Wild Caught Chameleons? Please Help

[steph0789]

I recently brought two Panther Chameleons (you may have seen my previous thread about me not being 100% sure on their locale)
I have contacted the store I purchased them from several times and have learnt they were wild caught. Do these need different care to captive breed? I am now extremly concerned about my female as she looks extremly thin, not eating, although she does drink alot. So I took her to the vet and they have confirmed she looks malnourished she has been given food through a tube, wormed and antibiotics. Back for another injection Saturday I am very concerned I am going to lose her as I have read it is hard to keep wild caught females in captivity? I am in two minds on returning her to the store I purchased her from as they are not the locale they said they were, neither is she in good health, neither was I aware they were wild caught all in all not happy with them (the store) at all. Also they told us that they had been placed together and mated yet they are only 6-9 months old.
Any advice would be much appreciated

 

[laurie]

I know here in the US, at most pet stores, they don't know w/c from c/b. You can keep a w/c panther you just need to acclimate her carefully. That means lots of plants for her to hide in, next to no handling, lots of misting and a dripper for drinking, plus as many different food types as you can offer to make sure she finds something she will eat willingly. Make sure she has the correct uvb and basking light. What size and where in her enclosure located?

 

[sbristow]

Panther.

Hi.
Years ago I was given a wild caught Emerald Tree Boa that was refusing to feed, it was as a last resort, I checked the weather and rainfall of the Boa and constructed the viv in a similar manner to it's own eco-system, I also brought smoked glass for the front of the viv & fitted a red lamp, in doing so I created 2 things.

1/ Reduced the amount of light. Aboreal animals living in trees tend to do so in more subdued light.

2/ They are not stressed by people peeping in every minute to see how they are.

The animal fed within a week. Try it with your panther and use a black refuse sack ahead of smoked glass and reduce the lighting levels,

 

[laurie]

That might work for a boa but you do not want to reduce the lighting on the panther. If it decides to eat and have no heat it can't digest the food. Also without uvb light the cham can get mbd.

I am sure some of the panther breeder's may offer more help, but I currently have 3 panthers and had had panthers for a number of years. I don't mean to sound nasty, but what is your experience with chameleons and panthers in particular?

Hi.
Years ago I was given a wild caught Emerald Tree Boa that was refusing to feed, it was as a last resort, I checked the weather and rainfall of the Boa and constructed the viv in a similar manner to it's own eco-system, I also brought smoked glass for the front of the viv & fitted a red lamp, in doing so I created 2 things.

1/ Reduced the amount of light. Aboreal animals living in trees tend to do so in more subdued light.

2/ They are not stressed by people peeping in every minute to see how they are.

The animal fed within a week. Try it with your panther and use a black refuse sack ahead of smoked glass and reduce the lighting levels,

 

[Maurer3D]

I put a refuse bag over the front of my new arrivals for the first couple days to reduce stress (just as you would a gravid female ready to drop her eggs).

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I agree totally with laurie. Op you need to mist both of those chams a minimum of 3 times a day HEAVILY. When i say heavily i mean i want the whole cage dripping wet. And spray those chams til you see them drink each time. They will, just have patience when spraying and move very slowly around them to make them feel more at ease. As long as they have water they can go a while without feeding. I guarantee they will eventually eat. If they wont eat the traditional crickets try getting some blue bottle flies or houseflies. The flying motion will attract their attention. Or since your in the UK get some locusts/grasshoppers.

Were these guys fresh imports? Because I dont agree with treating fresh wc's for parasites until they have had a chance to get acclimated first and get those numbers of parasites under control naturally before doing the worming. I dont know if you have access to it. But a good product to use on fresh imports is; Reptaid. It is all natural and replaces the animals naturally occuring gut flora. Its also a good all natural wormer. Chams Northwest sells it also LLL reptiles sells it.

 

[Texas Ranger]

I totally agree. Heavy misting. Thats what I am going with my WC's. And offer as many feeders as you can get your hands on. My WC's are on a worm binge right now. Im having troble getting them to eat dubias or crickets. But as long as they are eating. Anything is better than nothing. Give them some time. You could try covering their cages, if they are in a high traffic area. Just let them get used to you, the cage, the day, night cycle, your feeder options, the misting times. Everything is new to them. They are used to taking care of them selfs.

 

[Jimturner]

WC animals can be hard to acclimate to captivity. Your best bet is to give them a home which approximates their natural environment as closely and as stress free as possible. 1 animal per enclosure, LOTS of water and quiet time to adjust. As Laurie said, offer as wide a variety of feeders as you are able... only offer a few at a time so as not to overwhelm them with pests and also to be able to tell if the animal is actually eating them. A lot of keepers wait a few weeks or months to give the animal a chance to settle in before beginning any medical treatments as the medications are often as hard on the animals as the parasites themselves. I wish you and your panthers the best of luck and hope to hear a happy outcome. Keep us posted. Cheers, Jim

 

[steph0789]

Thank you all for your responce.
I have her in the quietest room of the house with the front of her enclosure covered over. She is heavily sprayed minimum of 3 times a day. She does drink very well. I am adding a dripper system I purchased today for he,r I have also just been advised to add BSP vitamin drops or repti boost to her water? I put locust, meal worms and wax worms in with her and she snaps up the waxworms but nothing else. I know these are high in fat so do I let her eat them as she is so thin just to get elict a feeding responce then begin to wean her off?
Does this sound ok or is there anything else I can do for her?
She is left alone all day except to check/add food and spray her.

 

[kinyonga]

Have you provided her with a place to dig in case she needs to lay eggs?

 

[steph0789]

I know here in the US, at most pet stores, they don't know w/c from c/b. You can keep a w/c panther you just need to acclimate her carefully. That means lots of plants for her to hide in, next to no handling, lots of misting and a dripper for drinking, plus as many different food types as you can offer to make sure she finds something she will eat willingly. Make sure she has the correct uvb and basking light. What size and where in her enclosure located?

She has alot of plants in with her and I am just about to add a dripper system for her drinking, she is misted 3x minimum a day. I offer her mealworms, waxworms and locust She will only eat the waxworms which I know are high in fat so not sure what to do there?? Do I continue giving them to her to elict a feeding responce then wean her off? She has UVB 5.0? and 75w basking light? Her enclosure is 18 inches deep 30 inches wide by 42inches high located in the quietest room of the house with the front covered over?

 

[steph0789]

Have you provided her with a place to dig in case she needs to lay eggs?

Yes I have a laying bucket in for her although the vet said she doesn't appear gravid I am still keeping it in there just incase.

 

[sbristow]

Hi.

I've just lost a male Panther who was CB(he was nearly 5) and kept Chameleons in the 90's very successfully(At that time mostly WC), it's not the species of animal it's the fact they are wild caught which means one minute they are feeding in their natural environment the next thing they are wrenched into an artificial one. You also need to consider the transport where they are inevitably constricted for space and cramped with other Chameleons over a long journey.
All I suggested is you try out darkening the Viv to prevent Human eyes staring every 5 minutes and placing even more stress on a stressed animal. Temp remains the same, I made no reference to reducing the ambient temp.The C caninus responded quickly hence the advice. Whether you take it is your choice.