My Panther Keeps Falling! :[

pablothepanther

pablothepanther

New Member
My 8 month-old panther chameleon named Bill Murray has been falling off of his branches lately. It's not consistent - most of the time he's strong, lifting himself up. He fell a couple weeks ago, and seemed fine afterwards until today (9/13), and he fell about 3 times, twice after he had been sleeping (perhaps he was spooked?) and my boyfriend noticed one of his claws missing.

We gut load Bill Murray's crickets with home-made organic food made from spirulina, kale, dandelion greens, acorn squash, oranges, apples and water. We make sure that about half, if not more, of the crickets we feed him get dusted with a calcium supplement. I thought that because of the missing nail that he could be deficient in something... He has a consistent drip of water and my boyfriend or I spray his cage about 4-5 times a day.

We've always had screen cages, however we just got a bigger one in the last 3 weeks. I'm wondering if he should get switched back to a smaller one?

I'm wondering if he's stressed? He's been eating less lately. Mostly he's been picky, prefering superworms (who's heads get smashed before they are fed to the chameleon). He'll usually leave 1 cricket left.

An extra bit of info.: He started shedding yesterday and isn't done yet.

If anyone has any suggestions/insight, please please share! I'm worried about my little guy :[
 
Please fill out the how to ask for help form and post some pics of your cham and setup if possible.


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?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
 
pablothepanther said:
My 8 month-old panther chameleon named Bill Murray has been falling off of his branches lately. It's not consistent - most of the time he's strong, lifting himself up. He fell a couple weeks ago, and seemed fine afterwards until today (9/13), and he fell about 3 times, twice after he had been sleeping (perhaps he was spooked?) and my boyfriend noticed one of his claws missing.

We gut load Bill Murray's crickets with home-made organic food made from spirulina, kale, dandelion greens, acorn squash, oranges, apples and water. We make sure that about half, if not more, of the crickets we feed him get dusted with a calcium supplement. I thought that because of the missing nail that he could be deficient in something... He has a consistent drip of water and my boyfriend or I spray his cage about 4-5 times a day.

We've always had screen cages, however we just got a bigger one in the last 3 weeks. I'm wondering if he should get switched back to a smaller one?

I'm wondering if he's stressed? He's been eating less lately. Mostly he's been picky, prefering superworms (who's heads get smashed before they are fed to the chameleon). He'll usually leave 1 cricket left.

An extra bit of info.: He started shedding yesterday and isn't done yet.

If anyone has any suggestions/insight, please please share! I'm worried about my little guy :[
Click to expand...

Do you have a UVB light on him? I would take him to the vet to be sure but it sounds like possible MBD.
 
specs

Chameleon Info:

My Chameleon - Name: Bill Murray. Ambilobe, Ambanja mix, Male, 7 months old. Been in my care for 4 months. From Screameleons.

Handling - Well Bill has a funny habit of walking out onto the top of his cage door almost every time its open. He just hangs out up there, call me crazy, but it seems like he's very curious about the world outside his enclosure. In order to get him back in, all I have to do is offer him my hand and he climbs on. With the exception of sometimes walking to the window for some fresh morning sunlight, I usually put him right back in.

Feeding - The majority of his diet is crickets, but he gets one or two superworms a day. He eats 5-7 crickets every day. I dust with Herpcare calcium almost every feeding and D3 once a month. As far as gut loading goes, we take things like kale, dandelion greens, acorn squash, orange, and apple, and other stuff on the gut load list and blend it all together with some water. Once its mush we pour it onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet and freeze it over night. After that we cut the sheet into cubes and those cubes are what we feed the crickets.

Watering - He has a constant drip going along with hand misting a few times a day. I just started giving him showers and he seems to enjoy them. Every morning, as soon as I fill his dripper he goes and puts his head under it. My girlfriend's convinced he's taking his morning shower, who knows. But we see him drink regularly.

Fecal Description - Latley his feces has been covered in mucus. He was tested for parasites less than a month ago and he came up clean.

