My veiled chameleon will not eat and is just not being himself

[LadyEmbera]

I have had Ifrit for 5 months now and he has alway come to the door of his cage so he can come out every morning. Last week he quit coming to the front to come out, and I thought it was becaus he is shedding. Since then he has started to eat less and less. I have not been able to get him to eat for two days now. I wasn't worried at first because I know when a lizard sheds they don't eat as much. It he is showing signs of weakness. He is having problems climbing and moving around. If anyone might have any advise as to what might be wrong with my Ifrit that would be great. Thank you.

 

[MelissaB]

It'll help others help you figure out what's going on if they have more info.

Here's a copy of the "How to ask for help" sticky. If you copy and paste it with the answers to the questions, it'll help get to the bottom of your problem.
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.


Pictures are helpful

 

[LadyEmbera]

I have had Ifrit for 5 months now and he has alway come to the door of his cage so he can come out every morning. Last week he quit coming to the front to come out, and I thought it was becaus he is shedding. Since then he has started to eat less and less. I have not been able to get him to eat for two days now. I wasn't worried at first because I know when a lizard sheds they don't eat as much. It he is showing signs of weakness. He is having problems climbing and moving around. If anyone might have any advise as to what might be wrong with my Ifrit that would be great. Thank you.
It'll help others help you figure out what's going on if they have more info.

Here's a copy of the "How to ask for help" sticky. If you copy and paste it with the answers to the questions, it'll help get to the bottom of your problem.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Ifrit is a (according to the pet store that I got him from) 6 month old male Veiled Chameleon. I have had Ifrit for 5 months now.
Handling - I will only handle him about once a day, and only if he wants out of his hab.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? He eats meal worms and has been eating super worms for about three weeks now. I raise my own worms and do gut load every three days to the worms I will be feeding my lizards. I use Repashy superfood a calcium plus dusting every other day.


Supplements - Repashy Superfoods Calcium Plus it's a vitamin and calcium supplement. I dust his worms for feeding every other day. I offer Ifrit food three times a day.
Watering - I mist his cage every 4 hours or so. He also has a waterfall to drink from as well. I have not seen him drinking the past few days so I showered him yesterday on his ficus tree in the shower.
Fecal Description- I have not found any new dropping the past two day and is very concerning.
History - he came from our local pet smart

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Ifrit is in a 3foot tall 2 feet wide and deep bird cage. I use a UVB/UVB light and a heat bulb with a purple night time light.
Temperature - His basking spot is 90 and the lowest part of his cage is 75. At night the lowest it gets is 70
Humidity - his humidity is a constant 53%. I use live plants and mist his cage every 3hours.
Plants - He has a live ficus and common vine plant. He also has some fake plants and fake branches to climb on. He also has reptile moss on the bottom of his cage to help with the humidity.
Placement- his cage is in my living room with medium traffic. He is on an inside wall and his cage with stand is 5feet tall.
Location - We live in Montana

Current Problem - he is not going to the bathroom or eating. He appears to be weak and having a hard time getting .

 

[LadyEmbera]

Ifrit today

 

[carol5208]

I would like to see a few more pictures of your chameleon gripping on things. It looks like he might have some MBD(metabolic bone disease). It could just be the way he is holding his front leg, but his back leg looks a little odd too. Are you 100% sure your light is a UVB?. Can you read what it says on it? What kind, what strength?? etc

 

[MelissaB]

I wonder if it's possible that he's constipated? I've read that mealworms and superworms are pretty high in chitin. Can you get a hold of some silkworms or hornworms? Will he eat any fruits or veggies? Also, is it possible that he could've accidentally eaten some of the reptile moss?

 

[LadyEmbera]

The UVB light is a ZooMed 5.0 UVB light. It's 5 months old. I know I should replace them every 6months but could it be going bad?

I have never tried to give him fruits and veggies. I have a wide range of fruits and veggies for my Russian tortoise so I could give him some. I just do not know which he can have.

