Skinny Chameleon

[Trippy]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this site and am seeking your expertise in regards to the male Jackson chameleon I have "adopted". While I have spent years researching chameleon care and their habitat this is the first chameleon I have owned. Trippy is a rescue chameleon that I agreed to take on upon his being dropped off at the local shelter in a paper bag; no information was provided for him!

I am estimating his age to be around 8 months-a year? He is about 5" long (body) and 6" with tail. He is VERY skinny to my eye, but just not 100% as to how skinny? He was moderately dehydrated upon acquisition; however he is well hydrated at this time. While he was off his food for the first two weeks with me with the help of hand feeding Reptiboost he has begun to eat again (past three days). My greatest concern is the body weight of Trippy in spite of the high fat, varied diet that has been offered! I do not want to over feed him with too high a fat diet and cause even more issues? As I stated before, he went 2 weeks with eating almost nothing and has only been eating well for about three days now.

If any of you have any advice or concerns for this little guy please let me know! I guess my biggest question is how long it takes to put weight back on a Jackson and what the healthiest method is of going about doing so?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Jackson, age unknown (approx. 8 month- 1 year?) I have had this guy for three weeks.

Handling - Trippy is not handled unless absolutely mandated (hand feeding Reptiboost 2x day). Trippy is no longer being hand fed and HATES being touched, as such he is not!

Feeding - I have been offering a variety of cricket sizes (large, 3/4" & pin head), meal worms 2x week, wax worms 3x week, earth worms (fed only once), wild caught moths (4 moths total). The crickets are gut loaded using Flukers orange cube complete cricket diet (food, water, vitamins & spiruluna). I dust the crickets/worms 2x week with Flukers calcium with D3 (I know the controversy regarding the D3, however I have not been able to find any calcium without it in my town!!!). He is most interested in eating around 10:00-3:00. He will only eat crickets if they are loose in the enclosure and he can "hunt" them. He will eat the worms out of the clear container placed in the enclosure. He will not eat from my hand as he is VERY afraid/stressed by people.

Supplements - Flukers calcium with D3, dusted 2x week very lightly. I am not able to find calcium without D3, I will order it.

Watering - I hand mist 3-4 times a day until the entire enclosure is saturated. I use a "big dripper" all the time to provide continual water supply. Trippy is observed drinking each time as well as seeking out the dripper during the day.

Fecal Description - I have observed both white as well as dark brown/black stool in the enclosure. Stool is well formed while not being too hard. Unknown if fecal float has ever been done?

History - Trippy was dropped off at the local animal shelter in a paper bag. He spent approximately 10 hours in a high stress environment (critter keeper with only newspaper, no lighting/heat). He was brought to me at this point! He was finishing a shedding, dark brown, almost black in color when I received him. Off food from day one, dehydrated mild -moderately, burns on all four feet? (feet are dark brown on bottom). Easily falls off branches/cage, weak. Mouth appears clean, no bubbles or sign of infection.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Reptibreez 24" x 24" x 48" (largest sold). Enclosure is all screen. I am utilizing a Exo Terra double light with one Repti Glo 5.0 and one Repti Glo 2.0 bulb. Lighting is turned on from 7:30 am - 8:30 PM (about 13 hrs. day).


Temperature - I also have a 50 watt basking light, however he becomes VERY heat stressed with the basking light (open mouth breathing, dark color), as such I have not been using it. Cage temps are 78 near basking spot (not on), 81-85 if basking light were on (too hot). Lowest day time temp in cage is 73 (room temp.) Night temp (no lighting used) averages 70. I have a Exo Terra thermometer and hydrometer in the enclosure.

Humidity - Humidity averages 60%-70% during day, 80%-90% directly following misting’s (3-4 times day). I utilize live plants, drip system and hand misting to maintain levels. I also have a water dish ( I know he will not drink from it) at the bottom and drip system pan to collect water (both help keep up levels) I have a Exo Terra hydrometer.

Plants - I am using a mixture of live and artificial plants. Live include a large Porda Carpus and two smaller plants (not remembering name, but not toxic!!). I have several artificial vines.

Placement - Trippy is located in the far corner of my living room. My home is not high traffic and quiet most times. Ceiling fan is used, however not directly over the enclosure. No air vents located near him. The enclosure is approximately seven feet tall on the stand (almost to ceiling), his "zone" is above my head/eye level.

Location - I reside in North Central Florida.
Current Problem - While doing FAR better now I wanted advice on length of time and best method to add weight to a skinny chameleon?

Will not let me attach the video

Thank you for any help you can be!

 

[Madgreek19]

Welcome to the forum!! I dont know too much about jacksons but i know they dont need as much supplementing as panthers or vields, I think their supliment schedule is something like
plain calcium every feeding
calcium with D3 twice a month
Vitamins twice a month.
Hopefully some1 more experienced will answer that or just surf the forum you'll find it.

