I have a female senegal, only a few months old. She's usually very active and doesn't mind being handled. I feed her everyday about 4-6 gut-loaded crickets that I buy at petco. Her feeding time isn't always consistent, but its usually between the afternoons to early evenings. When I drop the crickets in, she doesn't always finish them that day, so she doesn't eat all 4-6 crickets. I also use the calcium powder, and I think the problem is that I've been feeding her too much calcium? This is the first reptile I've ever had as a pet, let alone an exotic one, and I wasn't aware we were only supposed to feed her the calcium about once week, and I fed her the crickets coated with the calcium everyday... the past few days, I've noticed she's been sleeping a LOT. Almost all day. Her eyes are sunken and she barely opened them or only had one eye open (her right eye). I didn't think she was sick, I just figured she was tired. However, I came home today to find her just hanging down off the lowest branch, and it seemed like she was dead. She was verrry dark (dark green/gray), very cold, barely moved even when I would hold her or mist her, and she was faintly breathing. When she moves or tries to walk, its like she's drunk.. I called petco to see what I could do for her, and they asked me about my cage setting, temp, humidity, and how I was feeding her.. I told him its a screen cage, humidity level is usually between 60-90% (I don't have a humidifier for her yet, so I've just been misting her manually a few times every hour), temperature is usually between 75-87 degrees (I have a day light heating lamp and a uvb light on during the day, and a night heat lamp during the night) he told me I seemed to be doing everything right except that I was over feeding the calcium and that might be toxic for her... if this is the problem, is it irreversable or will she be restored to health? (Sorry this is so long, I'm trying to provide as much information to limit the responses back and forth)
my senegal is very sick! help?
- Thread starter scarxlett
- Start date
IMHO you need to get her to the vets right now...she may be dying.
For the future...
You said..."I feed her everyday about 4-6 gut-loaded crickets that I buy at petco"...how do you know they are gutloaded? What are they gutloaded with? Especially need to know the phos., calcium, D3 and prEformed vitamin A that is in the gutload.
You said..."I also use the calcium powder, and I think the problem is that I've been feeding her too much calcium?"...what specific calcium product are you using and how heavily do you dust them? (I and most of the people on this forum dust the insects at most feedings...but not so heavily that they look like little ghosts.
You said..."the past few days, I've noticed she's been sleeping a LOT. Almost all day. Her eyes are sunken and she barely opened them or only had one eye open (her right eye)"..this is not good. What brand and type (compact, spiral, long linear tube, etc.) UVB light do you use and does the light pass through glass or plastic?
You don't need any light at night at all nor heat unless your room temps go below 65F.
For the future...
You said..."I feed her everyday about 4-6 gut-loaded crickets that I buy at petco"...how do you know they are gutloaded? What are they gutloaded with? Especially need to know the phos., calcium, D3 and prEformed vitamin A that is in the gutload.
You said..."I also use the calcium powder, and I think the problem is that I've been feeding her too much calcium?"...what specific calcium product are you using and how heavily do you dust them? (I and most of the people on this forum dust the insects at most feedings...but not so heavily that they look like little ghosts.
You said..."the past few days, I've noticed she's been sleeping a LOT. Almost all day. Her eyes are sunken and she barely opened them or only had one eye open (her right eye)"..this is not good. What brand and type (compact, spiral, long linear tube, etc.) UVB light do you use and does the light pass through glass or plastic?
You don't need any light at night at all nor heat unless your room temps go below 65F.
Thank you for your response! For the gutloaded crickets, I don't have the wrapping with all the information, I threw that away.. but I bought the crickets in a little package with 36 small crickets, and it said "gut-loaded", and its embarrassing to say, but I didn't read what they exactly gut loaded the crickets with. Like I said, this is the first repitle I've had as a pet and I'm still learning about this little creature. As for calcium, I use Reptivite. It has D3.. it says "ultrafine superstick formula" I also bought this at petco. And I guess I've been powdering the crickets heavily because they did look like "little ghosts"... And as for the UVB light, its neither compact spiral nor tube, I don't know exactly how to explain it. It looks like 3 long "u" shapes. I also bought this at petco. It passes through a screen. The whole cage is screen all around
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
I'm sorry you lost her. But, big box pet shops are not experts on our chams and believing that their products are perfect just doesn't work. Most commercial gutloads are pretty bad...grain fillers. They are also not specialized for different types of herps. What might work for a leopard gecko won't be right for a cham. It's always best to do your own research on care and nutrition regardless of what the pet store told you or supplied for you.
