katiemichelle
New Member
Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum and have a male panther chameleon close to 2 years old. I'll talk about his enclosure and feeding habits to get a better feel for my situation.
I have him in a xl screen enclosure 24x24x48 , I closed off all sides except the top with an opaque thin wrap so I could maintain humidity levels.
I have two 75watt heat bulbs as it's a large cage, a UVb bulb (10.0), and day bulb.
He's fogged multiple times a day and the humidity is 85% and the temperature is about the same. It varies in spots around his enclosure so he can cool off if needed on his lower level and can bask in higher temperatures if he's too cool.
He's fed super worms and/or dubia roaches every other day (that are gut loaded and powdered with and without D3 powder.) I wrote on the containers what I have to give him daily and which powder he gets every other week as I can never remember!
He does have a water bowl that I clean and fill with fresh water everyday. He sticks his face in and drinks, which I heard is not common because most chameleons drink from moisture on leaves from fogging or misting. But mine does both. He likes to drink from the bowl and the leaves of his plants.
I have two live plants in his enclosure which were given to me by his previous owner. I believe they are Pathos? He has sphagnum moss vines, bamboo vines, and fake plants as well.
Anyway, my buddy has some sort of infection. I brought him to the vet 2 weeks ago and they said it was an oral gland infection (But I think its a URI.) and gave me baytril to give to him 2x a day for 21 days. He has the thick bubbly saliva and I've been good with giving him his medication, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do about his saliva. It's very thick and he chokes a lot which makes me very nervous. I've swabbed a q tip in his mouth and get a lot of it out for him, but it comes back quickly and he aspirates every time he tries to drink water. My next vet appointment is on April 6th and if he doesn't improve the vet said he will need surgery on his glands. He has labored breathing sometimes and puts his head up and coughs and puffs up. is it possible for him to choke and die? Is there anything I can do to help him breathe better and/or help him get the saliva out of his mouth? Any help or tips would be appreciated as I'm still fairly new to owning a chameleon. I adopted him in October 2018.
I forgot to mention that I do handle him. As far as I know he enjoys being handled. He'll walk right onto my arm and crawl all over me as soon as I open his enclosure. He is very active still and I usually only handle him to give him medication or when he comes to the front of his cage and waves his arms around by the latch as if he's trying to open it himself.
I have him in a xl screen enclosure 24x24x48 , I closed off all sides except the top with an opaque thin wrap so I could maintain humidity levels.
I have two 75watt heat bulbs as it's a large cage, a UVb bulb (10.0), and day bulb.
He's fogged multiple times a day and the humidity is 85% and the temperature is about the same. It varies in spots around his enclosure so he can cool off if needed on his lower level and can bask in higher temperatures if he's too cool.
He's fed super worms and/or dubia roaches every other day (that are gut loaded and powdered with and without D3 powder.) I wrote on the containers what I have to give him daily and which powder he gets every other week as I can never remember!
He does have a water bowl that I clean and fill with fresh water everyday. He sticks his face in and drinks, which I heard is not common because most chameleons drink from moisture on leaves from fogging or misting. But mine does both. He likes to drink from the bowl and the leaves of his plants.
I have two live plants in his enclosure which were given to me by his previous owner. I believe they are Pathos? He has sphagnum moss vines, bamboo vines, and fake plants as well.
Anyway, my buddy has some sort of infection. I brought him to the vet 2 weeks ago and they said it was an oral gland infection (But I think its a URI.) and gave me baytril to give to him 2x a day for 21 days. He has the thick bubbly saliva and I've been good with giving him his medication, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do about his saliva. It's very thick and he chokes a lot which makes me very nervous. I've swabbed a q tip in his mouth and get a lot of it out for him, but it comes back quickly and he aspirates every time he tries to drink water. My next vet appointment is on April 6th and if he doesn't improve the vet said he will need surgery on his glands. He has labored breathing sometimes and puts his head up and coughs and puffs up. is it possible for him to choke and die? Is there anything I can do to help him breathe better and/or help him get the saliva out of his mouth? Any help or tips would be appreciated as I'm still fairly new to owning a chameleon. I adopted him in October 2018.
I forgot to mention that I do handle him. As far as I know he enjoys being handled. He'll walk right onto my arm and crawl all over me as soon as I open his enclosure. He is very active still and I usually only handle him to give him medication or when he comes to the front of his cage and waves his arms around by the latch as if he's trying to open it himself.
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