History - I thought he had Mouth Rot because he had sort of a spot on his lips that lined up with a gap in his teeth. But when we went to the vet she said she was sure it wasn't mouth rot, and deduced that he probably chomped down on something he shouldn't have.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Reptibreeze screen enclosure, as of last week the dimensions are 24 X 24 X 48 inches.

Lighting - ZooMed ReptiSun 5.0 combined with a Exo Terra Sun Glo 100W daylight bulb. They're both set on a 12 hour cycle.

Temperature - During the day the top of the cage is around 90F and the bottom is arounf 80F. At night it gets to about 70-75F. I have a thermometer at both the top and the bottom of his enclosure.

Humidity - Its usualy between 65 and 75 depending on when I mist. I had 2 umbrella plants in there but the last one died about 3 weeks ago.

Placement - We're on the third floor so it gets pretty hot in the summer, there's one ceiling fan but no A/C. There is one air vent near him but its not used in the summer, we plan on moving him before we have to turn on the heat. The top of the cage is between 6 and 7 feet off the floor.

Location - I am in Cleveland, Ohio.


Current Problem - he has fallen a few times. once during the day, and last night he fell twice.

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.
 
pablothepanther said:
Chameleon Info:

My Chameleon - Name: Bill Murray. Ambilobe, Ambanja mix, Male, 7 months old. Been in my care for 4 months. From Screameleons.

Handling - Well Bill has a funny habit of walking out onto the top of his cage door almost every time its open. He just hangs out up there, call me crazy, but it seems like he's very curious about the world outside his enclosure. In order to get him back in, all I have to do is offer him my hand and he climbs on. With the exception of sometimes walking to the window for some fresh morning sunlight, I usually put him right back in.

Feeding - The majority of his diet is crickets, but he gets one or two superworms a day. He eats 5-7 crickets every day. I dust with Herpcare calcium almost every feeding and D3 once a month. As far as gut loading goes, we take things like kale, dandelion greens, acorn squash, orange, and apple, and other stuff on the gut load list and blend it all together with some water. Once its mush we pour it onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet and freeze it over night. After that we cut the sheet into cubes and those cubes are what we feed the crickets.

Watering - He has a constant drip going along with hand misting a few times a day. I just started giving him showers and he seems to enjoy them. Every morning, as soon as I fill his dripper he goes and puts his head under it. My girlfriend's convinced he's taking his morning shower, who knows. But we see him drink regularly.

Fecal Description - Latley his feces has been covered in mucus. He was tested for parasites less than a month ago and he came up clean.

History - I thought he had Mouth Rot because he had sort of a spot on his lips that lined up with a gap in his teeth. But when we went to the vet she said she was sure it wasn't mouth rot, and deduced that he probably chomped down on something he shouldn't have.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Reptibreeze screen enclosure, as of last week the dimensions are 24 X 24 X 48 inches.

Lighting - ZooMed ReptiSun 5.0 combined with a Exo Terra Sun Glo 100W daylight bulb. They're both set on a 12 hour cycle.

Temperature - During the day the top of the cage is around 90F and the bottom is arounf 80F. At night it gets to about 70-75F. I have a thermometer at both the top and the bottom of his enclosure.

Humidity - Its usualy between 65 and 75 depending on when I mist. I had 2 umbrella plants in there but the last one died about 3 weeks ago.

Placement - We're on the third floor so it gets pretty hot in the summer, there's one ceiling fan but no A/C. There is one air vent near him but its not used in the summer, we plan on moving him before we have to turn on the heat. The top of the cage is between 6 and 7 feet off the floor.

Location - I am in Cleveland, Ohio.


Current Problem - he has fallen a few times. once during the day, and last night he fell twice.

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...

I'm going to try your gutload technique. I dig it! Hope your guy gets better...
 
Pics of Bill

Here are some recent pics of Bill. Ill try to take and upload more tomorrow.
 

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Is Bill getting any sunshine?
maybe put a towel down on the cage bottom to soften a fall
You seem to have your husbandry down!
What is the amt of calcium and d3 in your supp? Companies vary alot in the amt they put in their product.
Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the feedback folks. I really appreciate it. I dont think he has fallen since the other night and his appetite is picking up. Ill keep things updated. Thanks again guys.

-Alex
 
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