Cham Concern

[Munch]

Hello. I've had a few concerns with my new Cham, Munch lately. It began with sleeping during the day, but we resolved that by keeping his nightlight off. He's been losing his balance lately and has fallen just a few times. Also, when a cricket comes by he gaps his mouth open, then closes it. Other than that he's a normal Cham. He eats well and has no other issues or red flags. We have a two week warranty on him, so if he needs to be brought to the veterinarian, it's on the house. Just please let me know if he needs veterinary attention. Thanks!

 

[GabeCastro]

please fill out this form https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ so we can get a better idea on what to help you out with. Also pictures are a huge plus if you can get some. Just copy/paste the questions to your original post, then answer them, and save changes.

-Gabe

 

[Munch]

Okay no problem :

We replaced the Eco earth soil with paper towels changed daily due to him eating a little of the soil.

Munch is a Jackson's chameleon ; male ; we've had him for 6 days now
We do not handle him often. We've handled him about twice in the past days we've owned him
We are feeding him gut loaded crickets and mealworms from time to time. He is fed five large crickets in the mornings and is given the rest of the day to digest the food.
We are not currently using any supplements in his diet. We will as soon as we can
For water, we use a drip system and mist the plants thoroughly. We mist him about 4-5 times daily for about 30 seconds. We use a pressure misting bottle instead of a manual bottle
His feces is black with a tiny bit of brown, mixed with white drops. He has been tested for parasites
He was purchased from a local Petco

His cage is an all screen Xtra large Reptibreeze. Dimensions are 24"x24"x48"
We are using a UVB tropical 26w reptile light bulb from Exo Terra. It is left on for approximately 12 hours of the daytime and turned off for the nighttime after that.

Temperature:
Top ; daytime: 76F
Middle ; daytime: 74F
Bottom ; daytime: 72F

Top ; nighttime: 73F
Middle ; nighttime: 70F
Bottom ; nighttime: 68F

Humidity is about 72% They are maintained through misting and a controlled fog system.
All plants are artificial. There is one reptile vine and one cork stump included
Cage is located in a bedroom, about 5 feet from a fan, away from the one vent. It is about 3 1/2 feet from the floor. On top of a dresser.
We are located in Odessa , Florida.

 

[natureboy86]

Okay no problem :

We replaced the Eco earth soil with paper towels changed daily due to him eating a little of the soil.

Munch is a Jackson's chameleon ; male ; we've had him for 6 days now
We do not handle him often. We've handled him about twice in the past days we've owned him
We are feeding him gut loaded crickets and mealworms from time to time. He is fed five large crickets in the mornings and is given the rest of the day to digest the food.
We are not currently using any supplements in his diet. We will as soon as we can
For water, we use a drip system and mist the plants thoroughly. We mist him about 4-5 times daily for about 30 seconds. We use a pressure misting bottle instead of a manual bottle
His feces is black with a tiny bit of brown, mixed with white drops. He has been tested for parasites
He was purchased from a local Petco

His cage is an all screen Xtra large Reptibreeze. Dimensions are 24"x24"x48"
We are using a UVB tropical 26w reptile light bulb from Exo Terra. It is left on for approximately 12 hours of the daytime and turned off for the nighttime after that.

Temperature:
Top ; daytime: 76F
Middle ; daytime: 74F
Bottom ; daytime: 72F

Top ; nighttime: 73F
Middle ; nighttime: 70F
Bottom ; nighttime: 68F

Humidity is about 72% They are maintained through misting and a controlled fog system.
All plants are artificial. There is one reptile vine and one cork stump included
Cage is located in a bedroom, about 5 feet from a fan, away from the one vent. It is about 3 1/2 feet from the floor. On top of a dresser.
We are located in Odessa , Florida.

Sounds like you have a lot of stuff in order. I'm not vet, but the falling could be a result of calcium and vitamin defficiency. As far as the gaping at the crickets, perhaps he's getting tired of them. Try providing a larger variety of feeders other than crickets and meal worms... Either that, or maybe your giving him the worms too frequently, and he's getting picky now and doesn't like the crickets???

I highly recomment dubia roaches.. My dude goes CRAZY for them, and sometimes gets tired of crickets.

few suggestions:

You should definitely be dusting your feeders with Calcium each day, and supplement Calcium with D3 every other week, same with a multi vitamin.

Regarding your temps, you're saying 76 degrees is the warmest temp in the enclosure?? I'm not too familiar with Jacksons, as I have a veiled, but I believe your cham should have a warmer basking spot, roughly around 85 degrees at least. I keep mine between 85-95 degrees at the basking spot.

Regarding lights, you mentioned the UVB bulb you use, but what about the basking bulb? You do have a seperate lamp for heat, right? if not, you should get one asap and put in a regular house bulb, non coiled, in it and place it on the top of the cage pointing down to achieve a basking area for your cham.

Regarding your misting, does everything in the enclosure dry completely prior to each misting?? I'm worried that maybe the misting isn't spread out enough, and everything is wet constantly without a chance to dry. If this is a case, it's building a prefect breeding ground for bacteria, and can cause many harmful things for your cham.

Just my two cents

 

[VigilantSpearIII]

Hello. I've had a few concerns with my new Cham, Munch lately. It began with sleeping during the day, but we resolved that by keeping his nightlight off. He's been losing his balance lately and has fallen just a few times. Also, when a cricket comes by he gaps his mouth open, then closes it. Other than that he's a normal Cham. He eats well and has no other issues or red flags. We have a two week warranty on him, so if he needs to be brought to the veterinarian, it's on the house. Just please let me know if he needs veterinary attention. Thanks!

I see your setup is good, I would get a basking spot in there at around 80-85 F just in case you dont have one. One thing I would like to let you know though... Petco, Petsmarts warranty is terrible. They wont send the guy to a vet if you take him back. In fact they will just resell him and replace him when he is sold or dies. Its sad, but it is what has happened in the past to myself, and to people I know.

On another note, loss of grip could be because of lack of calcium, get a calcium without D3 and dust his meals. Kudos!

 

[kinyonga]

If it is the beginning of MBD you will have to give it more calcium than normal to correct it....then give it the normal recommended amount to stop it from recurring.

 

[Olimpia]

With Jackson's, you do not want to supplement them as often as you would other species, since they're more sensitive to overdosing. You want to do use plain calcium (no vitamin D3 and no phosphorous) about 1-2 a week, and then the calcium with vitamin D and the separate multivitamin about every 3-4 weeks, lightly.

Calcium deficiencies can cause muscular issues, so you may have to use the plain calcium a little more often to see if this corrects the issue.

But I do agree that your basking spot (you can use any household incandescent light bulb, probably in a 40-60w, to make warm spot in an upper corner of the cage) closer to 80-85F. The rest of the temps are fine, but he will need something a little warmer to properly bask.