Hasn't gone in 10 days!!

[kuzitiso]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon -Panther chameleon, 15 mo., have owned him for about a year
Handling - Only if he grabs me when I'm feeding
Feeding - Typically feed once a day but I leave a couple crickets in his food bowl for the day. Crickets have been staple for past month or so as my dubias took a dive. Gutload is a dry gutload mix, squash, sweet potatoes, apples, mustard greens. Eats around 7 med crickets a day and I give 1 hornworm a week.
Supplements - Repashy vitamin and calcium supplement. Lightly dust 2 crickets a day
Watering - Automatic misting, 5 times a day for 2 min. I also have a dripper going through the day. Recently increased misting with warm water. I see him drinking once in a while but not often.
Fecal Description -Stool was normal and white urates. Unsure of last stool. Was tested late last year and was negative on parasites.
History - Was dehydrated last week

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 3 1/2 ft tall, 4 ft wide x 2 ft.
Lighting - two basking, and reptisun 5.0. Lights on at 8 and off at 8 pm.
Temperature - floor temp is ~65. Basking is 75
Humidity - Barometer, between 40 and 60%
Plants - Umbrella plant
Placement - About 3 feet from floor, is located in main room of apartment but most of the day no one is home.
Location - located in michigan

Current Problem - As of now, my cham hasn't passed a stool for at least 10 days. I went on spring break and had one of my roommates care for him while I was gone. She said he passed stool while she was watching him but when I came back I saw he was slightly pale and dehydrated. It should also be noted that he is not fond of my roommates so he did not eat as well the week I was gone. I've been using a space heater and humidifier all day to try to keep him comfortable and have misted at least 4 times a day with warm water on top of his usual 5 mists daily. His color has mostly returned now and he's eating great but hasn't pooped in a really long time and I am becoming very concerned. I'm considering taking him in to the vet tonight but I wanted some input before I put him through the stress of taking him there. Especially since it's only 25 degrees outside.

 

[ReptileLove18]

you can try misting him directly with warm waterseveral extra times a day. or putting him in the shower on a plant, directing the showerhead at the wall so the spray hits the wall and then bounces onto the plant and onto him, using warm water. supervise carefully and allow him to be in there for 5-10 minutes if he seems okay with it. this might help. you could give him some extra hornworms as these are packed mainly with water and will help loosen him up

also, your temps need to go up! at this age his ambient temps during the day should be 75-80 degrees and your basking temp needs to be 85-90 degrees. this may also be playing a part in this issue. here is the panther caresheet, it goes into everything they need husbandry wise! https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

do both the repashy and calcium supplement have d3 in it?

 

[kuzitiso]

you can try misting him directly with warm waterseveral extra times a day. or putting him in the shower on a plant, directing the showerhead at the wall so the spray hits the wall and then bounces onto the plant and onto him, using warm water. supervise carefully and allow him to be in there for 5-10 minutes if he seems okay with it. this might help. if you can get your hands on some hornworms they may also help as they are packed with water and will help loosen him up

also, your temps need to go up! at this age his ambient temps during the day should be 75-80 degrees and your basking temp needs to be 85-90 degrees. this may also be playing a part in this issue. here is the panther caresheet, it goes into everything they need husbandry wise! https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

do both the repashy and calcium supplement have d3 in it?

I've been misting him directly with warm water 4-5 times a day on top of his normal 5 mistings with the automatic mister. I haven't tried the shower because my cham seems to HATE being sprayed. Even by warm water. He runs away as fast as he can. I still mist him by cornering him but he flails around so much I'm sure he'd fall if he was in the shower. The repashy and calcium supplement are a single supplement. So yes I guess. I've been trying to increase his temps, as I stated before but the highest I can get it is around 80 for basking. I live in an apartment and am not in control of the heat. Luckily I am moving in about a month so that will change. I am going to pick up a horn worm and today.

 

[ReptileLove18]

i understand not wanting to put him in the shower then!

is there any kind of substrate in the cage that he could have eaten and become impacted in his system?

so the repashy does have d3 in it? if so you need to get a calcium with no d3 as soon as possible as well as a multivitamin. too much d3 can lead to over supplementation poisoning! the recommended supplementing schedule for panthers is calcium without d3 at nearly every feeding, a multivitamin once every two weeks, and calcium with d3 once every two weeks. supplementing is also gone over in the caresheet i linked if you would like to check it out more

 

[kuzitiso]

i understand not wanting to put him in the shower then!

is there any kind of substrate in the cage that he could have eaten and become impacted in his system?

so the repashy does have d3 in it? if so you need to get a calcium with no d3 as soon as possible as well as a multivitamin. too much d3 can lead to over supplementation poisoning! the recommended supplementing schedule for panthers is calcium without d3 at nearly every feeding, a multivitamin once every two weeks, and calcium with d3 once every two weeks. supplementing is also gone over in the caresheet i linked if you would like to check it out more

Actually, I don't think it has D3 in it. It only says calcium supplement in the ingredients and there is nothing that says cholecalciferol either. The only thing that he could have eaten would have been a leaf from the plant. They die and fall sometimes. The rocks I have over the plant are much to large for him to grab or swallow. I guess I will stop using this and move to a 3 separate supplement program.

