My baby is sick

[ChamCham69]

Hello All,
I have a 9 month old Veiled Chameleon and he has not been acting right the past couple of days. I believe he has been eating on a nephthytis plant. He hasn't eaten much in the past couple of days and he has only been basking. He appears weak by laying on the leaves and branches.
He also appears to have darkened spots around his belly.

I feed him about 8 crickets a day, (Calcium them about once a week), he's been happy and healthy for almost a year until a couple days ago. I'm really worried about him.

If someone could help me, that would be great!
Thank you!

 

[jannb]

I'm sorry to hear that your little man is feeling not his usual self. Has he had a fecal lately to rule out parasites? If you will fill out the ask for help form linked below we can see if anything in your husbandry looks off that could be making him act different.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[kinyonga]

Isn't that plant poisonous?? I would take it out right away and make sure he gets it out of his system. Maybe you should call a vet?

 

[ChamDE86]

I just took a few seconds to look up the nephthytis plant, and it is indeed a toxic plant.

 

[ChamCham69]

I just took a few seconds to look up the nephthytis plant, and it is indeed a toxic plant.

Yeah, it is. I looked it up after he started eating it.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon. He has been in my care since he was about 2 months old.
Handling - I do not handle him often. He doesn't like it much.
Feeding - I feed Cam crickets, about 6-10 a day. I do not have a set schedule in which i feed him. Usually around early-late afternoon. I gut load the feeders with cricket food.
Supplements - The brand of calcium I use is ZOOMED and I dust them about once a week.
Watering - I mist water over him multiple times a day. I have actually never seen Cam "drink" water. When he opens his mouth I'll squirt some water in his mouth as well.
Fecal Description - Solid white and dark brown stool.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - My cage is not screened or glass. It is open air. I have a tree and a dowel rod in the center of a huge pot with various plants and veins. He has tree cover and he has basking spots. There is a built-in barrier around the pot to keep him from climbing out.
Lighting - I have a ZooMed 18in UVB bulb and 2 PetSmart 60W blue heat bulbs hanging overhead.
Temperature - The bottom of the cage is about 73 degree and increases up. Almost to the canopy of the tree is about 78 degrees. When his bulbs are on his basking spot gets to mid 80's.
Humidity - I have two hygrometers. There is one about half way up the tree that is 70% (which is labeled tropical on hygrometer) The other is at the top and it reads about 80%.
Plants - I have real and fake plants. I recently just put a succulent (which I have read are not toxic and actually full of water. *ANYONE FILL FREE TO DISPROVE*)
Placement - My cage is located downstairs in my kitchen/dining room. He use to be in my room upstairs.
He is near a high traffic area. But, he was acting fine with the traffic until about 3 days ago. The height of the cage is a little taller than eye level and I am 5'7.
Location - I am located in Southeastern, US.

Current Problem - For the past couple of days Cam has been very lazy and only basking. He seems to be weak but can still move around if I try to pick him up (he doesn't like being held). He has not tried to go to the bottom of the cage to hunt and I have not seen any stool in a couple of days. I have been constantly misting him and spraying water in his mouth to make sure he's not dehydrated. I hand fed him one cricket yesterday but he would not eat anymore.

To my knowledge, as for today, he has not eaten. He is still very green and color and his eyes are not sunk in. His bones are not crooked and he does not appear to be physically hurt.

 

[ChamCham69]

This is him yesterday when he was mad at me.

and the second picture is healthy him and before the tree was added to the cage.

3rd and 4th pics are healthy Cam being happy and pretty.

 

[kinyonga]

What is cricket food? Crickets, locusts, superworms, roaches can be fed a wide range of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc

Phosphorus-free calcium should be used at most feedings, phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month and a vitamin powder with a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A twice a month.

Still seems likely it was the plant that caused the problem but fixing the other things might also help.

 

[ChamCham69]

Should I take him to the ER vet? Or should he pull through?