Baby Panther is going downhill, Help!

Okay, I hoped I would not have to be posting on the health forum for a long time but unfortunately here I am. I have a 4 month old Baby Nosy Be Panther Chameloen. I brought him home from the breeder about 2 weeks ago. The first day he ate 14 crickets, then he slowly began tapering his eating down to only about 3-4 a day. The past few days he has only eaten 3 and yesterday he ate one. He has been really active, drinking and his poop looks great, but today he is up on his basking branch sleeping. I know from experience with another Cham that this is not good. My other Cham was dead in a week when she started sleeping during the day. I am really upset, it is bringing back bad memories. Here is the health info

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Nosy Be Panther, male, about 4 months old. He has been in my care for about 2 weeks
Handling - We have been handling him about once a day for about 5 minutes at a time.
Feeding - Offering him crickets, about 15 a day in the morning, crickets are gutloaded with apples and dino fuel.
Supplements - Dusting my crickets daily with calcium -phos, every 2 weeks I do a multivite and the other 2 weeks I do a D3 The brands are all Repti-Cal
Watering - I am using a dripping system and he typically drinks in the morning.
Fecal Description - From what I can see his poop is brown and white, he has not been tested for parasites
History - Since I have only had him 2 weeks there is not much of a history other than the above mentioned. He was an active little guy until today

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Enclosure is screen and is 18X18X36
Lighting - Using a Reptisun 50 watt bulb for bask and 5.0 UVB reptical tube type for sun. His lights are on 12 hour timers. Going off at 8 at night and coming on at 8 in the morning.
Temperature - Temps are about 84 at bask and 73 at floor. Lowest overnight temp is 72. Using digital thermometers.
Humidity - Humdity is hard to keep up, usually averaging 40% Have a digital Hygrometer
Plants - There is one large Aboricola in the cage.
Placement - His cage is located in a high traffic area, passage between our kitchen and living room, starting to think this may be the problem. Top of his cage is abour 2 1/2 feet form the ceiling.
Location - Ohio, USA

Please help me!!! I don't want to lose another Cham. I have a female Nosy Be in my care and she is about 6 months old. I have had her for 3 months under the same conditions as the male and she is thriving. I don't understand.

You shuold fill the form and attach a pic if you can.

Try increasing your basking temp. Something like 90-95. He might not be warm enough to eat.

Panthergirl11 said:

Try increasing your basking temp. Something like 90-95. He might not be warm enough to eat.

Click to expand...

Yeah that is another theory I had. I think I'll pick him up a bigger bulb today. I noticed he was trying to get directly under the bulb yesterday by hanging on the screen top. So he might not be warm enough. Also the first couple days he was home it was in the 80s outside so it was quite warm in my house. The last week or so it's been back down in the 60s so the house ambient temp has been lower.

Also do you use anything else for misting besides a dripper? Humidity needs to be kinda high.

My Cham has been eating less crickets lately but its just because he's bored of them. I've been giving him a few meal and wax worms so hell eat untill I find a different feeder he likes.

I have to be honest, I have not been misting his enclosure at all. This is one thing that I was doing with the female that I haven't done with him....hmmmm? This could be part of it as well. I'd like to offer him some different feeders but he is just so small I'm not sure I can find any worms local. I may have to order some.

90-95 degrees is kind of high for a 4 month old. I don't even keep my adult male panther's basking spot that high. I would raise your temps a few degrees but definitely not 95, you'll cook him. Add carrots to your gutload in case he has a vitamin a deficiency. That may be why he's closing his eyes. And definitely up his humidity, that could be another factor.

I hope everything goes well with him....

Okay, going to stop handling for awhile and start misting ASAP. Has anyone else had a Cham throw a hunger strike at this young of age? Trying to decide if he is just being picky. I mean I have literally seen crickets walking by just inches in front of his face and he doesn't eat them.

I would get a fecal done on him and make sure he does not have parasites.

At this time moving him out of a high traffic area is a good idea. He needs peace and quiet, away from all distraction as much as possible. I personally would be doing misting with warm water at least 4 times a day for 2 minutes each time, more time on each misting would be better.

Some people recommend not handling new chameleons for around 2 weeks, so he may be stressed. Not to mention you said he is in a high traffic area.

I would try to move the cage to a quieter place, not handle him, and mist!!!!! If the water is warm my Nosy be loves to sit in the mist.

Alright, going to move his cage for the time being. I did not handle my female for a month after I first brought her home and she is doing great. So defintely no handling for sometime unless nessecary. And serious misting is coming.

lojack13 said:

Alright, going to move his cage for the time being. I did not handle my female for a month after I first brought her home and she is doing great. So defintely no handling for sometime unless nessecary. And serious misting is coming.

Click to expand...

There you go, now we want to see some threads that say he is improving.

lojack13 said:

Okay, going to stop handling for awhile and start misting ASAP. Has anyone else had a Cham throw a hunger strike at this young of age? Trying to decide if he is just being picky. I mean I have literally seen crickets walking by just inches in front of his face and he doesn't eat them.

Click to expand...

mine thru one on DUBIAS only, he was 2 months at a time. I thought i was feeding them too much but I was told from here that they can be picky at times.

Alright, I cleared a spot for him in my spare work room, the room has my stock for my eBay business ( full of bike parts ) The business is not full time so I rarely even go in that room but 3-4 times a day. He is right next to a window with some natural sunlight, heat register beneath him, and completely by himself with the door shut. I just moved him so we will see if he improves. I'm still going to get some different feeders for him just in case he is throwing a picky fit about the menu. He pooped on his bask branch while I was in town and it is basically white, a little off colored but no brown at all, so he needs to eat pronto. As some of you know I lost my first Cham in January after only having her for about 20 days and it started just like this, though, regretfully, I never did try moving her to a different room. So needles to say I am a nervous wreck. My Panthers name is Loki by the way, let's hope the little man pulls through and gets big and strong like his sister Chloe! Thanks to everyone so far!!

creddjobs said:

mine thru one on DUBIAS only, he was 2 months at a time. I thought i was feeding them too much but I was told from here that they can be picky at times.

Click to expand...

Hmmm, wow I guess they can be picky even as babies! Going to try some different feeders.

lojack13 said:

He is right next to a window with some natural sunlight

Click to expand...

the cage shouldnt be too close to a window IMO im sure a more experienced keeper can chime in if im wrong but i think if its next to a window the temp with fluctuate much more and may get too hot or too cold

and im sure you know any sunlight that comes through glass will not have UV light so its not really beneficial

Flapenn said:

the cage shouldnt be too close to a window IMO im sure a more experienced keeper can chime in if im wrong but i think if its next to a window the temp with fluctuate much more and may get too hot or too cold

and im sure you know any sunlight that comes through glass will not have UV light so its not really beneficial

Click to expand...

Yeah I have heard mixed feelings about window locale. I have been keeping my female by a window ever since I got her 3 months ago and she is thriving there. I keep close tabs on the temp fluctuation and it does vary a few degrees especially in the morning with the sun directly coming into the cage, but it never goes above 88 F. You are right, UV rays really do not come through glass very well, especially on newer windows, but my female loves the natural light, she runs over to the window when I draw the curtains back. So hopefully my male will do just as well.