Your Chameleon - Male Tamatave chameleon 6/7 months old have had for 4 months
Handling - pretty often, only because he climbs out of his cage onto my arm i dont try to hold him
Feeding - Crickets gutloaded with a store bought gutload and dusted with calcium, feed 7-10 a day
Supplements - Dusting with calcium without d3 daily
Watering - I have an automister that goes every 2 hours for 30 seconds, i run a dripper once a day or so for a few minutes and mist the cage whenever it looks dry
Fecal Description - Dark stool with white/orange urate.
History - n/a
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Full screen enclosure 3 feet by 3 feet by 18 inches
Lighting - I use a 60 watt zoomed blub for basking and reptisun 5.0 for uvb
Lights generally go on before i leave to work 630 am and off around 6/7 pm
Temperature - Cage floor is 75 degrees basking temp is 90 measured with a temp gun lowest overnight temp is probably 70s
Humidity - The humidity is a nightmare, it ranges from 40-80 i try to keep it at least 60, i have a guage mounted on the screen at all times
Plants - I have dracena plants i forget which type a large corn one and 2 smaller ones
Placement - The cage is located as you walk into my apartment, highly trafficed in the living room, no fans or vents in the vicinity, cage sits about 3 feet off the floor top of cage is about 6'
Location - long island new york
Current Problem - as was said before my chameleon was all honky dorey untill a week or so ago when he started behaving strangely, he went from exploring his cage nonstop, eating and pooping normally. Came out of the cage regularly. Now he just sits in his sleeping position most of the time every once and awhile roams the cage but only for a little while then returns to his sleeping position. He will eat but doesnt seem as interested as he used to be. I just want to make sure he is ok or if public opinion would suggest me taking him to a vet. Thanks
Thanks for filling out the form. A few things that I've noticed...
-What kind of gutload are you using? If it's fluker's orange cubes or something similar, it is not good enough. I recommend a gutload such as bug buffet, cricket crack, super chow, or even Repashy's bug burger. You can find them in the chameleon foods section on here or on the web.
-A variety of feeders is key. He may just be sick of crickets. Your other option are silkworms, hornworms, phoenix worms, superworms, dubia roaches, butterworms.
-You mention using calcium WITHOUT d3 daily and nothing else. You are missing the calcium WITH d3 and multi-vitamin dusting, which is very important for maintaining a healthy chameleon. Your schedule should be calcium without d3 at every feeding and calcium with d3/multi-vitamin dusting twice a month.
-Brown firm poop with white urates is a well hydrated chameleon. A light tint of orange is okay.
-I would look into getting a 2x2x4 cage in the next couple of months as that is the minimum for an adult male panther.
-Your humidity is fine. It doesn't constantly have to be at 80. 50-60 is fine as long as it spikes up to 70-80 after misting. A good amount of foilage in the cage will also help with trapping humidity in for a longer period.
In my opinion, it could be a number of things. It's hard to tell with chameleons as they tend to hide their illness until it's too late. He may just be tired of the same feeder or there may actually be something wrong. You're going to need to start him on the calcium with d3 and multi-vitamin dusting as soon as possible. Also, a better gutload and keep him hydrated. If possible, attach a recent photo. It will help us help you!
