HELP!! poss sick/stressed jackson cham

[fishinmyhead]

hi! i just adopted a jacksons chameleon about a day ago.
i work in a vet hosp and a guy came and said "someone gave me this chameleon and i dont know how to take care of them so can you guys take him"
so i took him. i have had 2 jacksons in the past so im kinda familiar with them. anyway. i dont know this guys history at all but i have not seen him eat yet and it has been now about 2 days. he is high up. his encloser is on a 4 foot shelf and he has an huge umbrella tree in there with him. he has a uv light and he is right by the window which i keep cracked. (temp in his cage is 75 to 80 in basking area) and he has a dripper and i mist him at least 3 times a day (heavily).
he moves around a little in the morning but then ushualy by afternoon he finds a branch, closes his eyes and sits there.
im worried that he is stressed and he is not eating.
because i work at a vet hospital, the dr gave me some:
1- panacur (dilute) for deworming
2- baytril (diluted) antibiotic
2- some LRS fluids to give subcutaneously if it looks like he is dehydrated.
i dont know if i should give him any of this yes. she gave it to me to give if i thought he needed it but we both agreed that giving him these meds can stress him out even more. esp if he is trying to adjust to a new environment.
what should i do?
how many days can he go without eating before he is critical? i dont know when he ate last before i got him.
please help!
thanks!!!

 

[Elizadolots]

Isn't he pretty! Not knowing when he last ate makes it iffier. In general, I doubt it's a problem if they go 4 or even 5 days without eating.

Has he pooped? Poop is always a good indicator of what's going on.

He's certainly stressed--who wouldn't be in his situation? I'd be reluctant to give a de-worming product to any animal I didn't know had parasites. It's a bit hard to tell from the picture, but his eyes look good. I wouldn't jump to injecting fluids unless it was really needed. I think you can rehydrate quite well with misting/showering and a good dripper.

I'm not sure how I feel about the antibiotic. If you have some reason to suspect he has an infection then of course you should administer it, but otherwise I'd hold off.

I may be off base on this, but is there a giant red graphic of some kind on the wall of the room? I think I see it behind him. If so, he might not like it. You might hang a towel over that side to keep him from seeing out. In fact, he might feel more comfortable with towels on a couple of sides to limit the directions he needs to be concerned about. They'll help with keeping humidity in too.

 

[fishinmyhead]

no poops yet.. i was looking yesterday and today but i have not seen any yet.
what should i look for if he does poo? i kindof remember chameleon poops but it was about 5 years ago since i have had true chameleons.
and yes i have removed the red painting in teh back. i thought about that a little after when i put him in the cage. so its the blinds in the back now. i open them in the day to give him natural light.
i can put up come towels on the opp side if it will help.

 

[Elizadolots]

See if he gets more active during the day now that the big red thing is gone. You can always add towels later if it seems like he's not perking up.

I always say chameleon poop reminds me of bird poop. There's a brown/grey component that, in the best case, retains a sausagy shape....and there's a white/cream component that is the urate...if it's white with a yellow or orange tip, that's okay. If it's distinctly yellow or orange it usually means he's dehydrated and you should proceed as if he is (which is pretty much what you are doing: lots of water).

 

[fishinmyhead]

ok. i think i remember. i have a very healthy crested who has good poops. i imagine its similar.
do jacksons eat leafy greens ever? should i offer him some?
also, im guna get some feeder cockroaches for him tomorrow to see if he likes those.. good idea?

 

[Elizadolots]

No on the greens. As far as I know, Jackson's don't eat veggies... Yes on the roaches though.

 

[fishinmyhead]

good news! he pooped!! yaaay! it looks normal (as far as i can tell)

 

[xanthoman]

nice looking xanth, sometimes it just takes a while to settle in. it looks like its in a living room or something, the less comotion the better. i would just leave him alone in his cage and not even bother him for a day or two. he could easily go 2+weeks without croaking, but if it went that far you might have to force feed to get him started again. he looks to be in fairly decent shape (better pics would be helpful) but it sort of sounds as though his recent care history before you got him might be lacking and since you work at a vets, i would do a fecal right away. i would hesitate to give him anything prior to that coming back. if he was in the hands of somebody who didnt know what they were doing oversupplementation is a possibilty, seems to be more common than undersupplementation, so i would hold of any multivites until you can better asses his condition.the structure in the top of his cage could be redone to better optimize his basking and uv distances. not likely you will get him to eat any greens. if you are having a problem getting him to eat i would not offer him any food for at least 2 days. the best readily available hunger strike breaker, would be blue or green bottle flies or house flies. they are often available from cf member nick barta (check the cf classifieds) or mantisplace.com . i wouldnt worry just yet, but if he goes 2-3 days without food and then turns down blue bottle or house flies , then i would say youve got a problem. in the meantime, often times drippers just arent enough to get them to drink, if they arent feeling well or are in a new enviroment. i would spray him with heated water (actually heated not just warm water out of the tap) for extended periods (at least 15 seconds) 2or3x a day. i would say he is just settling in, but if if he wont eat flies or he hasnt drank after a couple of days, then there are likely other issues brewing. also i would keep an ear/eye out, especially for any respitory distress, tremors or any thing suspicious, just as part of assesing his condition. just my 2c worth.

 

[Elizadolots]

Yay on the good looking poop! Xanthoman is an expert on that species so you are now getting the best advice.

I will say that if it seems like the environment is too active, you can cover some of the cage with towels to help him feel safe. I wrap both my Fischers' cages with towels every night when I turn off the light so the computer and TV in the room don't bother them.

 

[jpm995]

You may want to check him [pics maybe] when he is moving around and look for bent limbs or signs of wounds or mbd. Also try diff kinds of feeders. He may have a likeing for wax worms or roaches rather than crickets. Hope he's ok. A shower is a good way to hydrate him but it may stress him a little so don't overdo it.

 

[fishinmyhead]

he is in my bedroom, which is empty for about 9 hours of the day. im only there when im not at work or school. so he gets a lot of private time.
i will definitely do a fecal and spray with very warm water.
i THINK he ate. i put about 10 large crickets in the cage and they are now all gone. so im going to wait until tomorrow and put some more in there. but there is not really a lot of places for them to hide, and every time i see him he is in a new place in his cage. im going to get some more vines and branches so he can have better access to his basking spot and the rest of his cage. so far, so good.
thanks for everyones help! i really appreciate it!

 

[Elizadolots]

I find this stuff to be invaluable for creating climbing/walking/resting opportunities.

Look for it in the gardening department.