Hey everyone! Sorry to come asking for help, I am stumped and out of ideas on how to fix my problem.

Cammie hasn’t been eating for the last 2 weeks. The last thing she ate was a silkworm, and she is refusing crickets. Hasn’t pooped in like 9 days. On Monday morning when I woke up, I caught her standing around on the cage floor, so I scooped her up and put her back on her branches. 10 minutes later, she was back on the ground walking around. Between not eating in 2 weeks, and staying on the ground, I figured a trip to the vet was in order.
Well that proved extremely unsuccessful, the doctor had no idea what to do, and thought she looked extremely healthy. I was a bit disappointed in the overall experience, however, here in Hawaii our options are severely limited and I don’t have any other choice but that 1 vet. I found it hard to believe that 90 dollars later, I had 0 progress on what to do, the only thing she could offer me was a big pat on the back for my chameleon knowledge.  No signs of MBD, no infections on her mouth, no rot, everything “checked out”. We weighed her and she was at 70 grams even, which a significant loss from about 10 days ago visually. I do not know what the typical weight for a female jackson is, nor do I know her age, however she is an adult and quite hearty. – Check out pictures in my gallery if needed.

She gave me medicine to treat for any parasites and worms that she might be harboring, as I DO know she was wild caught (panacur granules w/env 22.2% and some metronidazole 50mg)

My own personal guess (and its fine to disagree with me) was the crickets were growing too large for her, and it was just too much to look at. That theory was disproved last night when I came home with small to medium sized ones and she showed 0 interest. I cannot find silkworms anywhere on the island right now, I checked 5 shops last night and everyone is out- other than that.. no other real food options besides trying to catch some roaches.

Do I start force feeding her? Is there anything else I might have overlooked? Any techniques on how to force feed if needed? The vet had to force her mouth open to check that out, and man, seemed a bit forceful.. I can imagine it would be quite easy to harm them having to do that everyday?

Sorry for the long post, I figure its better than “help plz, my cham is sik and wont eat”

Cage Info:
Cage Type – 38 gallon reptarium - 16.5" x 16.5" x 30" – picture in gallery
Lighting – 150w UVB 6-8 hrs a day
Temperature –Basking spot is 90-95. Ambient room temp ranges between 70-80. Nighttime I drop it down to 65-75
Humidity – 40% during non mistings, 55-64% for about 2 hrs after each misting session
Plants – Pittsaporum. Photos in gallery
Location – In my studio bathroom. I am the only one that walks by it, low stress

Chameleon Info:
Female Jackson. Age unknown.
Feeding – Crickets gut loaded with apples, oranges, lettuce, potatoes as well as a store bought cricket food. Free range fed.
Supplements – Dusting crickets with calcium 2x a week, multi vitamin 2x a month.
Watering – 3x misting a day(15min per),. BigDripper for when I am away at work, Chameleon shower once a week for about 40 mins.
Fecal Description – Yellowish white urine. Solid brown-black feces. It has not changed since I got her.

I believe you posted a similar thread in another forum and I suggested trying a different feeder. You need to try and eliminate the possibility that she just may be sick of crickets. Of course something else could be going on but try and eliminate what you can and since you live in HI (LUCKY!), it shouldn’t take you long to go outside and find a non threatening looking bug to offer her.

I am also a bit confused about your lighting. Are you using a 150w powersun by any chance? If so that’s way too intense for a jax and MAY be contributing to her non eating issue. Either way, a 150w heat source on a 38g reptarium is pretty dangerous. I have 38’s for my carpet chams and I use a 65w heat source in the winter (NY). The more I think about this the more I think your setup is contributing to her problem.

A reptisun 5.0 and a regular household bulb with a basking temp of roughly 85 is suitable for a jax (anyone … please correct me if I’m wrong about that). Make sure you a re using a digital temp gauge with an external probe to verify temps – I wouldn’t trust anything else.

I hope she is still drinking at 2 weeks with no food I think you are running out of time. Good luck.

-roo

Damn roo, you've been all over everythread so quickly!

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Brian Stanley
The above text may have been prof read and/or edited to preserve the reader's I.Q.

I would agree with Roo on a couple of things. One 150w UVb (not sure of the kind) is probably way to strong. These guys naturally are deep forest type chameleons and would have some what limited access to UVb exposure. I think as Roo said that 85*F would be a better temperature to shoot for at the basking area. You will see 90*F suggested sometimes but this is really a case by case basis some simply can not take it. If you do go to flourescent lighting I would suggest starting to supplement with calcium/D3 once a week.

Heika suggestion on this thread may help with what else to do.

Howdy,

Much of chameleon keeping is first starting out with what has worked in the past and then tweeking things to your chameleon's needs, if necessary.

