hallenhe
Avid Member
Thaxter's clutch hatched between May and June of 2005, so for the sake of convenience I've always regarded June 1 as his birthday; he's four years old now. He got a big hornworm for a birthday treat, and managed to squirt worm juice all over.
For a more practical birthday present, I thought I should maybe run him through a general check-up at the vet's, so we went in Friday. He looked fine at the physical; the blood work revealed relatively low calcium/high phosphorus (I do supplement with MinerAll-0 in the summer, but stop the Rep-Cal Calcium + D3, since he's getting outside), which the vet said could indicate the very beginnings of kidney malfunction. He was not tremendously alarmed, but gave me a liquid calcium supplement with which to dose Thaxter daily; he said if Thax loses his appetite we can start fluid therapy, but thought it a bit early for that yet. This is why we went to the vet; so any potential problems can be caught early.
Thaxter is an excessively laid-back chameleon; Dr. Nolan made him open his mouth (which he didn't like), palpitated him (which he didn't like), brought him to another room to draw blood (which he presumably didn't like), and what does Thaxter do when he's handed back to me? Turn and climb up Dr. Nolan's arm. (Of course, this may just be another piece of evidence supporting my theory that, however mad a chameleon may be at you, once he's physically climbing on you, you become nothing more than a piece of furniture.)
I've slipped the calcium (0.3 cc's) into him while he's chewing and while he's drinking; I'm a bit reluctant to continue the while he's chewing method, as I don't want to make him reluctant to eat in front of me. Any suggestions? The pet store said I may try injecting it into some of the larger feeders; anyone injected crickets with medication before?
Much thanks for any tips. Like I say, I'm not unduly alarmed at this point, and will continue to try to stay on top of things.
Here's a picture of the Birthday Boy.
For a more practical birthday present, I thought I should maybe run him through a general check-up at the vet's, so we went in Friday. He looked fine at the physical; the blood work revealed relatively low calcium/high phosphorus (I do supplement with MinerAll-0 in the summer, but stop the Rep-Cal Calcium + D3, since he's getting outside), which the vet said could indicate the very beginnings of kidney malfunction. He was not tremendously alarmed, but gave me a liquid calcium supplement with which to dose Thaxter daily; he said if Thax loses his appetite we can start fluid therapy, but thought it a bit early for that yet. This is why we went to the vet; so any potential problems can be caught early.
Thaxter is an excessively laid-back chameleon; Dr. Nolan made him open his mouth (which he didn't like), palpitated him (which he didn't like), brought him to another room to draw blood (which he presumably didn't like), and what does Thaxter do when he's handed back to me? Turn and climb up Dr. Nolan's arm. (Of course, this may just be another piece of evidence supporting my theory that, however mad a chameleon may be at you, once he's physically climbing on you, you become nothing more than a piece of furniture.)
I've slipped the calcium (0.3 cc's) into him while he's chewing and while he's drinking; I'm a bit reluctant to continue the while he's chewing method, as I don't want to make him reluctant to eat in front of me. Any suggestions? The pet store said I may try injecting it into some of the larger feeders; anyone injected crickets with medication before?
Much thanks for any tips. Like I say, I'm not unduly alarmed at this point, and will continue to try to stay on top of things.
Here's a picture of the Birthday Boy.
