Lethargic and Sickly panther chameleon - Temp?

S

sleekspeech

New Member
2 weeks ago, we adopted a healthy 3 year old panther chameleon from a family who was taking very good care of him. Last night I noticed he was sort of lethargic and so I picked him up and misted him. I noticed he seemed a little disoriented, when reaching for my hand he grabbed his own front leg with his back foot. I had a hard time getting him back on his branch then he opened his mouth at me (he is my daughter's and doesn't really like me anyway, no surprise). Then he actually lost his grip and fell on his back (about a two inch fall - no injuries suspected).

This morning when I went in he was on the floor in his cage with his eyes half closed, letting his crickets climb on him. We use a regular reptile lamp but haven't put his heat lamp on him in two weeks - could his temperature be the problem? When I put the heat lamp on him, an hour later his eyes were fully open although he hadn't moved.

Facts:
Age: 3 yo
Panther Chameleon
Very Healthy
Eats gut-fed crickets (hates all other food) who are fed vitamin enriched cricket food and once a month are rolled in vitamin powder.
Has a reptile (not heat) lamp on during the day - it does emit some heat.
Has NOT had a regular heat lamp on in the last 2 weeks.
Acting lethargic, eyes half closed, on bottom of cage

Please help!!!
 
What is a reptile lamp?
Do you have a UVB source?
Chameleons need heat, why hasn't he had any for 2 weeks?
Post some pictures, if you can :)

Fill this out--
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?
 
temperature

Current Problem - Lethargy, weak grip


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 3yo male panther chameleon, owned two weeks.
Handling - handled daily by my daughter
Feeding - he only eats crickets, fed once a day about 5 - there are always a few running around his cage. They are bought gut loaded but eat a vitamin enriched food.
Supplements - we dust the feeders once a month with calcium. his previous owners said the food they bought the crickets (then gave to us) made it unnecessary to do it more often.
Watering - We have a running fountain for his water (given by previous owner). He's misted every day for a few minutes
Fecal Description - his poop looks like bird poop. kind of whitish.
History - He was very healthy, owned for 3 years by people who knew alot about him, taught my daughter about his body language etc and proper care

Cage Info:
Cage Type - The cage is a big screened enclosure, about 2x3x4
Lighting - we have a long UV type light that goes on all day each day, per his previous owners instructions. We forgot about the heat lamp which they said to put on for a day once per week. he hasn't had a heat lamp for 2 weeks.
Temperature - i have no idea. the previous owners did not measure these either. they were very thorough in their care instructions.
Humidity - see above
Plants - He has a ficus tree and some fake climbing branches
Placement - His cage is on the tallest dresser in my daughter's room, about eye level for a kid
Location - East Bay California
 
ChameleonAyer said:
Your chameleon needs a Repti-sun 5.0 linear UVB bulb

http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504985/zoo-med-reptisun-5.0-uvb-bulb.html

And a basking spot, I use a 60 watt incandescent bulb in a dome clamp fixture.
Click to expand...
Okay he has that type of light every day. But the heat lamp was not on for the last two weeks. Yes I know I am an idiot. I am just wondering if that is what caused this and if that is what will fix this. He did start to open his eyes after an hour of heat.

Also, should I put this on daily, every few days, etc.?
 
Is the UV light UVB? There's UVA, and UVB.
UVB is a false sunlight, it gives off the supplements that the sun gives us, without this, they can get bone problems such as MBD. You also need to replace the UVB tube every 6 months.
And--what kind of calcium are you giving him?
it's recommended to give calcium without d3 5x weeky, with d3 twice a month, and a reptile vitamin once a month.
Panthers get very very stressed if they're held a lot.

EDIT:
Heat goes on every day, when the UVB gets turned on, they need both for 12 hours a day, the basking spot for an adult should be high 80's-90, and the rest of the cage should be 70's.
 
temp?

bimac6 said:
Is the UV light UVB? There's UVA, and UVB.
UVB is a false sunlight, it gives off the supplements that the sun gives us, without this, they can get bone problems such as MBD. You also need to replace the UVB tube every 6 months.
And--what kind of calcium are you giving him?
it's recommended to give calcium without d3 5x weeky, with d3 twice a month, and a reptile vitamin once a month.
Panthers get very very stressed if they're held a lot.

