Smelly poop

[jackwood775]

Hi, my panther chameleons poo smells really bad, when i open his cage it smells quite bad but i just found out its not his cage, its his poo, is it normal for there poo to smell bad?

 

[ERKleRose]

Welcome to the forums! Do you have a reptile vet you can take his poop to to get tested for parasites? Smelly poop can be a sign of parasites. Could you post a pic of his poop, and of him, please? If you want, we can go over your husbandry, as well, to double check everything!

 

[jackwood775]

Welcome to the forums! Do you have a reptile vet you can take his poop to to get tested for parasites? Smelly poop can be a sign of parasites. Could you post a pic of his poop, and of him, please? If you want, we can go over your husbandry, as well, to double check everything!

His lights are off at the moment so I’ll have to take some pictures in the morning. There’s only one reptile vet near me and they are being very unreliable at the moment and is taking over a month for them to get him registered. I’m happy to go through his husbandry though

 

[ERKleRose]

Sounds good! Where do you live? A member on here might know of an experienced chameleon vet near you! If you could add pics of his enclosure, lights to bottom, in the morning, that’d be great, too! Just copy and paste the form, then fill it in (use as much detail as possible):

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[jackwood775]

Sounds good! Where do you live? A member on here might know of an experienced chameleon vet near you! If you could add pics of his enclosure, lights to bottom, in the morning, that’d be great, too! Just copy and paste the form, then fill it in (use as much detail as possible):

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?Panther chameleon,male, around 5-6 months, I got him 2-3 months ago.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I’ve had to force handle him only twice to assemble his cage but ever since then, never.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Silent crickets, I offer him 10 and I leave the feeder in there all day. I gut load them with big grub and the night before I feed them with veggies like water cress carrots pee pollen.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I’m using the ProRep cali dust without d3 every feeding,rephasy calcium plus 2 times a month.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I manually mist him 1-2 mins in the morning when lights are off and the same when light turn off for bed time. I use tap water but use the water conditioner, I don’t see him drink since I’m always at work so not sure.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? His brown bit seems normal size and wetness, and the white bit has like the tiniest bit of yellow, it’s more than 75% white . Never tested him for parasites.
  
• I live in the uk near Blackpool, struggling to find a vet since they’re all turning me away.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Your husbandry looks ok. I would suggest switching from Repashy calcium plus to Repashy calcium plus LoD and offering more variety of feeders. FYI - many chameleons are secret drinkers. Here’s the vet list we have for the UK. Sorry, but I’m clueless about your geography. I can tell you though that often here across the pond we have to travel a bit for good vets who have experience with chameleons.

 

[jackwood775]

Hi. Your husbandry looks ok. I would suggest switching from Repashy calcium plus to Repashy calcium plus LoD and offering more variety of feeders. FYI - many chameleons are secret drinkers. Here’s the vet list we have for the UK. Sorry, but I’m clueless about your geography. I can tell you though that often here across the pond we have to travel a bit for good vets who have experience with chameleons.

Made a mistake, I use the rephasy calcium pus lod. What other feeders could I use instead of crickets?

 

[MissSkittles]

I know some aren’t available/legal, like hornworms…but there’s many others that should be. Many in the UK and Europe feed locusts, which are a bit limited for us here. Silkworms are one of my personal favorite bugs and besides being nutritious, they are also great at hydrating. Not sure if you have dubia roaches there, but those are also good. Most of us here use on line vendors for our feeders and many have variety packs for different species. Maybe some UK vendors also do.

 

[ERKleRose]

@MissSkittles covered everything! I will add that you want to make sure the mistings are at least 2 minutes long, not 1-2 minutes. Also, are his branches bamboo? If you wouldn’t mind filling out the second half of the husbandry form and adding a pic of him, we’d greatly appreciate it!

 

[jackwood775]

@MissSkittles covered everything! I will add that you want to make sure the mistings are at least 2 minutes long, not 1-2 minutes. Also, are his branches bamboo? If you wouldn’t mind filling out the second half of the husbandry form and adding a pic of him, we’d greatly appreciate it!

