Jackson's Cham seems depressed? VERY serious, sick cham!!! :(

[eyetheswan]

I have a Jackson's cham. I have had him since he was seven months old. He is three years old now and has always been very happy and healthy. He has a UV lamp (no heat lamp since it is summer time) and an auto-mist system that goes off every hour for thirty seconds. He has always been very green and happy. Ate his crickets and the occasional caterpillar, worm, slug, whatever. He isn't picky. However, these past two weeks I have noticed a drastic change in his attitude. He is not as happy. Not moving around as much, not eating as much, not drinking as much AND closing his eyes... all very abnormal and bad signs. So I started off by giving him a nice shower. This... he LOVED. He drank happily off the leaves and I had not seen him so active in over a week. So I figured maybe he was just a bit dehydrated. His temperament was back to normal for a few days. A few more days pass and he is back to being gloomy, not opening his eyes. This time, I bring him outside and put him on this little potted tree I have in the backyard. He is back to climbing around and licking the water off the leaves that I drizzle with a watering pot! Is it possible my cham all of a sudden decided he does not like his home anymore? Is it possible for them to be depressed and not want to eat or drink in their home they have lived in for two and a half years? How can I stop him from being so depressed? I mean he can't be going outside every day with summer so near. I also heard that summer time may cause them to be more sluggish and eat less.. Is this also a possibility? But why would his eyes shut during the day? And only in his cage!
EDIT: Just checked on him on the plant outside... He is still closing his eyes, but is still more active than he is in his cage. So he must be sick. Possibly infection? Parasite? I am going to take him to a vet.

 

[little leaf]

first, welcome to the forums sorry your little guy is sick - I have no advice, but glad you are taking him to the vet - just wanted to welcome you

 

[eyetheswan]

Thank you I will post updates just in case other people are having the same problems.

 

[Carlton]

However, these past two weeks I have noticed a drastic change in his attitude. He is not as happy. Not moving around as much, not eating as much, not drinking as much AND closing his eyes... all very abnormal and bad signs. So I started off by giving him a nice shower. This... he LOVED. He drank happily off the leaves and I had not seen him so active in over a week. So I figured maybe he was just a bit dehydrated. His temperament was back to normal for a few days. A few more days pass and he is back to being gloomy, not opening his eyes. This time, I bring him outside and put him on this little potted tree I have in the backyard. He is back to climbing around and licking the water off the leaves that I drizzle with a watering pot! Is it possible my cham all of a sudden decided he does not like his home anymore? Is it possible for them to be depressed and not want to eat or drink in their home they have lived in for two and a half years? How can I stop him from being so depressed? I mean he can't be going outside every day with summer so near. I also heard that summer time may cause them to be more sluggish and eat less.. Is this also a possibility? But why would his eyes shut during the day? And only in his cage!
EDIT: Just checked on him on the plant outside... He is still closing his eyes, but is still more active than he is in his cage. So he must be sick. Possibly infection? Parasite? I am going to take him to a vet.

He could be suffering from all sorts of problems but we need some more info to tease it out.

If he was actively drinking during his shower it could be that your indoor cage is drier than you realize at this time. How do you measure the cage humidity? Has your daily routine changed? Temp change in the house? New AC in the room?
How old is your UV light? If you've used it for more than 6 months you need a new one.
What do you gutload your feeders with? Many so-called feeder diets are pretty poor, leading to nutritional deficiencies.
What types of supplements do you use? Dusting? What brands and how often? Overdosing and underdosing can all lead to health problems.
Have you ever tested him for intestinal parasites? If not, take a fresh fecal sample to a vet and ask them to test for them.

 

[eyetheswan]

Well! The answer has finally arrived! I had to take him to the vet later than I had planned due to all the smoke from the forest fires out here in California, but he had parasites!!! A type of protozoa... Not too sure what it was called exactly. Some long name. But they dewormed him and told me to increase his temperature by three degrees in the morning and at night and to just watch out for his eating. He probably got the parasite from being outside and eating something he was not supposed to. So for anyone who lets their cham hang out outside, just keep a close watch that they don't eat any flies or anything buzzing by!!

 

[laurie]

I am glad to hear your Cham, is being treated. Parasites are not good but they are much better, than a host of other problems and most are fairly easy to treat.

 

[Carlton]

Well! The answer has finally arrived! I had to take him to the vet later than I had planned due to all the smoke from the forest fires out here in California, but he had parasites!!! A type of protozoa... Not too sure what it was called exactly. Some long name. But they dewormed him and told me to increase his temperature by three degrees in the morning and at night and to just watch out for his eating. He probably got the parasite from being outside and eating something he was not supposed to. So for anyone who lets their cham hang out outside, just keep a close watch that they don't eat any flies or anything buzzing by!!

Many parasites are present in our domesticated feeder insects too. They are easy enough to test for, so this should be part of your regular preventive care routine.

 

[junglefries]

Testing your chams for parasites is learnable. You need a microscope and slides, and someone who may be willing to help you learn. Don't know about any videos or training books. But ed at kammer explained to me how he took on the task of doing it himself. Got me started myself just from the conversation. You just need the confidence in yourself. It is very doable, reassuring, and can save you money on fecal floats. Maybe a good time to make an admendment to the poop sticky, if it hasn't happened already.