I apologize in advance for my scatter plot writing, im freaking out and having a hard time gathering my thoughts. also sorry for the wall of text, but i figured every bit of detail may help you help me.
history,
september 2013 i was living in aurora colorado, i bought a male and female jacksons chameleon, and both got there own set up which is described below, they did great,in febuary of this year 2014 the company i was working for went under, we got laid off and i had to move back home to sarasota florida in march. i drove back instead of flying to reduce stress, had them in smaller cages with there live plants for familarity and comfort, i fed them a bunch before the trip and they drank water when misted every day for the 4 day trip, long story even longer they survived and imediately resumed normal behaviors, eating drinking climbing basking.
about two months ago the male died from a hunger strike, i wasn't using super worms at the time, and crickets were hiding and by the time i realise he wasn't eating it was too late, it happened rather sudden,
now my female is still doing great, but she's showing a few signs the same as the male, such as not eating obviously but her movement is awkward, shes still up in branches and not any where near the ground or on it, but shes a tad skidish when moving about, not shakey and compltely clumsy missing branches and falling, but compared to how she's behaved since ive had her up until about a month ago, she's declining, explained a little more below.
Chameleon bio:
female jackson
1.5 years old
8-9 inches long
not sure about weight but she was big and seems to be thinning out SLIGHTLY.
uvb 5.0 if i remember correctly. 12 hrs on and 12 hrs off.
40watt incandescant bulb at an angle point out from the cage, so theres just a small spot of heat and doesn't heat the entire cage
enclosure is a reptarium 65 gallon 16.5in x 30in x 28in
i have two artificial thick brown bendable vines, and a live umbrella tree plant. it was once very bushy and could support her weight when she was younger, but since the plant is indoors all the time its thinned out and since she's grown quite a bit she mostly sticks to the artificial vines.
i mist by hand in the morning after turning on uvb, and mist until she stops drinking. despite being lethargic and not eating she is still drinking.
i used crickets gutloaded mostly with potatoe and occasionly carrots, she usually eats so fast, until recently. and dusted with d3 every other week. up until about a month ago she ate every cricket(4) i threw in, and even the extra two in the afternoon, but then i notice crickets hunging out with her under the heat lamp, she wasnt eating all of them, so i introduced superworms, first day i gave her 4 in a dish ontop of the soil in the plant at the base of the stems, she didn't seem interested that day, until the next morning i woke up and they were gone! she ate them, i didn't want her to get hooked to i stayed away from feeding her those until 2 weeks later, when i noticed she still wasn't eating her crickets, i fed her 4 more super worms, and it kid of spiraled out of control, but now she isn't even eating super worms. it's been a week. several crickets in the cage and super worms in her dish, i tried holding the dish in front of her a couple times and twice ive had success, SHE ATE OUT of my hands! until two days ago she missed a meal worm and got nervous and walked away with out eating, now onto today she still hasn't eatin anything, except one meal worm, it took her a while but finally she ate it, it looked as if she was scared or hesitant, and when she finally ate it chwed it for a few good seconds and sort of stuck her tongue out, im not sure if she was trying to push it back in her throat or if it bit her. but it was odd behavior.
its also worth mentioning her color its always a healthy bright green. when i first got her in september 2013 she was dark brown almost black. the breeder said she was around 6-8 months old. and around october she started adopting more greens.
and then throw in 4 crickets before noon and turn on the heat lamp before noon for her to bask and digest.
i then mist a second time after she has moved away from the basking lamp before the evening.
and once again after turning off the heat lamp to cool the enclosure an hour or so before i turn of the uvb for the night.
i always make sure to mist until she stops drinking and even a little after casue she enjoys the showers.
now onto my concerns: within the last month shes become lethargic, she used to move very well and swiftly, and even cross the catch to catch crickets on the other side, thru out the day i would catch her walking about the cage, and now even tho she drinks regularly and basks, for the most part shes in one or two spots and either sleeping or just resting her chin on her hands/branch. and she won't eat, and she moves very skidishly and slow while turning around on a branch almost like shes trying to feel out where the branch is but is having trouble. i have a feeling this is because shes weak from not eating, but why isn't she eating?
i thought maybe she was bored, so i tried to introduce a new bushier plant that i'd been setting up since about a month ago, when i clean her cage every week or so, i bring her outside with me on the pation and put the plant half out in the sun and half in the shade, and she loves it, she turns a vibrant teal with awesome black patterns. so last time i was cleaning i put her plant next to the new plant and she quickly jumped ship, so when i set her stuff back up inside, i put both of them in there, so she could have a familiar plant, but the new one was way to big and bushy so i had to remove it, and instead just put a new live umbrella tree plant branch into the soil of the old plant. im always concerned maybe all of this stressed her out, she's used to being taken out when i clean the cage, but maybe the new plant and then no new plant all with an hr or so confused her.
