Baby Food

[Reptilelover47]

Ok, so my Panther Chameleon has a sinus infection and I brought him to the vet last night. We put him on baytril and anti-inflammatory eye drops. The infection had spread to his mouth and his eyes have mucus. I'm raising the temperature in his enclosure, I'll be cleaning his mouth with 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and water. Any other suggestions to help him feel better quicker would be great.

He hasn't been eating since he has been feeling very lousy. He just rests all day. I know the antibiotics will take time to set in, but I want to get him eating again to help him get better, gain some weight back, and get some nutrients in him. He drinks water and he takes his antibiotic orally for me, so my thought is mixing baby food and water and giving him that. Has anyone ever tried that? (I've done it for a gecko in the past who couldn't catch his food due to an eye problem. He did not like banana baby food. lol.) Could you recommend a flavor your cham likes? He does not like fruits or veggies, he's a very picky eater, but he's fine with liquids. I can put a syringe up to his mouth and create a steady stream in front of him and he'll drink from it. Has anyone else used baby food before? A few people have thought "why not use applesauce?", but my guess is that would be too sugary for him and he probably wouldn't like the sweetness of it being that he has no interest in actual fruits and veggies…. what do you think?

Thank you
-Serena

 

[fluxlizard]

When I used to "shotgun" treat fresh imported chameleons in the 1990s, I would use a slurry made of baby food chicken flavor, plain yogurt with live acidophilus, and pedyalite and assist feed throughout treatment with antibiotics. Many chameleons gained a lot of weight fast on that slurry.

I think your veterinarian can get you a good assist feed (oxbow?) nowadays that is probably better.

For that matter, repashy crested gecko or gargoyle gecko diet might make a nice assist feed, especially since your lizard will willingly drink it up...

Throughout assist feed I always offered live food. The slurry I made goes through the lizard pretty quickly (easily digested), and usually by the end of the 10 days, the chameleons would already be feeding on their own in addition to the slurry.

 

[Reptilelover47]

Thank you! Great advice! In the mean time I did give him some sweet potato baby food, he loved it. Def still offering live food, but he has no interest yet. He's def lost weight