help- murray, sunken eyes and sleeping during the day

bimac6

Avid Member
Cage Info:
Cage Type - 28x28x48 all mesh
Lighting - reptisun UVB tube and 65 watt heat lamp
Temperature - i'm not currently measuring the temperatures, but the basking is around 90, and the rest of the cage is 80 probably, a little higher than room temperature since the humidity makes it a little more stuffy.
Humidity - i spray him around 3 to 4 times a day for a period of 1 to 2 minutes, and he has live plants that i let the water dripper drip into, and those hold moisture
Plants - Are you using live plants? he has a large schleffaria plant, and a small pothos plant, which i've removed for the past few days because it's not getting enough lighting, so i have it out in the sun.
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? it's in my room, where it's always been, it's about 4 feet high, compared to my 8 foot high room, and the fan isn't above him.
Location - Florida

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, I bought him December of 2008, being about 4 to 5 months old.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Not a lot lately, but he's very used to being handled, never has stressed him out, and if he doesn't want out, then I leave him be, like it's always been.
Feeding - He eats large crickets, I buy 50-60 weekly, and the cricket cage is inside of his cage, he goes down when he's hungry, but he's great with not over eating or becoming overweight. he probably eats once a day, or every other day, but he eats a lot in that time period. 60 lasts a week. I gutload the crickets with tomatoes and cucumbers, I use calcium without d3 every other day, and with d3 monthly.
Supplements - above, and let me go check the names-- I have Reptocal with d3, Reptivite with d3, and Zoomed's Repticalcium without d3.
Watering - I've explained these throughout the list, but I have a dripping system that drips into his schleffaria, into a tub, that i empty out the excess water, I mist for 2 minute intervals, and I see him drinking.
Fecal Description - Yesterday when I emptied the tub, (he poops in there too) it's perfectly white, nothing weird about it, although it was watery but, i'm pretty sure that's because it landed in the water.
History - I've realized lately he found out where the water drips to, the bottom of the tub, so he goes down in there sometimes and drinks it. Mind you, this is where he poops and where all the water that goes through the soil is drained to. I've only seen him do this twice, and both times are pretty recent.
Current Problem - Yesterday and today I've noticed his eyes closed during the day, not for the whole day, he still does his daily walk around routines, but I find him just looking lethargic, his eyes are sunken in, and he's stressed colors, when I've found him in the tub at the bottom I immediately take him out and put him in the sink and let the water drip on him, so maybe it will clean out his system. but yesterday night, while he was sleeping, (the branch was swaying because his weight is greater than the branch he chose to sleep on) i noticed he was kind of on a loose branch, so i readjusted him so he wouldn't fall, I walked away and I'm assuming when I readjusted him it startled him and he wanted to find a new area to sleep, but when I came back into my room, he was hanging from his tail off of his vine, sleeping. Like he lost traction and slipped and caught himself. Every time I think of him being sick I begin crying. I've done everything that I can think of. I'm pretty sure it's because of the water at the bottom of the tub. And now I'm making sure that he can't get to it. (I've put in a mesh top of a terrarium, so he can't reach it, and I empty it every time I let the water drip now, instead of at the end of the day) Also I've noticed his colors are half bright and normal, and half stressed and dark looking. Can anyone explain this? Right now he seems fine, he climbed all the way up the blinds in the window and he's sleeping now, but it is night time.

i'm scheduling a vet in the next week, but I'd like to hear some responses in the mean time because i'm so nervous. Thank you guys


-Sara
 
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first take the criket cage out of the chams cage....second control when he eats...3rd take a fecal sample to a exotic reptile vet and have them do a smear...4th get a needelse sirringe and try to get him to drink out of it...5th put a tall stable plant with him on it in the shower....aim hot water at a wall and let the warm droplets hit him and the plant...get him to drink as much as possible...also check the urate. is it oranbge or dark yellow? u want white or white with a little yellow tip. respond back soon
 
he drinks constantly, I've had him drink 3 times today, and I've set him up in the sink with lukewarm water dripping in it, and I saw him drinking then too.
He's good in that area.
that's exactly how it is, white with small yellow, he's not dehydrated in any way
 
ya they like to poop in water dishes....NOOOOOO water holders ever!....always use a mister and a dripper ...no substrate...line with paper towls...the dehydration could be being caused by somthing inside him....i just recently had a pinnworm infestiation of my 6 month old vield ...but i cought it the same day....vet trip within first symptom and hes had no probs with medication. just vet it as soon as possible...alot of answers can be in that poop....just get those crix out of there and into a safe clean container
 
if hes drinkign constantly...then it might be somthing internal....that poop test and exotic vet lookover tells all
 
