My Girl Doesn't Poop!!

[cricket01]

Hi - I am new to this beautiful world of Chameleons...I have a young female Gracious. My 9 year old son named her 'Cricket,' which he thought was very funny. (I actually do too, just hope it doesn't mean I'm goin to have a grandchild named Taco one day...)

So we have had our lovely lady for about 2 months now. She seems to be doing very well except she has only pooped twice since I have had her! She eats very well, crickets and meal worms, dusted. I feed her mostly every day even though where I bought her said every other day. She seems hungry every day and she's young - shouldn't growing Chameleon's have more food?

At any rate, not sure if I should be worried or not - I will say after her last poop she was more active than I normally see her. I do see her drink from her fountain, although not often.

I will happily take her to the vet but was hoping for some non credit card busting advice if anyone has any!

Thanks

 

[gwilliams]

Welcome!

Sounds like you're doing everything right - do you feed her anything else other than Crickets & Meal Worms? Maybe try Phoenix worms or silk Worms? Wax worms are good but do not have much Good stuff in them....

She HAS to be pooping more than the twice you say you've seen... she would be so backed up and lethargic if she has only pooped twice - do you see any on the leaves in her enclosure? Do you have a plant in there that she may have pooped in and then you just can't see the poop in the plant? Hmmm - not sure.....

Cricket is a great name btw - I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help - but again, welcome to the forums, there are a TON of people here who can answer better than I.

 

[lindawaz]

2 months one poop? Have you looked high and low? Do you have a substrate it could be lost in? stuck in plants?

To better help and see the whole picture could you please fill out this form? Pictures of them and their cage would also be nice!

Welcome to the forum!

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[cricket01]

SORRY - I don't see how to add pix!

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female Gracious, not sure how old, about 5" long from nose to vent
Handling - She doesn't seem to like it so not nearly as often as I want!
Feeding - Crickets and meal worms, just added wax worms as a treat. ^ small crickets or worms/day, dusted
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - Waterfall, mist twice daily, only have seen her drink once or twice.
Fecal Description - The 2 times she has gone one was brown and one was white - and both impressively sized for such a little girl!
History - Wild Caught, bought from a reptile store
Cage Info: tons of vines and branches covered with leaves
Cage Type - All screen, approx 2' wide and deep and 2.5' High, just use papertowel at cage bottom
Lighting - I have a dome heat lamp with a red heat bulb (60 watts) and a Zilla UVB light. Light is on 12 hours a day, heat lamp at all times.
Temperature - top of the cage, where she basks is about 78. I have a thermometer there. Don;t know bottom temp.
Humidity - I don't know what the levels are nor am I monitoring them.
Plants - not real
Placement - In a bedroom, no drafts, on a desk
Location - Los Angeles

 

[kinyonga]

Your basking temperature could be a few degrees higher. It should increase her metabolism somewhat...maybe speed up the pooping. Mealworms are okay once in a while, but there are better choices...silkworms, superworms, phoenix worms, etc. (BTW..I think you might mean Graceful not Gracious.)

You don't say what specific supplements you use or how often for each.

You didn't say if you use a substrate or not.

Do you gutload/feed the insects well?

Waterfalls can be a source of bacteria if not kept very clean...so most people recommend not using them.

Here are some sites that will help...and there are more on this forum that I haven't listed...
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://chameleonnews.com/10JulAndersonGlass.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/

Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects (crickets, locusts, silkworms, superworms, tomato worms, phoenix worms, butter worms, once in a while waxworms, etc.) that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[cricket01]

thanks sooo much! I do use Mineral powder for dusting. I do not use substrate as I read on the forum it sometimes causes complication with digestion. I just have paper towels down. What watering method do you recommend?

I will read the links you provided.

And yes! She is a Graceful!

 

[Pilotman800]

thanks sooo much! I do use Mineral powder for dusting. I do not use substrate as I read on the forum it sometimes causes complication with digestion. I just have paper towels down. What watering method do you recommend?

I will read the links you provided.

And yes! She is a Graceful!

We recommend misting the enclosure three times per day for three minutes each misting session. You can also have a dripper running so they can drink while you are not around. I'm going to attach my blog for correct husbandry below.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/pilotman800/548-new-chameleon-owner-information-husbandry.html

 

[cricket01]

I really apprciate everyone's help!! I will switch to a misting system and a drip.

One other question: how do people keep such a large variety of feeders? I do not do roaches - I am a born and bred NYC girl and we do not bring roaches into our homes - most of us spent too much time trying to get them out! So, crickets I can do and any worms are fine BUT where to buy and for how long will they last?

I am crazy about this little member of our family - we have a dog, a cat and a Leopard Gecko as well - but our chameleon is special. I feel priviliged to have her in our lives!

 

[kinyonga]

Please read what I wrote about the supplements. You didn't say specifically what product you used.

 

[Pilotman800]

I really apprciate everyone's help!! I will switch to a misting system and a drip.

One other question: how do people keep such a large variety of feeders? I do not do roaches - I am a born and bred NYC girl and we do not bring roaches into our homes - most of us spent too much time trying to get them out! So, crickets I can do and any worms are fine BUT where to buy and for how long will they last?

I am crazy about this little member of our family - we have a dog, a cat and a Leopard Gecko as well - but our chameleon is special. I feel priviliged to have her in our lives!

I have a big bin and put them in there. You have to make sure that it stays clean, though!

Not having roaches is understandable. A lot of us on here don't want them in our houses, either.

MulberryFarms.com is great! Thats where a lot of us purchase our feeders.
http://mulberryfarms.com/


How long they last will depend on how you take care of them. If you gutload them and keep them hydrated, they will most likely last long enough to feed to your cham. However, crickets DO have a high die off rate, so don't be surprised when you see a lot that have died.

 

[cricket01]

Sorry, my autocorrect changed the name to Mineral, it is called Miner-All.

 

[Elizadolots]

To post a picture: Click the POST REPLY button (do not use the handy Quick Reply box). There will be an icon that looks like a paperclip. Click that, follow the prompts to find the file on your computer.

 

[carol5208]

Sorry, my autocorrect changed the name to Mineral, it is called Miner-All.

Miner-All indoor or outdoor?. There is a difference. One contains d3 and one does not. The outdoor does not. The indoor does. If it is indoor, then you do not want to use that everyday. A couple of times a month or so is enough. Also, could you please be more specific on what type of Zilla UVB bulb you are using? It is possible you could be using the incorrect light.

 

[Echoezra]

Also, not sure if anybody mentioned the red heat bulb already yet? - get rid of that, it can disturb their sleep - you should be using a clear bulb, doesn't need to be a reptile bulb, can just be an old fashioned incandescent house light bulb, as the heat source for the daytime only, let them have a temperature drop at night for sleeping. you may have to play around with different wattages and lamp height positioning until you get the basking spot to he right temperature.
And again, they were asking about the zilla light as well. Have been issues with those in the past.

 

[SilverDragoness]

When you do find a new poop you should probably take it to a veterinarian to do a fecal to check for parasites. Something is not right if your cham is not pooping.