My Cham seems ill help...

bugman

bugman

New Member
He seems very week and won't eat. He stopped eating crickets a month ago and has been living off of super worms for sometime but now he seems to not want those either. He is walking slow and he keeps his eyes shut and when needed he only opens one unless I provoke him to open the other his balance seems wobly on the vines. Any suggestions???

full


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Red Bar Ambilobee
Handling - Never but he does come out of the cage from time to time just to explore but I don't handle him since he is a mean little guy
Feeding - he eats super worms only and about 1-2 a day
Supplements - none
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Mist King auto system with two misting nozzles4 times a day a minute at a time
Fecal Description - brown with white. sometimes tinted (very slightly) yellow.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. When I first got him he also had an issue with his eyes sealing up I think it had to do with humidity but that has been resolved with the Mist King
Age: about a year old

Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen cage. 24x24 wide 36 tall
Lighting - basking lamp, a uvb bulb both on an automated timer all lights turn on around 8 am and turn off around 7 pm.
Temperature - at basking spot 84-80F at night low 60s.
Humidity - my humidity level is currently at 30-40%. but changes based on misting times.
Plants - I have live plants-- Hybiscus, Pathos and another approved plant.
Placement - he is in the corner of my office where there is low traffic with the exception of a few peekers.
Location - Chicago, IL
 
Last edited by a moderator:
UVB issue?

just wondering if it may be a UVB thing it does get to be a bit dark in Chicago for a long period of time
 
How old is your UVB bulb? Is there a reason you don't use supplements? How are you gutloading your feeders? Can you post pictures?
 
Pictures...

I can post pictures but since he is eating super worms I don't feed them anything should I? Pictures to come shortly.
 
Uuuuu have to supplement. Without it his bones wont develope correctly. Calcium w/o d3 every other feeding, calcium w/d3 and multi vitamins twice a month. and what type of uvb bulb are u using. No cfl bulbs get the linier bulbs reptisun 5.0 and the eyes shut could have been dehydration.
 
yes, you should be gutloading your supers as you did the crickets! Very important!!!! how long has he been in this condition and how long have you had him without supplementing his feeders? Also, we need to know what type of lighting you are using as this is very critical also!
 
Gutloading...

I have not been gutloading the supers because I didn't know I was suppose to everyone talks about crickets but nothing about worms so what do you gutload your supers with?

as for the bulb it is a repti-glow 5.0 UVB Exo Terra it is about 5 months old I think so I will look to replace it tonight.

He has been slowly getting worse since Monday.

here is an image of him next post sorry have to get the URL to post it ugh!!!
 
Manik6 said:
Uuuuu have to supplement. Without it his bones wont develope correctly. Calcium w/o d3 every other feeding, calcium w/d3 and multi vitamins twice a month. and what type of uvb bulb are u using. No cfl bulbs get the linier bulbs reptisun 5.0 and the eyes shut could have been dehydration.
Click to expand...

I can pick up a reptisun at the expo this weekend but my local pet stores only carry exo-terra
 
also gutload your crickets with the same fresh fruits and veggies as the crickets. They eat the same thing!
 
Manik6 said:
Uuuuu have to supplement. Without it his bones wont develope correctly. Calcium w/o d3 every other feeding, calcium w/d3 and multi vitamins twice a month. and what type of uvb bulb are u using. No cfl bulbs get the linier bulbs reptisun 5.0 and the eyes shut could have been dehydration.
Click to expand...

My other Chameleon eats crickets and gets the supplements along with the gutloaded crickets its just this one is finiky and will not eat crickets sorry didn't know I needed to feed the supers any suggestions on what to feed? and do I put in the sawdust they come in?
 
Manik6 said:
Uuuuu have to supplement. Without it his bones wont develope correctly. Calcium w/o d3 every other feeding, calcium w/d3 and multi vitamins twice a month. and what type of uvb bulb are u using. No cfl bulbs get the linier bulbs reptisun 5.0 and the eyes shut could have been dehydration.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking dehydration myself this has happened before and it is a little dryer this time of year so I will start to manually feed him water again with the syringe
 
just feed them what you feed the crickets. They eat most anything. What do you mean put the "sawdust" in where? That is not sawdust. It is usually sometype of meal or oats or something. They just live in there and they eat that also.
 
ill be at the show this weekend also. with no supplements im sure his chemistry is all messed up. your guy looks really dehydrated. try a shower chamber treatment with him as well as getting some pedialyte, calcium/multivitamin and some bug guts forced. hopefully lindasgonebugy will be there and you will be able to pick up some pheonix, silks or horn worms to possibly hydrate him and perk his appetite up. can you provide a pic of his whole set up? i hate looking at a cham with those eyes :( if you feel it is out of your hands to get him back to health. pm me we might be able to work something out.
 
I would set up a dripper; cup with a tiny hole in the bottom immediately. This way even if you're misting he's still going to consistently get water. Change your bulb like others said, and at this point make a vet appointment asap. When the eyes stay closed, things go down fast. Supplementation and gutloading is a must! But first you need to get him back to some normalcy. I hope he pulls through man. Know you're doing what you can.
 
Also just to add on his diet is very poor. A diet that consist of only supers isn't sufficient. You should try finding hornworms or silk worms, locusts, and other insects
 
hornworms would be very great to help hydration but mist him three times a day matbe more if needed and definitaly run a dripper all day. and with the pedialite get the unflavored kind and only give small amounts as it is high in electrolytes. u just want a little to get him going. pls dont take anything lightly. it needs to be done asap in order for him to make a great turn around.
 
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