Hi folks, ran through a number of similar previous posts and can't seem to find anything that might help.
Hoping that posting this may lead to a few different perspectives and opinions based on my husbandry.
Filled out the standard form with as much detail as I could.
Current Problem - Aiming. Always shoots high and to the right. His eyes are focused on target and he is lined up, but the tongue fire is off.
This occurs with insects loose in enclosure, in the feeding bowl, or when fed by hand. He was fine for the first year. I was guessing he had a miss and hit the plexi or a plant and damaged his tongue muscles on drawback.
I’ve been feeding him via bamboo tongs, releasing the insect as soon as his tongue makes contact. This is working well, but getting very time consuming. This may become a concern if we go on vacation this year. Any advice appreciated.
Otherwise he is healthy, curious, mobile, colorful, and shedding regularly. No other signs of injury, MBD, gout, or dehydration.
Hoping that posting this may lead to a few different perspectives and opinions based on my husbandry.
Filled out the standard form with as much detail as I could.
Current Problem - Aiming. Always shoots high and to the right. His eyes are focused on target and he is lined up, but the tongue fire is off.
This occurs with insects loose in enclosure, in the feeding bowl, or when fed by hand. He was fine for the first year. I was guessing he had a miss and hit the plexi or a plant and damaged his tongue muscles on drawback.
I’ve been feeding him via bamboo tongs, releasing the insect as soon as his tongue makes contact. This is working well, but getting very time consuming. This may become a concern if we go on vacation this year. Any advice appreciated.
Otherwise he is healthy, curious, mobile, colorful, and shedding regularly. No other signs of injury, MBD, gout, or dehydration.
- Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
- Panther, male, 18 months, came home between 2-3 months old
- Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
- Not unless cage cleaning. He comes to my hand and hangs out on an indoor tree when I’m cleaning (fig tree, he does not eat from it as it is right next to the cage and in my line of sight.)
- Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
- Primary - Home raised dubias
- Gutloaded daily with a mix of Fluker’s High Calcium Cricket Diet and Castaway Organics Insecta-Load
- Once weekly additional gutload with leafy greens, carrots, broccolli (eaten over 1-2 days)
- Secondary - Medium crickets bought from pet store 1x week
- Snack 1 - Superworm 1-2x per week
- Snack 2 - Medium hornworm once every week or two
- Additional feeding - Occasional waxworms, fly larvae, etc on the occasion I place online orders (rare, maybe 1x per month)
- Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
- Daily - Fluker’s Calcium without D dusted on roaches
- Bi-weekly - Fluker’s Multi with Beta Carotene
- Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
- Mist King - 7am (pre-lights) for 1min, 7:45 (15 mins post lights on) for 2 mins, 12pm for 2 mins, 4pm for 2 mins, 8pm for 2 mins (just before lights out), midnight 2 mins.
- Hand misting - If its a hot day I ramp up the Mist King and will hand mist if I see humidity falling too fast (then adjust the Mist King)
- Hydration - Seems well hydrated. I occasionally catch him drinking from leaves out of the corner of my eye if I pass the cage at the right time.
- Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
- Urates - White, approx 1/4 of waste
- Feces - dark brown, moist sheen, 3/4 of waste, very occasionally note a sperm plug
- Size - Seems about right in proportion to him and his intake, .75-1.5” in length
- History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
- This was not a problem that progressed. It was a situation where on day 1 he was fine, and day 2 he was off. It has not progressed since it was initially noted. This is what led me to believe this is physical damage and not a nutritional or UV concern, but, as this is my first cham, I'm reaching out hoping there may be a nutritional component or similar that may be effective in treating.
- Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
- Cage size - 2.5’ x 2.5’ x5’ home built
- Cage walls - solid back wall, plexi side walls, screen front
- Cage ceiling - screen
- Cage floor - eggcrate with drainage pan underneath
- Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
- Unit - Reptisun 24” LED/UVB combo. Added an additional LED module and replaced the Reptisun bulb with Arcadia 6% (which is changed every 6 months or when UV drops below 3.0)
- UV - 3.5-4 at bask area via Solarmeter
- Schedule - Lights on at 7:30am, off at 7:30pm
- Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
- Bulb - One 75w heat lamp mounted high
- Basking temp - 83-85˚F
- Ambient temp - 68-72˚F at mid cage height
- Night - 65-70˚F (as house thermostat)
- Measurement - 2 digital temp/humidity, 2 analog temp/humidity, and occasional check with temp gun to confirm other readings
- Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
- Basking spot (day)- 45-50%
- Mid cage (day) - 60-65%
- Floor (plant base level (day)) - 75-80%
- Night (general) - 75-80%
- Measurement - 2 digital temp/humidity, 2 analog temp/humidity
- Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
- Mix of live plants from the safe list provided me by the helpful folks in this forum 15 months back. I have never seen him eat a plant and have never found bite marks during any inspections.
- Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
- Location - unused corner of living room, low traffic
- Fans/vents - there is a ceiling fan for the summer located about 20’ from his enclosure
- Top of cage height - Approx 7.5’
- Location - Where are you geographically located?
- NJ (Shore region)
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