I think my Oustalate's chameleon sick. Help!

[Spurlock]

i have an Oustalate's chameleon. he is lethargic and tired. his eyes are almost closed but his color is tan like he is happy. im doing everything right. and has now stopped eating and drinking. there is always crickets and dripping water in his cage. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. this happened before with a baby veiled chameleon i had and it passed 2 day latter. Please help!

 

[camimom]

Im sorry your cham isnt doing well. I do not know anything about oustalats, however, fill out the help form so its ready when someone reads the thread who is.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Spurlock]

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - Oustalate’s , wild caught, male.
• Handling – about once a week
• Feeding – crickets
• Supplements – none until recent, exotera brand dusting crickets
• Watering – dripper, and misting twice a day. Never see him drinking
• Fecal Description – white and runny, kinda like bird shit
• History – was told wild caught

Cage Info:
• Cage Type – screened cage, see photo
• Lighting – 80 watt heat bulb, twelve hour schedule
• Temperature – about 80 degrees during the day and cage has a cool side away from heat lamp, night time temps are around 70 degrees
• Humidity – try to keep the levels around 60 to 80% misting occasionally and a dripper, have a temp and humidity gauge mounted in cage
• Plants – two live plants,
• Placement – cage is in the corner of living room. Not exposed to any high or low temps
• Location - MD

Current Problem – lethargic and sunken eyes. Won’t eat. Seems weak now. Tried to hand feed. Gonna try some meal worms.

 

[camimom]

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - Oustalate’s , wild caught, male.
• Handling – about once a week
• Feeding – crickets
• Supplements – none until recent, exotera brand dusting crickets
• Watering – dripper, and misting twice a day. Never see him drinking
• Fecal Description – white and runny, kinda like bird shit
• History – was told wild caught

Cage Info:
• Cage Type – screened cage, see photo
• Lighting – 80 watt heat bulb, twelve hour schedule
• Temperature – about 80 degrees during the day and cage has a cool side away from heat lamp, night time temps are around 70 degrees
• Humidity – try to keep the levels around 60 to 80% misting occasionally and a dripper, have a temp and humidity gauge mounted in cage
• Plants – two live plants,
• Placement – cage is in the corner of living room. Not exposed to any high or low temps
• Location - MD

Current Problem – lethargic and sunken eyes. Won’t eat. Seems weak now. Tried to hand feed. Gonna try some meal worms.

I dont know what their supplement schedule should be, but I think what you have is not enough for him.
ALso he may not be gtting enough water, 2 times a day for misting is not alot.
does he have a UVB bulb?
His eyes dont appear sunken to me.
How many crickets is/was he eating?
If he is wild caught, have you had him tested for parasites?

 

[kinyonga]

I would get it to a vet right away.

Have you tried dripping water on its nose? If it drinks this way you can try putting a cricket between its teeth to see if it will eat it on its own.

You said..."80 watt heat bulb, twelve hour schedule"...so you aren't providing any UVB either from a UVB light or from taking it outside for some sun each day??

You need to dust the insects properly with supplements and you also need to be sure that the insects are well-fed/gutloaded. See below.

Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc.....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium). Not sure how to tell you to dust WC insects if that is what you will be doing.

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

You said...."white and runny, kinda like bird shit"...that's the urate part. There should also be a brown feces part to what comes out of him.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[Spurlock]

thank you for your help. i don't really have the money for a vet. i just added a uvb bulb. i did get him to eat one worm by putting it in his mouth and another but he hasn't swallowed it. is there anything else that i can try without taking him to the vet? i will keep you updated as i try more. thank you again

 

[kinyonga]

Did you give him any calcium?
If you haven't been giving him proper supplements or gutloading/feeding the insects well or providing the UVB light, chances are he is becoming calcium deficient...but you need a vet to tell you for sure. You could try giving him a bit of liquid calcium sandoz or liquid calcium gluconate to see if it helps and make sure he gets some UVB....sunlight would be best...if its warm enough outside.

 

[Cainschams]

SEAVS is the best vet around that area although its a little hike to Reston VA, I think is where the new office is. You can search google for it and it will come up. They did a small payment plan for me when I had to take one of mine in. Its really worth giving a call and seeing if they can help.

I work out of Hagerstown MD but I am laid off for a few weeks and am in WV at the moment or I would bring some "gear" and check out your set up and if you were missing anything you could borrow what you needed. Unfortunately it will be a little while before I am back in that area

Keep in touch and if there is anything I can do when I get back over there I would be more than happy to help.

Edit: DO NOT take him to the vet in West Minster. Dude will tell you he has cham experience but he is not up to date with new husbandry methods. I was not impressed at all by him.

 

[Spurlock]

I got up this morning and he was all white with a red tail like he was sleeping. I went to mist him but he was already passed away. Thank you for all your help everyone.

 

[Elizadolots]

I'm so sorry.

 

[gwilliams]

I am so sorry - that is always tough when it happens.....