See my feedback in red bold. Let me know what questions you have?
- Your Chameleon - panther chameleon, male, 2yr and 4 months old, has been in my care since he was 3 months old.
- Handling - almost never handle
- Feeding - I feel him mostly dubia around 4 and crickets around 5. One or two superworms as a treat. He also gets BSFL and wax works every once in a while. I feed him every other day. I would say I lack in gut loading at times but I try to give them dark greens. So he is a little overweight. You can tell by how full his casque and cheeks are. After a year old they should be on an every other day feeding of 3-5 feeders. For gutload if doing all fresh greens is a bit to keep up with you can get repashy bug burger mix according to directions and then put it in a tupperware in your fridge. Cut out blocks of it for your feeders.
- Supplements - i use reptical w/out D3 mostly and calcium w/ D3 or a multivitamin alternating at the end of each week. ( however I go my memory and I am not very regimented)
- Watering - I use a mist king misting system that mists in the morning around the time the light turn on and at night around the time the light turn on for 5 min. As well as noon and midnight for 2. I see him eat and drink. I would switch up his supplements... Drop the calcium with D3 and the reptivite without D3 and replace these with Repashy Calcium plus LoD version. Then you would lightly dust feeders on say the 1st and 15th of the month. Then at all other feedings you would do calcium without D3 lightly dusted.
- Fecal Description - he has not been tested for parasites however his urates look white. This is always a good thing to test for however with him being obese I doubt there is a parasite issue. They typically are much thinner when they have a parasite load.
- History - he has had the bump on his side for about a year. It didn’t bother him so I didn’t do anything. It recently came off with his last shed but had left a mark. However, another one formed on his foot as well recently. Concern with this is what is it... There are a few things like papiloma that you really do want to know if that is the cause as it is contagious to other reptiles. Also depending on what it is there could be further health issues that stem from it.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - 2x2x4 screen enclosure with three sides covered in shower curtain
- Lighting - I use reprising 75w basking bulb. Also reprising T5 HO linear UVB bulb. This bulb was last changed in may. I also use a plant light. For UVB which bulb strength are you using?
- Temperature - my basking spot I believe is around 80. Mid cage where his hydrometer/thermometer is is around 70. I use am I fared thermometer. Are you supposed to point it on the basking branch? so these will only tell you surface temp. You really want a temp gauge with probe hooked in at the basking branch below the heat to get an accurate reading on basking temp.
- Humidity - typically between 40-75%. I use a hydrometer in his cage. Anything above 60% daytime is going to be too much for him. Typically looking for a 50% daytime.
- Plants - I use a combo of live and fake. I try and use pathos however my plant light is too powerful and I think it kills them so they ever grow to be big and fill it out like I want them to. I do not think it is your lighting. Your plant lighting is what you want to have. Typically with pothos being too dry or far to wet will kill them off.
- Placement - cage is in the bed room not in high traffic area. We have a fan that we run every night in the room. The top of tue cage is 6ft from the floor.
- Location - i am in Michigan.
My panther chameleon who is about 2 years old has been struggling with a weak grip and I’ve recently noticed that he hasn’t been holding branches properly. He also has had a bump on his side for a long time but it never really seemed to bother him. Recently a second small one showed up on his foot and the bump came off when he shed but left a strange bump. Is he vitamin deficient or does he have a fungal infection?
Attached are pictures of him sleeping and a picture I tried to get of the bump that came off. Before it was white and sticking out. Now it’s dark and sticks out around the sides Where the skin used to meet the bump.
For the bumps... You want to get him into a good reptile vet and have a biopsy done. Concern about the grip is what could be causing it. Bloodwork to rule out renal issues would be a good thing. Do you have a really good reptile vet you could take him to?
your panther is such a beauty, there are a lot of awesome people here who know a lot more than me that will chime in soon and i’m sorry this is happening
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