Salty
New Member
So, as some of you know I have been having some troubles getting my cham to eat. I have had him for a few days now and he has not been eating much. I have been really worried about his health and have recieved a lot of support both from people on the site and from Panther16. Dispite my attempts to get him to eat I can not get him interested in a proper diet so... He has been looking rather weak and I couldn't take it any more so today I took him to the vet.
I got on line and looked up local vets and started making phone calls. After contacting about 10 differant vets I settled on one in Columbia Mo. They seemed to have the most knowledge in my area so I wound up making the hour drive to the animal hospital.
When I got there the vet techs were all oogeling over him. Some of them even got out their cell phones to take pics of him. It was kind of cool that in a reputible animal hospital that is known for caring for tropical and unusual pets, they felt mine was worthy of a quick photo op.
Any way, the vet weighed him and looked him over. He said his grip is stronger than I thought it was and that he seemed to be in overall good health. He was not even conserned in running tests for parasites or testing for MBD or other disorders. (that made me really happy).
He said he seems to be in good health and that occasionally an animal that is shipped as far as he was may take a little longer to adjust to his new enviornment. He did say that I did well by bringing him in as I was conserned and that some simple force feeding and a few warm baths should snap him out of his non eating funk.
It is rather simple actually. He showed me how to force feed him and how to stimulate his bowl movements and said that he should be much more indipendant by next week. (again he commented on how pretty he was)
He gave me a small vial of liquid food that he mixed up and filled a one liter seringe with the food.
He then placed the syrenge (with no needle) at the side of his mouth and gently used it to open his mouth. He then incerted the syrenge a little further into his mouth in order to get it past his (breathing tube) as he described it to me and showed me where it is located... (it is rather close to the front of his mouth) you just need to put it a little further in so that he does not choke on it..... then slowly squeeze the syrenge so that the food goes in.
It is actually a little easier with a more agressive cham because they will open their mouth for you in order to bite the thing you are shoving into their mouth.. Mine is rather docile so you have to be a little more gentle and coaxing with him.
After showing me the simple procedure he told me that there would be no need to hospitalize him and I can easily do this at home.
He also suggested a couple of 15 minute baths over the next couple of days. He said that what I may need to do is make him up a little warm bath in my critter keeper (or anything else that is suitable for the task) just fill it with warm water to an appropriat level that is below his chin but make sure his belly is in the water. The warm water should stimulate his intestins and get a healthy bowl movement out of him.
The reason for the bowl movement is that once they poop, they are generally hungry again soooo... He will then want to eat.
Any way, I'm rather happy that the vet commented on how healthy he looked and that getting him eating should be a rather simple fix.
Also wanted to thank panther16 for the lengthy phone conversations with me and all the others who continue to lend support. You guys are awesome.
If anyone has experiance with force feeding or with the bath thing let me know I am always looking for good tips on making things run smoother.
(wow.. turned out to be a long post... almost think I should have made this a blog but I don't have enough experiance to start bloging yet. lol)
I got on line and looked up local vets and started making phone calls. After contacting about 10 differant vets I settled on one in Columbia Mo. They seemed to have the most knowledge in my area so I wound up making the hour drive to the animal hospital.
When I got there the vet techs were all oogeling over him. Some of them even got out their cell phones to take pics of him. It was kind of cool that in a reputible animal hospital that is known for caring for tropical and unusual pets, they felt mine was worthy of a quick photo op.
Any way, the vet weighed him and looked him over. He said his grip is stronger than I thought it was and that he seemed to be in overall good health. He was not even conserned in running tests for parasites or testing for MBD or other disorders. (that made me really happy).
He said he seems to be in good health and that occasionally an animal that is shipped as far as he was may take a little longer to adjust to his new enviornment. He did say that I did well by bringing him in as I was conserned and that some simple force feeding and a few warm baths should snap him out of his non eating funk.
It is rather simple actually. He showed me how to force feed him and how to stimulate his bowl movements and said that he should be much more indipendant by next week. (again he commented on how pretty he was)
He gave me a small vial of liquid food that he mixed up and filled a one liter seringe with the food.
He then placed the syrenge (with no needle) at the side of his mouth and gently used it to open his mouth. He then incerted the syrenge a little further into his mouth in order to get it past his (breathing tube) as he described it to me and showed me where it is located... (it is rather close to the front of his mouth) you just need to put it a little further in so that he does not choke on it..... then slowly squeeze the syrenge so that the food goes in.
It is actually a little easier with a more agressive cham because they will open their mouth for you in order to bite the thing you are shoving into their mouth.. Mine is rather docile so you have to be a little more gentle and coaxing with him.
After showing me the simple procedure he told me that there would be no need to hospitalize him and I can easily do this at home.
He also suggested a couple of 15 minute baths over the next couple of days. He said that what I may need to do is make him up a little warm bath in my critter keeper (or anything else that is suitable for the task) just fill it with warm water to an appropriat level that is below his chin but make sure his belly is in the water. The warm water should stimulate his intestins and get a healthy bowl movement out of him.
The reason for the bowl movement is that once they poop, they are generally hungry again soooo... He will then want to eat.
Any way, I'm rather happy that the vet commented on how healthy he looked and that getting him eating should be a rather simple fix.
Also wanted to thank panther16 for the lengthy phone conversations with me and all the others who continue to lend support. You guys are awesome.
If anyone has experiance with force feeding or with the bath thing let me know I am always looking for good tips on making things run smoother.
(wow.. turned out to be a long post... almost think I should have made this a blog but I don't have enough experiance to start bloging yet. lol)
