Chameleon not doing ok

V

Vachekiri

New Member
Hey everyone, I'm new here. A few days ago I bought a 1 year old panther chameleon from Facebook marketplace. Yeah not a good idea, I know.

The enclosure he came with is really big, but the heat lamps were really bad, low wattage, and there was no uvb light. He's only been fed powdered mealworms and super worms.

I've been fixing all that. A new heatlamp that gives more warmth, a uvb lamp, i have a thermometer and a hygrometer to keep an eye on things. This afternoon I'm going to give the vet a stool sample.

I've been trying to give him crickets but it's like he can't aim from them very well. He hasn't eaten in two days now so I'm very worried. Also he's been drinking a lot.

Any advice is treatly appreciated 👍
IMG20231026103000.jpg
 
Hi and welcome.
Sorry you and are going through this. Giving you the best help, it’s best to filled out following form (just copy&paste) I’m wondering about your UVB? Aiming problem could be a supplementation misbalance or MBD. Seeing your boys front legs I’m already guessing MBD or maybe both.

This is the form and please add more pics of your boy.


Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
 
Sonny13 said:
Hi and welcome.
Sorry you and are going through this. Giving you the best help, it’s best to filled out following form (just copy&paste) I’m wondering about your UVB? Aiming problem could be a supplementation misbalance or MBD. Seeing your boys front legs I’m already guessing MBD or maybe both.

This is the form and please add more pics of your boy.


Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply Sonny

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? He is 1 year old male panther chameleon, been in care for 2 days
    • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I have left him alone as much as I could. However, the previous owners handled him a lot, even took him outsite his cage for multiple hours, sadly. It angries me so much.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I have been feeding him crickets dusted with calcium and vitamin mix. No gut loading yet, but Im working on that. I have tried feeding him in the mornings and afternoon. Tried cup feeding, hand feeding, or just leaving them in the cage, no luck :/ The previous owner says he also gave him crickets sometimes but mostly mealworms :/
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? It's called Sera reptimineral C, I'm in Holland so it's prob not well known in the states. It contains calcium, phosphor and sodium
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I mist and when I do he will straightly got for the watered areas and drink. He drinks a lot.
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? I've looked at the droppings page on this forum and so far I only found dark brown droppings and not the white ones. I'm getting the droppings tested as soon as I can.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Apparently he lived together with a gold gecko, that how I got him. Of course I immediatly seperated them and bought e terrarium for the gecko and new lamps. I have no words to describe what I feel about the previous owner :/

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Its a glass screen combo, the dimensions are 1 meter in height, 1 meter in length and 60 cm in depth
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? For warmth I have an arcadia solarflood 100W, for UVB a ProT5 arcadia (pictures below)
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Cage floor is about 25C and the basking spot around 32C, overnight it drops to 18C
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? During the day around 40-50, at night around 80
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Not using live plants yet, but planning on buying a Benjamin fucia and some trailing plants
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? He's placed in an orangerie, so It's windows everywhere. Its not a high traffic area and there are no drafts or vents here, but he is situated next to a giant aquarium with a turtle, and the waterfall does make some sound. His cage is on the floor, so I guess that's also an issue?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Holland, europe

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. He looks a bit sickly and doesn't eat. I also suspect MBT. What can I do to make him feel good?
 
You already got some good things. The Arcadia uvb is a good one, but (correct me if I’m wrong) its laying on the glass top and uvb can’t penetrate through glass, meaning your boy is getting any uvb. This could be one reason he isn’t doing well. I would also take the fixture out of the enclosure and place them on top. Regarding supplements, try to pick up Arcadia Earth Pro-A and Revitalise D, easy to get in the Netherlands. These are best to use and then every feeding the earth pro and once per 2 weeks the Revitalise. Great you‘re getting him live plants and more branches.
This is a great resource for information and setting up the basics https://chameleonacademy.com/caresheets/

Then about the MBD, his right front leg looks normal. But his left leg is suspicious, does it make a nice 90 degrees angle or is it more bent (curved)?

Also other members will chime in for better reviews of the husbandry.

En welkom weer een Nederlander bij de big community 😉
 
I'm actually Belgian but live in the Netherlands and love it here 💕

Thank you for the advice, I will go to the store later today to buy the supplements.

