not again :(

Elgato

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

Male Jackson xanth, not sure on age about 12 months, for about a month now. He is very active

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

Not much only during feeding or cleaning his cage. When the weather permits I take him outside for a few minutes to take in some sun.

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

Crickets, dubias, mealworms, occasional waxworm. Mostly crickets about 10 small to medium a day everyday. Dubias six throughout the week. Gutload with carrots, apples, potato, cricket crack, mustard greens for crickets. Dubias have the same but also include sweet potato, butternut squash. He's been eating fine as well.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?

Reptical w/D3 once every two weeks, reptical without d3 every other feeding, herptivite once every two weeks.

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

Misting twice a day for two min. yes but not too often.

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

Solid droppings are dark brown oval shaped. The rest is white to light yellow. Yes and came back negative, but vet said might have come back negative because it was too old of a sample

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Bought him from Petco and they didn't have any info on him.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?

Screen 18x18x36

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

UVB is a reptisun 5.0 18" 15w goes on at 830am off at 9pm. UVA is a zoo med basking spot lamp 25w goes on at 8am off at 830pm.

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

Cage floor ranges from 75-79F basking is 84F. 68 is the lowest I've seen it drop. Have two digital thermometers the one for the basking light i got it from a petstore and the other one I got it from Home Depo.

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

During the day the lowest is 52% until the humidifier starts its cycle the rest of the day it ranges from 58% to 75%. I have a cool mist humidifier that goes off once every two hours for 30 min starting at 9am to 7pm and then once more at 930pm for one hour. The 930pm run of the humidifier is to bring down the temps for a night cool down, which also raises the humidity to 85%. Since I live in Texas the humidifier is also the only way I've been able to try to bring the temps down. I have recently covered one side of the cage with shower curtain and 1/4 of two other sides of the cage. Humidity is checked with the thermo/hydrometer that I have from Home Depo and sits on cage floor.

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

One live plant, shefflera, and the rest are fake plants.

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?

Corner of my room, one overhead fan placed about 7 to 8 feet away. No one is really in my room until I get home so not too much traffic. Top of cage is about 5ft from floor

Location - Where are you geographically located?

Houston, Texas

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

Ok so when I first got my cham the first two nights that I had him he make a pretty loud crackling noise. I took him to a vet in the following days and they set me up with some Enrofloxacin to give him the next 10 days. I didn't notice anymore loud crackling noise for the following days. I did notice some gaping still but I had asked about that on the forums and they said that recovery time takes some weeks, so I didn't think much of it. Just yesterday he made a light crackling noise :( not as loud as before but if you got close you would notice it. He did it tonight as well :( What i have noticed it that the sound only comes at night, which I've learned is because they tend not to show illness during the day, because they are predatory animals.

My question is: what am I doing wrong? Could it be that he didn't fully recover from it the first time? or is it something else?

I've come to love him very much as corny as that might sound, but for some reason I love having him :) that's why I'm so concerned about him.

Here is a pic of him today while gaping and his enclosure.

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And here is a video of what I saw today :( When he first gaps real big that's when you hear a slight crackle. Its so faint that the camera didn't catch it either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYl6M8RDGiQ
 
I would think the first time he received antibiotics it didn't take care of it fully. Another vet visit may be in order. :\

Lets see what the more experienced ones have to say, though.
 
Sounds like another course of antibiotics is in order, maybe a different kind? Also, it is recommended to raise the temps slightly while recovering. Make sure to finish ALL of the antibiotics and do not miss a dose, it will not work like it should if you do.
 
Sounds like another course of antibiotics is in order, maybe a different kind? Also, it is recommended to raise the temps slightly while recovering. Make sure to finish ALL of the antibiotics and do not miss a dose, it will not work like it should if you do.

I have a 50w basking bulb as well that raises the temps to mid to upper 90's will this do? and would you know of another type of antibiotic to use? I'm not too sure how much experience the vet that I take him to has with chameleons. I did miss a day on the antibiotics too :/

Also, is there any issues with my husbandry? I don't want my guy getting sick every month. :( He is very active and sometimes seems to also be trying to get out of his cage.
 
My comment is 2 min 2x day mist may not be enough for jacks- you might try a drip along with and see if he goes for the drip.

I can't hear the noise you describe on the video. Certainly if you have a lot of gurgling or phlem bubbles popping or something the respiratory infection is something to worry about. If it is a clicking like maybe his jaw clicking when he does the big yawn- that would be mechanical, not infection.

One thing that strikes me from the video as a possibility- remove the glass and watch for a few hours and see if he continues the behavior. That "yawning" appears very similar to juvenile territorial behavior for chams. Starting at 44 seconds into the video he does a huge yawn and even sticks out his chin, arches his back and does a little wriggle. That's pretty stereotypical threat display in babies of many species, including jacksons. It might be a bit of a stretch as he looks too old, but maybe? It kind of makes sense if that is the case because he is displaying this behavior in the evenings- presumably when the room is darker and his reflection would show better in the glass. I used to breed chams in large aquaria 20 years ago- I saw some display for a few minutes on certain days when the lighting was just right in the room to create a bit of a reflection, creating a "ghost" image of a chameleon in the glass that occasionally got noticed for a very short time and was responded to with a threat. Not a big deal- no long term stress in that case, but might be a possibility with yours. Especially if he isn't gaping during the day...

Certainly if that doesn't clear up the problem right away you should go have him checked/get more antibiotics...
 
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My comment is 2 min 2x day mist may not be enough for jacks- you might try a drip along with and see if he goes for the drip.

I can't hear the noise you describe on the video. Certainly if you have a lot of gurgling or phlem bubbles popping or something the respiratory infection is something to worry about. If it is a clicking like maybe his jaw clicking when he does the big yawn- that would be mechanical, not infection.

One thing that strikes me from the video as a possibility- remove the glass and watch for a few hours and see if he continues the behavior. That "yawning" appears very similar to juvenile territorial behavior for chams. Starting at 44 seconds into the video he does a huge yawn and even sticks out his chin, arches his back and does a little wriggle. That's pretty stereotypical threat display in babies of many species, including jacksons. It might be a bit of a stretch as he looks too old, but maybe? It kind of makes sense if that is the case because he is displaying this behavior in the evenings- presumably when the room is darker and his reflection would show better in the glass. I used to breed chams in large aquaria 20 years ago- I saw some display for a few minutes on certain days when the lighting was just right in the room to create a bit of a reflection, creating a "ghost" image of a chameleon in the glass that occasionally got noticed for a very short time and was responded to with a threat. Not a big deal- no long term stress in that case, but might be a possibility with yours. Especially if he isn't gaping during the day...

Certainly if that doesn't clear up the problem right away you should go have him checked/get more antibiotics...

Hmm... Thanks for the input. I've seen him gaping during the day but very rarely. He didn't do it tonight and the sound I heard was only when he fully opened his mouth for the first time only. Maybe it is a mechanical sound from his jaw. I made a app with the vet for Thursday morning, but I'll watch him till then and if it doesn't happen again then most likely that's what it is...
 
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