Does she look healthy??

[countrygirl.bidelman199@g]

This is my female rainbow Jackson chameleon. Had her for a year. She's a little lethargic, so I'm worried she's not feeling well.

 

[kinyonga]

Funny but I just mentioned talking about her and your Uromastyx in the other thread you have.

Can you answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread near the top of the health forum for them both and we can help you it's them please?

 

[countrygirl.bidelman199@g]

Lol. Yeah. But she's a little lethargic so I'm worried. She's eating and drinking. She shed two weeks ago. My uromastyx are doing well though bromating and eating on and off.

 

[kinyonga]

I still think you should let us do a husbandry check on them both so we can help you. Without information how can we figure out what's wrong?

Do the two separately so we can keep them straight.
What species of uromastyx do you have? One or more than one? In the same cage if you have more than one?

 

[countrygirl.bidelman199@g]

How do you do a husbandry check?

 

[kinyonga]

Cut and paste this into your reply and then answer the questions...

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


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:
The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
Photos can be very helpful.

 

[countrygirl.bidelman199@g]

She has four money trees. Water mister for every hour that lasts a solid minute. Two lights one for uva & uvb one for basking. At the moment she's refusing mealworms or waxwarms so shes earring crickets with calcium powder with d3. Cage is screen. 2×2×2.

 

[kinyonga]

She has four money trees. Water mister for every hour that lasts a solid minute. Two lights one for uva & uvb one for basking. At the moment she's refusing mealworms or waxwarms so shes earring crickets with calcium powder with d3. Cage is screen. 2×2×2.

This is not detailed enough information...sorry.
I can already tell you you're overdoing the D3 though.

 

[countrygirl.bidelman199@g]

Just give me a sec.

 

[kinyonga]

I don't want to be harsh...but if you don't get the husbandry right and learn more about the lizards you're keeping, you will likely lose all of them to health issues before long....seriously.

 

[kinyonga]

@JacksJill @Mendez can help you with the jacksons better than I can...so I'm tagging them.

 

[countrygirl.bidelman199@g]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female rainbow Jackson. Unknown age. 8 months.
Handling - once a month cause she gets easily agitated.
Feeding - crickets. Three every three to four days. Lettuse, water and flunkers orange food.
Supplements - repti calcium with D3. Every other feeding.
Watering - automatic mister every hour for a minute. Seen her drink multiple times as I'm doing this(lol)
Fecal Description - dark with solid white. No check.
History - I had her shipped to me from online. Nothing since I got her.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - exo Terra all screen cage. Medium sized. 2×2×2
Lighting - zoo-med 100w basking lamp and tekizoo super sun reptile lamp uva, uvb.
Temperature - day top temp 80 bottom temp 65. Night top temp 60 bottom temp 45. Temp messured by coinsized temp measure.
Humidity - humidity highest between 80-75 to 60-50% at lowest. Mister is going throughout the day and night.
Plants - 4 money trees. All alive.
Placement - three feet from window and heat vent. In corner away from normal traffic.
Location - Marcellus mi

Current Problem - she's a little lethargic, but she's eating and drinking. But not very active.

 

[Mendez]

I'm on it asap, thanks @kinyonga

 

[Mendez]

I'm reviewing your husbandry form asap. Half way through but realized that I need to let you know to stop giving her D3 immediately. You are overdosing her with D3 which is extremely dangerous, especially for montane species like jackson's chameleons. Ideally, you would give the supplement once a month. But in your case, I'd wait at least two months or even longer before giving D3 again. I believe it can be stored in the body for up to three months, but I will have to double-check that last fact.

 

[countrygirl.bidelman199@g]

Anything else??

 

[Mendez]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female rainbow Jackson. Unknown age. 8 months.

She is not a rainbow jackson's chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii jacksonii). She's actually the larger subspecies Trioceros jacksonii xantholophus. She doesn't look over a year old to me. She looks fairly young, but that could be from arrested development.

Feeding - crickets. Three every three to four days. Lettuse, water and flunkers orange food.

This is very concerning. She should be eating a lot more based on her overall appearance. Are you regulating her feeding intake or does she? Ideally you would be feeding her three to five crickets every other day at her age. But I might bump that number up if she will take more.

