How often does your Cham poop?

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herbiethechameleon

Member
hi everyone!
I’m just wondering when you should be concerned about your Cham not pooping. I realized I was feeding my panther Cham a bit too much so I cut back on the feeders but now he hasn’t pooped for about 5 days. Should I be concerned about an impaction? Or when is the right time to bring him to a vet?
 
herbiethechameleon said:
hi everyone!
I’m just wondering when you should be concerned about your Cham not pooping. I realized I was feeding my panther Cham a bit too much so I cut back on the feeders but now he hasn’t pooped for about 5 days. Should I be concerned about an impaction? Or when is the right time to bring him to a vet?
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Hiya, 5 days seems to be too long not to poop. What's his hydration like? Misting, fogger? Is he drinking?
 
Typically on average they should be pooping everyday to every couple days. I have 4 (adults veileds), they all have different schedules. This time of year they are all pooping about once a week on average, sometimes longer depending on the temps. I wouldn’t be concerned at the moment with impaction. But changes with current feeding schedule, temps, and hydration may have an effect.
 
MikeyBen said:
Hiya, 5 days seems to be too long not to poop. What's his hydration like? Misting, fogger? Is he drinking?
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So his fogger has been having some issues and I wonder if that may have something to do with it, I’m going to buy a new fogger and hopefully that will give him a bit more hydration at night. He is drinking yes (he’s never been shy drinking in front of me) I actually just turned on his misters about an hour ago to see if he was thirsty and he took a big catch of water so it’s possible he’s needing some more hydration
 
It really depends on how often you feed them. Babies that get fed every day poop pretty darn often. I think my adult cham, when he was down to eating three times a week, pooped 1-2 times a week, so 5 days isn't overly worrying. I'd keep an eye on him, keep him hydrated, and make sure his basking temps are correct (80-85F) so digestion is happening properly.

It's not a terrible idea to schedule a vet appointment - these days it's week(s) before they can be seen, even with an illness, so getting that in the wings in case something IS off with your guy will get him in faster. If it turns out you don't need the appointment, you can cancel and someone else who needs it can snag it. :)
 
herbiethechameleon said:
Just an update for everyone, because I’m not even kidding, on the way to the vet he pooped in his carrier 🤣. I didn’t notice until I actually got to the vet so I figured I’d just go ahead and do a check up! 😆 all is good!
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Life is just like that. How many times have you gone to the doctor or mechanic with symptoms that resolved themselves before or on your way to the appointment. Once I was really sick for 3 days. I made an appointment for the doctor. On the day of the appointment, I woke up feeling good, debated weather or not to keep the appointment. Canceled the appointment but felt horrible by bedtime. Keeping the appointment is probably best.
 
I do want to say that after the vet (he is now home) he’s acting a bit weird with his tongue, like he keeps missing the silkworms and won’t shoot his tongue out like normal. I’m thinking it’s probably stress related and he’s very tired, but it would be weird if the vet hurt him by accident right?
 
herbiethechameleon said:
I do want to say that after the vet (he is now home) he’s acting a bit weird with his tongue, like he keeps missing the silkworms and won’t shoot his tongue out like normal. I’m thinking it’s probably stress related and he’s very tired, but it would be weird if the vet hurt him by accident right?
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Were you in there the entire time with him while he was being examined?
 
Beman said:
Were you in there the entire time with him while he was being examined?
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Yes, I’ve never owned a chameleon before though so I don’t know what’s too rough and what’s not, I have a picture
 

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herbiethechameleon said:
Yes, I’ve never owned a chameleon before though so I don’t know what’s too rough and what’s not, I have a picture
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uggg. What else did they do to the mouth? Poking anything in it did they try to pull on the tongue or anything like that?

Note... The way she is grabbing him like that is going to cause an extreme amount of stress. Hopefully they were not squeezing too hard.
 
She put a stick in his mouth to bite down on, and he didn’t like that. Is he going to be okay? And she was squeezing pretty hard to get him to comply with the exam, way harder than I would squeeze him, but then again I’m not giving exams so I didn’t know
 
herbiethechameleon said:
She put a stick in his mouth to bite down on, and he didn’t like that. Is he going to be okay? And she was squeezing pretty hard to get him to comply with the exam, way harder than I would squeeze him, but then again I’m not giving exams so I didn’t know
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And this was a vet with chameleon experience?
 
So to me handling was far too rough. I have never had a vet restrain a chameleon that was healthy like this. Even with a very sick chameleon I had they were extremely gentle. Grabbing them around the ribs has to be done very gently when it is done for exam purposes. But I have never had a vet do that to check the mouth.

Keep an eye on him. Give him soft bodied feeders. If he gapes at you look for any red discoloration in the mouth over the next few weeks.

They did not give a dewormer or vitamin shot right?
 
Beman said:
So to me handling was far too rough. I have never had a vet restrain a chameleon that was healthy like this. Even with a very sick chameleon I had they were extremely gentle. Grabbing them around the ribs has to be done very gently when it is done for exam purposes. But I have never had a vet do that to check the mouth.

Keep an eye on him. Give him soft bodied feeders. If he gapes at you look for any red discoloration in the mouth over the next few weeks.

They did not give a dewormer or vitamin shot right?
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No they did not, fecal sample was negative for everything
 
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