CamoChameleonsHuman
Chameleon Enthusiast
Do you have a drainage system setup as well? That's quite a bit of water you're pouring into the enclosure.
What's going on with my boy?
- Thread starter bimac6
- Start date
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
Next time you feed him try and take a few drops of water and mix your vit A in it, keep it watery. About 1/4 teaspoon. Get one of those syringes they use to give babies liquid oral medications and when he opens his mouth squirt it into the back of his throat from the side. This way he gets his A regardless...
bimac6
Avid Member
Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely do that. Putting liquids in is no problem but he's started to push any bugs I put in his mouth out with his tongue lol. It's so frustrating. All-in-all though, he's acting a little better, but definitely not anywhere near normal. Can't wait to hear back about the poop. I have a follow up appointment on Thursday, too.
I have not. Today will be the first day with the new schedule, so we're playing with it until we get it dialed in correctly. Then I'll look into adding some sort of draining system.
CamoChameleonsHuman
Chameleon Enthusiast
Well I'll tell you right now that 6min mistings, although good, without a drainage system it's going to get water logged really fast. You'll need to wipe it out more frequently like every 2-3 days to avoid bacteria growth and your Cham getting sicker.Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely do that. Putting liquids in is no problem but he's started to push any bugs I put in his mouth out with his tongue lol. It's so frustrating. All-in-all though, he's acting a little better, but definitely not anywhere near normal. Can't wait to hear back about the poop. I have a follow up appointment on Thursday, too.
I have not. Today will be the first day with the new schedule, so we're playing with it until we get it dialed in correctly. Then I'll look into adding some sort of draining system.
bimac6
Avid Member
I agree Jann.
What I plan on doing is going back to this vet one time (since I gave her the fecal anyway), then going to the vet you sent me in St Pete next. The blob looks slightly smaller today, but I don't know if it's me just being hopeful lol. Have you seen anything like this before??
jannb
Chameleon Enthusiast
I agree Jann.
I’m glad you plan to pursue this. I have not seen this problem before. There’s even an eye specialist in Tampa.
bimac6
Avid Member
Chameleon eye specialist in Tampa? Would love to know their name.
I just brought him out to the tree again. The blob is just as big, maybe has moved a bit. Put some more terramycin in there too.
bimac6
Avid Member
Update: called the vet today as I hadn't heard back yet. Bernard has pinworms and they'll have his medicine (guessing it'll be panacure) ready by my Thursday appointment. This is relieving vs worrying about coccidia! I'm 99% positive his eye problem has nothing to do with his pinworms, but I feel like I will have a much more clear idea of how to help him on Thursday. Any tips for now? I understand coccidia is much more contagious than pinworms, and you have to do a SERIOUS cleaning job with it, but what should I do? His 2x2x4 cage is only about 2 weeks old. I figured I need to repot his plants with organic soil, but anything else? Should I do this before or after he starts his medicine?
Thanks so much, Jann. Going to bring him over to Dr Anderson on Thursday to get his pinworm medicine and talk to her about his eye not improving. If she's still acting like it's no big deal, I'm going to go and see him.
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Treatment for pinworm is just a temporary fix,the most important thing for u to find out is,how did the pinworm find him as a host in the first place??
Could it be ur feeder source? Another pet from ur house...etc etc,prevent to happen again its the most important thing to do .
Take down the whole cage(disinfect in and out) will be ur priority list next.
Could it be ur feeder source? Another pet from ur house...etc etc,prevent to happen again its the most important thing to do .
Take down the whole cage(disinfect in and out) will be ur priority list next.
bimac6
Avid Member
He could've had them from the start for all I know, I never got him checked, and from what I've been reading pinworms can be dormant for a long time before any symptoms really show. On top of that, I never repotted any plants I've given him, and soil seems to be a common way for these guys to contract pinworms. My plan is to repot all of his plants with organic soil. His feeders come from a local reptile shop, so I don't really know.
When you say disinfect, soapy water is enough for pinworms, right? I've been going through a lot of posts and the consensus is that pinworms aren't a huge deal, and coccidia is the one that you have to do a major disinfect with. And again, can I start this now or do I wait until he starts or after he finishes his medicine? I plan on asking all of this at the vet on Thursday as well.
jannb
Chameleon Enthusiast
Pinworms are an easy fix with Panacur. Any chameleon that eats can get parasites. Here's how my vet explained it to me. The wild lizards, such as anoles just love the cricket farms. They will jump in the cricket bins to have some lunch and then they poop. Crickets eat everything. All wild caught lizards have parasites. Then you buy crickets and it happens to have one of the crickets in your box that ate the poop and your chameleon eats the poop, then he gets parasites. My vet recommends they be check for parasites 3 to 4 times a year. This is true for most feeders not just crickets.
Matt Vanilla Gorilla
Chameleon Enthusiast
His pupil shape is not normal. I feel quite certain that he is suffering from a vitamin A deficiency!
bimac6
Avid Member
Makes total sense to me, and now that this has happened I will definitely get him checked more often. I never had a fecal done on any other cham I've had!
bimac6
Avid Member
He has something obstructing and irritating his right eye quite badly, and I'm not going to go in and get it, as I'm afraid it's a part of his eye. I purchased a vitamin A supplement since creating this thread, and I've been giving it to him, but I seriously doubt that it'll get rid of whatever is in his eye.
You aren't going to like this but you should just ditch any plants he's had contact with there is no way to disinfect them and since their leaves are what he drinks from he can reinfect. If it is only pinworms and not coccidia you can disinfect everything between treatments. Just keep removing any poop as it occurs during the treatments and do another disinfection at the end.
Pinworm will need several doses of the medication to get rid of them,since the adult pinworm is easy to kill but the cycle of the remaining pinworm eggs will need to be eliminated all to make sure they wont reinfest in ur cham after.
A total cage clean is a must before the pinworm or eggs find the host on ur cham later.
As far as the cage cleaning,personally I will use diluted bleach water 50/50 to submerge ur empty cage in a big bath tub and rinse it completely couple times,remember to wear some plastic glove while u doing that,since its very easy to pick those tiny eggs up on ur bare hand n transfer to elsewhere ,after u using the diluted bleach,u can also apply the vinegar on ur empty cage,since the vinegar will create an unsuitable living environment for the pinworm (strong acidity) and the pinworm usually prefer sugary environment,even human can get pinworms too,causing anal or vaginal itching, insomnia, irritability, restlessness, abdominal pain and nausea all sorts of the problem,just imagine the chameleon feel on their tiny portion of their body ....
Also throw away all ur live plants inside ur cage if there is any since u can not pour bleach or vinegar on them.
Sometimes u will have to do this couple times,just in case those tiny pinworm eggs hatch on the place that u miss to disinfect n the whole pinworm cycle will restart all over again.
Hi @alphakenc, long time no see. Nice to see you around again.
People can get pinworms but we only get our own kind, they are fairly species specific. So we are safe from reptile pinworms. The primate types are mostly eliminated in developed countries.
People can get pinworms but we only get our own kind, they are fairly species specific. So we are safe from reptile pinworms. The primate types are mostly eliminated in developed countries.
How u doing @JacksJill that is correct , I was using it as an example of the pinworm life cycle on the human,their eggs are much harder to get rid off than the adult pinworms so to speak.
