Chameleon thinks he's a dog?? help:)

[EmilioPichardo]

Hey guys ive been a bit worried because my chameleon lately has been scratching his front legs and sometimes his body like a dog :S anybody ever seen this or heard about it??? it kinda freaks me out i hope is nothing major

Thanks in advance

 

[lumbasammler]

Hello,
i´d say he either has skin problems or parasites.
Time to take him to the vet

 

[allencg101]

he might be getting ready to shed if so a warm shower can help with this. but if you have snakes or rodents of any type and use wood shavings as a bed for them of them to hide in. or any cats or dogs you let in and out of the house. he may have dust mites this can cause havoc on the little fellow or substrate. if so your going to have to treat your whole place to get ride of them if so, use the mite spray from a reptile store or exotic pet store that way it will be safe for your cham and won't cause problems for the little critter.

 

[Citizen Snips]

mine did this when he shed for the first time in my care

 

[lumbasammler]

You should try to increase the humidity, just in case he´s about to shed. If so the scratching most probably means that it is to dry for him to shed without problems.

 

[EmilioPichardo]

thnx guys but is not a shed problem because he had his first shed with me a week ago and it was perfect... i mist his enclosure more than 6 times a day he has a driper and humidity stays around the 60% =/

 

[lumbasammler]

Then you should take him to the vet.
Try to take a closer look at the places he´s scratching, maybe you can see something unusual

 

[Montium]

A trip to a good cham vet is certainly in order. It could also be early signs of MBD, so you want to find out either way.

 

[Citizen Snips]

I think a video and or pictures are in order.

 

[EmilioPichardo]

here are some recent pictures and catching a video of him doing it is a bit hard =/ cause is not like he's doing that all day

 

[Ekaj13]

Could you tell us how you supplement/dust his food?

 

[seanUTD]

I don't see anything on his skin that is obvious... I would still take him to a vet to be sure and I would DEFINITELY go with a deep cage cleaning as I agree that mites may have invaded... Repot plants, clean leaves... Overall get that enclosure clean

 

[kongchi]

He might have a splinter or cut or even a bug bite there. The problem with free ranging food inside an enclosure is that sometimes the bugs can attack while your cham sleeps for his/her 12 hour sleeps.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Well the pics look like a normal, healthy Cham, so without video of it, the problem could be anything from over paranoid keeper to mites/parasites/skin infection/any other speculation.......
Totally impossible one, so how long has it been going on? And if you are really concerned then do what lumbasammler always recommends and go to a vet

 

[EmilioPichardo]

like 3 days ago ive seen him do that... my dusting sched is... calcium with no D3 mon-fri... calcium with D3 twice a month and multi-vit twice a month... and i dont think his food is biting him cause they barely stay alive in there can you guys give me tips on cleaning the cage plz i appreciate everyone that has commented

 

[lumbasammler]

First go to the vet and have it´s poo analyzed. Cleaning the cage is only nessecary when there are parasites found in the poo or on hin skin.

 

[laurie]

like 3 days ago ive seen him do that... my dusting sched is... calcium with no D3 mon-fri... calcium with D3 twice a month and multi-vit twice a month... and i dont think his food is biting him cause they barely stay alive in there can you guys give me tips on cleaning the cage plz i appreciate everyone that has commented

My cage cleaning for deep cleaning is to remove everything.Clean each plant with mild dish soap. I put it on my hands and rub all the leaves while running warm water on it. Take the dirt out and replace it with organic potting soil, I add some sand to my soil to aid in drainage. I take the cage outside if possible and spray it down with nolvasan, Make sure that you have nolvasan diluted down per the instructions. You need to make sure you rinse the cage really well after cleaning. Soak all the accessories from the cage also in nolvasan. Wipe down all the lights and fixtures while they are turned off. I don't usually wipe the fixtures, but if you might have mites or whatever it can't hurt. I just happen to like nolvasan, but unless you buy a gallon or so it is fairly expensive. I am not sure what everyone else uses.

I think I would also head to the vet or all the cage cleaning may be for nothing.

 

[lumbasammler]

Hello,
a well thing to use for cleaning is simply H2O2, which you can get from at every apothecary. It kills about EVERYTHING and decays to harmless water and oxygen very quickly when it´s warm.

 

[EmilioPichardo]

thanks for the tip guys i will post a thread for a good vet here in miami if anyone knows i hope my buddy is ok cause u fall for these guys real quick!!! thnx once again

 

[EmilioPichardo]

My cage cleaning for deep cleaning is to remove everything.Clean each plant with mild dish soap. I put it on my hands and rub all the leaves while running warm water on it. Take the dirt out and replace it with organic potting soil, I add some sand to my soil to aid in drainage. I take the cage outside if possible and spray it down with nolvasan, Make sure that you have nolvasan diluted down per the instructions. You need to make sure you rinse the cage really well after cleaning. Soak all the accessories from the cage also in nolvasan. Wipe down all the lights and fixtures while they are turned off. I don't usually wipe the fixtures, but if you might have mites or whatever it can't hurt. I just happen to like nolvasan, but unless you buy a gallon or so it is fairly expensive. I am not sure what everyone else uses.

I think I would also head to the vet or all the cage cleaning may be for nothing.

BTW laurie where can i get the nolvasan from ?