jacksons question???

[mattj]

Hi everyone.

Over the past day or so Ive noticed my jackson sleeping during the day. I know this isnt a good sign and wondering what possible reasons may be. The only thing ive done differently over the past few days was give him some waxworms which I really havent done since I have had him. Normally its just crickets.

He ate a 3 worms and then a few crickets a few hours later. Ate some crickets today. Havent seen him drink recently. His color seems fine, eyes seem fine has been moving around a little. But want to get an idea about his before it gets worse.

Any thoughts or suggestions??? Thanks

 

[amalthea23]

I'm not an expert, but even they're going to need more info. Fill out the help form here and I'm sure someone will jump in!

 

[carol5208]

waxworms would have nothing to do with your chameleon closing his eyes. It could be dehydration, vitamin A deficiency, infection, lighting issues...go to the green forum tab, then health clinic, and then the ask for help form. fill it out so we can try and see if something is wrong with your set up

 

[camimom]

how dark is it?

take pics of your cage.

and fill ot the help form.

 

[mattj]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Jacksons, had him since last november. Not exactly sure how old he was when I purchased him. I was told appx 4 months.
Handling - Very rarely, really only when I clean his cage.
Feeding - Mostly crickets. About 4 a day, sometimes every other. When I get new crickets I normally throw 2-3 cubes of that orange gel-like cricket gut load and maybe a piece of spinach or two. I also just gave him wax worms the other day for the second time since I have him.
Supplements - Calcium with d3 every two weeks or so.
Watering - I use a dripper. Im not as consistent as i probably should be. I mist here and there. He does drink, havent seen him in the past day or so.
Fecal Description - Mostly dark brown, seems normal. His urate is sometimes orange.
History - Hes been fine since I got him, no problems.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 16x16x30 screen enclosure.
Lighting - repti-med? or zoo? bulb dont know the watts right now. Typically keep on from about 7am to 9-10pm and also have a red hotter light.
Temperature - temp guage at mid tank is normally between 70-80.
Humidity - I have a humidity guage and normally stays about 75%. I mist, no real regular intervals.
Plants - yes, one large pothos.
Placement - cage is located in the corner of my living room. Near two windows. Recently as its been nicer out I have had the windows opened during the day and on warm nights and closed if it gets cool. Not really high traffic, its just me and my girl in the apt most of the time. I had him hanging from the ceiling but recently took him down, as changing the water and maintenance became a hassle. So now sitting on a desk about 3.5 ft off the floor.
Location - new york, long island.

Current Problem - Found him sleeping during the day recently. Wakes up easily and does move around seem normal, but never noticed him sleeping during the day.

 

[camimom]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Jacksons, had him since last november. Not exactly sure how old he was when I purchased him. I was told appx 4 months.
Handling - Very rarely, really only when I clean his cage.
Feeding - Mostly crickets. About 4 a day, sometimes every other. When I get new crickets I normally throw 2-3 cubes of that orange gel-like cricket gut load and maybe a piece of spinach or two. I also just gave him wax worms the other day for the second time since I have him.
Supplements - Calcium with d3 every two weeks or so. I think you are over supplementing here. Most people dont do d3 that often with jax. this could be causing a problem. before my jax girl died, i used d3 every 5 weeks.
Watering - I use a dripper. Im not as consistent as i probably should be. I mist here and there. He does drink, havent seen him in the past day or so.
Fecal Description - Mostly dark brown, seems normal. His urate is sometimes orange. orange is bad. you need to get better with watering. jax require tons of water. get a mistking system if you cant/wont water often.
History - Hes been fine since I got him, no problems.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 16x16x30 screen enclosure.
Lighting - repti-med? or zoo? bulb dont know the watts right now. Typically keep on from about 7am to 9-10pm and also have a red hotter light. what uvb bulb do you use? what basking bulb? is that red light on at night? if so... that could be interrupting his sleep schedule.
Temperature - temp guage at mid tank is normally between 70-80.
Humidity - I have a humidity guage and normally stays about 75%. I mist, no real regular intervals.
Plants - yes, one large pothos.
Placement - cage is located in the corner of my living room. Near two windows. Recently as its been nicer out I have had the windows opened during the day and on warm nights and closed if it gets cool. Not really high traffic, its just me and my girl in the apt most of the time. I had him hanging from the ceiling but recently took him down, as changing the water and maintenance became a hassle. So now sitting on a desk about 3.5 ft off the floor.
Location - new york, long island.

Current Problem - Found him sleeping during the day recently. Wakes up easily and does move around seem normal, but never noticed him sleeping during the day.

suggestions in red.

 

[mattj]

suggestions in red.

I honestly probably dont even use the supps as often as the two weeks. I will look into a misting system.

And no the red light is off at night. All lights are off. However I do watch tv in that room for a while after his light is turned off.

 

[camimom]

I honestly probably dont even use the supps as often as the two weeks. I will look into a misting system.

And no the red light is off at night. All lights are off. However I do watch tv in that room for a while after his light is turned off.

you can get rid of the red light completely.
a reptiglo or reptisun uvb bulb is needed. 5.0

and a regular house bulb for basking, with a temp at 75-80 for him.

get a timer and keep him on a regular schedule for lighting.

how bright is his cage? if its got some shadowy places, that could be causing some problems if there are.

if your tv is bright, cover his cage with a blanket so he cant see the light.

a mistking basic system is 99 bucks. worth every darn penny.

