Panther male not eating

[Ambiloberoy]

Hi there, I have a 6 month old
Panther male who over the last 3 days has not wanted to eat, I also noticed the last 2 days he has been a little weird with his left eye, I saw him rubbing it on a branch and looked almost bulging, and occasionally while basking he’ll have his left eye closed if it’s the eye facing the bulb, I also weighed him and he seems to be only about 25 grams in weight, I’ll attach a picture, does this seem out of the ordinary? Does he seem to be an appropriate size for his age? Thank you!

 

[Beman]

Hey there. Welcome to the forum. 25 grams is a little on the small side for a 6 month old male. He is a beautiful boy though. What have you been feeding him and how much was he eating? What supplements are you using and what is your rotation?
Is the eye he is closing the same one he is rubbing?

 

[Ambiloberoy]

Thank you! And he usually eats about 10-15 small crickets a day, i dust them with calcium without d3 6 times a week, calcium with d3 once a week and mineral once a week on a different day, he also eats about 2-3 dubia roaches every day, and about 2 wax worms a week as a treat, occasionally a horn worm, I typically gut load with apple, carrot, sweet potato’s, and a carrying leafy green, and yes the eye that is occasionally closed while basking is the eye he was scratching, I will say I mistakenly put medium sized crickets in his cage the day this all started and they were huge! I think it may have scared him, so I immediately took them out when noticing he was uncomfortable after about 30 minutes of them being in there

 

[Beman]

Thank you! And he usually eats about 10-15 small crickets a day, i dust them with calcium without d3 6 times a week, calcium with d3 once a week and mineral once a week on a different day, he also eats about 2-3 dubia roaches every day, and about 2 wax worms a week as a treat, occasionally a horn worm, I typically gut load with apple, carrot, sweet potato’s, and a carrying leafy green, and yes the eye that is occasionally closed while basking is the eye he was scratching, I will say I mistakenly put medium sized crickets in his cage the day this all started and they were huge! I think it may have scared him, so I immediately took them out when noticing he was uncomfortable after about 30 minutes of them being in there

Ok so per the eye... Sounds almost like he has something in it that he is trying to get out. How long are his misting sessions?

Can you confirm your UVB type and strength along with distance from fixture to basking. Just want to rule out over exposure/underexposure issues.

Gutload is good. Tell me about your mineral supplement? Is your calcium with D3 only that or is it a multivitamin with D3? You can take pics of the front of the label if that is easier.

Food intake is good. I would expect him to be a bit bigger though for that food intake. Have you gotten a fecal sample run just to rule out a parasite issue? This is common when a chameleon does not put on weight as it should and even when they stop eating.

If he has a favorite feeder like wax worms see if he will go for those. You can try alone or tossing like 5 in with his small crickets. If it is a matter of being scared from larger feeders than he should go after the ones he prefers. If it is a matter of parasite than that is a different situation.

 

[Ambiloberoy]

So as of right now I don’t have an automatic misting system set up so I do it via spray bottle twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, he does sleep with a fogger on at night

His UV light is a 22” 5.0 t5 bulb and basking bulb is a flukers 100W heat bulb in a dimmable fixture, both lights are about 10 inches away from basking branch.

As far as the supplements the calcium is just calcium it looks like but I do dust with miner-all once a week I’ll provide a picture of that

I tried to feed him a wax worm a couple times today and still no interest, I haven’t had a fecal sample done with him just because the closest herp vet to me is about 2 hours away and extremely booked up, I’m currently on hold with their office as I’m typing to to try and speak to somebody there

 

[Ambiloberoy]

 

[Andrew1283]

My male panther ambilobe went on a hunger strike once. I went on vacation for a week and my dad fed him nothing but super worms. After two weeks he went back to his normal diet. God forbid we deviate from our norms!

 

[Andrew1283]

Try hand misting him to help clear his eye that’s bothering him. I only use the Mist King when I’m not around to hand mist. A fine mist might help him clear that turret

 

[Beman]

So as of right now I don’t have an automatic misting system set up so I do it via spray bottle twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, he does sleep with a fogger on at night

His UV light is a 22” 5.0 t5 bulb and basking bulb is a flukers 100W heat bulb in a dimmable fixture, both lights are about 10 inches away from basking branch.

As far as the supplements the calcium is just calcium it looks like but I do dust with miner-all once a week I’ll provide a picture of that

I tried to feed him a wax worm a couple times today and still no interest, I haven’t had a fecal sample done with him just because the closest herp vet to me is about 2 hours away and extremely booked up, I’m currently on hold with their office as I’m typing to to try and speak to somebody there

Ok so with the T5HO 5.0 you want 8-9 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the branches below (with fixture sitting on top of the screen top) This will put him in a 3 UVI level.