Here is a video of my chameleon, Rocky, eating or at least trying to eat. You will be able to see his feet moving a bit better

 
Vachekiri said:
Thank you for the reply Sonny

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? He is 1 year old male panther chameleon, been in care for 2 days
    • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I have left him alone as much as I could. However, the previous owners handled him a lot, even took him outsite his cage for multiple hours, sadly. It angries me so much. Perfect, don’t stress him to much right now.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I have been feeding him crickets dusted with calcium and vitamin mix. No gut loading yet, but Im working on that. I have tried feeding him in the mornings and afternoon. Tried cup feeding, hand feeding, or just leaving them in the cage, no luck :/ The previous owner says he also gave him crickets sometimes but mostly mealworms :/ Try www.happyreptiles.nl to order a variety of feeders. Like Redrunners, Dubia’s, Locusts and phoenix worms. Gut loading is easy, just feed raw veggies or fruit.
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? It's called Sera reptimineral C, I'm in Holland so it's prob not well known in the states. It contains calcium, phosphor and sodium. See my post about Arcadia
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I mist and when I do he will straightly got for the watered areas and drink. He drinks a lot. When they drink a lot it means he was dehydrated, but a good thing he’s drinking. Checking his poop gives you an indication about his hydration status. The poop should be white, with possible slight orange or yellow. If only yellow or orange it indicates dehydrated. Personally I would go for an automatic mister, that runs in the morning before lights go on and evening just before lights go off, both for 1 minute. But drainage could be a problem with your enclosure. But, your enclosure is perfect for bioactive, this is how I did it https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/project-royal-penthouse-suite-ranjo.183628/
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? I've looked at the droppings page on this forum and so far I only found dark brown droppings and not the white ones. I'm getting the droppings tested as soon as I can. perfect and see above.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Apparently he lived together with a gold gecko, that how I got him. Of course I immediatly seperated them and bought e terrarium for the gecko and new lamps. I have no words to describe what I feel about the previous owner :/ No cohabitation

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Its a glass screen combo, the dimensions are 1 meter in height, 1 meter in length and 60 cm in depth
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? For warmth I have an arcadia solarflood 100W, for UVB a ProT5 arcadia (pictures below) See my other post
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Cage floor is about 25C and the basking spot around 32C, overnight it drops to 18C
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? During the day around 40-50, at night around 80
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Not using live plants yet, but planning on buying a Benjamin fucia and some trailing plants Great, the more the better
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? He's placed in an orangerie, so It's windows everywhere. Its not a high traffic area and there are no drafts or vents here, but he is situated next to a giant aquarium with a turtle, and the waterfall does make some sound. His cage is on the floor, so I guess that's also an issue? Best is to place it as high as possible from the floor. The higher they sit, the more secure they feel, meaning less stressed.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Holland, europe Same 😎

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. He looks a bit sickly and doesn't eat. I also suspect MBT. What can I do to make him feel good?
Click to expand...
 
Vachekiri said:
I'm actually Belgian but live in the Netherlands and love it here 💕

Thank you for the advice, I will go to the store later today to buy the supplements.

Here is a video of my chameleon, Rocky, eating or at least trying to eat. You will be able to see his feet moving a bit better

Click to expand...

Once the UVB light will reach him, maybe this one needs to go inside if no other options possible, then this will better for him.
 
Welcome to the forum!! You’re in great hands here! I’m not experienced enough to help with getting this little guy back to good, I’ll leave that to others. You’ve gotten great advice from Sonny and I’m sure others will chime in as well but I wanted to thank you for getting him from the market place. I know you stated not the best idea but I do believe if you didn’t do that, this guys life would have been coming to an end very soon. It sounds like your heart is invested in giving this guy the best life he can have going forward and that’s awesome!
😊
 
Thanks for the great advice @Sonny13 ! 😁

So far I've place the cage on top of a cabinet, I've added some live plants and changed the placing of the UVB plant. He's eaten some crickets and locust and it seems like his tongue is doing fine now.
On monday some new insects will arrive and I will start gut feeding. I've also ordered a mist creator and the viramins you advised. So far so good 😊

IMG20231028173610.jpg
 
Hi there welcome to the forum. :)

Really watch your temps with all of those basking fixtures... Basking for him should be no hotter than 80-85 max. I think your bulb wattage may be far too intense for an inside position. ambient temps in the cage should be low 70's. Get a wired gauge with a probe to test your actual basking temp. You want one spot that is warm not multiples.

With the UVB did you buy the 6% bulb or the 12% bulb in the proT5?

Watch him with the moss in the bottom should he start picking at it you will deal with an impacition risk.
 
Vachekiri said:
Thanks for the great advice @Sonny13 ! 😁

So far I've place the cage on top of a cabinet, I've added some live plants and changed the placing of the UVB plant. He's eaten some crickets and locust and it seems like his tongue is doing fine now.
On monday some new insects will arrive and I will start gut feeding. I've also ordered a mist creator and the viramins you advised. So far so good 😊

View attachment 345670
Click to expand...
Perfect, perfect! Next step in fine tuning is adding branches of different diameters. At the moment you got the maximum extent of his feet and he also needs thinner branches, branches where his feet can fully grip (enclose the branch). They need this for developing full grip strength.
 
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