EDIT:
Heat goes on every day, when the UVB gets turned on, they need both for 12 hours a day, the basking spot for an adult should be high 80's-90, and the rest of the cage should be 70's.
Click to expand...

This guy was handled daily in his old home. He was very happy and healthy there. He definitely has his own little personality, one of his quirks is that he enjoys being held only by the people he likes (my daughter) and climbing on her face/in her hair.

The light we put on every day is a UVB light. They made it sound as though his heat lamp only needed to be on every once in a while though...

UPDATE: my m-i-l just went by the house. He is still not moving, his back legs are almost limp, although his eyes are all the way open, which is better than this morning, when they were almost closed. My daughter also just informed me that he is also shedding. Does that change anything?

Please tell me I haven't killed him!
 
I suggest bringing him to a vet. It doesn't sound like it's too late yet!
How old is the bulb?
 
temp?

Everything was in working order. As I said, we only got him two weeks ago. Actually, about a week and a half. Do you think the stress of the move would have taken this long to take a toll on him? Do you think the lack of direct heat (we do keep our house at a very warm temperature and our upstairs where he is, is about 10 degrees hotter) could have done this?
 
sleekspeech said:
Everything was in working order. As I said, we only got him two weeks ago. Actually, about a week and a half. Do you think the stress of the move would have taken this long to take a toll on him? Do you think the lack of direct heat (we do keep our house at a very warm temperature and our upstairs where he is, is about 10 degrees hotter) could have done this?
Click to expand...

It doesn't sound like a moving stress to me. They need a basking area so they can digest correctly. Have you seen him poop? Is it brown and white? Or is it brown and yellow? It just sounds like he needs his warmth! You can get digital thermometers for five bucks at Lowes, so you can correctly measure the heat of the reptarium.
 
poop

bimac6 said:
It doesn't sound like a moving stress to me. They need a basking area so they can digest correctly. Have you seen him poop? Is it brown and white? Or is it brown and yellow? It just sounds like he needs his warmth! You can get digital thermometers for five bucks at Lowes, so you can correctly measure the heat of the reptarium.
Click to expand...

I looked brown and white the last time I saw it. To be honest, I haven't gone looking for it. So my question here is, I won't get home until tonight. Seeing a vet before tomorrow is not going to happen. Is it likely I will come home to a dead chameleon because he has not been able to digest his food? Or will applying the heat at this late of a date (a week and a half late) be likely at all to help him correct his issue?

EDIT: It occurs to me that his previous owner was only heating him once a week, and that may have something to do with the fact that "he hardly ever poops" which is what she told me. She said she heard they pooped alot but that he doesn't and they only have to clean his cage every two months, which is a little different than the reading I did before we got him (which obviously was limited as I didn't read about the digestive thing...). So if I let him go past his regular once-a-week heating, even by a few days, I probably really screwed up his digestive system.
 
Last edited:
Well he didn't live a very long life. With proper care males can live up to and sometimes even past 7 years. He could pass early because of the bad husbandry. Take him to a vet who has chameleon expirience and get him checked out asap. He's doing what mine did right before he died.
 
sounds like a terrible situation for you and your chameleon. These guys need proper husbandry to survive and live a long life.
 
I know...

I am feeling very guilty. We did some reading before we got him, but the previous owner seemed very thorough and he had lived 3 healthy years before we got him so we just figured that she knew what she was talking about....

The saddest? This was my daughter's early Christmas present. Here's hoping the heating lamp helped, at least a little, so I can get him in to see a vet tomorrow.
 
the temp

on the bulb is 85 and its 6 - 8 inches from the spot he chose to stop moving in - its clamped outside of the cage. Now I'm freaking out wondering if its actually dehydration and the lamp will make it worse. He has a fountain I have seen him drink from several times and we mist him for a few minutes once a day so maybe not, but I've been doing alot of reading and am wondering if the humidity is too low. His previous owners made him sound like a pocket pet - very little care - and now I am doubting everything we've done since we got him.

Also, is it likely his feeder crickets (there are a few in the cage) could be attacking him? I am not home and am seriously losing it and I just know he'll be dead when I get there!
 
Well, I would suggest getting the fountain out of there when you get home, it causes bacteria problems and he could possibly drown in it. I'm sure a vet visit will help. You just gotta do a little bit more research for the next pet you get. Even pocket pets aren't easy if youre doing it right.
 
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