Watch your temps with the 100 watt... Looking for a range of 80-85 max for basking.

The supplements are off... Mineral indoor is lacking vitamin A. It also is a D3 supplement. So you are actually giving too much D3 if your using the mineral 2 times a month and the calcium with D3 2 times a month. Since both of these are D3. With supplements your wanting calcium without D3 at all feedings except 2 times a month you want to use D3 and 2 times a month you want to use a multivitamin with A. Now the multivitamin can have D3 as well but you would drop the additional plain D3. I tend to recommend an all in one supplement like repashy calcium plus LoD version for the multivitamin and D3 combo. Then you only use this say the 1st and the 15th of the month. All other feedings would be calcium without D3. Always very lightly dusting your feeders. No powdered donuts.

Is he shying away from the spray bottle? Most chams will not clean their eyes with a spray bottle. The spray is a bit harder and not as fine and gentle as a mistking would be. I would recommend getting an automatic mister like the mistking. While he is young he can get used to it and it will allow for dialed in spraying times. Also if your not standing there they tend to clean their eyes and drink.

 

[Ambiloberoy]

My male panther ambilobe went on a hunger strike once. I went on vacation for a week and my dad fed him nothing but super worms. After two weeks he went back to his normal diet. God forbid we deviate from our norms!

And did he seem to be eating the super worms fine during that strike? Only asking cause my boy is refusing to eat even his favorites! Wax and horn worms

 

[Ambiloberoy]

Okay awesome I’m gonna go ahead and order the new supplements and make a new schedule for them, I have the bulb dimmed down about 25% from full bright, the temp is about 82 right above the branch, I was thinking of switching to a soft white 65W incandescent bulb, any options on that? His basking branch also runs at a fairly decent incline where some areas are closer to the uv bulb, I’m definitely going to try and get a mist king system soon, I have one but it’s very old, motor seems to still work but all the nozzles are clogged, I’m think about just starting fresh with a whole new system

 

[Beman]

Okay awesome I’m gonna go ahead and order the new supplements and make a new schedule for them, I have the bulb dimmed down about 25% from full bright, the temp is about 82 right above the branch, I was thinking of switching to a soft white 65W incandescent bulb, any options on that? His basking branch also runs at a fairly decent incline where some areas are closer to the uv bulb, I’m definitely going to try and get a mist king system soon, I have one but it’s very old, motor seems to still work but all the nozzles are clogged, I’m think about just starting fresh with a whole new system

I think your bulb is fine as long as temps are within limits. I run a 100watt on a thermostat. Where it gets dangerous is to not have them on a control device.

Order a new misting nozzle. I literally just got one off amazon. Mistking is now selling direct on amazon. I got mine within 2 days which was faster delivery than ordering through a supplier and since I have amazon prime I paid nothing for shipping. Cost worked out to be the same as buying from a supplier because on amazon they charge a few dollars more. I order double fittings for mine since I run two nozzles. You could order that and take it apart so you have a back up nozzle. Or buy the single they sell https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JS2RSGE?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
But if your mistking works just use that until it dies.

 

[Ambiloberoy]

Thank you soo much everyone!! I really appreciate the support I’m already receiving being a brand new member! I’m gonna get those accessories order for the misting system and keep you all updated, I just saw him eat a cricket!! Small steps but seems promising!

 

[Andrew1283]

And did he seem to be eating the super worms fine during that strike? Only asking cause my boy is refusing to eat even his favorites! Wax and horn worms

Oh yeah he was eating plenty of super worms

 

[plzhelp]

how is your cham i have the exact same problem he stopped eating the last couple feedings and he rubs his eyes on the branch every so often

 

[Flick boy]

So as of right now I don’t have an automatic misting system set up so I do it via spray bottle twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, he does sleep with a fogger on at night

His UV light is a 22” 5.0 t5 bulb and basking bulb is a flukers 100W heat bulb in a dimmable fixture, both lights are about 10 inches away from basking branch.

As far as the supplements the calcium is just calcium it looks like but I do dust with miner-all once a week I’ll provide a picture of that

I tried to feed him a wax worm a couple times today and still no interest, I haven’t had a fecal sample done with him just because the closest herp vet to me is about 2 hours away and extremely booked up, I’m currently on hold with their office as I’m typing to to try and speak to somebody there

Hi can you ask your vet if you can post a fecal sample , that is what I did last week. No harm in asking. If so remove urates as this can mess up results, pop the poop in a container like a urine sample tube or similar