 

[mattj]

Came home on lunch break to find him hanging out under the red basking lamp. Still a few crickets in there from this morning. But he did eat one late last night after I posted on here. Hes a nice light green color and as im typing this he is starting to move away from the lamp and heading down a little bit.

Sometimes they just need to hit their basking spot for a little while though right? Hes rarely there but sometimes is. I think im just questioning everything hes doing now.

 

[camimom]

they spend alot of time basking, and other times just cruising, relaxing, hunting etc.

but like i said, remove the red light and us a regular house bulb.

 

[xanthoman]

excessive sleeping is a warning sign of metabolic issues.

just so you know, imo, of the most commonly recognized feeders, waxworms are the single worst thing you can feed a xanth.

higher, in fat than protein and an astronomically adverse Ca/P ratio.

ime, excesssive xanth sleeping is usually caused by metabolic issues, usually caused by some form of over supplementation, or (less frequently) environmental factors. imo, it would be a good idea to submit a full helpform before things get out of control.

that being said. a distinction should be made between taking a brief snooze while basking and actually sleeping. imo, if your xanth appears to be soundly sleeping during the day, for more than 15min at a time, i would consider that a warning sign of serious metabolic issues brewing.

ime, otherwise healthy xanths can go weeks without food, and since the issue is likely caused by supps/diet or both. whatever the problem is it is most likely supp/diet based, my advice would be to stop feeding or supping until you have had a chance to get your help form reviewed.

if its not pathogenic ( a definite possiblity since its a new cham and im assuming no fecal analysis has been done yet). if its not pathogenic, whatever is causing it, is likely something to do with your supp/diet regimen. continuing on the same course will only exaggerate whatever proccess is already in motion, possibly to the point where it is irreversible.

clean water should be available during all daylight hrs. howver continuing an imbalanced diet or supp regimen will only make things worse exponentially.

if it is a diet/supp issue, which imo, is most likely. then the best thing you can do is withhold most food/supps until it has had a chance to do some flushing out.

my advice would be to;
1. stop feeding waxworms alltogether. period. waxworms even on an occasional basis is enough to cause serious even fatal metabolic issues for a xanth.
2. since the issue is most likey diet/supp related, i would recommend discontinuing any food or supps, [other than a matchead of plain no D3 cal 1x a week on 3or4 small feeders, (not waxworms)], until you have had a chance to have your help form evaluated and get a sense of what is going on.

3. a better alternative still, would be to feed bsfl in the meantime. bsfl are high in calcium and also lauric acid. if you feed exclusively bsfl, no plain cal is required in the meantime. lauric acid is said to discourage coccidia (not suggested as a treatment for coccidia). bsfl have a rubbery skin which is hard to digest, they should be fed moderately and you should nick them with a nail clipper to make the easier to digest.

4. even continuing imbalanced feeders like cricks will greatly extend the problem. cricks arent a good staple for xanths. continuing food practices (even at a reduced rate) that may have caused the problem, will only prevent it from flushing out excessive vites/phosphorus.

5. i would submit a help form asap, sleeping during the day is an indicator of advanced metabolic issues that should have been caught earlier. every day counts when xanth metabollic issues are brewing. depending on the issue and its stage of development, a single day or 2 can mean the difference between recoverable or irreversible.

6. other things commonly overlooked; xanths should have a nitetime temp drop preferably at least 10* colder than the ambient daytime temps of your cage.
if you are using an ir temp gun for your temps be aware that ir temp guns have a number of issues which can cause them to give significantly misleading readings, particularly for cham keeping. (one of them being, they do not measure air temp, they only measure the temp of solid surface objects which may be considerably different). with xanths 3 or 4 degrees too much can be a serious or possibly fatal issue. i recommend using a digital thermometer/hygrometer like the $20 zilla in my cf albums. i would also recommend lowering your basking temps to<80* until you have had a chance to submit the help form.

7. xanths are most comfortable when their basking spot is kept at eye level or above and frequently do not do well in high traffic areas

8. dripper water should be changed every 48 hrs min.

9. the better job you do filling out the help form, the better advice you are likely to receive. please include any known history or anything else you can think of that is not already asked on the help form. there are many very similar sounding supps , please list all supps by their exact full as labeled name, thats the only way for us to determine vitamin values.

10. not all veggies are cham healthy. please dont just use the words veggies, please list them specifically, and please be specific about any gutload qtys or other vitamin info, jmo

ps just noticed the comment on the red light . imo infra red bulbs have no place in xanth husbandry. all it needs for heat/uva basking is a 40 watt incandescent housebulb. all it needs fo uvb is a new lineal reptisun 5.0 They should be replaced atbout every 8-12mths max. xanths rquire a drop in nite temps for optimum health. nite temps down into the 50's are no problem for healthy xanths, its helps keep them alert and vigorous, therefore a no nite heat of any kind is recommended in an indoor setting and if you can get nite temps into low 60's or even lower (without using fans), then, imo thats a good thing.
jmo, infrared basking will make your xanth lethargic and is likely a player in the scenario,. that being said imo, metabollic issues are not usually caused by a single factor. jmo