acting strange & not eating

Burge124

New Member
Hi Folks

My four month old Cham after cleaning his viv out is acting very strange and lethargic. He didnt drink or eat for a day or two, only yesterday when I forced a dripper onto him then he drank for a couple of mins.

Concerned he might have eaten bark, seen it in his mouth a couple of times and manged to pull it out as he hissed at me!

The water he drank today has appeared on the floor, but no feces. Are their intestines for water and solids the same. As I'm worried about impaction, I've read in another discussion giving him one drop of olive oil?

Thanks!
 
Its normal for a cham not to eat for a few days after a cage cleaning, it is very stressful for them. Yes the poop is an all in one deal. so poop is brown part and pee is white part. I wouldnt give them olive oil just yet. Thats for extreme cases. You could try offering them canned pumpkin pulp or other squash. It is very soft and lots of fiber and water.
 
Please remove the bark. If you have pulled it from your chameleon's mouth, you know it is either eating it intentionally or possibly accidentally by shooting for loose prey and getting the bark along with it. This is the very reason why we tell people NO substrate!
 
Since his viv got cleaned out on saturday not see any feces. Today he has being try to go but have'nt seen anything on the floor. Looks like he is struggling. I am going to...

give him a couple of drops of olive oil, warm bath? and give him a warm shower whilst on a house plant. Unless you can recommend anything else?

Can't tell if he has eaten anything last couple of days, usually hes keen to eat!

Hes been lathargic and slow moving, not a great colour.

Seriously concerned about impaction now.

Thanks


Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, male, four months old owned for two months
Handling - dailly,
Feeding - 6-8 crickets a day (when he is hunrgy), couple of mealworms for treats (not eaten any since saturday) gut load with lettuce
Supplements - calcium crickets as i open the pack
Watering - dripper almost all the time, spray four times a day. he has been reluctant to drink much recently
Fecal Description - couple hours after having a drink from hand he is producing creamy droppings not much brown stuff tho

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Glass, plenty of space fully cleaned out on saturday
Lighting - new bulbs both heat and UV 12 hrs on/12 off
Temperature - mid/high 20's on basking spot? Lowest overnight temp high teens
Humidity - gradually lower then fully soaking at misting
Plants - only plastic plants will be buying more
Placement - quiet room, at table hight, roof of cage is well ventalated
 
Took him the vets as I didnt want to risk it over the bank holiday weekend, he said his current diet doesnt have enough veg/fruit so need to increase the amount of veg he eats.

Gave me a weeks anti-biotics to stop any infection, vet said his mouth is still pink which is a sign of a healthy Cham. And like advice above recommended removing bark.

Once back in his viv he was back to normal! Upside down hunting for food, eat a cricket striaght away then fed him some cucumber with olive oil as a short term fix to get his bowels moving again he eat a load of that aswell!
 
What antibiotic did they give you and is this a herp vet?
What do you gut load with?
I suggest buying silk worms ASAP chams pretty much can not resist them and the moisture content should help.
 
I'm not sure of the antibiotics but they were diluted.

Unfortunately today I saw him continue to struggle to pass solids, saw some bark out of his backside. My blood is boiling with the vets after being told he’s fine, its ‘poor husbandry’. After demanding an x-ray on Friday 4 days ago and basically told to go home. He has been kept in overnight, he will be having an x-ray in the morning.
You know more about your animal than any Vet make sure you tell them what you want them to do not the other way around.

I will be in first thing tomorrow morning to speak to the owner
 
I hope your chameleon will be ok. Unfortunately, I think I will use this thread for an example to prove to people not to use substrate. I am not sure why you were using it with all the advice given on here not to. There have been people on here who have said they do not see anything wrong with using it and will argue the fact. Again, I hope yours is able to pass the bark he injested and makes a full recovery.
 
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