3 month old Jackson's Chameleon sick!

Karma just got back from his first doctors appointment! He weighed out to be 3 grams. The doctor told me everything you guys told me, told me he couldn't do any tests on him because of his size (and I told him his age over the phone), and charged me $42.00. In this "physical exam," he told me that that was a good sign that his legs are upright and not flat to the ground, that I need to provide more UVB lighting, feed him more of a variety of food, and that I need to gut load and dust my crickets. So, I'm glad I wasted $42.00. Karma also seems to be doing a lot better today. He is staying awake throughout the day, and is more active. He hasn't tried to bite anything when I misted the cage, although I have not seen him eating anything.

After his appointment, I went and got the extra lighting fixture to hold the coil UVB bulb, so I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of switching the heat bulb and the UVB bulb out. I also got some flightless fruit flies and some gel stuff for my crickets for extra calcium, just in case they don't eat the pellets.

Thanks guys for all of your help. To tell you the truth, I should have just listened to what you guys said and not brought him to the vet, since it didn't help anyways. haha
p.s.
Does anyone know how many fruit flies I should release at a time?
 
Coiled UVB=very bad!!! You want to stay away from the coiled lights, They can be very dangerous for your Chameleon.
 
for the fruit flies - try releasing about 5 at a time - near his face but not too near. to keep from accidentally emptying the entire tube at one time gently tap the bottom of the tube on a flat surface. this causes the flies to fall to the bottom. then you can open the top and gently shake out the amount you want as they crawl back up to the top.
 
Sorry to hear about the wasted money. But better safe then sorry!

Most people will suggest you get the tube lights, not coiled ones :) Just a suggestion, confirm here before going to buy it for the chameleon, might save trouble in the long run :)

Have a good day
 
I just got back from class, and like always, I check on Karma. He is still awake during the day, so thats good, but I still think there is something wrong with him. I hand fed him his cricket, because he barely moves. I misted him a little and then I took him out of his cage, and was lookin at him on my finger. I noticed something abnormal going on with his right eye, for some reason it was closed, and it was bluging in and out. Does anyone know what that means?

And last night, I found him on the bottom of the tank, so I put him back on his branches before I went to bed, and he fell again! So, I don't know what his deal is. I just wish he would get better. I'm really trying.
 
i had that happen to me with a female i acquired from a distributor, i suffered endless night and couldnt get her to feed nor drink water. i decided to force feed her(like ive done with baby retics and balls)but it didnt work. so i tried force her to drink water by holding her mildly tight and waiting for her to open her mouth, then, success. she started drinking!!!!! but she was still not eating. and she was way to weak to chase after her game. so i decide to make a mineral water. by mixing Reptivite with water and force feeding her the solution. in 1 days time she gain energy and started feeding the next day.

so what im tring to say is mix some vitamins with water and force her to drink,
she will show stress colors while she resists but when she starts to drink on her own then u can let ger loose in your hand and she will continue to drink since they are most likely dehydrated.

i hope this works for you since it worked for me.:)
 
jacksonguru1 said:
so what im tring to say is mix some vitamins with water and force her to drink,
she will show stress colors while she resists but when she starts to drink on her own then u can let ger loose in your hand and she will continue to drink since they are most likely dehydrated.

i hope this works for you since it worked for me.:)
Click to expand...

I pray you do not follow this advice. Your jackson is what? 3 weeks old? You shouldnt even be taking em out to handle em to begin with. You would crush a baby that only weighs 3 grams by following this "suggestion"

No personal offence to you jacksonguru, but please be cautious with your advice people.
 
i can only crush them if u apply an inmense amount of presure ive usded this tecniques on baby pathers that wont feed. and by the way the baby jackson is 2 months. so i think he has some reasonable size on him. have you ever tried this before or if u where in his situation or in my previously stated situation would you just let him be and see if he dies or not?

Vet use this same teqnique to feed antibiotics or did u think they just asked to open wide????????

he can use it if he likes to or not, ive used it numerous amount of times and guess what it saves babies for going through agony and then after suffering for a period of time, then after all this has happen, DEATH.

please dont criticize someone for tring to help save a baby cham. if u dont like the idea dont use it.
 
You said..."He still cannot grip or walk well"..."Right now he is sitting on a moist paper towel with the light right next to him, and I am keeping an eye on him"...what's the temperature where he is sitting? In the cage what was the basking temperature? The temperature of the rest of the cage? Does the UVB light have plastic or glass between it and the chameleon?

"I have dust for the crickets, but everytime I dust them, they die extremely fast, so I get frustrated and just gut load them and feed them oranges"...how thickly were you dusting them? What brands of what were you using?

You said you gutload the crickets with "calcium plus by t-rex"...you can use a wide variety of greens (dandelion, kale, collards, curly endive, escarole, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, etc.) Also...from what I have read the T-rex has vitamin A and D3 in it.

"his back legs arent crawling with the others, his mouth is open, and he occasionally tries to bite his tail"...I'm not sure what to say about this except that its not good. It could be several things that are causing it.

"i looked up MBD and that is due to a calcium deciency or something"...phosphorous, calcium, D3 and vitamin A are the four main players in bone health and they should be in balance. To balance it you need to look at the D3, vitamin A, phosphorous and calcium levels in the food you feed to your insects, the supplements and in what you feed the chameleon.

Exposure to UVB allows the D3 to be produced which allows the calcium to be used. Most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. so that is why we dust them with a phos. free calcium powder. Vitamin A comes from converting beta carotene to it or from a preformed (animal/retinol) source. Preformed vitamin A can build up in the system and the excess can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD. D3 from supplements can also build up in the system and cause problems.

Appropriate temperatures play a part to because they aid in digestion.

"I noticed something abnormal going on with his right eye, for some reason it was closed, and it was bluging in and out. Does anyone know what that means?"...some compacts have been causing eye problems....but then it could be something else too.

Did your vet mention MBD or calcium imbalances? (Why did he mention using more UVB?)
 
i also have a 3 month old jackson.. they can be very stubborn sometimes.. i tried feeding him wax and meal worms and had no care for them. but if you think he is dehydrated a cham breeder we talked to when our female became dehydrated they told us to put her in the shower(luke warm water) everyday for about a 30 min.. they do not like it one bit but they told us to do that instead of putting water down their throat cuz of the air that goes in also.. they said the shower will help hydrate the chameleon.. you can try that if you want.. and if you dont want to hold him in there maybe put him on a branch and put him in.. but i gotta ask the vet your taking him to is he a special vet for exotic animals or reg vet. cuz i dont trust reg vets and i work for one. they are not specialized for their little fragile problems
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Help, my yemen chameleon keeps hissing at night
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
LizardLurkin
LizardLurkin
N
My chameleon won’t eat enough food
Replies
10
Views
679
kinyonga
K
Jessandsprinkes
  • Locked
Chameleon Blood Test- possible leukemia
Replies
1
Views
407
Brad
Brad
A
Help! Not sure what to do
Replies
7
Views
304
MissSkittles
MissSkittles
Scoobysnak
Male Chameleon 4.5 years old losing movement in back legs and tail
Replies
6
Views
419
Scoobysnak
Scoobysnak
Back
Top Bottom