Help please......

[mczoo]

I recently took my male jackson to the vet for lethargy, poor appetite and slow growth... we both thought parasites......unfortunaly he is a six month old jackson xan. he and hopefully his "future girl" are in identical separate side by side cages with pvc sheet between then she is doing well and gaining like a horse. the cages are 18x12x 24 screen with base with a drain he has a ficus and several fake vines and fake plant vines for cover. i had a reptiglo 8.0 bulb covering both cages until tonight when my reptisun 5.0 arrived. he also has a basking light 60 watts, ambient temps low 70's (i have a temp gun and standard thermometers) night mid sixties, basking no more than 80 degrees, humidity has been hard to keep above 60% but for the last week it has been 60% and 85% after misting 3 times per day he was eating gutloaded cricket 4-8 of the 3/8 inch size daily until 2 weeks ago when he no longer ate in front of me. recently his appetite was low and he was dehydrated. He got twice daily 20 minute showers and a second humidifier. currently he seems better but very very thin and more tired.......Any thoughts

 

[dodolah]

does your vet prescribe you some parasite medicine?
If he does, then keep up with the therapy.
Since parasite is notorious in making your chameleon dehydrated, pay a close attention to his hydration status.

After the first therapy is over, clean the cage inside out. Steam cleaner is good. or clean the cage with bleach solution and strong water current to wash off any parasite eggs and cyst (be aware that bleach does not kill the cyst. it just loosen up the glue that make them sticky. so, a strong water current can wash them away).
Once a week rigorous cleaning during therapy is good.

Don't let any feeders overnight. Chances are they are contaminated already.
Don't let any poop stays in the cage overnight.
You might need to change the live plants soon.
Clean the fake plants with hot water and disinfectant soap.

Since he has a parasite, I would not keep his future mate close to his cage. The risk of contaminating your female cham is too high. In fact, it might be best for you to take a fecal sample of the female and have it tested.
use gloves. Clean your hands be4 and after handling the male.
Best to take care the female first before the male.
Avoid the risk of cross contamination.

don't let them share any equipment or furniture.

most of all, practice cleanliness during this process.
Be aware, the parasites can infect you too. therefore, i avoid using bare hands when handling your cham.
Also, don't let him walk all over your furniture.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

mczoo, were parasites confirmed???

What supplements are you using and what frequency of use??

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I thought this animals fecal came back clean.

May have to do another ( 1 clean fecal doesn't mean no parasites ... but there is certainly no excessive "bloom")

-Brad

 

[mczoo]

thanks for the reply, when i reposted i was fixing my post and the part that said no parasites was deleted by me right before i accidentally hit the enter key.... if he had been positive we were goig to treat both. he looks somewhat better today. the only husbandry changes hav been 5.0 reptisun with second standard flourescent and less suppliment. I used to suplement with Ca and vit D every other day and herptivite weekly (this is what i do for my bearded dragon as well) currently i have suplimented cal without once a week and cal with once a week and hertivite every other week for the chams. he looks much better today could it be the lights.....when i got better lights on my beardie she really perked up...he seems do have done the same

Thanks so much and sorry about the incomplete post

Sean

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Again, I'm hung up on Vitamin A .....but, your symptoms resemble hypovitamosis Vitamin A. Herptivite has zero preformed vitamin A in it. If you choose to consider this possibility , you need to research it and be certain of any actions you take. Vitamin A stores in the liver and high doses are toxic.

Some Fish food flakes have Vitamin A in them and can be used to gutload crix. This is a way to add small amounts of vit A to your chams diet.

 

[mczoo]

What are the signs of low vitamin A in a cham?? I worry because vitamins A, D and E are all fat soluble and are stored. is there a good article to review or a website to check

 

[Brad Ramsey]

What are the signs of low vitamin A in a cham?? I worry because vitamins A, D and E are all fat soluble and are stored. is there a good article to review or a website to check

I still think your giving him too much D3.
once or maybe twice a month is all I do for mine, and Jacks are way more sensitive to supplements.
I have a decent amount of info on Vitamin A, but as with any supplementation it's not exact by any means.
I describe my schedule in the supplements article here:

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad

 

[dectr6]

I agree with Brad about the d3. I was giving mine twice a month and have since cut back to once a month. I did this after reading Dr. wheelock's article on the subject. I am able to get mine out in the sun for a total of about ten hours weekly.

 

[mczoo]

Thanks,

I will adjust my schedule and keep you posted