Looking a bit down..

[thestoneofdoom]

My male panther Kodama has been looking a bit down. He’s been hanging out on his lower branch/vine. I plan on taking him back to the vet soon as his abscess hasn’t shrunk yet. He eats rather eagerly and drinks well. I think part of it is the fact I’ve yet to afford to make or buy him a bigger cage yet. I’m hoping next paycheck I’ll throw him a dragonstrand.

He is a 2 1/2 years old panther in a terrible reptibreeze medium. I try to give him plenty of time on his free roam area to compensate for my lack of current funds.

Currently using my pot pan again as I broke my handmade drainage tray like a doofus.

Any ideas on what I could do to cheer my boy up some? He’s acting alright but just seems to hang out on the lower vines..could just be that he’s cooling off but that loose tail startled me.

 

[ERKleRose]

Could you fill out the ask for help form (link in my signature below), please?

 

[blue_cham]

Is his free roam area indoors? Chams love some fresh air and sunshine! Just make sure he's always surprised while outdoors and yes, definitely fill out the form, perhaps something else has him down in the dumps

 

[thestoneofdoom]

@ERKleRose Gotcha!

@blue_cham
Its indoors as its too cold to go outside. I'm in VA!


Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Male, 2 1/2 years
  
• Handling - Not often, perhaps 3 times a week on his accord. (I.E: He will climb the door when he wants out or grab onto my arm and climb out.)
  
• Feeding - Med/Lrg Crickets, Dubia, Hornworms & the occasional Super as a treat. Rotating between 12 medium crickets or 6 large crickets to 6 Dubia (Anymore he wont eat them) to 1 hornworm. I rotate his feed depending on availability/numbers I have. Every other day, mornings only. Gut-loaded with a mix of Mazuri Cricket diet & collard greens.
  
• Supplements - Zoomed Repticalcium (sample size,gonna change to repashy soon) every feeding (sometimes every other, he gets finicky on his powdery goodies), Reptivite d3 and Phos-free Rep-cal w/d3 twice a month.
  
• Watering - Currently on a dripper with inbetween manual misting, I mist 2 times in the morning and 2 times in the evenings, I currently rely on a dripper until I can fork out a mistking fund.
  
• Fecal Description - Normal stool with creamy-to-white urates.
  
• History - I am the second owner, adopted him about..almost two months ago I believe. He has an old abscess we are trying to clear up.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Reptibreeze Medium kit cage with too-small dimensions! 1 more paycheck before we can order our dragonstrand which will be 2x2x4.
  
• Lighting - Zoomed double dome with a black ceramic bulb for my cold nights currently and I rotate between bulbs depending on the weather--Right now hes on a Zilla basking bulb of 75watts as the other incandescent heat bulbs were only keeping his basking temp around 77 degrees, maybe 80 max. His ambient/lower branches tend to stay around 72-75. Daily schedule is on at 6:40am, off at 6:55pm.
  
• Temperature - Basking is about 77-82, but recently changed bulbs (literally today) so were gonna see if it raises it some. Ambient/low branch temp is around 72-75. Overnight temps dont drop past 72 when I use my ceramic heater, when off the lowest ive ever seen was 68. Digital thermometers are my friend.
  
• Humidity - Humidity stays between 55-65 on the lower level and 40-60 on the higher end. I use the sticky-dials for gauging, one on the high, mid and low sections of his cage. The only time they drop at 40 is when his fogger is out of water. He is on the repti-fogger from zoomed. Works rather well but is pretty loud, the hose is on the top-back wall, as it cannot get to the ceiling from its placement. So the humidity stays on the lower level, this could be why my boy prefers to snooze on the back/lower vines at night.
  
• Plants - No live as of yet.
  
• Placement - My cage is located on a wooden cube organizer in my bedroom, desperately need that drainage pan i ordered as the fogger is ruining the poor thing. It stands about 2 1/2 - 3 feet high and of course the cage stands probably 6 foot at the highest point.
  
• Location - Southeast area of VA, we have a bit of a coldfront currently!