If that is a 150W Powersun then, like Roo said, switch it to a Reptisun 5.0 tube. The temps look high for a Hawaiian Jackson's. Necas' book implies a lower basking temp is called for. Try something more like a 78-86F basking range. See if she will take-in water directly drizzled on her mouth.

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See Ya,

Dave Weldon
Panther & Veileds

Book Collection:
"Reptile Medicine and Surgery" 2nd ed. By Mader
"Chameleons - Their Care and Breeding" By Linda J. Davison
"Chameleons - Nature's Hidden Jewels" 2nd Ed. By Petr Necas
"The Panther Chameleon: Color Variation, Natural History, Conservation and Captive Management" By Gary W. Ferguson...
"Thoughts for Food" 3rd Ed. Edited by Ardi Abate
"Understanding Reptile Parasites" By Roger J. Klingenberg D.V.M.

(I have a baby male jackson the little guy can eat!)

err...I believe she has yellowish white poop cuz ur humidity is too low.

http://www.geocities.com/chamjacksonii/

That site and many other places say 50 - 75 or 80 humidity for a jackson (50 being the lowest it should go). At night the humidity should go up as well.

Thanks roo! Couple comments for you, and perhaps anyone reading my plea for help

First - not sure who you think i am asking for help, however, i do not know who you are refering to for the other threads made. I would apprecaite you linking to that thread to me tho, perhaps i might get a better response than "I allready told you to do this" I am slightly offended and disturbed from your response to me, and to numerous other members the last week. I read these forums about 3-4 hours a day to absorbe as much information as i can, however i am not much of a poster due to the current negativity to those requesting help. I even put in my post that i was attempting alternate feeders, but unsucessful as it is next to impossible to find in hawaii(aside from turning up rocks and catching roaches- how long is one suppose to do that roo?)

With that aside, i aprecaite the possible constructive feedback concerning the lighting. I am wondering if it is to potent at 150w myself, however it is elevated quite a distance from my cage, and my temps are monitored quite strictly. To clarify, it is a rep-cal 5.0. As far as monitoring my temps, I would have assumed that was a given from my detailed %'s of both humidity and the combination of basking temp vs ambient temp. Ultimatly, i dont really think you read that in depth to my post at all, but instead was to eagre on how to make yourself look superior in front of other members. Further proof of this is your final comment regarding her drinking.. did you assume that i am not providing her any water? I specifically said that not only does she get 3 15 min mistings a day, she also gets a dripper ALL day (1 gallon) and a WEEKLY 45 minute shower for additional hydration.

I am going to respecfully disagree with your feedback, and any futher feedback to other members you have lashed out at in other posts.

What i AM looking for is some possible suggestions from members like heika, c anderson, will h, or my personal favorite on positive responses.. brad r.

I am sorry for acting defensive, but i am kinda growing tired of your overall negative responses to people.

I will research a bit more regarding my lighting, other than that, i am going to start force feeding her crickets to at least get some nutrition into her.

If you look at the link I put up it has a suggestion from Heika.

Thank you Jordon! I will be ordering some Repta-Aid Insect/Carnivore blend right now - i appreciate the link, it looks just like something that would aid in my situtaiton. I will also go talk to the vet and recommend that she research this type of "treatment"

My gf and i just sucesfully administerd cammies meds for the worms and parasites, and even managed to get her to eat 5 medium crickets. She opened her mouth and lunged at the remaining 4 we offered her, so I am not starting to consider the fact that perhaps it is an URI/toung issue afterall, possibly from TOO much water? Is that a possibilty/facor?

I was going to respond sooner but wanted to think for a bit......
First of all I have a suggestion concerning variety.
Since you live where these animals, albeit introduced, are thriving in the wild, there has to be an easy way to tap into the available insect population.
I would set up a night time moth trap. hang a white sheet on a deck or in your yard with a light behind it. the sheet needs to funnel down into a wide mouth jar (or something like that) see what you can trap. Moths should be pretty safe...I would stay away from butterflies as some are toxic.
If you can put some fruit or other bait out in the daytime you may also be able to net some flies.
I'm going to turn you into an entomologist! But if there is a lack of acceptable farmed feeders where you are I would seriously consider doing this.
Now I am going to defend Roo.
He is not the bully of the forum and I think if you read his response to you objectively, you will find very little (if any) tone of superiority.
We have all had some not-so-nice responses (several recently) but I think it is a product of frustration and truly caring about these animals.
Sometimes you really feel like you need to get your point across and don't always think about people's feelings before you type. Again, I did not read Roo's response to you this way.
My advice is to try and extract the knowledge and experience over any perceived intent to offend.
Oh, and by the way thanks for the compliment, deserved or not it was nice to get.

-Brad

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Dedicated to promoting superior care for Veiled Chameleons