Help Needed for Recurring Health Issues in Panther Chameleon

[psekely17]

Hi there— I’ve been through it with my panther chameleon the last 8 months and I’m looking for help and other opinions. I have been working with an exotic vet with chameleon experience throughout this whole situation. I’ve included all my husbandry information, medical history & current issues below. I included photos of Mystery, his enclosure, temp/humidity trends & all his bloodwork history.

I also posted about this here in January, so you can go to my post history to see some previous information.

Husbandry Information:

- Ambilobe Panther chameleon, Male - Hatched approx Oct 2024

- Cage Type - 2 x 2 x 40in partial glass and screen enclosure. There is a glass front and back with screen sides and top.

- Lighting - Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 T5 HO 22" Bulb for UVB, Exo Terra Sun-Glo Neodymium A19 Lamp, 60-Watt for heat lamp, and a grow light for plants. UVB is replaced every 6 months.

- Temperature - Branch under heat lamp is between 85-97 degrees. In the summer, the ambient temperature in his room can be quite warm - 80-82 degrees during the day and 72-75 at night. In the winter, it’s typically 75-78 during the day and ~70 at night. He’s in my office which is the top floor of our town home, so this room always runs hot. I’m wondering if the shift in ambient humidity caused his URI to come back as that’s the only change in his environment that I can think of. I included a week snapshot of his temp and humidity below.

- Humidity - around 95% at night, between 30-50 in the daytime. See screenshot below

Plants - Live plants, all are deemed reptile safe, and he does not eat the plants.

- Placement - In my office in the top room of our town home which is the hottest room in the house. It’s usually between 75-80 degrees in this room throughout the year

- Location - Chicago, US

- Feeding - Crickets, black soldier flies & larva, silkworms, hornworms. He won’t eat any kind of roach. I gut load my feeders with repashy bug burger. I buy my feeders at a local reptile store that I trust (not a box store).

- Supplements - Rep-Cal Calcium (phosphorus and d3 free) dusted for every meal, Reptivite with d3 dusted once every 2 weeks

- Watering - Misting morning & night. Fogger runs at nighttime. We have a RO system to filter his water.

- Fecal Description - Poops once/week - healthy stool and white urate

- Medical History - Mystery started showing signs of an URI in September 2025. He was foaming at the mouth & mouth breathing. We were having home renovations done and believe this caused it. There was no change in his husbandry, but our environment certainly changed a bit. I did board him at our trusted local reptile shop during the 2 weeks of the demolition, but I think I brought him home too soon after the demolition. I immediately took him to the vet and were prescribed antibiotics (ceftazidime). He improved on these, and his white blood cell count was steadily dropping. He got a clean bill of health in early November so we took him off the meds. He was good for a few weeks but had a URI recurrence in December. We did one more round of antibiotics and he no longer showed any symptoms of URI. We did bloodwork at this time just to check in and his WBC came back more elevated with indicators of chronic inflammation. Phosphorus was 8.8 and Ca was 1:1. They started him on amphogel, meloxicam and pipperacillin. He responded very well & 3 weeks later his bloodwork was back to normal. We stopped meds and scheduled a 3 month check in. He was perfect for those 3 months and we did the check in back in April - his phosphorus was normal (4.1) and so was his bloodwork. Got a clean bill of health and said to check in next year for his annual

- Current Problem - 2 weeks ago I noticed a little bit of mucus when he opened his mouth. I decided to keep a close eye on him and see if anything else popped up. Mucus didn’t get worse, but last weekend I saw him sleeping at night with his chin in the air. I immediately scheduled a vet appointment for Tuesday. His phosphorus came back higher than ever - 9.1. We agreed to start him on piperacillan and amphogel again. His CBC came back today and his WBC is 22,500 with most of it being lymphocytes. They are concerned about his kidney function. I attached all his bloodwork history to this post as well. He is currently eating like a champ and I havent seen any decline in his hunger, but he dropped from 85g in April to 81g now.

At this point, I am at a loss. My husbandry hasn’t changed the last 6 months except for the slight change in ambient temperature in my office. The RO system is also new, but that should be making his water healthier. We were only using a Brita before. Our vet IS an exotic vet with chameleon experience. They said I’ve done everything I possibly can for him, and my husbandry is on point. They said that sometimes chameleons have bad genes (I got him from a reputable breeder) and they fail to thrive. I’m not ready to accept that though, and I want to keep pushing for answers. I’m not ready to give up on my little guy.

Mystery Man is my best friend and it breaks my heart that he keeps going through this. I’m looking for some other opinions and possible next steps. I am not limited in the care I can give him, and will provide anything and everything he needs. Please let me know any suggestions you have - whether it be husbandry changes, treatment options, or things to investigate with the vet.

