Help For My Male Panther

Recently my 2 year old male panther has not been looking so good and I am becoming concerned. His crown has become very sunken and he looks very lethargic and depressed while in his terrarium. He often lays along the branches with his weight on his belly and occasionally resting his head on a branch. He will leave a leg dangling down and does not move very much. His colouring become pale, almost pastel.

When I take him out his grip still seems strong and he is anxious to come out and perks up when he crawls up my arm with his colouring brightening. Today his grip seemed weak and it looks like he may have had trouble coordinating his feet. He also is not eating very much. He is usually fed from a container but I do leave loose crickets for him to hunt. He only seems to be eating one maybe two a day. After being out his colouring will return to normal but today he remains pale. He will turn dark if he settles on my shoulder or his bright greens and reds if he is on the move.

I had assumed he was just under the weather but it seems he has gotten much worse today. His droppings are brown and white.

I don't see any breaks in his skin or injuries any help or advice would be appreciated. We do have a vet in the area but they are absolutely terrible.

Info:
He is currently in a 24x24x48 mesh cage with a water drip, UVB 5 bulb a live plant and a heat bulb (it is winter here and my place tends to be cool). He receives two to three misting a day. My place is dry so I am getting a humidifier for him but he did not have a problem last winter. I feed him crickets loaded with veggies and dusted with a multi vitamin and calcium powder with D3.

Pictures are included.

Nothing you listed seems wrong -- at least from what I've read...

But he does look sick or just very unhappy, he is very dull. Maybe he is sick?

At first I thought it was MBD but apparently you are giving him calcium, so that rules that out for the most part...

I would get him to the vet and get blood work done and maybe a fecal. There's probably something going on here that you cannot see.

Good luck.

For the next couple days if you cannot get tests done -- I would buy a more powerful heat bulb (do you even KNOW how hot the bulb is? It may be too cold for him) and mist him with warmed up water. See if that helps. Try to get him to drink.

You should fill out a care sheet first but it sounds like early signs of MBD. I am no vet but had a cham go thru this recently and it only gets worse if it does not get attention right away. I would change the UVB bulb right away. Sometimes even new ones do not work properly. He also does not need calcium with D3 everyday. Only once or twice a month is good unless directed otherwise.

Balizar said:

You should fill out a care sheet first but it sounds like early signs of MBD. I am no vet but had a cham go thru this recently and it only gets worse if it does not get attention right away. I would change the UVB bulb right away. Sometimes even new ones do not work properly. He also does not need calcium with D3 everyday. Only once or twice a month is good unless directed otherwise.

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Agreed... As I stated above it does sound like MBD but you "said" you were supplementing him.

Maybe you just began to add supplements?

casque looks sunken. Any chance he's dehydrated or hasn't been eating?

I thought the same. He says he hasn't been eating anything but 1 to 2 cricks a day and I am willing to bet he slowly stops drinking as well. His eyes look full but his skin says something else. They were the first 2 signs of my chams MBD. He stopped eating and drinking and then stopped moving around. Eventually I had to find ways to force feed him this nasty stuff that had food mixed with water. Its not as easy as you think force feeding a cham...

Balizar said:

I thought the same. He says he hasn't been eating anything but 1 to 2 cricks a day and I am willing to bet he slowly stops drinking as well. His eyes look full but his skin says something else. They were the first 2 signs of my chams MBD. He stopped eating and drinking and then stopped moving around. Eventually I had to find ways to force feed him this nasty stuff that had food mixed with water. Its not as easy as you think force feeding a cham...

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know the feeling. Been there done that. my fingers still remember.

While I agree it might be signs of early MBD I noticed you said you supplemented with "I feed him crickets loaded with veggies and dusted with a multi vitamin and calcium powder with D3."
Do you dust with D3 and multivitamens everyday? or what is your dusting schedule?
The only reason I ask is that how and what you dust with can affect your cham. I certainly wouldn't rule out the early MBD idea, and I think it would be worth it to have a vet check him for a potential bacterial/ parasitic infection as well.
I hope your little one gets better for you .

When is the last time you changed out your uvb bulb? Also, what is the brand of calcium with d3 you are using and how often and how long have you been using it. You can harm your chameleon if you give it too much artificial d3. This is a quote I found online from a vet by the name of Kenneth L in regards to too much d3:
Excess Vitamin D actually causes ABSORPTION of bone. It actually mimics hyperparathyroidism. 3. Vitamin D causes calcification of bone. Excess Vitamin D causes inappropriate mineralization of organs such as the kidney or soft tissue. Excess Vit D3 and Calcium has been implicated in mineralization of large blood vessels, causing cardiac disease. 4. If we fry the kidneys with excess Vitamin D we cannot get the active form, 1,25 Dihydroxycholecalciferol. Of course, there are many other problems that come along with fried kidneys. 5. The body will only allow so much Hydroxycholecaliferol before the conversion of Vit D3 in the liver is stopped. What happens to the excess Vitamin D3? It is stored in the liver doing no good but potentially causing problems in the future

Have you had him the entire two years? How long has he been acting this way? As others have mentioned, some critical info would be:

Brand of UVB bulb
Age of bulb
Temp
Humidity level
Supplementation schedule


Calcium with NO D3 should be given daily. Multi-vites twice a week, and D3 only twice a month. Too much D3 will cause more harm than good.


UVB bulb should be replaced every 6 months to a year, depending on the brand. These lights should be on for 12 hours.

In either case, I'd recommend taking him to a good herp vet and get a fecal exam (for parasites), blood work (for organ function), and X-rays (for MBD) done on him.