Need some advice about Diesel, please

[Hpyrok]

Hi there,
So Diesel is my ~4-5 month old male, Veiled Chameleon. We have had him almost 4 months. In that time we have handled him 4-5 times. He has been fed mainly gut loaded crickets (10-15 daily) since we brought him home. We have also given mealworms, waxworks and Superworms as treats. They are dusted with ReptiCalcium without D3 daily (since I found out that with D3 wasn't supposed to be given daily, thanks to this forum), WITH D3 every 2 weeks and Reptivite monthly. They had been gut loaded with greens (collard and mustard), oranges, apples, grapes. We recently began using Cricket Crack the past few days.

We mist using the MistKing 5x/day for 1 minute sessions since the furnace went on. I have seen him drink a few times. His enclosure (Reptibreeze 16x16x30) is located in our master bathroom up on a platform between the bathtub and sink. He has a ficus tree and a pothos (sp?) along with a few plastic climbing plants. His enclosure is near a window, my husband feels our crappy windows are making it too cold, so I may be moving it once I get his bigger enclosure (hopefully for Christmas). He had been maintaining 70-80 degrees from bottom to top but cooler temps are seeing 68 degrees towards the bottom. Humidity is 40-75%. Lighting is the deep dome Zoo Med5 and a 60 watt incandescent household bulb from 7 am-7pm. We live in STL, MO.

His poop is poo brown with a mucous covering most of the time and urates are white with a stringy end with a color tinge of yellow/orange. He has NOT been tested for parasites. On my next to do list.

Since 12/6, D has been hardly eating. He used to eat readily and then suddenly and I mean suddenly stopped eating right away. His bms have become smaller. I have seen him eat 1 Superworm per day when I broke down from holding off feeding him for a couple of days. But nothing beyond that. He shed his facial skin 2 days ago and his leg is shedding today. He has shed 3 previous times as the whole body shed. He is also pacing down and up and around his enclosure. I haven't take him to the vet yet because he is pooping, peeing and active. The eating is concerning me. Could it be a prolonged shed? Parasites? Something scarier?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Lathis]

Nothing jumps out as being terribly off. It's always a good idea to have a parasite fecal check, so I'm going to recommend that just as a regular maintenance item. He's a bit young to be in the teenage wanderer stage.

Are you absolutely sure about temperatures? If it's too hot, he could be looking to get out. Too cold, and it will depress the appetitive. The range you show is great for a young veiled.

He could be on a cricket strike. Superworms are fattier than crickets which seems to translate to tastier. My Jax would hold out for superworms for days when he was being stubborn. I suspect this may be what's going on... Mom will give him mcDonalds if he doesn't eat his homemade dinner . You can gutload super worms with the same stuff as crickets to make them healthier.

Variety is important, so keep offering options. Maybe drop the supers for a bit and see if he goes back to normal.

Photos would help.

 

[Hpyrok]

Here is a photo from this morning. Oh the disgrace of a cricket being on his back. :/ His ribs are what concern me. They seem very obvious though he is slightly curved.

 

[Hpyrok]

Nothing jumps out as being terribly off. It's always a good idea to have a parasite fecal check, so I'm going to recommend that just as a regular maintenance item. He's a bit young to be in the teenage wanderer stage.

Are you absolutely sure about temperatures? If it's too hot, he could be looking to get out. Too cold, and it will depress the appetitive. The range you show is great for a young veiled.

He could be on a cricket strike. Superworms are fattier than crickets which seems to translate to tastier. My Jax would hold out for superworms for days when he was being stubborn. I suspect this may be what's going on... Mom will give him mcDonalds if he doesn't eat his homemade dinner . You can gutload super worms with the same stuff as crickets to make them healthier.

Variety is important, so keep offering options. Maybe drop the supers for a bit and see if he goes back to normal.

Photos would help.

Thank you for the info! I will get a fecal to the vet and try some other feeders. I truly appreciate your reply.

 

[brownie64]

They will naturally slow down on their eating as they get older, and like Lathis said it could just be him getting sick of the same foods. If it were me I would keep a closer eye on his weight if he is constantly loosing weight then you have an issue. But I would definitely get the fecal for piece of mind if nothing else.

 

[Hpyrok]

I took Diesel to our reptile vet yesterday to see if he could determine why D wasn't eating well. Diesel weighed 66 gms (was 5 gms in early September) and was his usual feisty self when being examined. The vet wasn't concerned at all. He said D was in great shape and his fecal was negative for parasites. So I need to start a journal of foods offered, his intake and output. We go back to reweigh in 2 weeks.