Rotting stomach on female

[aubslemond]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - panther chameleon , around 10 months, Have owned her for 7

Handling - none

Feeding - mix of large crickets and Dubai roaches, occasionally super worms

Supplements - repashy superfoods calcium plus dusted every feeding

Watering - spray by hand multiple times a day onto the screen and leaves

Fecal Description - normal and frequent

History - has never had any issues, got her from a reputable breeder and she grew fast and healthy, great eater and drinker but hates being handled



Cage Info:

Cage Type - screen cage. 18x20x36 inches

Lighting - from the hours of 8am to 9:30 pm zoo med t5 HO 24w 10.0 uvb and zoo med repti basking spot lamp 75w

Temperature - have a heat gun to measure the temp, basking spot is 84 cage floor is 73 night temperatures are in the 70s

Humidity - i don’t have anything to the measure humidity

Plants - umbrella tree and the rest are fake plants

Placement - in my art room, cage is near a window but not by any ventilation, low traffic and noise.

Location - austin Texas



Current Problem - Something always happens to one of my chams when I leave town went out of town for 5 days, had my neighbor feed, mist, and turn the lights on and off. Got home (2 days ago) and noticed one of my females had a few dark spots on her back and some black lines on her belly. Looked up on here and found it might be some bruising, today I look and the blackness has spread a ton and it looks like her stomach is rotting. Obviously I will need to take her to the vet but just wanted to see if anyone else has encountered this, thoughts, tips, or if it might be too late to even do anything. Thanks

 

[aubslemond]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - panther chameleon , around 10 months, Have owned her for 7

Handling - none

Feeding - mix of large crickets and Dubai roaches, occasionally super worms

Supplements - repashy superfoods calcium plus dusted every feeding

Watering - spray by hand multiple times a day onto the screen and leaves

Fecal Description - normal and frequent

History - has never had any issues, got her from a reputable breeder and she grew fast and healthy, great eater and drinker but hates being handled



Cage Info:

Cage Type - screen cage. 18x20x36 inches

Lighting - from the hours of 8am to 9:30 pm zoo med t5 HO 24w 10.0 uvb and zoo med repti basking spot lamp 75w

Temperature - have a heat gun to measure the temp, basking spot is 84 cage floor is 73 night temperatures are in the 70s

Humidity - i don’t have anything to the measure humidity

Plants - umbrella tree and the rest are fake plants

Placement - in my art room, cage is near a window but not by any ventilation, low traffic and noise.

Location - austin Texas



Current Problem - Something always happens to one of my chams when I leave town went out of town for 5 days, had my neighbor feed, mist, and turn the lights on and off. Got home (2 days ago) and noticed one of my females had a few dark spots on her back and some black lines on her belly. Looked up on here and found it might be some bruising, today I look and the blackness has spread a ton and it looks like her stomach is rotting. Obviously I will need to take her to the vet but just wanted to see if anyone else has encountered this, thoughts, tips, or if it might be too late to even do anything. Thanks

The other weird thing is that the black is only on one side, her other side looks normal. She is also eating and drinking like normal.

 

[CasqueAbove]

I think we are looking at possible internal injurie? Not a vet but the black is brushing or injury

 

[Flick boy]

Hi whats the time difference between photo 1and 2. What amount are you feeding and how often. how are you gut-loading. 84,f is a bit high for a female imo 80 max I would recommend and a wired digital probe af the basking point for a good accurate reading also recommend getting a digital humidity gauge also putting your lights on a timer 12 on 12 off . When you say art room is their not fumes in there? And you do have lay bin ?

 

[aubslemond]

The other weird thing is that the black is only on one side, her other side looks normal. She is also eating and drinking like normal.

Hi whats the time difference between photo 1and 2. What amount are you feeding and how often. how are you gut-loading. 84,f is a bit high for a female imo 80 max I would recommend and a wired digital probe af the basking point for a good accurate reading also recommend getting a digital humidity gauge also putting your lights on a timer 12 on 12 off . When you say art room is their not fumes in there? And you do have lay bin ?

The time difference is 2 days. I’ve been feeding around 8 crickets every other day. They are fed fresh veggies and the orange cube squares from flukers plus another gut loading feed for crickets from flukers, I know it’s not the best brand but what I have right now. There are no fumes any time I need to use paint or sprays I do it outside. I do have a laying bin it’s been in there for months and I have not noticed her climbing down to the bottom or to the bin at all.