Also, lettuce isn't sufficient on its own to gutload feeder insects. Lettuce, and any other fruit or veggie has water, so additional water isn't needed. And the flukers orange food is completely garbage. No judgment on any of this. I used to feed it as well. But it does little for your insects. If you want something easy to prepare, try using Repashy Bug Burger or pick up an assortment of fresh veggies, fruits, and grains, and mix them together in a blender, freeze, and then thaw when needed.

Additionally, you should try other feeder insects like dubia roaches, silkworms, superworms (occasionally), hornworms, etc to entice her to eat. Variety is key.

Supplements - repti calcium with D3. Every other feeding.

This is too much D3. You should be giving d3 once a month. You want to give plain calcium anywhere from twice a week up to every feeding. However, since you have been giving tons of d3, I would hold off on giving calcium for the rest of the week. Then start up next week only dusting feeders twice a week.

What your supplement schedule should look like: plain calcium 2x/week or every feeding; calcium D3 and Multivitamin x1 per month. Some D3 supplements don't have multivitamins like Vitamin A, so you will either need to get a D3 supplement with multivitamins included or get an additional supplement with only Multivitamins.

Any plain calcium supplement should work. Just make sure to lightly dust your feeders. A good D3 supplement with Vit A is Repashy Calcium Plus LoD D. Make sure it says LoD, the other repashy supplement is too much for montane species to handle. Another good supplement is Reptivite with D3. Either one of these will be suitable.

Watering - automatic mister every hour for a minute. Seen her drink multiple times as I'm doing this(lol)

Are you misting during the day or during the night? Ideally, this should be done during the night, and since you mister is automated, this can be done. Misting every hour for a minute during the day sounds excessive. You want the surfaces to dry out in between mistings. If you mist at night with cooler temperatures, this schedule would work just fine.

Fecal Description - dark with solid white. No check.

Very nice. This is a good sign. Could you send us better pics of your chameleon? I swear she looked dehydrated, but her urates are fine, so it must just be the picture angle. Her eye looks a little sunk in. But I guess that could just be her reaction to the phone camera.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - exo Terra all screen cage. Medium sized. 2×2×2

2x2x2 is small. Though it's really hard to say if she has outgrown this size yet. Do you have any pics of her on your arm or hand or something for a size reference? Also, a picture of her entire enclosure is necessary.

Lighting - zoo-med 100w basking lamp and tekizoo super sun reptile lamp uva, uvb.
Temperature - day top temp 80 bottom temp 65. Night top temp 60 bottom temp 45. Temp messured by coinsized temp measure.

100 watts is going to cook your chameleon unless the bulb is significantly raised above the cage top. How far above the basking spot is th bulb raised? What brand is your temperature reader/probe?

Humidity - humidity highest between 80-75 to 60-50% at lowest. Mister is going throughout the day and night.

Oh, I see. Misting every hour throughout the day and night is entirely too much. You want a dry period and a humid period, ideally linked up to your light schedule. If your misting unit has a Run/On setting. You can plug the unit into a wall timer to run every hour at 1-minute intervals throughout the night. Leave the mister on the always on setting, and the timer will supply power to turn it on during those times. You want to aim for 30-50% humidity during the day and 80%+ at night. This allows for a more naturalistic hydration schedule.

Current Problem - she's a little lethargic, but she's eating and drinking. But not very active.

I would primarily focus on fixing your supplement schedule and a what times you mist. You will also need to gutload your feeder insects.

 

[Mendez]

Also, apologies, my head is super congested. Recovering from a cold. So my thinking isn't super sharp right now. I'll come back on later to clarify.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I have a Jackson’s xanthalophus as well. Mine is a male. They’re such beautiful chams! Mendez has given you great information and guidance so if you follow it closely your beautiful girl should do really well. Don’t forget to add some more pictures from the top of your cage down including the lights so he can make sure you have the proper lights and set up.

 

[Mendez]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I have a Jackson’s xanthalophus as well. Mine is a male. They’re such beautiful chams! Mendez has given you great information and guidance so if you follow it closely your beautiful girl should do really well. Don’t forget to add some more pictures from the top of your cage down including the lights so he can make sure you have the proper lights and set up.

I knew I was missing something! I forgot to address the lights! Good catch and thanks for reminding me. I'll address it, or you can, when she sends the pic you requested. This is why I'm thankful for you @Lindasjackson!

 

[countrygirl.bidelman199@g]

She was not happy with me getting her out. She doesn't eat more than three to four crickets. I've left some in and she doesn't eat them. I find them later. I've tried every day or every other day but she moves away from them or shows no interest.