hasnt pooped at all, and am very concerned

[Sire Pascal]

Good Morning everyone



Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - male ambilobe panther chameleon, 9 months old, had him for 4 days so far (sex age and species based on what previous owner told me)

Handling - never, am waiting at least a month before i try

Feeding - Right now he is eating 10-15 crickets a day powdered with calcium. Twice a month ill powered with D3 and twice a month with M.V. His crickets are gut loaded.

Supplements - Multivitamin from rep-cal, calcium carbonate from cbwf.com, and i gut my crickets with flukers orange cube

Watering - I have a dripper ( the little dripper ) hitting the leaves and i mist 2 to 3 times a day for about 2-3 min each

Fecal Description - He hasnt pooped yet, thus am here seeking help

History - Previouse owner only fed him 5 crickets a day and dusted with calcium and MV daily. He told me he was a 9 month old male ambilobe panther chameleon but some users from an other post i made say he might be a female nosy be 4-5 months old, so its up in the air. I will make a post later on, on the correct forum so someone can help me identify him/her better

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Mesh 18x18x36

Lighting - dont recall the brand, but its a basking bulb 100w and uvb bulb 5.0. I have the lights on from 9 am to 9 pm

Temperature - Ive yet to get a proper therm/hydro ive bought a couple but its hard to put in my cage as its all mesh and most thermo/hydro that my near by pet store sell are for glass tanks

Humidity - same as before idk i do mist 2-3 times a day for 2-3 min each

Plants - Some users were just able to give me some sites as to where i can purchase pesticide free plants so am just waiting for them to arrive. The previous owner took all his plants although he had said it came with the payment.....

Placement - My cage is located on the floor in the basement of my room. My room has been carpeted and walled up so its not an empty basement. No one really enters my room except my daughter who is 4 years old.

Location - I am located in Wharton NJ in the US

Current Problem - He hasnt pooped since ive gotten him and am concern. The 1st 2 days i had him i only fed him 5 crickets as the previous owner told me to do but once i became a member of this website some chameleon owners told me i should be feeding him more so yesterday and today ive been giving him 10-15 crickets a day

 

[Sire Pascal]

here are some pictures of him

 

[Bush baby]

I had this issue when i fed my Chams dubia roaches. They seem harder for chams to digest, thus take longer to go through the digestive tract.

I aliviated this by putting a drop of mineral oil on the backs of my crickets.The very next day he pooped..alot!

Off the bat, i'd say increase his hydration, and get rid of the flukers gutload as they're garbage.

 

[LundqvistNYR]

he also doesn't look to be 9 months old to me! If he was Im pretty sure he would have some good colors by then! And be bigger!

 

[Sire Pascal]

I had this issue when i fed my Chams dubia roaches. They seem harder for chams to digest, thus take longer to go through the digestive tract.

I aliviated this by putting a drop of mineral oil on the backs of my crickets.The very next day he pooped..alot!

Off the bat, i'd say increase his hydration, and get rid of the flukers gutload as they're garbage.

cool ill def try that!! i will pick some up at work today thanks!!! and yea am ma naturally gut load my crickets from now on

he also doesn't look to be 9 months old to me! If he was Im pretty sure he would have some good colors by then! And be bigger!

thats what some of the other users said. i saw a pic of an 11 month old chameleon and he was a lot bigger and had some nice colors.. since his previous owner only fed him 5 crickets a day from 3 months till just recently i assumed that it effected his growth but i could be wrong. either way am not 100% sure of his age sex or species but hopefully someone on here will be able to help me out

 

[Lovereps]

I had this issue when i fed my Chams dubia roaches. They seem harder for chams to digest, thus take longer to go through the digestive tract.

I aliviated this by putting a drop of mineral oil on the backs of my crickets.The very next day he pooped..alot!

Off the bat, i'd say increase his hydration, and get rid of the flukers gutload as they're garbage.

Bush Baby is right EXCEPT for the mineral oil, which is dangerous for chams, according to veterinarian Ferretinmyshoes.
Instead, I would follow the advice and read the info in the reply by Xanthoman below Ferretinmyshoes' reply
Here https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-clear-impaction-88109/index2.html

I will add that Ferretinmyshoes isn't just any vet, she also has kept chams for years.

The previous owner sounds like a jerk--taking the plants when they were included in the sale.

BTW, I think you've gotten some very specific info on why he is a she. Time will tell anyhow for his/her growth and sexing.

FWIW, my cham-safe plants come from stores like Lowe's and Home Depot.
I squirt Dawn dish soap onto the tops and undersides of leaves and branches, then rinse it all off with the garden hose or kitchen faucet sprayer.
This removes the fertilizer and pesticide residues from the leaves.
The top 1/2'' of soil can be replaced with a potting soil that doesn't have
fertilizers or vermiculite, etc .
More about safe plants and making plants safe is here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/enclosures/


I don't think it's time to panic just yet.

Your cham is new to your care, his environment has changed, his diet has changed somewhat, he doesn't have the same plants--so there's plenty to get used to before he settles in.

Are you sure he is actually eating the crickets and they're not just hiding behind and beneath things in his cage?

No eating=no pooping

Unless he ingested a rock or substrate or has been fed grossly oversized crickets, it shouldn't be an emergency just yet.

Mild dehydration will cause difficulty passing poops.
Other than their drinking water, the humidity in a cham's environment helps them to stay hydrated.
That's one reason why humidity levels are important to monitor.
A gauge can be a simple electronic gauge that you can take out while misting and replace afterwards. Home depot sells them, Amazon, etc.

Feeders with more water content can help like silkworms or, Calciworms/Phoenixworms usually found in Petco and other similar store, as well as online.
Something you can do is to mist him with warm water, which will help ensure he is well hydrated enough to poop.
Some people have had success using a tiny bit of pear baby food as a cham laxative.


Maybe he went to the bathroom into a plant or the poop was small and washed away when misted.


I don't know what cbwf.com is but your cham should have 2 types of calcium.
Most feedings, use calcium without D3
2x a month use calcium with D3
2x a month for the multivitamin

As BushBaby mentioned, the Fluker's orange cube isn't a good gutload for your cham's feeders.
It will keep the crickets alive but is much less nutritious than a simple homemade gutload.
It's easy to feed the feeders a nutritious diet and they will then give more nutrients to your cham.
More on that here https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/
2 commercial gutloads that are good include Repashy Bug Burger and Cricket Crack. The former is available in stores and Amazon.com. The latter from
Tiki Tiki Reptiles http://www.tikitikireptiles.com/supplies.php?id=48

Hope this helps