Should I be Concerned??

[Mambo]

Open question to any one who has suggestions. My 1.5 year old male panther chameleon has been hanging out alot at the bottom of his cage the last few weeks, should I be worried?. At night he sleeps up in a plant I have in his cage, but during the day I see him at the bottom, more so than usual. He's actually started to (lay at the bottom, which seems a little strange to me) yet when I approach or touch him he does react, as if nothings wrong. I don't understand what the probelm might be. he looks healthy. I do notice that his most recent sheeding is taking pretty long, eventhough humidity is usually between 60 and 70 on my gauge. and his urates do seem a little orange??

Could these be Possible reasons??
I think he might be trying to avoid misting, could this be possible?
another reason might be that, I sometimes open this cage and put a bridge for him to climb out and explor a little. maybe he's gotten use to this, and waits for the next time I might open his cage again. usually, as soon as I open his cage, he's out and about exploring my room (under supervision offcourse,).

Another thing I'll add is that he seems to not really eat from my hand anymore, as he regularly would. But do to my schedule I began leaving about 10 crickets in his cage for him to look for and catch on his own, so maybe this is the reason, However I do tend to see alot of cricket still alive in his cage-or dead ar the bottom, afterwards.

Some additional points

-I feed him 10 crickets every other day
-Mist twice a day for 15 min (pro-mist)
-One live unbrella plant
-UVA and UVB light sources
-Heat gradient ranging from 70-95 degrees
-One or twice a week I take him out for some sun
-Cage is 2X1.5X3 ft with a screened whole for drainage

Well, thanks for reading, (and thanks for your help)

Mario

 

[Fearaffect]

My Sambava did that for like a week also, but now is "normal" figured it was just a "thing" his coloring was normal and didnt look dehydrated.....still ate when fed. When I'd open his cage up, he'd make a quick escape into his Ficus, so yea, wasnt a big deal. He laid on the floor like yours is doing, weird.

 

[kinyonga]

Have you changed the UVB light lately? Have there been any changes in his cage? Has the temperature in the cage gone up lately? Are you sure its a male?

 

[summoner12]

What kind of UVB lamp?

 

[jojackson]

I would consider a chameleon of any stripe 'laying' (on its side?) to be an indicator of a problem. Its not a natural posture for them.
Apart from possibly overheating / trying to cool, I cant really think of a sound logical reason for such behaviour off the top of my head. How densly planted is the cage?
Id suggest an attempt to hide from some perceive threat or hunting insects on the floor, maybe! (if its crouched not on its side). Definately weird.
Perhaps a temporary inbalance issue caused something. Lizards with open ear holes have been noted to suffer imbalance issues caused by drying out of the tympanum due poor husbandry/low humidity. (often mistaken for neurological disorders) This obviously dosent apply here, as a cause anyway, but might be worth further investigation. Are its eyes of normal appearance? does it shoot bugs accurately? How often does that occure?
If its actually laying flat on its side (not just crouching) I advise a vet consultation.

 

[Mambo]

Have you changed the UVB light lately? Have there been any changes in his cage? Has the temperature in the cage gone up lately? Are you sure its a male?

-UVB changed, about three months ago (5.0 UVB)

-I recently took out his initial live plant ( Too avoid any probelms in the future with possible bacteria or fungus, plus it was beggining to have very few leaves) and intorduced a new one with a lot more leaves.

-temperature remaines the same with a ~range from 70 to 90 degrees

- Im positive he's a male

 

[Mambo]

What kind of UVB lamp?

-UVB 5.0 for a 10gal

 

[Mambo]

I would consider a chameleon of any stripe 'laying' (on its side?) to be an indicator of a problem. Its not a natural posture for them.
Apart from possibly overheating / trying to cool, I cant really think of a sound logical reason for such behaviour off the top of my head. How densly planted is the cage?
Id suggest an attempt to hide from some perceive threat or hunting insects on the floor, maybe! (if its crouched not on its side). Definately weird.
Perhaps a temporary inbalance issue caused something. Lizards with open ear holes have been noted to suffer imbalance issues caused by drying out of the tympanum due poor husbandry/low humidity. (often mistaken for neurological disorders) This obviously dosent apply here, as a cause anyway, but might be worth further investigation. Are its eyes of normal appearance? does it shoot bugs accurately? How often does that occure?
If its actually laying flat on its side (not just crouching) I advise a vet consultation.
[/Q

-When, he's laying down he's not on his side, he's more like crouching, but deffinantly supported by his belly, using legs for balance I suppose. ( I should add that he's not weak by any means, he is still very strong, as he should be).

-His cage only has one live umbrella plant with two additional preches of differnt thicknesses.

-I don't think he looks for insects, cus when he's down there they'll walk right by him and he'll ignore them.

-Eye turrets look good, nice and full. The one thing that lead me to beleive it may have been a hydration probelm was his orange feces/urates. But then I changed his once a day misting of 15 min to twice a day 15 min each time.

-Shooting bugs,for the most part he's accurate. he does miss from time to time, but not enough for me to be conserned, at least I ddint think so.

 

[Murrdox]

Maybe pics would help?

He's eating and drinking, and from the sound of your description he sounds fairly healthy. Maybe it's the new plant?

Pics of him and the enclosure might give more insight, I don't know.

I'd definitely be concerned though. Chameleons will typically go to the bottom of the cage and become lethargic if they're dying.

 

[kinyonga]

Mambo said..."UVB 5.0 for a 10gal "...what brand and type (spiral, compact, long linear tube, etc.)?

 

[Mambo]

Mambo said..."UVB 5.0 for a 10gal "...what brand and type (spiral, compact, long linear tube, etc.)?

Zoo-Med 18" tube...

 

[Mambo]

Mambo said..."UVB 5.0 for a 10gal "...what brand and type (spiral, compact, long linear tube, etc.)?

Zoo-med 18" tube

 

[Mambo]

Maybe pics would help?

He's eating and drinking, and from the sound of your description he sounds fairly healthy. Maybe it's the new plant?

Pics of him and the enclosure might give more insight, I don't know.

I'd definitely be concerned though. Chameleons will typically go to the bottom of the cage and become lethargic if they're dying.

Here is a picture of his cage, I'll try to send another closer of him..

 

[Mambo]

Maybe pics would help?

He's eating and drinking, and from the sound of your description he sounds fairly healthy. Maybe it's the new plant?

Pics of him and the enclosure might give more insight, I don't know.

I'd definitely be concerned though. Chameleons will typically go to the bottom of the cage and become lethargic if they're dying.

Here's a pic of his cage and a closer one of him...

 

[jojackson]

Your lizard looks in good health to me Mambo, I wouldnt be too concerned.