Current Problem - Hes been resting on his lower branches a bit more often, sometimes with an uncurled tail (Which i hear can be a sign of uncomfortable/sick/etc.) Hes never slept off his vines ever and has only gotten on the floor of his cage to rub his nose/climb on the walls to tell me he wants out RIGHT NOW. His old abscess is looking like it may be pressured extra from his antibiotics, planning on taking him to the vet soon to see if they could pull/pop it some before it decides to pop itself. I was looking earlier and it seems the abscess where his third inner-claw is has oozed some, it doesnt appear to bother him and/or doesnt seem red and unhappy. It has definitely shrunk, which the vet said could happen while on his antibiotics. He appears lethargic at first but once I approach and open his cage he mostly "puffs" at me and then immediately wants on my arm--sometimes he wont go onto his free-roam area and just wants to hang out on my arm for 10 minutes before deciding he wants to go home.

--------------

Please Note:

1. He is currently being administered Enrofloxacin. 0.01mls daily once a day. Sometimes he gets 0.02mls because its hard to get exactly 0.01mls but the vet said this was O.K.
   
2. He is *extremely* docile. The most anger you'll get out of this guy is a bit of a red-spotty change which vanishes almost instantly and a beard-puff or a verbal "pfffff" which sounds more like a heavy sigh than a hiss, he doesnt even open his mouth. Hes incredibly lazy. I can put the syringe on his lips for his meds and gently nudge them to get it in his mouth and he turns his head for a second before giving up, hes never tried to bite it let alone do anything but roll his eyes and look annoyed with me, lol.

 

[Thehippie]

I think it might just be a little too cold for him! people start having this problem when winter rolls around and their reptiles start slowing down hopefully with the new bulb he will be back to normal, hes super handsome though!! make sure your temp is around 80-90 and I hope he feels better!

 

[ERKleRose]

@ERKleRose Gotcha!

@blue_cham
Its indoors as its too cold to go outside. I'm in VA!


Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Male, 2 1/2 years
  
• Handling - Not often, perhaps 3 times a week on his accord. (I.E: He will climb the door when he wants out or grab onto my arm and climb out.)
  
• Feeding - Med/Lrg Crickets, Dubia, Hornworms & the occasional Super as a treat. Rotating between 12 medium crickets or 6 large crickets to 6 Dubia (Anymore he wont eat them) to 1 hornworm. I rotate his feed depending on availability/numbers I have. Every other day, mornings only. Gut-loaded with a mix of Mazuri Cricket diet & collard greens.
  
• Supplements - Zoomed Repticalcium (sample size,gonna change to repashy soon) every feeding (sometimes every other, he gets finicky on his powdery goodies), Reptivite d3 and Phos-free Rep-cal w/d3 twice a month.
  
• Watering - Currently on a dripper with inbetween manual misting, I mist 2 times in the morning and 2 times in the evenings, I currently rely on a dripper until I can fork out a mistking fund.
  
• Fecal Description - Normal stool with creamy-to-white urates.
  
• History - I am the second owner, adopted him about..almost two months ago I believe. He has an old abscess we are trying to clear up.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Reptibreeze Medium kit cage with too-small dimensions! 1 more paycheck before we can order our dragonstrand which will be 2x2x4.
  
• Lighting - Zoomed double dome with a black ceramic bulb for my cold nights currently and I rotate between bulbs depending on the weather--Right now hes on a Zilla basking bulb of 75watts as the other incandescent heat bulbs were only keeping his basking temp around 77 degrees, maybe 80 max. His ambient/lower branches tend to stay around 72-75. Daily schedule is on at 6:40am, off at 6:55pm.
  
• Temperature - Basking is about 77-82, but recently changed bulbs (literally today) so were gonna see if it raises it some. Ambient/low branch temp is around 72-75. Overnight temps dont drop past 72 when I use my ceramic heater, when off the lowest ive ever seen was 68. Digital thermometers are my friend.
  
• Humidity - Humidity stays between 55-65 on the lower level and 40-60 on the higher end. I use the sticky-dials for gauging, one on the high, mid and low sections of his cage. The only time they drop at 40 is when his fogger is out of water. He is on the repti-fogger from zoomed. Works rather well but is pretty loud, the hose is on the top-back wall, as it cannot get to the ceiling from its placement. So the humidity stays on the lower level, this could be why my boy prefers to snooze on the back/lower vines at night.
  
• Plants - No live as of yet.
  
• Placement - My cage is located on a wooden cube organizer in my bedroom, desperately need that drainage pan i ordered as the fogger is ruining the poor thing. It stands about 2 1/2 - 3 feet high and of course the cage stands probably 6 foot at the highest point.
  
• Location - Southeast area of VA, we have a bit of a coldfront currently!