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Even though your husbandry was lacking you might not have been able to save her anyway. Senegals are almost all wild caught. She was prob full of parasites and severely stressed from the capture and shipping she had to endure before being placed in a small glass cage at a pet store. If you decied on replacing her research their needs and go captive bred from a site sponsor. They will help you with your purchse.
justjumpit621
New Member
I suggest either a panther or a veiled chameleon, I wouldn't go with a senegal just yet. Experience is key. Here is a checklist I wrote for someone with a veiled, most of it applies to panthers also.
You will need:
- Screen cage, babies can do 18x18x20 or something like that but adults need at least 4 ft of vertical room. Many keepers build their own cages if you're up for the challenge.
- Heat lamp with regular 60W house bulb.
- UVB light fixture, you can get a cheap one at walmart.
- Reptisun 5.0 UVB linear tube. This is the #1 recommended UVB light to use, it is the only one to be proven safe.
- Pothos, you can find them practically anywhere now.
-Vines, fake or real. I am fortunate enough to have wild grape vines around my house.
- Phosphorus free/ D3 free calcium, recommended brands are repcal or zoo med repticalcium.
- Calcium with D3, also recommend repcal or zoo med repticalcium.
- A multivitamin/mineral supplement, recommended brand herptivite.
- You will have to ask about the supplementing schedule for babies but an adult will need Calcium w/o D3 every other day (every feeding), Calcium w/ D3 twice a month, and multvitamin once a month.
- Dripper system with covered bowl at bottom to catch water, or have it flow into the plant.
- A spray bottle for misting around 5 times a day.
- Reptile Water purifier drops
- crickets. Do not feed mealworms. You can also try phoenix worms, silk worms, dubia roaches, locust, hornworms, etc for a variety.
- Gutload. A powdered gutload such as cricket crack is good, but fresh veggies such as carrots, dandilion greens, collard greens, pears, apples, bananas, and some other safe foods are a must. Whatever you can get. You have to gutload your feeders the day before feeding so they are packed full of nutrients.
You will need:
- Screen cage, babies can do 18x18x20 or something like that but adults need at least 4 ft of vertical room. Many keepers build their own cages if you're up for the challenge.
- Heat lamp with regular 60W house bulb.
- UVB light fixture, you can get a cheap one at walmart.
- Reptisun 5.0 UVB linear tube. This is the #1 recommended UVB light to use, it is the only one to be proven safe.
- Pothos, you can find them practically anywhere now.
-Vines, fake or real. I am fortunate enough to have wild grape vines around my house.
- Phosphorus free/ D3 free calcium, recommended brands are repcal or zoo med repticalcium.
- Calcium with D3, also recommend repcal or zoo med repticalcium.
- A multivitamin/mineral supplement, recommended brand herptivite.
- You will have to ask about the supplementing schedule for babies but an adult will need Calcium w/o D3 every other day (every feeding), Calcium w/ D3 twice a month, and multvitamin once a month.
- Dripper system with covered bowl at bottom to catch water, or have it flow into the plant.
- A spray bottle for misting around 5 times a day.
- Reptile Water purifier drops
- crickets. Do not feed mealworms. You can also try phoenix worms, silk worms, dubia roaches, locust, hornworms, etc for a variety.
- Gutload. A powdered gutload such as cricket crack is good, but fresh veggies such as carrots, dandilion greens, collard greens, pears, apples, bananas, and some other safe foods are a must. Whatever you can get. You have to gutload your feeders the day before feeding so they are packed full of nutrients.
justjumpit621
New Member
I meant to write panther or veiled chameleon =P I fixed it.
