Chameleon Poop 101

looks like when my panther has too many horn worms and he holds his poop for a week then this middle finger sized monster comes out and the urate is orange like that.
 
Only around here would you hear that!! yea!!
Right?! Speaking of poop and urates, I just fed my little zenomorph 3 hornworms to hydrate him because his urates haven't been beautiful. He's got a dripper and is misted several times a day. How can I better encourage drinking? I've moved the dripper several places. Any ideas?? :confused::unsure:
 

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Right?! Speaking of poop and urates, I just fed my little zenomorph 3 hornworms to hydrate him because his urates haven't been beautiful. He's got a dripper and is misted several times a day. How can I better encourage drinking? I've moved the dripper several places. Any ideas?? :confused::unsure:

Do you hand mist or have an automatic? The best solution would be to get an automatic and have it go off longer and more often.
 
Do you hand mist or have an automatic? The best solution would be to get an automatic and have it go off longer and more often.
I hand mist so far. Getting an automatic mister is on my list of things to do in next week or two! Until then?
 
I hand mist so far. Getting an automatic mister is on my list of things to do in next week or two! Until then?

Until then I would just keep misting as much as I could and maybe set up a couple more drippers in different places. You could use plastic cups and poke a hole in the bottom. I used to put ice cubes on top of my screen and those would drip and last a while. The automatic mister will do the trick once you get it though and a week isn't too far out.
 
Is this a trick of the camera or do his legs look like they have extra joints / bendy looking? If yes I would recommend a vet check up and advice at a qualified herp vet. I could be wrong but this chameleon does not look healthy to me.
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One way we can monitor the health of our chameleons is monitoring their bowel movements (poop) for any problems. To be able to identify problems, first you need to be able to recognize what is or is not normal. There are two parts to a bowel movement in chameleons - a brown part (feces) and a white part (urates).

Feces
The brown part is feces from digested food like any animal will make. It should be brown or almost black, soft but firm, and have a well formed shape. Generally chameleon feces do not smell very much, if at all. If undigested insect parts are seen in the feces temperatures may not be appropriate or intestinal parasites may be altering digestion (see below). If many soft bodied worms are fed it may cause runny feces due to the extra hydration from the worms.
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Image compliments of Trace

Urates
The white part of a bowel movement is called 'urates' and represents a more solidified version of urine. Reptiles have evolved to use water more efficiently so instead of urinating, they only excrete a concentrated solid waste and retain most of the fluid. This is especially useful in regions when water is not plentiful to prevent dehydration. Urates should be white, soft but firm and may have a chalky texture. A yellow tinge is okay but orange urates indicate that your chameleon may not be getting enough water. If your chameleon defecates infrequently the end of the urates may be more orange but the rest still looks white. The longer the urates sit in the body the more fluid is reabsorbed from them back into the body. A small amount of mostly clear fluid with the urates is true urine and indicates good hydration, but is not always present.
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Image compliments of Trace

Frequency
How often your chameleon defecates depends on how often it eats, how much it eats and how long it basks. Basking is necessary for good metabolism and digestion of food, so low temperatures can delay digestion. Each chameleon can have a different pattern. Some will defecate every day (especially when younger) while other may be once every few days, once a week or once every two weeks. Most adult chameleons defecate once or twice a week generally.

Sperm Plugs
With the bowel movement of male chameleons you will usually see sperm plugs. These are a pair of white soft waxy deposits that dry out quickly.

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Hemipenes
Sometimes you will see a red organ come out during a male's bowel movement for a short time and then to back into the body. That organ is a hemipene - the male reproductive organ. As long as it goes back in then it is nothing to worry about.

Parasites
Intestinal parasites can alter digestive processes as well as the bowel movement consistency or smell. Very soft, liquid or smelly feces could indicate an intestinal parasite problem. Only rarely with a large parasite burden will you be able to actually see the worm in the feces. For almost all intestinal parasite infections the only way to detect them is to look for the microscopic ova (eggs). The worms remain in the intestines and periodically shed ova that come out of the body in the feces where it can infect other animals if given the opportunity. Most parasites are not contagious to humans but always wash your hands well when you come into contact with fecal material.

