2 days without eating...Please help!!

[glOckcOma]

Should I be worried or is this normal for an acclimating panther?

Is there anything I could do to entice him to eat?

I free ranged 10 crickets 2 days ago and there are still 9 left.

He also seems to open his mouth alot and sometimes it seems like he is yawning, is this a bad sign.

TIA!!

 

[PrettyInInk87]

I have read lots and there are 2 reasons that I can think of that he might be opening his mouth. One is a respiratory infection or it is too hot for him... If you look around some in the threads there is a picture going around that shows what the inside of a Cham's mouth looks like with a RI. Give me some time and i'll link you to it if I can find it. If he's not eating i'm thinking it can also be "mouth rot"? I haven't had any experiences with mouth rot or RI's but did have experience with the temps being too hot for my little guy, brought them temp down a bit and all is good. Hope you get some help and good luck!

 

[ruru]

what are your temps? not that im ruling out and R.I. but more likely then not his tempuratures are most likely too warm.
how long have you had him? have you tried different feeders?

 

[Olimpia]

It's ok, sometimes they'll take a week or longer to get comfortable enough to eat in a new home. You can keep trying crickets, worms, roaches, etc. and see if anything catches his eye but don't be too alarmed yet.

It's more common for his temps to be too high, so what you see is him essentially panting. But if the temps sound good then we'll go from there and see if we can guestimate what is going on.

 

[glOckcOma]

Olimpia your reply is very encouraging and allowed me to exhale, Pink's not so much, I read infection and mouth rot and I was ready to pass out Not that I dont appreciate the response Pink

the thermometer in his basking area is 82, and other area around the cage are between 65 - 70.

Basking lamp is 60w and is about 7" - 9" above his basking spot

 

[Syn]

Fill out this form: https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

It may be a heat issue or even a R.I., but no need to make guesses. If you fill out that form it will help us help you.

 

[glOckcOma]

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Spartan is a year old male Nosey Be Panther that has been with me 2.5 days

* Handling - I've only held him twice for about 5 - 15 minutes

* Feeding - I put in 10 dusted crickets, dusted with Repti-Cal w/ D3, I also bought w/o D3 and Herptivite powder. I was told to only use with D3 since all he gets is artificial light by previous owner. I plan to feed 10 - 12 crickets every other day and use herpivite once a week, but a schedule is kind of tough to follow at the moment since there has been crickets in his cage since I got him. I am gut loading crickets with Flukers High Calcium cricket diet and orange slices for hydration to get him Vit C.

* Supplements - Stated above.

* Watering - I will be manually misting with a mist bottle made by Exo Tarrium 2 -3 times a day for 1 - 2 minutes, and dripping 3 times a day via a "Little Dipper", He drank for 30 minutes straight the first night I got him BTW

* Fecal Description - He has pooped twice since he has been in my care and the first poop was dark color and smelled bad it end with a white substance, there were several bits of undigested crickets also. The second poop was less poop and was followed by a really light orange substance. As far as I know he has not been tested for parasites

* History - Nothing remarkable by the previous owner

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Aluminum screen cage 24x24x48

* Lighting - 24" fixture with a 20" Repti-sun 5.0 UVB tube bulb, for basking I have a dome fixture with a 60w ZooMed Daylight Blue Reptile bulb which are on a timer set to 9am to 9pm.

* Temperature - Basking area is a steady 82 - 83 the rest of the cage ranges from 65 to 70, Night temps range from 62 to 70, I measure all this with 3 digital thermometers, one place at basking area and the other 2 at mid range.

* Humidity - Dont have anything to measure this at the moment

* Plants - I have a Ficus tree and to pothos plants.

* Placement - Enclosure is in my kids room close to a large window and is in a moderately trafficked area, unfortunately I have nowhere else to put him. Basking area is at eye level.

* Location - I am in Hawthorne Ca.

Current Problems -

Every once in a while he will keep his mouth open for 1 - 2 minutes, I seen 3 time's that he has opened his mouth real wide as if he was yawning.

