cruz.m
Avid Member
You can use dragon strand ledges, they have many different sizes available. Yeah I was thinking maybe that’s what they were for, how do you hand feed? I’d definitely say get the eye checked out, it’s better safe then sorry.
Slight difference between his eyes
- Thread starter Ruethechameleon
- Start date
Ruethechameleon
Member
I feel like he has a love hate with it because he’ll move from it then eventually he’ll sit at the top branch and lift his head up and chill there while I mist him and I mist for 3 minutes
Ruethechameleon
Member
Ok does that easy attach to any kind of screen enclosure? And i use tongs for crickets cause they are gross and I don’t wanna touch them hahha, but with everything else I’ll hold it in my fingers and he comes over and eats it. But I’ll probably have the vet give it a look just to see if everything looks ok
cruz.m
Avid Member
Do you mist him directly? How does he lift his head up, is his nose sticking in the air or?
cruz.m
Avid Member
Yes, what type of brand/enclosure do you have, be careful with tongs it can be really dangerous. Have you ever tried to cup feed him?
So since he likes the mist it would seem which is very common with panthers. Do you see him cleaning the eye?
It would look like this:
Ruethechameleon
Member
I don’t really mist him directly but if he comes under the mist sometimes he’ll stick his nose up in the air. Idk if that means he likes it or something?
Ruethechameleon
Member
Kinda of not really tho, like I don’t see his doing it that much but he’ll clean them a little
Ruethechameleon
Member
I think the brand is reptibreaze
With the tongs I try to make sure enough of the bug is sticking out so he doesn’t catch his tongue on it but I haven’t tried cup feeding
cruz.m
Avid Member
It doesn’t usually, it can be a sign of an RI, do you have a picture? Is he like sticking his tongue out trying to drink like this (picture below). Yes they do have some ledges for the reptibreeze cages, if you want to try cup feeding there are lots of designs you can try homemade or store bought. If you want me to link them I can.
https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-behavior-nose-pointing-up/
Attachments
If your using a hand sprayer make sure your not really close to him the pressure of the mist is harder and the spray is larger than that of a mistking.
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
1. Definitely add more gutloa ingredients, more is better! For a scale, using a kitchen grams scale or a reptile-specific grams scale each work! Here’s a quick search with great info on how to set one up good:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/search/1027233/?q=How+to+use+scale&o=relevance
2. Perfect!
3. When you take him to the vet, bring a fresh fecal sample with you (duh) and do bloodwork (he’s old enough to do it safely) and x-rays as well, just in case. Also make sure to drop off at least 2 more fresh fecal samples afterwards to make sure no parasites were missed.
4. His cage needs lots more foliage, as already said. Again, plant lights will help, as well (Sansi lights, Arcadia Jungle Dawns, and plain T5 HO 6500K bulbs all work great!). Try to use mostly live plants if possible (the two plant charts that were posted are great references, along with the plants module on The Chameleon Academy)- you’ll have to see how much the humidity changes with them, along with more vines (preferably live only, but if you have to use fake, only use the minimum possible and use a brand like Fluker’s, make sure it isn’t moss or Exo Terra vines!). Do you have a proper drainage system installed underneath the cage, and do you have any substrate in the bottom of you cage? Sorry, I have to ask, the pic doesn’t show it! (PS- What I meant to say was a full pic showing the cage when facing the front/a side of the cage, that showed all the way from the lights down to the bottom of the cage in in the pic, not a pic down the cage from the top! Sorry, I can see how that can be confusing!) Here are two great cage set-up links:
https://chameleonacademy.com/setting-up-a-chameleon-cage/
http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2012/04/how-to-set-up-proper-chameleon.html
5. Does his T5 fixture have an plastic covering the bulb? Do you have a Solarmeter 6.5? Definitely get one if you don’t have it already, and if can afford it, it’s literally life-saving! It’ll tell you where to properly place his basking branch away from his UVB bulb, tell you when to actually replace his UVB bulbs (when the readings are cut in half!), plus tons more! If you don’t currently have one, his basking branch needs to be 8-9” below his UVB bulb for a safe UVI level of 3. How far away is his heat bulb from the closest branch?
