Dark Female

[Canny Chams]

Hey guys, i moved one of my female panther chameleons into her adult cage, 2 X 2 X 6 feet, 3 days ago. I moved her into the cage, set up water and everything, it was all good, and i had to go for 2 days to my grandparents, she was not fed during this time, she is 8 months old. When i got back last night, the light cycle just went off, but i noticed she was quite dark, same with this morning, even after i fed her. Do you think its just the stress, or something else at play? She also fell 2 feet 2 times in the past week, im not sure if its was just couldnt get a good grip on something or not

 

[djfishygillz]

This sounds like mbd or eggbound... I would highly recommend filling out the how to ask for help and posting some pictures.

Hope all goes well

 

[Canny Chams]

she is not gravid, this darkness happened suddenly, ive already filled in the how to ask for help sheet dozens of times and i always get the same response, nothing wrong with anything. Calcium defitiency is a possible issue, not because of lack of calcium, but another chameleon of mine passed away from renal kidney failiure and something the kidney disease caused was low bone density, she wouldnt get dark all of a sudden from that though, would she?

 

[Canny Chams]

bumping it up

 

[Olimpia]

Pictures would still help though. Can't hurt to see what she looks like.

I don't know about the coloration, although it's possible that not feeling well translates into darker colors. Upping up the calcium regimen on a female can never hurt, honestly, even if it's just feeding a lot more high-cal feeders. I just did some research and studies were done on children with chronic renal failure that exhibited metabolic bone disease, and they found high levels of phosphorilates in their system. Calcium and phosphorous have to be at a 1:1 ratio in the body for bones to absorb calcium properly, so if the renal failure caused high phosphorous, you'd need to compensate with calcium that much more to even it out. Otherwise, the bones will not absorb the calcium. Soooo, if you think your female may be facing the same problem, supplementing with extra calcium should even out that deficiency.

That's all I've got for you though. I don't know why she'd be dark besides the usual reasons like stress or cold.

 

[Canny Chams]

Should i try to use liquid calcium? how much should i give her and how? Is it safe to give it to her if im not sure if she has the problem

 

[Olimpia]

I would give her a couple drops twice a week, it's what I do with females that need the extra calcium to lay. I don't think that this amount is excessive and would cause problems if she doesn't have a deficiency. But with these guys it seems easier to under-supplement than over, in my personal opinion, but I'm not a vet so you have to take what I say with your best judgement. But if you use high-calcium feeders, I think that's the most natural way to get more cal in her diet as well.

 

[Canny Chams]

k thanks, im going to try feeding phoenix worms more often, how do u usually give the drops to them?

 

[Canny Chams]

I purchased some liquid calcium today, i got a syringe and needle, im injecting the calcium drops into the crickets, i love how they shit themselves when u do it