• Cage Type - 2x2x4 mesh cage but I’ve wrapped 3 sides with plastic
• Lighting - i use a Zoo Med 22" T5 HO 5.0 with a 24" Pangea T5 HO Fixture. Lights turn on at 7am and turn of at 7pm
• Temperature - i use a temp gun which I have lost so I haven’t been able to track his temp recently. But when setting his cage up I got it so his basking temp is 29-31 and his ambient temp was around 20-24
• Humidity - i mist 2 times a day which keeps my humidity anywhere between 55%-70%. I use a exo terra hygrometer to measure this.
• Plants - I have two plants which are real, a begonia foliage beleaf and a fatsia japonica.
• Placement - Its next to my bed, i try to keep mu window abit open for some air ventilation, his cage is around 1 metre of the ground.
• Location - In mu bedroom(small)

 

[ERKleRose]

• Cage Type - 2x2x4 mesh cage but I’ve wrapped 3 sides with plastic Great! Bamboo poles are very slippery and are only one size in diameter, so they need to be replaced with wood branches (oak, manzanita, crepe myrtle, hardwoods/branches from non-toxic and non-sap-producing trees, etc) of varying diameters, vines (real or fake, just no moss or Exo Terra vines), or both!
• Lighting - i use a Zoo Med 22" T5 HO 5.0 with a 24" Pangea T5 HO Fixture. Lights turn on at 7am and turn of at 7pm What is the distance from the uvb bulb to the basking branch, and what do you use for a heat source? Also, make sure to replace the Zoo Med 5.0 once it’s 6 months old (if you get an Arcadia 6% uvb bulb when it’s time to replace instead of another Zoo Med 5.0, it lasts a year) and/or invest in a Solarmeter 6.5 UVI meter (it will tell you the exact UVI- you want a 3 at the top of your cham’s back when he’s on his basking branch- and exactly when to replace the bulb, along with being able to tell if a bulb is defective!)
• Temperature - i use a temp gun which I have lost so I haven’t been able to track his temp recently. But when setting his cage up I got it so his basking temp is 29-31 and his ambient temp was around 20-24 You want his basking temp to be 29*C, no higher than that. Sadly temp guns are no good, so if you find it, you won’t need it for your cham. Instead, get a digital thermometer with a probe, and place the probe where the top of your cham’s back is when he’s on his basking branch. You can also get digital thermometer/hygrometer combos to measure temps and humidity levels elsewhere in the cage. His ambient temps are perfect! What are his nighttime temps?
• Humidity - i mist 2 times a day which keeps my humidity anywhere between 55%-70%. I use a exo terra hygrometer to measure this. I'm guessing it spikes to 70% after misting, not staying at 70% the whole day? If so, perfect! Is your hygrometer digital, and what are your nighttime humidity levels?
• Plants - I have two plants which are real, a begonia foliage beleaf and a fatsia japonica. I’d add a pothos or philodendron or something like that near the top of his cage to provide a little more coverage until the fatsia grows in more
• Placement - Its next to my bed, i try to keep mu window abit open for some air ventilation, his cage is around 1 metre of the ground. Is it near the window?
• Location - In mu bedroom(small)

Pretty good overall! Just a couple of tweaks needed. If could you also post a cham pic, that’d be awesome! Have you found a vet yet?

 

[jackwood775]

• Cage Type - 2x2x4 mesh cage but I’ve wrapped 3 sides with plastic Great! Bamboo poles are very slippery and are only one size in diameter, so they need to be replaced with wood branches (oak, manzanita, crepe myrtle, hardwoods/branches from non-toxic and non-sap-producing trees, etc) of varying diameters, vines (real or fake, just no moss or Exo Terra vines), or both!
• Lighting - i use a Zoo Med 22" T5 HO 5.0 with a 24" Pangea T5 HO Fixture. Lights turn on at 7am and turn of at 7pm What is the distance from the uvb bulb to the basking branch, and what do you use for a heat source? Also, make sure to replace the Zoo Med 5.0 once it’s 6 months old (if you get an Arcadia 6% uvb bulb when it’s time to replace instead of another Zoo Med 5.0, it lasts a year) and/or invest in a Solarmeter 6.5 UVI meter (it will tell you the exact UVI- you want a 3 at the top of your cham’s back when he’s on his basking branch- and exactly when to replace the bulb, along with being able to tell if a bulb is defective!)
• Temperature - i use a temp gun which I have lost so I haven’t been able to track his temp recently. But when setting his cage up I got it so his basking temp is 29-31 and his ambient temp was around 20-24 You want his basking temp to be 29*C, no higher than that. Sadly temp guns are no good, so if you find it, you won’t need it for your cham. Instead, get a digital thermometer with a probe, and place the probe where the top of your cham’s back is when he’s on his basking branch. You can also get digital thermometer/hygrometer combos to measure temps and humidity levels elsewhere in the cage. His ambient temps are perfect! What are his nighttime temps?
• Humidity - i mist 2 times a day which keeps my humidity anywhere between 55%-70%. I use a exo terra hygrometer to measure this. I'm guessing it spikes to 70% after misting, not staying at 70% the whole day? If so, perfect! Is your hygrometer digital, and what are your nighttime humidity levels?
• Plants - I have two plants which are real, a begonia foliage beleaf and a fatsia japonica. I’d add a pothos or philodendron or something like that near the top of his cage to provide a little more coverage until the fatsia grows in more
• Placement - Its next to my bed, i try to keep mu window abit open for some air ventilation, his cage is around 1 metre of the ground. Is it near the window?
• Location - In mu bedroom(small)

Pretty good overall! Just a couple of tweaks needed. If could you also post a cham pic, that’d be awesome! Have you found a vet yet?

