asking for help properly

[ScreamingIncognito]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Pantherabout 8 months old i have had it for about 2 now
Handling -used to be every other day. now every days because i take him to the tub to give him long showers
Feeding - when i can get hornworms and silkworms i buy some but i can only get them from one pet store once a week so he only gets 2 or 3 a week, and super worms sometimes also only 2 or 3 a week (when i dont have horn or silk worms) other than that you can only get crickets around here. gut loaded with frozen cubes of a blend of apple,orange,collard greens,sweet potato that melts into a mush in a tray thing for them
Supplements - Exoterra all 3 calcium W/D3 multivite and plain calcium. when he was eating non stop i did one day of each maybe two. he has recently slowed eating i think. should i ease up on supplementing?
Watering - When i spray his cage i mist for 30 sec or so i have misting system now and i rarely ever see him drink so i take him to my tub put him on a plant and shower him for half hour while he drinks it out the air (spoiled little monster) but i never see him drink so i dont know what else to do
Fecal Description - well when i see it on the ground its brown with nice white urate just the other day i saw him actually going it look mucus covered and left some white mucus looking stuff on branch this normal?
History - just noticed today he is stairting to shed and slowed eating other than that at 8 months he sure is a looker he is nosy faly with LOTS of red rain coming through and white on the head and chin and i will do anything for him

Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen 18x18x36
Lighting - ExoTerra compact top the 2 coil bulb kind though there is only 1 coil bulb in i was warned not to put both in when i got him at 6 months he is now 8
Temperature - his basking spot was 90 when the bulb was the infared then i was told not to use those so i got a reptiglow now it is 80, overnight it drops to 70 sometimes a little lower i am worried about the winter as my house gets kinda cold at night( i live in alberta up in canada eh ) i measure with the analogue guages i know its not the best.
Humidity - i mist with a water bottle a few times a day and becase my house is also dry i take him up to the shower and put him on a plant and mist him for 20 min or so 1 or 2 times a day (its the only way i ever see him drink he licks it out of the air he never licks leaves like he is supposed to any advice on fixing this side issue? also i bought a misting system today.
Plants - i was using some fake some real tonight i bought more now i only have one fake plant and some vines all real plants i cant remember all the names but i know there on FLchams safe plant list except for the ponytail palm i bought today but some other websites said it is ok
Placement -it is in my basement by my bedroom my basement has cement walls and floor which is why it gets colder in winter but so good for having a mising system. my cage is on a kitchen table sized table. very low traffic basically only me thats why he is down there also my roomate smokes upstairs somtimes. its not a huge basement and the furnace is somewhat near by it has vents that blow out some hot air thats aboout it.
Location -i live in Medicine Hat, AB Canada

Current Problem -my panther cham was closing his eye all the time and rolling it around in the "turret" and bulging it out. so i thought it was irritated so i gave him long warm mistings which i still am doing daily. then 2 mornings now i can see it looks like there is something in his eye so i got some vetricin eye drops incase or infection which i put in after his mistings but he is still bulging his eye out a lot and rolling it around like its irritated. and i am now not supplementing as i think it could be over supplementing

 

[Elizadolots]

That whole "bulging eye" thing is really creepy and scary, but it's not usually a big problem. It is possible that there's a bit of shed stuck in the eye.

Is he sitting around with his eye closed, or is he just occasionally shutting his eye and doing the bulge and roll thing? If the former, that's more of a concern.

Your supplement schedule is not the standard board recommendation. Here, the suggestion is Calcium without D3 every day. Calcium with D3 twice a month. A multivitamin once or twice a month (note how it's mostly calcium!)

What is the exact name of the ExoTerra bulb you have? There are some which are great, some which are not.

Your fecal description seems normal to me. It always looks a bit "slimier" when being produced.

It's normal for them to stop eating as much when they hit their adult size. It's not unusual for people to feed them only 3 or 4 times a week once they are full grown.

I strongly recommend setting up a dripper so there is water dripping for hours at a time. That does sort of require you set up some sort of drainage. There are lots of threads about that, but if you want some suggestions, just send me a PM.

 

[carol5208]

The mucous looking stuff on the branch is more than likely sperm! Mine wipes it on the branches all the time and often times after he poops. So I say normal!

 

[ScreamingIncognito]

reply

well first it started with him closing one eye. so i started doing long hot showers and i havent seen it much since. then one or two mornings recently i saw some gunk or something in his eye (opposite eye than he originally shut) and saw him rub it on a branch and thought maybe an infection so i got the vetricin drops which i put in afte each long hot shower i give him. got a monsoon mister system today will be hooking it up tomorrow morning if i have enough time before work. i do believe i have is narrowed down to low humidity or over supplementation so i will stop supplementing for a few days then slowly back on calcium then to your suggested schedual with the d3 and multi. also i have an old hood that uses a linear tube light. better off just to get a new 5.0 for that one? and the bulb in the one i have now is the exo terra 5.0 coil i think i know its exo terra anyways which are supposed to be good

and just as a small side note anybody know any tricks to get my cham to drink off the real plants i have and leaves and such i never ever see him drink this is a second reason i give him loong long warm showers he starts licking the water out the air not even off the big old plant i have him on but i dont mind doing it so much cause he even climbs up the plant and faces the spray all the time so he must like it

 

[Elizadolots]

Do you have a dripper?

My suggestion is to get the dripper going, mist, then leave. However, 30 seconds might not be enough. When I mist I first spray the enclosure, then I concentrate on the "roof" and spray at an angle to get the mesh coated with water so it drips like rain. I keep that up so it rains for at least 30 seconds before I stop.

Then I walk away. I let my chameleons have some time in the rain with me out of the room.

This does mean I don't see them drink. However, that's actually quite normal. I rely on "poop gazing" to gauge whether they are getting enough water.

Note that one of mine will drink in front of me readily....I have no idea why he's so cool with it...but the other? Nope...I've had him a year and I think I've seen him drink 10 times.

 

[ataraxia]

id get rid of the coil - in the past have caused serious eye issues. could be one of the reasons for eye closed or cleaning as it could be irritated from it.

keep with the mistings - if he shed recently. maybe he has some in his eye and he is trying to work it out. does he sit there with his eye bulged?

i would not put anything in his eyes till you know for sure what you are workign with. i understand the need to treat first and second guess later but in this case i dont think it is needed. many people throw stuff in the eyes then cause more problems.

what is your schedule with your current supplements?

what is multivite. who makes it? we need to make sure he is getting a usable source of vit A.

have any pictures?