Is it just me or...

[Chameleon Creator]

My panther chameleons poop stinks! Like bad! Lol.
I've owned a veiled chameleon prior to my panther and her poop never stunk..
I always know when he poops, I can smell it when I come down the steps, the odor just smacks me in the face, it is really that bad. I would have never imagined something so small creating an odor so large.
Anyone else?

 

[carol5208]

Smelly poop can be a sign of parasites from what I read on here. Not saying that is what it is, but maybe just to rule out, have a fecal done. I have encountered it once in a great while but then it doesn't happen again. If it is happening on a regular basis, it might be something to look into because usually it does not smell.

 

[FrankTheTank]

Yes smelly poop is a bad sign. I would definitely suggest getting a decal done as soon as you can

 

[Chameleon Creator]

Damn. Well how urgent is this? What types of parasites causes this odor? He has been this way for months now and seems okay. I will still do a fecal but money is way too tight right now

 

[nj011908]

Damn. Well how urgent is this? What types of parasites causes this odor? He has been this way for months now and seems okay. I will still do a fecal but money is way too tight right now

worst hobby ever for a budget.. but good news is, get a fresh poop and just bring the poop only to a reptile vet and the fecal alone should only be like 30$ or less!

 

[FrankTheTank]

Damn. Well how urgent is this? What types of parasites causes this odor? He has been this way for months now and seems okay. I will still do a fecal but money is way too tight right now

A lot of vets will do fecal exams for around $30. I would call around and find out what they charge. If it's been this way for months then it is pretty serious. Chams will hide sickness for a long time until it is too late. So just because he looks fine doesn't necessarily mean that is the case.

 

[Cami2013]

I am a fairly new chameleon owner. After about 3 weeks of owning our cham, my son and I took her to a recommended vet who had years of experience with reptiles, specifically chameleons (30+ minutes from us, but well worth it) for a well check up. They called a couple days before our scheduled appointment and requested we bring a stool sample. From everything I learned (i.e. her coloring, her feeding and drinking patterns, the appearance of her eyes and nostrils, her stool frequency, color, and consistency), she seemed to be healthy. Everything checked out, except her poop. She had 4 different types of parasites: pin worms, round worms, giardia, and coccidia. Giardia is easily contracted by humans without frequent, proper hand hygiene. She was on 3 different antibiotics for 2 weeks and my son and I deep cleaned and sanitized her cage every Sunday. I took her stool in for a recheck after she completed her 2 week course of antibiotics, and she was rid of all but 1 of her parasites. She still had coccidia, which we learned can be very difficult to get rid of. She continued on 1 of the antibiotics for another 2 weeks and we continued deep cleaning and sanitizing her cage every Sunday. When taking her stool in to be rechecked after the last course of antibiotics, she was parasite free! WOO! HOO! My son and I and our cat remained parasite free too (I am a little fanatical about hand washing). We always wash with antibacterial soap prior to handling Cami (so we protect her) and immediately after handling her. Also, before and after handling any of her food sources.

Thinking back, I can even remember commenting on it daily, Cami's poop smelled worse than my 12 year old son's man poops. I felt like I needed a gas mask every night when I would clean up her poop and spot clean her enclosure.

Our vet (and another long-time chameleon owner we know) informed us that parasites are one of the biggest chameleon killers if not treated promptly and properly. Parasites can overwhelm their immune systems.

So, please do not wait. Have a stool analysis done sooner than later. My vet charges $28, but would not have just tested her poop without an initial exam, an additional $48. I don't remember exactly, but when all said in done with initial exam, 1st stool analysis, and 3 antibiotics, my cost was somewhere between $125 - $150. He graciously gave us plenty of overfill on the antibiotics, so we had enough to make it through the second 2 week course (her dose was only 0.07 ml each day of the antibiotic we administered for 4 weeks), but each repeat stool analysis was an additional $28.

 

[Cami2013]

worst hobby ever for a budget.. but good news is, get a fresh poop and just bring the poop only to a reptile vet and the fecal alone should only be like 30$ or less!