Last night he slept hanging onto the screen, at the very corner of the cage, I tried to put him back on the branches and I seem to have woke him up and he got real defensive.

He has only ate 2 crickets since he has been with me, I did see him eat the second one a few minutes ago.

After drinking for 30 minutes straight 15 minutes after I put him in the cage for the first time in my home, he has not drank since.

 

[Olimpia]

Olimpia your reply is very encouraging and allowed me to exhale, Pink's not so much, I read infection and mouth rot and I was ready to pass out Not that I dont appreciate the response Pink

the thermometer in his basking area is 82, and other area around the cage are between 65 - 70.

Basking lamp is 60w and is about 7" - 9" above his basking spot

Sometimes it's a quick fix, and others it might be something else, so it's easier to see if it's one of those easy fix things before we more into the range of not so easy. I can't believe I forgot to link to it, but fill out the thing Syn linked to and that will help us as lot. Also add photos of him just in case we can spot something from the photos.

Since it doesn't sound like the temps are too high, can you see if his spit is thick and bubbly?

 

[glOckcOma]

Sometimes it's a quick fix, and others it might be something else, so it's easier to see if it's one of those easy fix things before we more into the range of not so easy. I can't believe I forgot to link to it, but fill out the thing Syn linked to and that will help us as lot. Also add photos of him just in case we can spot something from the photos.

Since it doesn't sound like the temps are too high, can you see if his spit is thick and bubbly?

Saliva seems fine, doesn't look thick and definitely not bubbly, Info on Spartan above^^^

 

[pssh]

How is he keeping his mouth open? They do indeed yawn, and when they need to shed, they may open their mouth very wide and yawn (and sometimes wiggle around) often to try to 'pop the shed.' I don't think i've seen mine do it for more than 45 seconds or so though.

 

[Julirs]

You are turning your UVB bulb off at night? Right?

 

[Olimpia]

Ok I see your posted info now. The only thing I see of the bat (I'm also finishing up some homework so forgive me if I miss anything) is that you're using D3 too much if you are only going to dust with it at every meal. The artificial UV light lets him create his own D3, so you only need to supplement lightly twice a month. Too much D3 actually impedes the body's ability to absorb other important minerals so you'll actually be causing more harm than good. But using the no D3 calcium most feedings and just using a little D3 every 2 weeks will keep him and his bones nice and healthy.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what to comment about the mouth issue right now if his spit looks fine.

 

[glOckcOma]

You are turning your UVB bulb off at night? Right?

Yes both lights go off at 9pm

Ok I see your posted info now. The only thing I see of the bat (I'm also finishing up some homework so forgive me if I miss anything) is that you're using D3 too much if you are only going to dust with it at every meal. The artificial UV light lets him create his own D3, so you only need to supplement lightly twice a month. Too much D3 actually impedes the body's ability to absorb other important minerals so you'll actually be causing more harm than good. But using the no D3 calcium most feedings and just using a little D3 every 2 weeks will keep him and his bones nice and healthy.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what to comment about the mouth issue right now if his spit looks fine.

So every other day I should feed crickets dusted with Calcium WITH NO D3, and twice a month dust Calcium WITH D3. How many times should I dust herptivite?

 

[carol5208]

Herptivite multi vitamin a couple of times a month also.

 

[glOckcOma]

Ok I have goood news and bad news!!

Good news is that Spartan seems to have taken out about 5+ crickets while I was out with the family having dinner. Wooot very excited that he ate!!

Bad news is that he must have ate these within the last hour and my lights are out at 9pm.

Will he be ok over night with digestion, I know they need heat to digest. What should I do? Should I turn the lights back on and if so, for how long?

 

[PrettyInInk87]

No, I think he'll be fine as long as this does not become a habit. Make sure his lights turn on in the morning and try feeding him again to see if he'll take more food.

 

[pssh]

He'll be fine. It's when they don't have warmth the next morning that there is a problem.