Current Problem - Hes been resting on his lower branches a bit more often, sometimes with an uncurled tail (Which i hear can be a sign of uncomfortable/sick/etc.) Hes never slept off his vines ever and has only gotten on the floor of his cage to rub his nose/climb on the walls to tell me he wants out RIGHT NOW. His old abscess is looking like it may be pressured extra from his antibiotics, planning on taking him to the vet soon to see if they could pull/pop it some before it decides to pop itself. I was looking earlier and it seems the abscess where his third inner-claw is has oozed some, it doesnt appear to bother him and/or doesnt seem red and unhappy. It has definitely shrunk, which the vet said could happen while on his antibiotics. He appears lethargic at first but once I approach and open his cage he mostly "puffs" at me and then immediately wants on my arm--sometimes he wont go onto his free-roam area and just wants to hang out on my arm for 10 minutes before deciding he wants to go home.

--------------

Please Note:

1. He is currently being administered Enrofloxacin. 0.01mls daily once a day. Sometimes he gets 0.02mls because its hard to get exactly 0.01mls but the vet said this was O.K.
   
2. He is *extremely* docile. The most anger you'll get out of this guy is a bit of a red-spotty change which vanishes almost instantly and a beard-puff or a verbal "pfffff" which sounds more like a heavy sigh than a hiss, he doesnt even open his mouth. Hes incredibly lazy. I can put the syringe on his lips for his meds and gently nudge them to get it in his mouth and he turns his head for a second before giving up, hes never tried to bite it let alone do anything but roll his eyes and look annoyed with me, lol.

With the Reptivite with D3, you don’t need an extra calcium with D3 supplement, so take out the Rep-Cal. What Repashy will you be using and how often? How often are you misting for each time? Take out the ceramic heat emitter, 68*F at night is perfectly fine, chams need a temp drop. He could also be sleeping at the bottom of his cage so he’s away from the heat at night. Definitely get that basking up to 85-87*F, he could be sluggish from not being hot enough to bask and digest during the day. Go to the hardware and get a timer for the lights (12 hours of uvb and basking and 12 hours of complete darkness) and a digital thermometer/hygrometer combo for ambient temp and humidity, it works better than the dialog gauges. Add some cham-safe live plants, it’ll help raise the humidity. Could you post a pic of him and his cage, please?

 

[thestoneofdoom]

Gotcha! I plan on repashy calcium without d3 so I can throw it in as his daily. Ceramic heater, I’ll pull it out. I’m misting for about 3-4 minutes each time. The dripper is set to 1 drop per 5 seconds and it gets refilled by a family member if needed when I’m not around.

All of his lights are on timers. On at 6:55am and off at 6:55pm. This was his original schedule preset on the timers from the previous owner and I decided to keep it since he’s used to it.

The cage pictures are old. There’s now an extra thick vine right above the substrate door that he likes to hang out on. The pot has been replaced today by a better drainage “tray” which is just a large stainless dish until his actual tray comes in the mail!

 

[ERKleRose]

Gotcha! I plan on repashy calcium without d3 so I can throw it in as his daily. Ceramic heater, I’ll pull it out. I’m misting for about 3-4 minutes each time. The dripper is set to 1 drop per 5 seconds and it gets refilled by a family member if needed when I’m not around.

All of his lights are on timers. On at 6:55am and off at 6:55pm. This was his original schedule preset on the timers from the previous owner and I decided to keep it since he’s used to it.

The cage pictures are old. There’s now an extra thick vine right above the substrate door that he likes to hang out on. The pot has been replaced today by a better drainage “tray” which is just a large stainless dish until his actual tray comes in the mail!

Definitely bigger cage with lots of branches and vines. Everything else sounds good. I would buy a bigger used cage or make one in the meantime since Dragon Strands can take months to get to you. Both are reasonably cheap options, unless the Dragon Strand you want is in stock

 

[blue_cham]

Ah! It's still mild in the afternoons here in Cali, I forget not everyone is as lucky keep us posted on how he does. He's gorgeous btw

 

[thestoneofdoom]

Thanks guys!! I’ll be checking dragonstrand stock, if it’s not in stock I’ll go with a DIY and order dragon ledges separately!

 

[thestoneofdoom]

Update: he’s been staying kinda vertical lately and I just noticed his left front foot is shedding? Just that foot? The foot doesn’t look injured nor does it’s pad.

Edit; he wouldn’t let me get the phone under his foot