We have only owned our chameleon for about 11 weeks and I've already put about $2K into her, her enclosure, her food supplies, and all the right equipment. Never mind the time demands, but she is well worth all the time and expense! My son and I both adore her!

 

[Albula]

I've owned my chameleon now for about 7 months. Bought it for $100. Had someone offer me $200 for it.

 

[Lathis]

We have only owned our chameleon for about 11 weeks and I've already put about $2K into her, her enclosure, her food supplies, and all the right equipment. Never mind the time demands, but she is well worth all the time and expense! My son and I both adore her!

I joke that it's like having a mistress. You spend a ton of money and time, and eventually start lying to your spouse about it! "Why no, darling, we've always had that giant ficus in the corner...".

 

[FlChamMom]

I joke that it's like having a mistress. You spend a ton of money and time, and eventually start lying to your spouse about it! "Why no, darling, we've always had that giant ficus in the corner...".

Yep- I have started having my worms delivered to the office!

 

[Chameleon Creator]

So I can contract the parasites from the chameleon? What are the symptoms and what will happen? I'll have the poop tested next time he poops

 

[fluxlizard]

So I can contract the parasites from the chameleon? What are the symptoms and what will happen? I'll have the poop tested next time he poops

The odds of that are very small indeed. But I agree about the smell and getting him tested. Cham poop is normally not very smelly.

But I'll point out that the sense of smell is much more sensitive in some humans than in others...

 

[Lathis]

Yes, some parasites can make that jump. Giardia is one, off the top of my head. Intestinal distress is likely the only way you might suspect. Pinworms, too, I think.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

The odds of that are very small indeed. But I agree about the smell and getting him tested. Cham poop is normally not very smelly.



But I'll point out that the sense of smell is much more sensitive in some humans than in others...

I do have a stronger sense of smell than others, hopefully that is the only reason it's smelly. I will get him tested ASAP though but I'm hoping for the best. How should I go about collecting the poop? How long is too long to test the poop before it's inaccurate?

 

[fluxlizard]

Pinworms, too, I think.

My info may be outdated on this I don't know- but 20 years ago one of the best herp vets in the world at the time told me that he felt that pinworms were host specific- even species specific. Meaning those pinworms found in bearded dragons for example, came from the original wild dragons and just kept going from generation to generation thanks to the fact that their cysts are super sticky and spread really easily and therefore almost impossible to get rid of completely. Rather than being spread from another species of lizard to bearded dragon in the same collection.

I would be very interested to know if he was correct about that- reptile vet med was still pretty new back then.

I do know that with salmonella- there are many species and only a tiny few species that can be transferred to humans.

 

[Lathis]

I'm definitely not a pinwormologist, so take what I say with a grain of salt

 

[fluxlizard]

If anyone knows- I'd be very interested to know if what the vet told me in those days was correct.

 

[Cami2013]

So I can contract the parasites from the chameleon? What are the symptoms and what will happen? I'll have the poop tested next time he poops

Giardia is the parasite that can be easily contracted by humans without proper hand hygiene. Our cham vet said humans symptoms include severe stomach cramping and liquid diarrhea. You'd know pretty quickly if you contracted them, with symptoms like that. Hope all ends up well! My vets instructions as far as collecting the stool were to refrigerate the stool if we were not bringing it to him fresh. We had a morning appointment, so I collected a pm stool the night before, using a sandwich baggy turned inside out, put my hand inside and just picked up the poop, inverting the bag back to right side out (stool ends up inside the baggy and the outside of the baggy is not contaminated, able to seal easily). I was advised to refrigerate this one. We had a 10am appointment and Cami happened to have a fresh stool just prior to loading her up in her smaller portable habitat. I collected that the same way. My vet prefers fresh stool if possible, but that's kind of out of our control.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

I can only attempt to give a fresh sample. Very difficult with the hours I work.. And I'd much rather not contract a parasite LOL. As awesome as that sounds.