I’ve got a vet just waiting to ask if they go poop checks. The top branch is about 7 inches from the top. The cage isn’t far it’s like 3 metres from the window. His humidity is quite high it remains 60-70 during the day and rarely reaches 50%. At night it’s stays at 65+. And yes it is a digital hygrometer. I forgot about my heat lamp if I remember it’s a 50w heat bulb. Also how come the gun isn’t good? Thanks for the help by the way

 

[ERKleRose]

No problem, we’re here to help! You’ll want to move either the top branch and/or the uvb fixture so that the distance from uvb bulb to branch is 8-9” away. How far away is his heat bulb from his basking branch? As long as his cage isn’t next to the window (and that the window doesn’t make your room too hot or cold), you’ll be good! Also, if you could try to keep the humidity closer to 50-60% during the day, that’d be better. Does your room have good airflow/air circulation? Lastly (I know this a lot, thank you for being a trooper!), what are your nighttime temps? Temp guns measure surface temperature while we need to measure air temperature

 

[jackwood775]

No problem, we’re here to help! You’ll want to move either the top branch and/or the uvb fixture so that the distance from uvb bulb to branch is 8-9” away. How far away is his heat bulb from his basking branch? As long as his cage isn’t next to the window (and that the window doesn’t make your room too hot or cold), you’ll be good! Also, if you could try to keep the humidity closer to 50-60% during the day, that’d be better. Does your room have good airflow/air circulation? Lastly (I know this a lot, thank you for being a trooper!), what are your nighttime temps? Temp guns measure surface temperature while we need to measure air temperature

Pretty sure the heat lamp is 5-6 inches from the top. I keep the window a tiny bit open so it doesn’t get to cold but it allows airflow. Night time temps are around 20-22. What are some ways to drop humidity?

 

[ERKleRose]

Pretty sure the heat lamp is 5-6 inches from the top. I keep the window a tiny bit open so it doesn’t get to cold but it allows airflow. Night time temps are around 20-22. What are some ways to drop humidity?

You’ll want to make sure the basking branch is at least 9”+ away from the heat bulb to help prevent burns. Window sounds good! If possible, you can drop the nighttime temps even lower, 15-18*C is preferred. A real easy way to drop humidity for your set up is taking the plastic wrapping off one or two of the cage sides!

 

[jackwood775]

You’ll want to make sure the basking branch is at least 9”+ away from the heat bulb to help prevent burns. Window sounds good! If possible, you can drop the nighttime temps even lower, 15-18*C is preferred. A real easy way to drop humidity for your set up is taking the plastic wrapping off one or two of the cage sides!

I’m pretty sure it’s not his cage, it’s my room, my normal room humity is like 60-70.I’ve managed to get a picture of him and also his most recent poop, this is my first time seeing his poop like this.

 

[ERKleRose]

I’m pretty sure it’s not his cage, it’s my room, my normal room humity is like 60-70.I’ve managed to get a picture of him and also his most recent poop, this is my first time seeing his poop like this.View attachment 360266View attachment 360267

Unwrapping one or two sides should help. If it’s still in the mid/high 60s to the 70s in humidity, you can add a whole room dehumidifier to the room, just not near his

He’s so handsome, by the way!!

I’m no expert in poop, so I’ll tag some keepers who are, but I’d get a fresh fecal tested, it looks a little mucus-y
@JacksJill @jannb @kinyonga @Beman

 

[jackwood775]

Unwrapping one or two sides should help. If it’s still in the mid/high 60s to the 70s in humidity, you can add a whole room dehumidifier to the room, just not near his

He’s so handsome, by the way!!

I’m no expert in poop, so I’ll tag some keepers who are, but I’d get a fresh fecal tested, it looks a little mucus-y
@JacksJill @jannb @kinyonga @Beman

I might invest in a dehumidifier since my
room humity is extremely high. Thank you by the way for the help. I’ve managed to call a vet and have referred me to a fecal test lab, I haven’t made an appointment yet, is it something I should definitely do?

 

[ERKleRose]

No problem at all, thank you being receptive to it! Definitely make an appointment. It’s good to know either way

 

[kinyonga]

You might be interested in reading this…
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/chameleon-poop-101.120171/