 

[LadyEmbera]

As for the silk or horn worms I have not been able to find any locally but I can get some next day mail if that will be better for him.

 

[MelissaB]

I like to feed my panthers some silkworms or hornworms each week. They're full of moisture and soft bodied, plus the silks are high in calcium. If he's a little backed up from the mealworms or superworms, it might help get things moving again. But, if he ingested some of the reptile moss, he could be impacted. Is the moss a sheet or pieces that could be eaten?

Edited to add:
I've read about people feeding their veileds small slivers of strawberries, and greens. I'm not sure what else they can have.

 

[LadyEmbera]

It's the moss that you soak it in water and it expands the you take it and pull it apart. They are like grass clippings almost. That the best way I can discribe it sorry.
I was reading a book online and it was saying to give your veiled a little bit of mineral oil once every three days till he goes to the bathroom. It also said to give him a shower once a day to keep him from getting dehydrated. Is mineral oil ok to give him?

 

[kinyonga]

Could he have ingested some of the moss and its clogging him up?

 

[MelissaB]

I've read posts on here where people have given their chameleon a feeder with a drop of mineral oil or olive oil on it to try to get things moving again. I've never done it myself, though.

 

[Suzapalooza]

If he were mine, I'd make a visit to a reptile vet as soon as possible.

Our 8-month old male veiled stopped eating and pooping (right after a shed, too) and it turned out he was constipated. Long story short, it was a combo of too much supplement with D3, the wrong light and mild dehydration. The constipation, and ensuing bulge in his intestine, made it difficult for him to grab branches with his back legs. He was barely using them at one point

After two weeks of waiting for him to go on his own, we went to the vet who did an x-ray, then an enema and helped him pass a large, dense urate. He also prescribed a GI motility enhancer. In our case, his intestine had become weak and even though he was trying, he still could not pass anything. We ended up with exploratory surgery to rule out any real blockage, more meds, a liquid diet and he is just now getting back to normal.

Can't help but think if we had gone to the vet sooner, the meds would have helped sooner (and the surgery would not have been necessary). I'd read about giving mineral oil, too, but with him not pooping for 2+ weeks, all I could think was putting more stuff in him was just going to make him more miserable.

Ours was on a diet dominated by crickets, which, like meal worms, have a lot of chitin, which can be hard to pass. An x-ray would also rule out if he had ingested any of the moss, too.

I hope Ifrit feels better soon! Keep us posted.

 

[LadyEmbera]

I have called around all day yesterday and today and we do not have a vet that knows how to treat chameleons. The one bet that said he would look at him has only ever worked with a few breaded dragons.

I have been showering him for 3days now so he does not get dehydrated. He was not impressed with me offering him a small slice of a strawberry. He does not want to be in his cage so I have been letting him sit on my shoulder and doing sunlight and sitting under the UVB light myself to make sure he is getting the light he needs.

We will no longer be doing meal worms and crickets. Found someone who sells horn worms. Is it ok if he just eats silk and horn worms or should I mix silk and horn worms with some crickets.

 

[LadyEmbera]

So I decided to look up other reasons why Ifrit would not be eating and I noticed he looked like he was puckering his lip. I took some pics. I think it's mouth ft .

 

[LadyEmbera]

I used peroxide and wiped it in the spot like the forum said. And the spot that was sticking out of his lip fell off.

 

[LadyEmbera]

I was asked the other day to post a pic of Ifrits fecal mater and did not have any fresh fecal mater. In his shower today he was finally able to go. Here is a pic of it and it does not look like it normally does at all.

Good new is that I found a vet 5 hours away and we will be going on a road trip to see him.

 

[LadyEmbera]

So Ifrit and I took a road trip two days ago and saw the vet. He thinks he has a parasite and gave him meds for it. He said he did have mouth rot but I caught it before it could get bad and does not need antibiotics for it. Ifrit is starting to be held again.