Why is my chameleon doing this? (video included)

I

iyd1a

New Member
My girl has been diagnoses with a TGI and has been taking SMZ TMP .5mL every day, its been healing up a bit but she hasnt been very happy, and now whenever i get her to eat or drink she does this. Whats wrong?! She never did this before until her TGI. She wont use her tongue either if that helps.
 
  • Your Chameleon - Female jacksons chameleon, about two yesrs old and has been in mt care for two months
  • Handling - rarely
  • Feeding - I Feed my cham dubia roaches, horn worms, crickets, and rarely meal worms. I feed her 4-5 or until she wont eat anymore. About every other day, or every 2 days, but lately she hasnt been taking much. I gut load them with carrots and sweet potatos
  • Supplements - Ive only used D3 once with her, and calcium without D3 once every week or two. Ive used vitamins once with her, and the vet gave her a vitamen shot.
  • Watering - I use a water drip method because its the absolute only way i can get her to drink unless i spray it into her mouth, and i spray a fake plant in her enclosure a little bit every day
  • Fecal Description - Last time she peed it only had a little brown, but her hydration has dropped
  • History - she had babies a year ago and got bred again 9 months ago but still hasn't had babies

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - screen cage, 18x18x36
  • Lighting - T5 HO 5.0 on from 8am-9pm
  • Temperature - using a heat gun i check daily and the temps are 80 at the HIGHEST in the basking spot during rhe day and about 65 at night
  • Humidity - 70% humidity on the low, but usually 80-90%
  • Plants - fake plants
  • Placement - cage is located in the corner, on a table and by a vent but the vent has a cover that blows the air the opposite way
  • Location - Ohio
 
Last edited:
I can see the image/video. Does your female do this even when you are not around?

For the medication, is it oral or subcutaneous? How do you do this?

To me, it looks like she could have a respiratory infection. Or potentially some liquids in her lungs. But if she does this only when she is feeding, then she might just be irritated with you and may fear that you may medicate her again. Do she keep her mouth open all the time, or just sometimes?

Your humidity levels are quite high, especially for the day. How many times do you mist? I see that you use a dripper because it's
the absolute only way i can get her to drink unless i spray it into her mouth, and i spray a fake plant in her enclosure a little bit every day.
Click to expand...
How do know she wasn't drinking any other way? Most of the time, you are not going to see a chameleon drink. I mist my cage, using an automatic mister. But even when I'm standing in front of the cage watching, I never see my jackson's chameleon drink--ever. But I monitor how his eyes look--not sunken in. And I also look at his urates to see if he's well hydrated.

Spraying your chameleon in the face to get her to drink is not a good idea IMO. It triggers her to drink even if she doesn't need to drink. They are designed evolutionarily to drink water any chance they get, perhaps because it doesn't rain every day and they need to take advantage of it, or when they wake up with dew on their face, they lick it up and that's all they need. Having the dripper is perfectly fine, just make sure that it isn't a firehose. It should be a slow drip. This allows them to get air everyone in a while if they need to.

iyd1a said:
Supplements - Ive only used D3 once with her, and calcium without D3 once every week or two. Ive used vitamins once with her, and the vet gave her a vitamen shot.
Click to expand...
Supplementation-wise, you need to be supplementing with calcium without D3 every time you feed her. And D3+multivitamin should be given once or twice a month.

iyd1a said:
I gut load them with carrots and sweet potatos
Click to expand...
You should also feed your insects a variety of leafy greens. Providing a grain of some sort will also help. If you want an easy method, purchase a commercial gutload such as Repashy Bug Burger. It allows you to cook small amounts so nothing spoils. And once cooked, it can be refrigerated for a couple weeks. It has everything in it that you need to gutload. As a college student, I find commercial gutloads such as bug burger to be a huge time saver. It makes feeding insects super easy.