I also talked to the landlord and got the temp boosted for today at least. He's sitting at about 77 ambient and 86 basking. But I have my space heater still chugging so it might go even higher.

 

[ReptileLove18]

its just fine if you keep using it, as long as you are sure if it has d3 or no d3 so you can use it on the right schedule! if you give me the exact name of the product i can look i up and see whats in it. it might say on the frount as well, with or without d3. lots of forum members use repashy products with success

thats great that you were able to get the temp boosted up some! where its at now is a good spot to be

how many days have you been doing the warm mistings on him?
in my opinion, if he were my cham and he hadnt gone in this many days and i had thorougly searched the cage and i had misted him lots and done all the tricks, i would take him into the vet. so if he doesnt go today after having the temps up and even more mistings i think you should probably take him into the vet. this is only my opinion and i am not expert chameleon keeper, but 10 days is a long time and he has still been eating and if you cant find a poo anywhere in the cage he's got to be pretty plugged up.. you've tried a lot of home tricks and so far to no avail.

 

[kuzitiso]

its just fine if you keep using it, as long as you are sure if it has d3 or no d3 so you can use it on the right schedule! if you give me the exact name of the product i can look i up and see whats in it. it might say on the frount as well, with or without d3. lots of forum members use repashy products with success

thats great that you were able to get the temp boosted up some! where its at now is a good spot to be

how many days have you been doing the warm mistings on him?
in my opinion, if he were my cham and he hadnt gone in this many days and i had thorougly searched the cage and i had misted him lots and done all the tricks, i would take him into the vet. so if he doesnt go today after having the temps up and even more mistings i think you should probably take him into the vet. this is only my opinion and i am not expert chameleon keeper, but 10 days is a long time and he has still been eating and if you cant find a poo anywhere in the cage he's got to be pretty plugged up.. you've tried a lot of home tricks and so far to no avail.

I set up an appointment for tomorrow morning before I posted this but if he finally defecates I'm was planning on canceling. I posted this in hopes of finding a way to not take him since its so damn cold outside. I've been spraying him like this for about a week now. Some days not as much as I have class for almost the entire day. I talked to the vet earlier and he said after 10 is when you should plan on bringing him in so I've followed orders. I'm just confused because he's eating fine and he doesn't look bloated or anything. I've searched the cage but I guess it never hurts to search again.

 

[ReptileLove18]

its good you got an appointment! check out this blog for how to package him for the ride, i would just wrap a blanket around the box for the walk to the car. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ferretinmyshoes/733-traveling-chameleons.html

you're certainly right, it never hurts to look again. let us know if you find anything or if he goes and how the vet visit goes!!

 

[kuzitiso]

Just as an update, I took him to the vets yesterday morning and when I opened the cardboard box to get him out to be weighed we found he had defecated all over the box. The Dr. still used a very small cotton tip to check for any blockages and I had his stool run (since it was there anyway) and everything came out negative. Even though my little guy may not forgive me for a while I'm just so happy he's healthy. Thanks for your help.

 

[carol5208]

What wattage are your basing bulbs? Try a 150 watt. I think your temps may be part of the problem. Have they always been that low? My panthers bask at 95 and Don't overheat

 

[kuzitiso]

I've increased their wattages a couple of times but it's Michigan weather. Sometimes it's very warm outside and others it's below zero. I will increase them again though until it warms up. I think I'm using 100 W now.

 

[ReptileLove18]

Just as an update, I took him to the vets yesterday morning and when I opened the cardboard box to get him out to be weighed we found he had defecated all over the box. The Dr. still used a very small cotton tip to check for any blockages and I had his stool run (since it was there anyway) and everything came out negative. Even though my little guy may not forgive me for a while I'm just so happy he's healthy. Thanks for your help.

glad to hear he finally went! and that the tests came back negative, thats good.

What wattage are your basing bulbs? Try a 150 watt. I think your temps may be part of the problem. Have they always been that low? My panthers bask at 95 and Don't overheat

great idea! you are great carol
heat is super important for digestion so it could certainly help