 

[aubslemond]

I think we are looking at possible internal injurie? Not a vet but the black is brushing or injury

I agree it’s internal, I texted the breeder I got her from and he said he believes it could be impaction. I heard warm showers where they are sitting on a plant while the water hits the side of the wall can help so I took her out to do that, and while handling her she did not hiss or get angry and let me feel her stomach and it definitely feels very full, so she could be needing a good poop

 

[Flick boy]

At this age she could also be gravid imo I would move her lay bin to the back right and add more foliage to help make her feel more secure and I would also add more branches to make the most of your enclosure. Sorry I can't comment on her marks not my area my girl did fall once (that I seen when she was around that age but thankfully no damage)

 

[Turfmonahan]

You should take her to the vet but it looks like fungus to me. I’ve had good reactions using clotrimazole. I put on a thin layer every day till they shed off the dead skin. Takes a couple weeks. Some people use lamasil too. If that’s the case you will also need to give the cage a good cleaning. I steam clean mine and it seems to work good. Haven’t had any fungus issues in a little while. Don’t let it go for too long. It does spread fast and is very contagious.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

That is a color change of the skin itself, not rot or fungal or skin infection. The color change in the skin can be a response to external or internal factors. External may have been trauma - she fell or got poked that area. I’ve seen chameleons do that after giving an injection through the skin in that area for example. The color change is directed by nerves so it can radiate down the nerve even though just a small area was affected. Internal pain rarely causes such a focal region of color change, but not completely impossible. If she otherwise acting normal it would most likely be fine to wait a few days to see if it goes away. But if not, or if you want to be more cautious, a reptile vet visit would be a good idea.

 

[Mendez]

Also, adding more branches and plant foliage never hurts. Four branches are not enough for a chameleon. Perhaps you add more branches and she never uses them, but at least she has the option. My cham only frequents three or four branches in his entire cage, mainly using two of them, but he has the option to move to other branches if the husbandry is off or wants to find a better microclimate. Four branches in total does not achieve this standard.

I don't own a panther, but repashy calcium plus should only be given twice a month. During the other feedings, you should be using plain calcium.

Since you are not measuring the humidity, what do the urates look like?

My advice does not pertain to the discoloration--just chameleon husbandry in general. Also, why not use real plants?

 

[salty dog]

one of mine had that same bruise from breeding was my experience...it went away..but then that was my experience

 

[aubslemond]

Update: vet claims that she looks super healthy, doesnt feel anything out of the ordinary in her stomach and the bloating is just from her puffing up with air since she was irritated. Says it’s not a fungus or rot, his diagnosis is that she must have just fallen off a branch and bruised herself up and she might be still hurting in those places so her colors are dark there, but if she starts to act weird or things look worse to bring her back.

 

[aubslemond]

Here’s what she looks like today. Honestly the black on her belly looks like it has gone down a little bit but one side of her tail is dark now. But only one side the other side looks normal! The vet did give her a cloacal flush and fluid therapy though and did say that would cause some color change. I did also add more branches and plants around her nesting bin to feel more comfortable if she needed to use it.

 

[aubslemond]

Gamora is the name of the female who has the black on her and this one is nebula. They are sisters from the same clutch and have the same care.

 

[ERKleRose]

This post and thread might help: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/half-of-panther-chaneleons-tail-is-black.163728/post-1414436

 

[aubslemond]

This post and thread might help: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/half-of-panther-chaneleons-tail-is-black.163728/post-1414436

Wow those pictures of the tail looks just like mine, super interesting. Thanks!

 

[ERKleRose]

Could it be from the Repashy Calcium Plus?

 

[Beman]

I would ensure that there are many more branches in there. If it was from a fall she would not have many to grab on to with the enclosure as is.

With your positioning of the UVB and the fact that it is a 10.0 T5 you want to make sure there is a 11-12 inch distance to the branch below the fixture. If there are no branches below the fixture she is not getting adequate UVB. Which would account for the fall. I would consider dropping the strength of the bulb back to a 5.0 and making the distance to basking 8-9 inches so that your not losing so much space in the top of the enclosure.

 

[aubslemond]

Could it be from the Repashy Calcium Plus?

That’s what the breeder I got them from uses and directed me on how much to give. I would think if it was an issue with the supplement it would have happened sooner and to more than just my one, or to one of his many chameleons that uses it.

 

[ERKleRose]

That’s what the breeder I got them from uses and directed me on how much to give. I would think if it was an issue with the supplement it would have happened sooner and to more than just my one, or to one of his many chameleons that uses it.

Repashy Calcium PLus has too much D3 in it for everyday use. Even the LoD version is too much for every day use. I'd recommend switching to calcium without D3 to use every feeding and using either the Calcium Plus or Calcium Plus LoD once every two weeks instead. It doesn't hurt to try it out.