iyd1a said:
Fecal Description - Last time she peed it only had a little brown, but her hydration has dropped
Click to expand...
Could you clarify what you mean by this? Her hydration has dropped? The brown part of the poop has to do with the physical matter/remains of insect feeder while the white/orange part has to do with hydration/water.

iyd1a said:
Lighting - T5 HO 5.0 on from 8am-9pm
Click to expand...
How far away is your T5 HO 5.0 from a branch underneath it? If it's a brand new light, the basking branch can be approximately 8 inches underneath it.

iyd1a said:
Plants - fake plants
Click to expand...
You should ditch the fake plants and go for real plants. It will help your cham feel more secure and less stressed. Since your humidity is so high, you can probably get away with a mix of both fake and live plants. You can also look into plants that dehumidify. There's a bunch of lists out there. These plants may help you reduce the humidity a bit as well.

I haven't seen a picture of your cage, but almost everyone can benefit from adding more branches to their enclosure. Ideally, your chameleon can also get out of sight from any passerby. This is where the live, bushy plants come in. You want a network of branches that lead to and away from these hiding places. You want some branches to be out perfectly in the open and you want others to be partially hidden. A chameleon with less stress has a stronger immune system. This is why we try to recreate the temperature and humidity from where they originate. The closer we get to these parameters, the better off our chameleons will be.
 
Mendez said:
I can see the image/video. Does your female do this even when you are not around?

For the medication, is it oral or subcutaneous? How do you do this?

To me, it looks like she could have a respiratory infection. Or potentially some liquids in her lungs. But if she does this only when she is feeding, then she might just be irritated with you and may fear that you may medicate her again. Do she keep her mouth open all the time, or just sometimes?

Your humidity levels are quite high, especially for the day. How many times do you mist? I see that you use a dripper because it's

How do know she wasn't drinking any other way? Most of the time, you are not going to see a chameleon drink. I mist my cage, using an automatic mister. But even when I'm standing in front of the cage watching, I never see my jackson's chameleon drink--ever. But I monitor how his eyes look--not sunken in. And I also look at his urates to see if he's well hydrated.

Spraying your chameleon in the face to get her to drink is not a good idea IMO. It triggers her to drink even if she doesn't need to drink. They are designed evolutionarily to drink water any chance they get, perhaps because it doesn't rain every day and they need to take advantage of it, or when they wake up with dew on their face, they lick it up and that's all they need. Having the dripper is perfectly fine, just make sure that it isn't a firehose. It should be a slow drip. This allows them to get air everyone in a while if they need to.


Supplementation-wise, you need to be supplementing with calcium without D3 every time you feed her. And D3+multivitamin should be given once or twice a month.


You should also feed your insects a variety of leafy greens. Providing a grain of some sort will also help. If you want an easy method, purchase a commercial gutload such as Repashy Bug Burger. It allows you to cook small amounts so nothing spoils. And once cooked, it can be refrigerated for a couple weeks. It has everything in it that you need to gutload. As a college student, I find commercial gutloads such as bug burger to be a huge time saver. It makes feeding insects super easy.


Could you clarify what you mean by this? Her hydration has dropped? The brown part of the poop has to do with the physical matter/remains of insect feeder while the white/orange part has to do with hydration/water.


How far away is your T5 HO 5.0 from a branch underneath it? If it's a brand new light, the basking branch can be approximately 8 inches underneath it.


You should ditch the fake plants and go for real plants. It will help your cham feel more secure and less stressed. Since your humidity is so high, you can probably get away with a mix of both fake and live plants. You can also look into plants that dehumidify. There's a bunch of lists out there. These plants may help you reduce the humidity a bit as well.