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Fecal exams
To detect parasites in feces collect some of the fresh feces (brown) portion with a tissue or paper towel and keep it in a sealed ziplock bag. If the feces are dried out wait for a fresher sample. You can store the fecal sample in a cool place for up to eight hours before delivering it to the vet. You can store it overnight in the refrigerator if you need to. Since excess heat or cold can kill the organisms in the feces, thus defeating your purpose for collecting it to begin with, don't freeze it or leave it in your car. Urates are not needed for fecal testing.

The primary fecal test the vet will do is a fecal flotation to check the feces for the presence of worm ova. A specific mineral solution is combined with the provided feces so that the ova separate from the feces and float to the top where they can collected and looked at under the microscope. Some intestinal parasites like protozoans are microscopic and can be seen in the feces themselves by performing a direct smear, where diluted feces are placed on a microscopic slide immediately for examination. Medication will be administered depending upon the type of organism found.

It is recommended to have fecal exams done on at least a yearly basis to detect parasites.

Some owners may want to do fecal exams themselves and can purchase the microscope and necessary supplies. If a parasite or ova is found the sample should still be taken to the vet for confirmation and to prescribe appropriate medications at the correct dosage. Dez has made a video on performing fecal floats for those interested. https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-do-fecal-float-video-111996/

Examples of bowel movements:

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Normal bowel movement

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Normal bowel movement and sperm plug on the rock next to it.

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Normal feces and urates

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Orange urates from inadequate hydration.

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Large normal bowel movement

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Mostly white urates and normal feces. This bowel movement was about a week after the previous one, so a little orange of the urates is okay.

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Diarrhea due to a lot of hornworms in the diet which are very juicy.
This is so very helpful and thank you for sharing!! I never thought I'd be monitoring bowel movements of a Cham, but I'm prepared now!! Awesome info
 
Need some advice with my new adult male ambilobe's poo check.

he's a 18-month, fully grown ambilobe male. i got him on the night of 7 August, he was shipped out to me on 7 August morning, i received him at night. Fed him lots of silkworm and honey worm the next morning (8 August)

pls help me take a look at his poo and urates

on 8 August, his urates are pretty solid, looking good.

but on 9 August (this evening), his urates look very watery.

could it be because i fed him too much worms?

addy-shit-9August_zpsvx02udaf.jpg
 

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Need some advice with my new adult male ambilobe's poo check.

he's a 18-month, fully grown ambilobe male. i got him on the night of 7 August, he was shipped out to me on 7 August morning, i received him at night. Fed him lots of silkworm and honey worm the next morning (8 August)

pls help me take a look at his poo and urates

on 8 August, his urates are pretty solid, looking good.

but on 9 August (this evening), his urates look very watery.

could it be because i fed him too much worms?

addy-shit-9August_zpsvx02udaf.jpg
Worms are pretty juicy, if it stays more fluid and he seems poorly, worry then, but alternate between dusted crickets and worms for variety.
 
my adult ambilobe is very active, climbing around the cage like a monkey. but his urates remain watery for a 2nd day. should i be worried?
 
Doesn't surprise me either w/ an excess of feeder worms. Staple of the diet should be crickets or roaches. Worms are treats like cotton candy. Just to be on top of things though, IMHO you should at least once a year have a fecal sample taken to your vet. Poop talk is so entertaining, and the 12 year old inside me had to say it at least once.
 
my adult ambilobe is very active, climbing around the cage like a monkey. but his urates remain watery for a 2nd day. should i be worried?
Best thing you can do for both yourself and your chameleon is stay calm. I wouldn't worry, you just got him a couple days ago, and he's still settling in. Due to the fact that he's new to your home, set up an appointment w/ your vet and have him checked out. Find a vet in your area that has experience w/ reptiles. If you don't know where to start, post a thread in the Health section asking for recommendations from other members. There might be another member in your area. I'm in Tampa btw.
 
Best thing you can do for both yourself and your chameleon is stay calm. I wouldn't worry, you just got him a couple days ago, and he's still settling in. Due to the fact that he's new to your home, set up an appointment w/ your vet and have him checked out. Find a vet in your area that has experience w/ reptiles. If you don't know where to start, post a thread in the Health section asking for recommendations from other members. There might be another member in your area. I'm in Tampa btw.

Agreeing care wise with melbe68, first few days can be stressful. I think us Brits have a more colourful array of "poop talk" :)
 
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