple antibiotic topical ointment to the toes once a day. After about two weeks of them having him it seemed to be getting better (although there was still evidence of the infection) . So after another four hour adventure we had him back. We have still been giving him the trip. ant. ointment since he was returned to us. Now the infection has seemed to spread. We have contacted the store and it seems we are going to need to take another four hour trip to have him see their vet. I am pretty sure that their vet is not specifically a herp vet, but he does deal in herps quite a bit. There is a vet around here that specializes in herps that we would much rather take him to. Oh well. It is all out of love for our animals.

Does this look like parasite related poop to anyone else? I really want this guy to be ok.

 

[ChrisnLisa]

oops you beat me to the punch.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. We will keep a very close eye on it.
This is the first time we have seen this so hopefully that is all it is.