Gutload your feeders with fruits and veggies instead of the fluker's, much better for your cham. I would stop feeding him wc anything, never know if they have parasites.

He'll gain the weight eventually just keep feeding him nutritious feeders and hell bulk up on his own.

Not sure why you have 2 uvb lights the 5.0 should be enough unless its a jacksons thing idk about. Your basking temp should be around 85 degrees there should be enough foilage in the cage for cooler areas so he can go to when hes done basking

Post some pics so we can see him. Hope this helped and good luck^^

 

[Elizadolots]

Hi!

Thank you for taking that chameleon! He needed to find you.

I have a Fischer's and their care is similar to Jackson's.

While they have a reputation as "more difficult" the fact is, they are just not what most here keep so they seem harder.

85 is the maximum basking temperature I would recommend. I keep mine at 83.

The Repti glo 2.0 is largely a heat light, and so you are properly using it with a 5.0. That would be the recommended thing for any chameleon. Just FYI, you can use a regular household incandescent in place of that 2.0 in the future. You will still need the 5.0 for the UVB.

While I think of Jackson's as heavier bodied than my Fisher's they are not really chunky like Veileds and Panthers...so, some of your "skinny" fears might be based on unrealistic expectations.

That said, if you want to fatten him up, get him some fatty feeders. Wax worms and butter worms are usually available at the local big box store. Add a few of them to his daily diet and he'll probably chunk up for you.

Instead of trying to embed the video (because it's hard...look at all my little dots to show how cool I am, I still can't embed a video) maybe just post a link to the video, I swear we will all be willing to go off site to watch it.

 

[Trippy]

THANK YOU! The 2.0 I just use for the better light, the live plants do better with it. The 5.0 I use for him. I will try to do a link and hope that works It is funny because at times (sleeping or still) he looks great, not thin at all. When he moves and is all over then he can look soooo thin

How do I make a link to the video?

 

[Elizadolots]

You can just copy the address in your browser and paste it into your reply. The board will make it into a link.

Here's a link to an old video of my first pug walking on her wheelchair:
http://blip.tv/brindlepug/beulah-on-her-wheelchair-5435060

 

[Trippy]

Photos of Trippy

This is Mr. Trippy, he is getting ready for bed so you are not able to see his weight very well. I have a video I am still trying to attach a link for!!

 

[chameleoman]

2 words. . . .wax worms




and no one please say WAX WORMS ARE NOT healthy because yes they arent just try giving 2-3 a week to put some weight on them after all they are just little fat blobs

 

[Trippy]

more photos of him

I got some good ones today of him as he Stretched from one branch to another. He looks so thin to me

 

[Trippy]

I am going to try to link the video

"C:\Users\shiloh\Documents\Dell WebCam Central\Record Videos\120423-230408.wmv"

 

[Chris Jury]

The photos come up quite small, at least for me, so it's hard to get a detailed look at him, but from what I can see he doesn't look substantially underweight. With some larger, sharper images I'd be more confident, but from what I can see he looks perhaps just moderately thin, which is good news. I'd continue feeding him normally, and perhaps include a few wax worms, and he should put on a bit more weight, though probably not substantially more. Also, their apparent size will change substantially depending on expansion of internal air sacs and their ribs, which changes depending on what the chameleon is doing. For example, they'll flatten out their ribs when basking to provide a large, flat surface to absorb light (i.e., heat).

 

[Trippy]

The photos come up quite small, at least for me, so it's hard to get a detailed look at him, but from what I can see he doesn't look substantially underweight. With some larger, sharper images I'd be more confident, but from what I can see he looks perhaps just moderately thin, which is good news. I'd continue feeding him normally, and perhaps include a few wax worms, and he should put on a bit more weight, though probably not substantially more. Also, their apparent size will change substantially depending on expansion of internal air sacs and their ribs, which changes depending on what the chameleon is doing. For example, they'll flatten out their ribs when basking to provide a large, flat surface to absorb light (i.e., heat).

Thank you! I will try to get the to come in larger. am hope you are right and that he is not as thin as I thought I have noticed a big change in his looks just in the past few days. The vide I have of him shows his skin looking very wrinkled and almost hanging in some places (shoulders, underside). I am now seeing that he no longer has this loose skin look. I have seen him change shape/girth depending on what he is doing. When sleeping, basking or otherwise hanging around he looks quite healthy, I still can see his ribs and he looks a little sunken in around his back when moving around, but not as bad as even a few days ago! I do think I will reduce the amount of Wax worms he is being given so he does not become over weight: D I have seen him eat several crickets and a good sized earth worm (from his plant pot) today.

 

[Ulrich]

Don't get too stressed at this point. He had a tough ride and looks rather ok to me. The base of the belly towards his hint legs could be rounder, but I think, judging by the coloration and the overall shape (minus the bad resolution of the images), he is sort of ok looking. Keep up the good work.