Thank you for reading all this information - I know I provided a lot.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. I have a couple of questions for you while I go thru your husbandry. How are you managing drainage in your enclosure? What are your night time temps?

 

[psekely17]

Hi. I have a couple of questions for you while I go thru your husbandry. How are you managing drainage in your enclosure? What are your night time temps?

Sorry I know I wrote a novel all my temps should be in the post. I included a screenshot of the Bluetooth tracker I have in his enclosure as well to track his temp and humidity trends. The tracker is stuck on the middle back wall of his enclosure. The ambient temperate of the room itself is between 70-75. I just checked my room temp now and it’s currently 72. The Bluetooth device tracks that his enclosure drops below 70 at night with the cool fogger. I don’t necessarily take that as an exact value though - I mostly like the Bluetooth tracker for tracking the trends in his enclosure so I know if anything shifts suddenly (it hasnt). I just used a thermal gun on a branch towards the top of the enclosure and it currently says 72. It drops down to 70 as I get towards the bottom.

As for drainage, it’s manual to be honest. I clean it up every day. I have 5 large plants on the bottom of his enclosure that do a lot of the work. But I clean up any residual water on the bottom of his enclosure every morning. I do not have anything on the bottom of his enclosure like substrate or moss - it’s just plain floor.

 

[MissSkittles]

Husbandry Information:

- Ambilobe Panther chameleon, Male - Hatched approx Oct 2024

- Cage Type - 2 x 2 x 40in partial glass and screen enclosure. There is a glass front and back with screen sides and top. This seems to have adequate air flow. I’ve already asked about managing drainage. More below.

- Lighting - Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 T5 HO 22" Bulb for UVB, Exo Terra Sun-Glo Neodymium A19 Lamp, 60-Watt for heat lamp, and a grow light for plants. UVB is replaced every 6 months. Just an fyi - Arcadia bulbs are good for a year and cost about the same. You can put an Arcadia bulb into a ReptiSun T5. The strength needed for chameleons is 6%.

- Temperature - Branch under heat lamp is between 85-97 degrees. 97 is much too hot. You really don’t want his basking temps to get above 85. You can try lower wattage bulbs or invest in a Herpstat. In the summer, the ambient temperature in his room can be quite warm - 80-82 degrees during the day and 72-75 at night. In the winter, it’s typically 75-78 during the day and ~70 at night. Your night time temps are much too high in the summer to run a fogger and boost humidity. High heat plus high humidity can cause respiratory infections. Your night temps in winter are better, but really need to be below 68 to fog. While fogging is great for added hydration, it isn’t always possible and that is okay. I’m in Florida and there’s no way I can boost humidity at night. I have a Mister King and it runs for 2 full minutes right before lights go on and off, 1 minute around mid day and for the tiniest bit of humidity at night, a couple of 15 second mistings. All of my chameleons urates are white. He’s in my office which is the top floor of our town home, so this room always runs hot. I’m wondering if the shift in ambient humidity caused his URI to come back as that’s the only change in his environment that I can think of. I included a week snapshot of his temp and humidity below.

- Humidity - around 95% at night, between 30-50 in the daytime. See screenshot below In addition to all of the heat and humidity, if you don’t have a decent drainage system in place, the excess water is going to pool and keep humidity high and breed bacteria. With the solid glass bottom of the ReptiZoo enclosure, I’m guessing there is water pooling until you tend to it. With ambient temps and humidity being so high, your Mystery Man may fare better in an all screen enclosure. You can always modify it for immediate drainage and add cover to sides as needed for it to be more of a hybrid.

Plants - Live plants, all are deemed reptile safe, and he does not eat the plants. Excellent

- Placement - In my office in the top room of our town home which is the hottest room in the house. It’s usually between 75-80 degrees in this room throughout the year Have you considered moving him to a lower level of the house?
More to come….

 

[psekely17]

Husbandry Information:

- Ambilobe Panther chameleon, Male - Hatched approx Oct 2024

- Cage Type - 2 x 2 x 40in partial glass and screen enclosure. There is a glass front and back with screen sides and top. This seems to have adequate air flow. I’ve already asked about managing drainage. More below.

- Lighting - Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 T5 HO 22" Bulb for UVB, Exo Terra Sun-Glo Neodymium A19 Lamp, 60-Watt for heat lamp, and a grow light for plants. UVB is replaced every 6 months. Just an fyi - Arcadia bulbs are good for a year and cost about the same. You can put an Arcadia bulb into a ReptiSun T5. The strength needed for chameleons is 6%.