6. Could you get his night temps any lower than that, like closer to 65*F?
7. Okay, you need to stop that humidifier ASAP! If you want to fog, you can only use a COOL-mist fogger or humidifier at NIGHT ONLY, and only if it’s lower than 68*F! Daytime fogging and warm-mist foggers/humidifiers can cause respiratory infections!
Ruethechameleon
Member
No he’s not trying to drink, he don’t stick his head up or gape his mouth or anything like that during the day tho. Does that still mean he may have a sign of RI? But thank you I do like hand feeding him instead of cup feeding cause I’m home and have the time right now.
Ruethechameleon
Member
3. That sounds really expensive and I don’t have like $300 to drop on like a total of 3 fecal tests, blood work, X-rays, and an eye exam, that’ll probably be stressful for him anyway. I’m a high school student and I don’t work so the money will have to come from my mom but I don’t think she’ll wanna drop that much money either and I’m not going to make her hahaha
4 i’ll get more foliage when greenhouses with nice plants open cause they are closed right now. I have a bowl that catches the water from the dripper and I don’t have substrate on the bottom of his cage.
5. Those are expensive to measure the uvb so I don’t think I’ll be able to get one lol but his basking branch is 7 inches from the bulb and the temps are where it should be
6. I can’t really get his night temps lower then that cause then my house is gonna be so cold hahaha.
7. Ohhh ok I’ll stop using it and it’s warming up anyway and becoming more humid in my house. I don’t want him to get an RI
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
Chameleons are very expensive to keep and take care of, let alone the vet bills if they get sick. It is important to get things checked when they are healthy instead of sick to lessen the stress levels and tolls on their bodies, as well as give them a better chance for survival and to stay healthy if treatment is needed. I would ask your mom to take him in, as chameleons can go downhill very quick! Your pet is your responsibility, and his life depends on you, I personally don’t see that as a laughing matter.
Ruethechameleon
Member
Yes I know that, I’m not like poor I have the money for him but i don’t have oodles of money to drop at the same time for unnecessary thing. I take care of him my mom provides for his care financially. She’ll let me take him to the vet but he doesn’t have any other issues I’m concerned about only his eye so I really don’t think X-rays or blood work are necessary I’ll let the vet decide what’s needed to address the issue I’m concerned with and if they see anything that would need further examination. He’s young and healthy and behaves like a healthy chameleon would. And I only put “haha” to show that my statements arent rude, it’s used to lighten the mood cause I don’t want you to like read my answers in a rude tone because I appreciate you’re advice. I guess it’s just a teenager thing though.
cruz.m
Avid Member
Chameleons tend to hide their sufferment/sickness until they can’t anymore and by then it’s often too late. Taking him to an experienced chameleon vet is not a waste of money and if there is a problem it’s better to fix it now then until it gets worse. Like mentioned he’s old enough to get it done and it’s better to do it now that he’s healthy then whether you do it when he’s sick. Checkups are usually around $60+ and fecals $40+ (Based on vets I called when I was searching) depending on whether there is something wrong and he needs treatment the cost varies from there.
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
Eye issues could come from incorrect vitamin levels (i.e. the bloodwork) or even possibly Metabolic Bone Diesease (i.e. the x-rays), among tons of other possibilities, which is why multiple things need to get tested! Fecals should be done anyways to make sure he isn’t having multiple problems going on, as well.
Ruethechameleon
Member
Ok if anything it could be vitamin levels because I use the same supplement schedule and stuff majority of people use and the feeder he gets fed most is black soldier fly larvae and they have fairly high amount of calcium in them. But like I said I’ll let the vet decide what they need to do to determine if there is an issue or not and I’ll bring a fecal too.