THANK YOU FOR READING ALL OF THAT MESS. if anyone in the sarasota florida area is interested in talking over the phone pm me, if you think it'll speed things up, i'll try and check back here on the forums.
also im sorry for being a bad owner, i lurk the forums all the time and when my male was having problems i contemplted posting something instead of just diggin and researching but like i said by the time i'd even thought of it it was to late.
she's a very strong aggressive chameleon and i have better faith in her pulling thru this.
history,
september 2013 i was living in aurora colorado, i bought a male and female jacksons chameleon, and both got there own set up which is described below, they did great,in febuary of this year 2014 the company i was working for went under, we got laid off and i had to move back home to sarasota florida in march. i drove back instead of flying to reduce stress, had them in smaller cages with there live plants for familarity and comfort, i fed them a bunch before the trip and they drank water when misted every day for the 4 day trip, long story even longer they survived and imediately resumed normal behaviors, eating drinking climbing basking.
about two months ago the male died from a hunger strike, i wasn't using super worms at the time, and crickets were hiding and by the time i realise he wasn't eating it was too late, it happened rather sudden,
now my female is still doing great, but she's showing a few signs the same as the male, such as not eating obviously but her movement is awkward, shes still up in branches and not any where near the ground or on it, but shes a tad skidish when moving about, not shakey and compltely clumsy missing branches and falling, but compared to how she's behaved since ive had her up until about a month ago, she's declining, explained a little more below.
Chameleon bio:
female jackson
1.5 years old
8-9 inches long
not sure about weight but she was big and seems to be thinning out SLIGHTLY.
uvb 5.0 if i remember correctly. 12 hrs on and 12 hrs off.
40watt incandescant bulb at an angle point out from the cage, so theres just a small spot of heat and doesn't heat the entire cage
enclosure is a reptarium 65 gallon 16.5in x 30in x 28in
i have two artificial thick brown bendable vines, and a live umbrella tree plant. it was once very bushy and could support her weight when she was younger, but since the plant is indoors all the time its thinned out and since she's grown quite a bit she mostly sticks to the artificial vines.
i mist by hand in the morning after turning on uvb, and mist until she stops drinking. despite being lethargic and not eating she is still drinking.
i used crickets gutloaded mostly with potatoe and occasionly carrots, she usually eats so fast, until recently. and dusted with d3 every other week. up until about a month ago she ate every cricket(4) i threw in, and even the extra two in the afternoon, but then i notice crickets hunging out with her under the heat lamp, she wasnt eating all of them, so i introduced superworms, first day i gave her 4 in a dish ontop of the soil in the plant at the base of the stems, she didn't seem interested that day, until the next morning i woke up and they were gone! she ate them, i didn't want her to get hooked to i stayed away from feeding her those until 2 weeks later, when i noticed she still wasn't eating her crickets, i fed her 4 more super worms, and it kid of spiraled out of control, but now she isn't even eating super worms. it's been a week. several crickets in the cage and super worms in her dish, i tried holding the dish in front of her a couple times and twice ive had success, SHE ATE OUT of my hands! until two days ago she missed a meal worm and got nervous and walked away with out eating, now onto today she still hasn't eatin anything, except one meal worm, it took her a while but finally she ate it, it looked as if she was scared or hesitant, and when she finally ate it chwed it for a few good seconds and sort of stuck her tongue out, im not sure if she was trying to push it back in her throat or if it bit her. but it was odd behavior.
its also worth mentioning her color its always a healthy bright green. when i first got her in september 2013 she was dark brown almost black. the breeder said she was around 6-8 months old. and around october she started adopting more greens.
and then throw in 4 crickets before noon and turn on the heat lamp before noon for her to bask and digest.
i then mist a second time after she has moved away from the basking lamp before the evening.
and once again after turning off the heat lamp to cool the enclosure an hour or so before i turn of the uvb for the night.
i always make sure to mist until she stops drinking and even a little after casue she enjoys the showers.
now onto my concerns: within the last month shes become lethargic, she used to move very well and swiftly, and even cross the catch to catch crickets on the other side, thru out the day i would catch her walking about the cage, and now even tho she drinks regularly and basks, for the most part shes in one or two spots and either sleeping or just resting her chin on her hands/branch. and she won't eat, and she moves very skidishly and slow while turning around on a branch almost like shes trying to feel out where the branch is but is having trouble. i have a feeling this is because shes weak from not eating, but why isn't she eating?
i thought maybe she was bored, so i tried to introduce a new bushier plant that i'd been setting up since about a month ago, when i clean her cage every week or so, i bring her outside with me on the pation and put the plant half out in the sun and half in the shade, and she loves it, she turns a vibrant teal with awesome black patterns. so last time i was cleaning i put her plant next to the new plant and she quickly jumped ship, so when i set her stuff back up inside, i put both of them in there, so she could have a familiar plant, but the new one was way to big and bushy so i had to remove it, and instead just put a new live umbrella tree plant branch into the soil of the old plant. im always concerned maybe all of this stressed her out, she's used to being taken out when i clean the cage, but maybe the new plant and then no new plant all with an hr or so confused her.
THANK YOU FOR READING ALL OF THAT MESS. if anyone in the sarasota florida area is interested in talking over the phone pm me, if you think it'll speed things up, i'll try and check back here on the forums.
also im sorry for being a bad owner, i lurk the forums all the time and when my male was having problems i contemplted posting something instead of just diggin and researching but like i said by the time i'd even thought of it it was to late.
she's a very strong aggressive chameleon and i have better faith in her pulling thru this.