- Temperature - Branch under heat lamp is between 85-97 degrees. 97 is much too hot. You really don’t want his basking temps to get above 85. You can try lower wattage bulbs or invest in a Herpstat. In the summer, the ambient temperature in his room can be quite warm - 80-82 degrees during the day and 72-75 at night. In the winter, it’s typically 75-78 during the day and ~70 at night. Your night time temps are much too high in the summer to run a fogger and boost humidity. High heat plus high humidity can cause respiratory infections. Your night temps in winter are better, but really need to be below 68 to fog. While fogging is great for added hydration, it isn’t always possible and that is okay. I’m in Florida and there’s no way I can boost humidity at night. I have a Mister King and it runs for 2 full minutes right before lights go on and off, 1 minute around mid day and for the tiniest bit of humidity at night, a couple of 15 second mistings. All of my chameleons urates are white. He’s in my office which is the top floor of our town home, so this room always runs hot. I’m wondering if the shift in ambient humidity caused his URI to come back as that’s the only change in his environment that I can think of. I included a week snapshot of his temp and humidity below.

- Humidity - around 95% at night, between 30-50 in the daytime. See screenshot below In addition to all of the heat and humidity, if you don’t have a decent drainage system in place, the excess water is going to pool and keep humidity high and breed bacteria. With the solid glass bottom of the ReptiZoo enclosure, I’m guessing there is water pooling until you tend to it. With ambient temps and humidity being so high, your Mystery Man may fare better in an all screen enclosure. You can always modify it for immediate drainage and add cover to sides as needed for it to be more of a hybrid.

Plants - Live plants, all are deemed reptile safe, and he does not eat the plants. Excellent

- Placement - In my office in the top room of our town home which is the hottest room in the house. It’s usually between 75-80 degrees in this room throughout the year Have you considered moving him to a lower level of the house?
More to come….

Apologies - I fat fingered the basking temp. I meant to put 85-90. Not 97 I have raised his heat lamp as well to make sure it doesn’t get above 90.

See - the ambient temperature shift is my concern as well. He didn’t have any issues with it last summer, but I did end up turning off his fogger at one point in the summer. I do give him a good long mist first thing in the morning and every night before bed. Do you think I should try turning off the fogger? My only concern is hydration since there are potential kidney issues. I don’t want to end up with a dehydrated cham if the humidity isn’t spiking at night. I’m open to trying anything though - just explaining my thought process right now as I’m thinking through it.

Ive been experimenting with different options in my office to lower temps, and we’re purchasing something else to put on the vent to help with the AC air flow. But I doubt I’ll be able to get the room temp below 70.

My husband and I were just talking yesterday about potentially moving him, but I don’t love the options. We live in a townhome, so small floor plan but lots of floors. Our kitchen is basically our whole first floor, and that’s not ideal for him. My husband does a lot of painting, so he can’t go into his office. The other option is our basement, but he wouldn’t get any natural light. It’s tricky and I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of best options.

 

[MissSkittles]

- Feeding - Crickets, black soldier flies & larva, silkworms, hornworms. He won’t eat any kind of roach. I think roaches are an acquired taste for some chams. I gut load my feeders with repashy bug burger. I love Bug Burger, but I wonder if it might be somehow contributing to the problem. Honestly, I haven’t done any research on what vitamins or minerals it contains. I’m going to suggest changing what you feed your feeders to be primarily fresh low oxalate greens, veggies and a bit of fruit (organic is possible) with just a little bit of the Bug Burger. I buy my feeders at a local reptile store that I trust (not a box store).

- Supplements - Rep-Cal Calcium (phosphorus and d3 free) dusted for every meal, Reptivite with d3 dusted once every 2 weeks Perfect

- Watering - Misting morning & night. Fogger runs at nighttime. We have a RO system to filter his water. I already addressed this. No fogging unless night temps are consistently below 68F.

- Fecal Description - Poops once/week - healthy stool and white urate He poos only once per week? It would be ideal if he would poo more than that, but that is a bit of a challenge. Maybe add some pumpkin to the diets of your feeders.

- Medical History - Mystery started showing signs of an URI in September 2025. He was foaming at the mouth & mouth breathing. We were having home renovations done and believe this caused it. There was no change in his husbandry, but our environment certainly changed a bit. I did board him at our trusted local reptile shop during the 2 weeks of the demolition, but I think I brought him home too soon after the demolition. I haven’t gone back and read that post, but I do recall about it. I immediately took him to the vet and were prescribed antibiotics (ceftazidime). He improved on these, and his white blood cell count was steadily dropping. He got a clean bill of health in early November so we took him off the meds. He was good for a few weeks but had a URI recurrence in December. We did one more round of antibiotics and he no longer showed any symptoms of URI. We did bloodwork at this time just to check in and his WBC came back more elevated with indicators of chronic inflammation. Phosphorus was 8.8 and Ca was 1:1. They started him on amphogel, meloxicam and pipperacillin. He responded very well & 3 weeks later his bloodwork was back to normal. We stopped meds and scheduled a 3 month check in. He was perfect for those 3 months and we did the check in back in April - his phosphorus was normal (4.1) and so was his bloodwork. Got a clean bill of health and said to check in next year for his annual I would wonder if his body was affected long term by whatever may have been in the environment after your home repairs. However, his labs and all would not have returned to normal levels after treatment.

