geckoluv19
New Member
Solid Snake sent me here, im having trouble with my chameleon. He has a swollen eye that looks like there might be fluid or somethin. And I have no way of getting to the vet.
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Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon -Jackson Chameleon not sure of the age I have had him about a year and a half
Are you sure it is male? Could it be female?
Check this link to make sure:http://www.chameleonnews.com/10JulManchen.html
Handling - Not very often only if he comes to the front an comes out on his own
This is good. Handling should generally be kept to a minimum.
Its worth noting that some chameleons will want to come out of their cage because they have an issue with something in/about there enclosure. However, some will want to come out because they are "bored", and some for wanting of food, or finding a mate.
Feeding - I feed him crickets every once in a while wax worms He eats about 5 crickets or alil more. I feed him every day
Wax worms should be kept to a minimum, maybe a few once a week max. It is good to diversify their diet as much as possible in order to create a more naturalistic and nutritious diet. Adding grasshoppers, blue bottle flies, silk and horn worms, roaches and mantids are all good things to do.
It is important that the feeder insects are fed with nutritious materials before being fed to the chameleon, in order to maximize the chameleons intake of nutritious materials. This would be the bible on the subject, known as gutloading:https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/
Supplements - dust the crickets with calcium mon/wed an dust with vitamins friday saturday I feed the crickets fluker's high calcium cricket diet an fluker's cricket quencher
The crickets should be dusted with calcium most of the time in my opinion, just an extremely small amount of calcium. Its very important that you dont use any more calcium than is necessary to just barely cover the cricket. The calcium supplement is meant to balance the cal/phos ratio of the feeder insect to an appropriate level, so that the chameleon can properly absorb, and use the materials ingested, namely the calcium. Too much phosphorous will prevent proper calcium absorption.
You need to find out what vitamins you are using. Jacksons can be very touchy when it comes to supplementing, and it is somewhat difficult to get right. There is no exact regimen or schedule that works for everyone. Its something you have to calculate for your situation, taking in all the variables, and making the best educated decision you can. Ill provide a link at the bottom of thi post that will go over it further.
The flukers gutload material is not appropriately balanced for chameleon use. It does not have an appropriate phos/cal ratio namely.
The best use of it, is to prop open a door.
It is good for keeping crickets alive, but not for being fed off.
Cricket Crack would be a much better dry gutload to use. By better I mean by at least a million times. There are other options, and you can make your own, but for the quality and price, CC is what I would recommend:
http://tikitikireptiles.com/products.php?id=48
Seeing as how you have a jackson, the one at the very bottom labeled "Montane Mix" would be most appropriate.
Watering - I mist the cage every day an he sometimes lets me squirt it on his mouth an he drinks every time I mist
Jacksons like a high humidity, and many opportunities to drink. It is good that you see him drink, but be careful about spraying water directly into his mouth, as he can aspirate. Water falling from above, and running into the chameleons mouth should suffice. The chameleon should be provided with at least three "mistings" or rain storms a day.
Falling water similar to rain is preferred over misting the animal.
In between these watering sessions, the cage should be allowed to dry out completely. This will prevent mold and mildew as well as lessen the chances of the chameleon getting a respiratory infection.
Fecal Description - its white an brown an I have noticed its alittle lighter sometimes I havent taken him to the vet ever
The main things to watch for here, is that the passings are frequent and consistent, and that the white part is truly white. That is the urate, and the less white it is, and the more yellow/orange it is, is a sign that the animal is not properly hydrated.
History - Hes always been a good eater an still is hes just got that swollen eye an I have noticed hes a bit weak I reached in to turn him around to look at his eye an he kind of jerked an layed back n my hand
How long has the eye been swollen? Is it just one eye?
Is he sleeping during the day at all?
Cage Info:
Cage Type - its all screen cage not sure of the size my brother had it an gave it to me its pretty big with a live plant inside an fake vines so he can hold onto them an climb an uvb light kind of in the back an heating light n front with a vine close up so he can get warm if he wants.
Lighting- I have a day white light 75 watt zoo med and an zoo med uvb 5.0
When was the last time you replaced the UVB light? They need replacing about every 6months.
Temperature - the basking spot stays about 80 an floor and 73 at the bottom depending on how cold or warm it is in my room since my room used to be the porch.
You need to know these temps exactly. They sound appropriate, just be sure you know what they are. A nite time temp drop of 10F is desirable. So 60-65F at nite would be a good thing.
Humidity - stays about 60% I use the zilla temp humidity thing and mist the cage
Plants - I have a live plant I dont know what kind it is since my brother gave me the setup from when he had a chameleon.
Placement - the cage is in my room on a foot stool
The higher up the cage, the better, the more comfortable the animal will feel.
Location - I live in atlanta ga
Current Problem - He has a swollen bubble lookin eye an seems weak
He is a male I feed him wax worms only as a treat I only fed him crickets before is the caned grass hoppers okay to feed him or any of the bugs in the can.
You can not feed them canned insects, they need live prey, and the nutritional content of the canned insects is inappropriate, so it will eventually cause an issue, even if you could somehow get him to eat them. A few wax worms as a treat can be ok.
I was hoping he wanted to come out cause he wanted my attention
You are not the only one to think this, its a logical assumption.
However, I can tell you that the majority of the reason is his enclosure, you will need to change it drastically.
I do try my hardest to take care of all of my reptiles an care for them all I read books an I am still learning about the chameleons. an this info is for sure helping me.
There is alot of info to get familiar with to be able to properly take care of a chameleon. Most people do not realize what they are getting themselves into when they get one, myself included. The are much higher maintenance, and much less forgiving of mistakes than other reptiles. Again, youre not the only one thats been in this position.
I do feed the crickets potato's an green leafy stuff but not very much. So the crickets I should dust more often than vitamins? the vitamins I use is fluker's reptile vitamins with beta carotene.
Ill have to look up that vitamin supplement to comment on it, or maybe someone else will have knowledge they can share on it.
For now, stop giving it to him. Just calcium, and only enough to barely coat the crickets. Place the crickets in a jar, add a small pinch of calcium, swirl them around. If there is any powder left in the jar, thats not on the crickets, you are using too much. If the crickets are not evenly coated, you are using too little. You also need to make sure your calcium is D3 free, and phosphorous free. It should only be plain calcium.
I have a fogger that I used for my tree frogs but I don't have those anymore would that be a good thing to keep for humidity? When I spray the cage it dry's really quickly. my brother had a dripper he made out of a plastic bottle but that didn't work as well I have seen the flukers dripper but I don't know if that would work.
The flukers dripper is fine. If you can make one yourself, thats fine too.
A dripper going ALL DAY(as in anytime the lights are on) is a good idea, as long as it has somewhere to drain to. If it doesnt have anywhere to drain to, make it somewhere to drain to.
the temps always change since my room is weird when its really cold out its REALLY cold n my room lol.
Night time temp should be no lower than 60F during winter, and 65F during summer. The animal will need a basking temp of no higher than 85F. Shoot for in between 80-85F. Temp is very important. This is something you will need to figure out how to control.
I hope everyone doesn't think I am not taking care of my chameleon cause I do care for him an do research on them all the time an learn more as I read.