He doesn't have any substrate, it's a large piece of wood with the plants on top of it. I have a all mesh cage, so the water drips onto my floor and created a black mold problem, so it's a temporary fix, the tub I mean. and I know, I need to know a good vet in the tampa area, closer to clearwater. I had one a few months back but I lost his number.
 
even if u changed out the fecal in the water holder....it could have grown fast bacteria resulting in his current condition...this can be fixed just vet him....i fell your panic ...it happend to me yesterday :)
 
and when he drank the water, it had the poop in it D:
that's what I'm scared of.
and the soil water can't be too good for him

when I found him yesterday night hanging, I like, immediately started crying
 
Hey-

Dr. Anderson at Countryside Animal Hospital is who sees my guys and she is reasonable. Tell her I sent you. From the pics he looks thin, can you take a pic of him only? He should not be able to free feed, and I would not use tomatoes. Not a good gutload. At the very least drop off a fecal with Dr. Anderson-it is $22.

How is your Oustalet? It is pretty easy to cross contaminate if he has parasites.
 
Hey-

Dr. Anderson at Countryside Animal Hospital is who sees my guys and she is reasonable. Tell her I sent you. From the pics he looks thin, can you take a pic of him only? He should not be able to free feed, and I would not use tomatoes. Not a good gutload. At the very least drop off a fecal with Dr. Anderson-it is $22.

How is your Oustalet? It is pretty easy to cross contaminate if he has parasites.

I'll look into her, thanks Julirs :)
And alright, I'll stop the tomatoes.
But, our oustalet lives at Patrick's house, and Murray lives at mine, but she's doing just fine, growing at a steady speed. I'll go take a picture of him alone. His arms and tail look thin, since after the mishap with the water, I haven't seen him eat. He's just been lethargic :/
 
Cage Info:
Humidity - i spray him around 3 to 4 times a day for a period of 1 to 2 minutes, and he has live plants that i let the water dripper drip into, and those hold moisture

Chameleon Info:
Watering - I've explained these throughout the list, but I have a dripping system that drips into his schleffaria, into a tub, that i empty out the excess water, I mist for 2 minute intervals, and I see him drinking.
History - I've realized lately he found out where the water drips to, the bottom of the tub, so he goes down in there sometimes and drinks it. Mind you, this is where he poops and where all the water that goes through the soil is drained to. I've only seen him do this twice, and both times are pretty recent.
-Sara


He looks dehydrated to me (collapsed casque). From your description you don't really know how dry your cage is getting between mistings. Do you have a humidity gauge? Not the little pet shop analog type...they are terrible. Get a decent digital type at a home improvement store. I would bet your cage is a lot drier than you realize for much of the day. Chams lose a lot of body moisture through respiration in dry air. If he was well hydrated he would not be drinking every time you spray (3 times a day), he would not try to drink out of the dripper tub, and his casque would be full and fat looking.

Some things to do right now:
Get the humidity gauge (hygrometer).
Add live plants to his cage to offer more surfaces for evaporation.
You can safely cover part of the cage with plastic sheeting to hold in some moisture.
Mist for longer periods (2 minutes is not very long) or start misting, wait for him to start reflex swallowing, and gently spray over his head so the water drips down his face. He may start licking and swallowing this way too. Keep spritzing until he tips his head up and turns away from the water. Chams have small stomachs and can't "store" a lot of water at any one time.
Try using a room humidifier aimed right into the cage. Run it in cycles controlled by a lamp timer.
 
Sara-I am going to have to call parasites or infection on him. I have seen him in tip top shape and you have kept him that way for a year. Since I am almost positive he is WC, I would get that fecal done ASAP-he is really starting to look thin and dehydrated.
 
Sara-I am going to have to call parasites or infection on him. I have seen him in tip top shape and you have kept him that way for a year. Since I am almost positive he is WC, I would get that fecal done ASAP-he is really starting to look thin and dehydrated.

It really has been just as you have last seen him, up until recently, that's why i'm calling attention to you guys, because I noticed how different he got.
But I'm just hoping he'll eat soon.. :(
How can you tell if he has parasites or infection?
asjsadjhdhags
I feel like a bad owner
 
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