Also, your gutloading is lacking. I'm being a little lazy, so I won't get really into it so do a little research. I'll just list some more stuff you could/should use. High calcium greens: kale, collards, mustard greens, dandelion, endive, escarole, turnip greens, etc. Good veggies plus higher calcium fruits: Squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, papaya, raspberries, oranges and other citrus, other berries, etc.

Plus a good dry gutload. I recommend cricket crack, or researching and making your own. Sandrachameleon has a great blog about it.

 

[glOckcOma]

ok I have done research on the ingrediants for a good gutload but all these articles and write ups on gutloaded dont explain how to serve.

Do you give each different fruit and veggie one at a time or all together, if all together do I puree the foods or serve whole or sliced and chopped and mixed together. what is your proven method of gutloading and gutloading schedule also how many cricket do you feed. I also read that taking out any cricket that werent eaten after a few hours I should take them out of the enclosure, is this correct?

Right now I have about a 100 crickets in a 10g aquairum with a screen lid with a few eggcrates and some paper towel tubes, I have a small dish with that Flukers High calcium cricket diet and a slice of orange. They are in my laundry which gets very cold but they are in a cabinet. I bought them yesterday and today only lost 2 and threw them out. seems to be alot of cricket poop at the bottom glass of the aquarium. what I am thinking of doing is putting a paper towel on the bottom and just pulling that out to get the poop out every other day.

 

[pssh]

Well, you can use two or three different veggies/fruits every week or two, or you can use more. It can be served both blended into a mush and/or as cut up pieces. When I have time I like to buy five or six different items and blend them together into a mush (make sure to add a fruit or they won't eat it) and store it in the fridge or freeze it. Freezing it causes some nutrients to be lost, but it lasts longer that way.

I offer healthy gutload 24/7 and remove the old stuff every or every other day. I feed all of my crickets all the time.

Yes, crickets should be removed when they are not eaten by night time. It's okay if one or two are left. It's a precaution to prevent them from chewing on/eating the chameleon at night. I like to use a tub to feed crickets. The chameleon can still hunt in the tub, the bugs are contained, and they are easy to find and remove to re-gutload. Other insects I let free or place on vines/branches/dowels.

Personally, I don't clean my cricket cages very often. Generally only when I get a new batch, or when there is a decent build up of dead ones. I don't really buy crickets very often though. They are a pain in the butt to deal with. I prefer roaches, worms, and enrichment foods. Crickets are bought once every 4-6 weeks or so (except for my smaller animals who get them more regularly.) All of my reptiles enjoy crickets now that I only feed them occasionally. They run for them!

 

[glOckcOma]

Well, you can use two or three different veggies/fruits every week or two, or you can use more. It can be served both blended into a mush and/or as cut up pieces. When I have time I like to buy five or six different items and blend them together into a mush (make sure to add a fruit or they won't eat it) and store it in the fridge or freeze it. Freezing it causes some nutrients to be lost, but it lasts longer that way.

I offer healthy gutload 24/7 and remove the old stuff every or every other day. I feed all of my crickets all the time.

Yes, crickets should be removed when they are not eaten by night time. It's okay if one or two are left. It's a precaution to prevent them from chewing on/eating the chameleon at night. I like to use a tub to feed crickets. The chameleon can still hunt in the tub, the bugs are contained, and they are easy to find and remove to re-gutload. Other insects I let free or place on vines/branches/dowels.

Personally, I don't clean my cricket cages very often. Generally only when I get a new batch, or when there is a decent build up of dead ones. I don't really buy crickets very often though. They are a pain in the butt to deal with. I prefer roaches, worms, and enrichment foods. Crickets are bought once every 4-6 weeks or so (except for my smaller animals who get them more regularly.) All of my reptiles enjoy crickets now that I only feed them occasionally. They run for them!

Fruit and veggie Mush and freeze sounds like and plan

So your staple food for your Cham is roaches? I was told that a Cham should have a staple insect that it eats daily and all others should be fed as treats or to break a hunger strike.