7 month old Blue Bar ambilobe Panther NOT shooting correctly!

[slippy420]

Hi.

I purchased a Male Blue Bar Ambilobe Panther from a breeder 3 days ago. Supposedly He is around 6-7 months old. Cost $250.00 shipped. When i got him he looked very weak from the the overnight shipping. Anyways i had his cage all ready everything is brand new. My problem is that his shooter is way off. He shoots about an inch too high. So what he does is he try's to scoop the cricket up with his mouth. (works about 50% of the time) other times the cricket gets away or he knocks it down. Breeder said that he was in a smaller cage. so maybe he didn't shoot as far? Well when i see him miss, hes only 4-5 inches away. He does eat well if i hand feed him but i would think at his age he should be a straight shooter and able to hunt his food just fine. The breeder Told me to get some vitamin A gel caps derived from retinol palmitate 10,000 IU. To place an eye drop every other day on a feeder cricket. So has anyone of you encountered a problem like this. If so please any feedback would be great. Please refer to the bottom for some video footage and picture of the cage setup. Thanks PS. I mist 3 times daily. and have a dripper system so there is no problem for dehydration. I dust my crickets with reptocal and once weekly with herptivite. Crickets are gutloaded as well.

Cage Setup: Reptibreeze 24x24x48 - ReptiSun 10.0 UVB w/ fixture. 60watt incandescent bulb w/ dome fixture. Basking Temp is about 85deg-91deg. Large Hibiscus Tree that was cleaned with soapy water 3-4 times and dried out. replanted with organic soil. plenty of vines and leaves...


This video shows him i think lathargic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlFRwbmVbJ4


Cage:
http://img515.imageshack.us/i/img0121a.jpg/

Chameleon:
http://img515.imageshack.us/i/img0122nfd.jpg/

 

[slippy420]

Addition to my post

Im located in Buffalo, NY. Panther was shipped from Florida. Night time temps are around 70deg.

 

[Frock]

I wouldn't be terribly alarmed yet, since its only been three days since he was shipped. I know the day after I took my male veiled home I saw him miss a cricket, but now he hits everything he aims for so far as I've seen.

I would imagine he'll find his aim by the end of the week, but if not he might have some pre-existing condition.

 

[slippy420]

ok, yea he doesnt just miss one. and the end of his tongue doesnt seem sticky

 

[Frock]

double post

 

[Frock]

Stickyness is only part of the way that the tongue catches food, someone has a good link about it but I don't remember where I saw it. So you're saying his tongue hits but he doesn't bring them in? Or does he totally miss? Or is it sort of a lot of different types of things, where he sometimes misses/hits and fails/hits and successfully takes, a feeder?

I just watched that video. Does he ever extend his tongue fully at all? Is it possible it was cut somehow early in life? It looks like its a voracious hunter to me, I rarely see my veiled move that fast to eat prey, especially while I'm watching, but I'm not too familiar with panthers.

 

[slippy420]

he rarely shoots father than an inch in the past day or so. he tries to scoop them up. I've seen him extended his tongue about 4 times, each time was a miss. so that being said. its a combination of things, seems like he cant bring them in or accurately get his prey.

 

[sandrachameleon]

This is not a good sign. Tongue issues are often the result of injury and/or nutritional imbalances. There's a good chance the problem, if properly diagnosed, can be resolved - but why should that be your expense? Return him to the breeder and request a replacement or get your money back
The amount of preformed Vitamin A suggested seems far too much to me.

 

[kinyonga]

The fact that the chameleon isn't shooting his tongue out to catch the crickets suggests that there is a problem. Without testing, I don't know how the seller can say that its a lack of vitamin A that's a problem.

 

[Chameleon Company]

I think I have some experience with Vitamin A and chameleons. I do not recall ever seeing a thread where Vitamin A was the recommended fix for a tongue problem. If I missed it, could one of the all-knowing please link me to it . Sounds like someone is blowing smoke up your hind quarter.

 

[slippy420]

i will try to get a good video shot in the morning when i feed him. maybe it can help us figure out whats up with this guy. would love to fix him

 

[Syn]

Is it me or do the eyes look a little swollen? Could be part of the problem.
(then again I'm used to veiled eyes)

 

[Dave Weldon]

...ReptiSun 10.0 UVB w/ fixture. 60watt incandescent bulb w/ dome fixture...

Howdy,

As a partial aside to the current tongue problem; is that a Reptisun linear tube or a Compact Fluorescent (CF) coil UVB source? If it is a CF then replace it and the fixture with a Reptisun 5.0 (or 10.0 if you need it) linear tube. Even an 18" one will be ok. The Reptisun 10.0 CFs have a know history of causing photo-kerato-conjunctivitis (http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor-discussion.htm). If you had told us that you had him under that light for days and then the problem appeared, we'd have more of a smoking gun. In this case, you'll be doing a bit of preventative health care .

 

[slippy420]

It's a linear tube 10.0.