- Current Problem - 2 weeks ago I noticed a little bit of mucus when he opened his mouth. I decided to keep a close eye on him and see if anything else popped up. Mucus didn’t get worse, but last weekend I saw him sleeping at night with his chin in the air. I immediately scheduled a vet appointment for Tuesday. His phosphorus came back higher than ever - 9.1. We agreed to start him on piperacillan and amphogel again. His CBC came back today and his WBC is 22,500 with most of it being lymphocytes. They are concerned about his kidney function. I attached all his bloodwork history to this post as well. He is currently eating like a champ and I havent seen any decline in his hunger, but he dropped from 85g in April to 81g now. I’m not skilled in deciphering chameleon labs. Your vet is your best source for this. Yes, kidney function can be causing the elevated phosphorus. Hydration is super important, but unless you find a way to reliably and consistently get your night temps colder, fogging is going to keep him high risk for developing respiratory infection. I would go with giving silkworms and hornworms on a regular basis. Silkies are very nutritious and hydrating, so can be a staple feeder. Since too many cause loose poos, you could for example give 1-2 silkies at every feeding. Hornworms are just bags of water and calcium, making them perfect treats.

At this point, I am at a loss. My husbandry hasn’t changed the last 6 months except for the slight change in ambient temperature in my office. The RO system is also new, but that should be making his water healthier. We were only using a Brita before. Our vet IS an exotic vet with chameleon experience. They said I’ve done everything I possibly can for him, and my husbandry is on point. They said that sometimes chameleons have bad genes (I got him from a reputable breeder) and they fail to thrive. I’m not ready to accept that though, and I want to keep pushing for answers. I’m not ready to give up on my little guy. I don’t see why you would have to give up on your little beauty. Yes, he could have some genetic flaws and be more sensitive or prone to certain things. It’s possible his previous respiratory infections caused a bit of scarring to his lungs. He just needs some extra TLC and to make some changes in his environment and see if they work or you need to keep trying.

Mystery Man is my best friend and it breaks my heart that he keeps going through this. I’m looking for some other opinions and possible next steps. I am not limited in the care I can give him, and will provide anything and everything he needs. Please let me know any suggestions you have - whether it be husbandry changes, treatment options, or things to investigate with the vet.

Thank you for reading all this information - I know I provided a lot.

 

[MissSkittles]

Apologies - I fat fingered the basking temp. I meant to put 85-90. Not 97 I have raised his heat lamp as well to make sure it doesn’t get above 90.

See - the ambient temperature shift is my concern as well. He didn’t have any issues with it last summer, but I did end up turning off his fogger at one point in the summer. I do give him a good long mist first thing in the morning and every night before bed. Do you think I should try turning off the fogger? My only concern is hydration since there are potential kidney issues. I don’t want to end up with a dehydrated cham if the humidity isn’t spiking at night. I’m open to trying anything though - just explaining my thought process right now as I’m thinking through it.

Ive been experimenting with different options in my office to lower temps, and we’re purchasing something else to put on the vent to help with the AC air flow. But I doubt I’ll be able to get the room temp below 70.

My husband and I were just talking yesterday about potentially moving him, but I don’t love the options. We live in a townhome, so small floor plan but lots of floors. Our kitchen is basically our whole first floor, and that’s not ideal for him. My husband does a lot of painting, so he can’t go into his office. The other option is our basement, but he wouldn’t get any natural light. It’s tricky and I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of best options.

Yes! Turn off the fogger if temps are above 68! Feed 1-2 silkworms every feeding for a bit of hydration and hornworm treats at least once per week…more often while he’s taking any medication which are usually hard on kidneys.
Is it central ac or a window unit? If central, try adding a window unit. If it is a window unit, maybe you need a stronger btu.
I hope something I’m offering will be of help. I’ve addressed the most obvious and known cause (humidity and heat) as well as some things to try that make sense to my thinking. Another thing that really isn’t related to anything other than enrichment is creating a free range area for Mystery Man outside of his enclosure (fully under strict supervision). It could be something as simple as a few plants in the window or a small tree - real or fake. Just something to give him some full ventilation and a little bit of time without being in a cage.