New to chameleons and need help!!!!!

[amj89]

Current Problem - Me and my parents just bought a veiled chameleon two days ago for my brother for christmas. I have owned several other reptiles before so i made sure to do as much research as I possibly could while setting up his cage. Im not quite sure on the age but I purchased the chameleon at petco and the one employee who knows a lot about reptiles told me that it is about a juvenile now. Since I bought the chameleon it has eaten a good amount of mealworms and a couple crickets here and there. He has a nice vibrant green color to him as well. He hasn't been aggressive what so ever and has never even hissed at me but I haven't been handling him so he can get comfortable with his surroundings. He has been sitting up a couple of inches from his heat bulb usually but i have started to notice a little white bump protruding from his butt i guess? lol he has pooped once a day but i cleaned up his poo today and i noticed a little but of undigested cricket parts and what looks to be like an undigested mealworm. I just need help figuring out whats wrong with his bum and if his poop is normal. The poop looks brown with the white part as well. I will try to get pictures soon. Thank you for your help!


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Not sure of the sex yet, have had him only for a couple of days.
Handling - none so far
Feeding - 5 crickets a day and about 6 mealworms.
Supplements - cant remember.....
Watering - I spray the cage a few times a day and get the plants nice and wet. I have seen him drink.
Fecal Description - brown with the white part. Looks like its the correct consist. I did notice some undigested crickets and a mealworm.
History - just bought it from petco

Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen cage a couple of feet tall, my guess is the small model?
Lighting - 12 hour cycle. I am running a 75w reptile bulb in a smaller 5 inch ceramic dome and a uvb light.
Temperature - digital monitering.....95 degree basking spot with 80ish at lower levels. I have several levels for him to lay on
Humidity - between 40-70%
Plants - golden pothos, golden shefflera
Placement - quiet room with no foot traffic. A few feet off the gound.
Location - orlando florida

 

[pssh]

Okay, what are you gut loading with? Meal worms are recommended once or twice a month so cut back on those as they are hard to digest. He should be eating about ten crickets a day. Lower the temp to 80 degrees in the basking spot.

Does it have spurs or bumps on the backs of it's back feet? If so it is a male, if not it is female. Post a picture of the Cham on a ruler and a picture of what you're worried about. The ruler pic will allow us to give you a guess on the age.

EDIT: I hate double posting

 

[lucky]

first. no mealworms. second i think you should lower your basking temp to around 80-84 if he is still small. how late are you feeding. if you feed him too late in night before his cage cools down he/she might not be digesting its food. suppliments are important. try to get it on a schedule. use calcium WITHOUT D3 5-6 times a week and calcium WITH about twice a month. also use multi vitamin about twice a month.

 

[pssh]

USE THIS ONE NOT THE OTHER ONE!!!!


Okay, what are you gut loading with? Meal worms are recommended once or twice a month so cut back on those as they are hard to digest. He should be eating about ten crickets a day. Lower the temp to 80 degrees in the basking spot. Is your UVB bulb a coil type or a long tube type? What brand and is it 2.0, 5.0, or 10.0?

Does it have spurs or bumps on the backs of it's back feet? If so it is a male, if not it is female. Post a picture of the Cham on a ruler and a picture of what you're worried about. The ruler pic will allow us to give you a guess on the age.

 

[amj89]

ok i will get pics in the morning! Thanks for your help

 

[kinyonga]

Please post a pic. of the little white bump protruding from his butt.

 

[Norman]

Check photos of Norman

I posted under "sore butt". I took the Cham to the vet with a poop sample and he confirmed pinworms. You can see the photos posted so you might get an idea of what it could look like. I'd take a poop sample to the vet and get it tested for parasites. I diluted the medicine in warm water and fed it to him with an eye dropper. He still seems to be struggling. We are hopeful. Be careful and clean, pinworms are highly contagious to humans. Hope this helps a little.

 

[amj89]

for some reason i cannot get these pictures to load. My chameleons butt doesnt look anything like in the picture in the other sore butt thread. The butt definately didnt look like it did when i first got the chameleon and its a bright white.....ill try my hardest to get pictures

 

[ponders]

I would also suggest in addition to the sprayings that you set up a dripper for him.

 

[amj89]

sorry this is the only picture i could get to work and its not that great. But do you notice the bump?

 

[amj89]

pics are up.....tell me what you think!

 

[kinyonga]

I'm sorry...but the picture isn't close enough.

 

[amj89]

well its the only one i could get to work on the computer. To give you an idea the butt has a white thing pushing out which seems almost like his insides. Im not quite sure on what could have caused it and what to do from here.

 

[amj89]

i tried to get better pictures but the camera just wont work. I can borrow one in the next couple of days. I walked into the room to look at her and she was hanging upside down from the top of the cage right underneath where the light is placed!!!!!!!!!! Im confused as to why she is acting like this. I put my hand near her to take her down and she just hissed at me which she hasnt ever done before.....

 

[amj89]

do you think that the bulge from the bottom could possible be a sign of her wanting to lay eggs? I just finally got the chance to tell the sex because she was hanging upside down lol. I havent put in a tupperware container with sand yet. Could this be the problem?

 

[pssh]

How old is she? She needs a laying bin around 5-6 months of age.

Upload the pics to photobucket.com or flickr.com and put them on here with the IMG tag.

 

[Slyfox22]

I am no expert but I think she is too young to lay eggs. I couldn't see any spurs in the provided picture, so until a better picture is posted I don't know what to tell you. :/

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

No, it is not normal for something to be hanging out when they are wanting to lay eggs. They get fat and look like a bag of parbles in the bewlly region. also they tend to be alot more agressive and have darker colors when they are gravid. It looks like a prolapse or something of that nature to me but I can't tell very much from the small picture. Mealworms are def a no no to use very often. Use them sparingly, like once or twice a month. Once the cham gets hungry enough it will start to eat crickets and other food items more. If the thing has been sticking out for more then 30 mins or an hour I would say either return it to petco, if thats possible or allowed, for a healthier one. Although you can't expect perfect quality animals from a place like petco anyway. chain stores and local petstores usually are chameleon illiterate, although there are teh select few good ones. If a return isn't possible you are going to have to take her to the vet because if it is a prolapse and those are something from the inside sticking out she wont last long. For now I would remove her from the enclosure or take everything our of the enclosure and wrap the sticks in papertowels and get them moist. If she rubs it on to many dry thins or gets it injured it will be alot harder to help her. She needs moisture on it so it doesn't dry out. Good luck and I hope you can get her better, she is a very pretty chameleon.



Justin

 

[pssh]

If it is a prolapse (does it look like her insides are coming out?) you need to buy some lube like KYjelly or Astroglide and put it on the chameleons prolapse and take her to the vet as soon as possible.

 

[Miss Lily]

Hope you don't mind - I enlarged the pic a bit to see if anyone can help you.