I haven't seen a picture of your cage, but almost everyone can benefit from adding more branches to their enclosure. Ideally, your chameleon can also get out of sight from any passerby. This is where the live, bushy plants come in. You want a network of branches that lead to and away from these hiding places. You want some branches to be out perfectly in the open and you want others to be partially hidden. A chameleon with less stress has a stronger immune system. This is why we try to recreate the temperature and humidity from where they originate. The closer we get to these parameters, the better off our chameleons will be.
Click to expand...
iyd1a said:
  • Your Chameleon - Female jacksons chameleon, about two yesrs old and has .
Click to expand...
I can see the image/video. Does your female do this even when you are not around?
Mendez said:
For the medication, is it oral or subcutaneous? How do you do this?

To me, it looks like she could have a respiratory infection. Or potentially some liquids in her lungs. But if she does this only when she is feeding, then she might just be irritated with you and may fear that you may medicate her again. Do she keep her mouth open all the time, or just sometimes?

Your humidity levels are quite high, especially for the day. How many times do you mist? I see that you use a dripper because it's

How do know she wasn't drinking any other way? Most of the time, you are not going to see a chameleon drink. I mist my cage, using an automatic mister. But even when I'm standing in front of the cage watching, I never see my jackson's chameleon drink--ever. But I monitor how his eyes look--not sunken in. And I also look at his urates to see if he's well hydrated.

Spraying your chameleon in the face to get her to drink is not a good idea IMO. It triggers her to drink even if she doesn't need to drink. They are designed evolutionarily to drink water any chance they get, perhaps because it doesn't rain every day and they need to take advantage of it, or when they wake up with dew on their face, they lick it up and that's all they need. Having the dripper is perfectly fine, just make sure that it isn't a firehose. It should be a slow drip. This allows them to get air everyone in a while if they need to.


Supplementation-wise, you need to be supplementing with calcium without D3 every time you feed her. And D3+multivitamin should be given once or twice a month.


You should also feed your insects a variety of leafy greens. Providing a grain of some sort will also help. If you want an easy method, purchase a commercial gutload such as Repashy Bug Burger. It allows you to cook small amounts so nothing spoils. And once cooked, it can be refrigerated for a couple weeks. It has everything in it that you need to gutload. As a college student, I find commercial gutloads such as bug burger to be a huge time saver. It makes feeding insects super easy.


Could you clarify what you mean by this? Her hydration has dropped? The brown part of the poop has to do with the physical matter/remains of insect feeder while the white/orange part has to do with hydration/water.


How far away is your T5 HO 5.0 from a branch underneath it? If it's a brand new light, the basking branch can be approximately 8 inches underneath it.


You should ditch the fake plants and go for real plants. It will help your cham feel more secure and less stressed. Since your humidity is so high, you can probably get away with a mix of both fake and live plants. You can also look into plants that dehumidify. There's a bunch of lists out there. These plants may help you reduce the humidity a bit as well.

I haven't seen a picture of your cage, but almost everyone can benefit from adding more branches to their enclosure. Ideally, your chameleon can also get out of sight from any passerby. This is where the live, bushy plants come in. You want a network of branches that lead to and away from these hiding places. You want some branches to be out perfectly in the open and you want others to be partially hidden. A chameleon with less stress has a stronger immune system. This is why we try to recreate the temperature and humidity from where they originate. The closer we get to these parameters, the better off our chameleons will be.
Click to expand...
Its an oral medication. She has tons of leaves and branches, but i leave the one corner without then and thats where she goes. She only does that after drinking or eating. Ive tried tons and the only way i could get her to brighten up a but is by the dripper, but i still do mist commonly but when i didnt have the dripper, she got dehydrated when i only misted (3-6 times a day, depending). When my humidity is lower people get mad, and now youre mad that its higher, so idk what to tell you. Im not getting real plants, tried that twice and not again. I never spray her or shoot her with water, i drip it into her mouth every once in a while if she lets me. Light is 3-5 inches above and is 3 months old.
 
I guess it can be used for temporal gland infections? I'm not familiar with this antibiotic. Or really any other medication for TGIs. So I'll defer to the experts such as @Action Jackson
 
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