Now What?

C

cricket01

New Member
Ok - I have read here that one will never worry as mush as one does about their chameleon - and it's true!

I had taken my girl's poop to the vet and she is parasite free (I had posted a few weeks ago that she wasn't pooping. I have had a cou[le of good poos since and the vet suggested less meal worms as their eco-skeleton can be hard to disgest. I have introduced Horn and butter worms and she liked them.) BUT now, she hasn't been eating and is acting strange.

So she spending all her time high on her branches and under her heat lamp but then I notice she is a light green but has her mouth open (over heating?) so I turn her heat lamp off right away and she closes her mouth. She never moves away from the heat to regulate herself... She is also spending more time with her neck bulging as if pissed but if I go near her she seems to calm down.
New changes are the fooger ( removed waterfountain with everyones advice) and I am turning heat lamp off at night now. Her color is generally a soft green but she is showing more dots (not stripes) lately as well as some yellow....Is she gravid??

She normally eats right out of my hand - has had no interest for 2 days now.

As always, thanks for any help!!!
 
Can you take a pic of the neck bulging?

Heat- Sounds like either she is trying to cook to cure (lizards will give themselves fevers to fight infection) or just wanting to cook to get metabolism going for whatever reason (trying to digest?) or maybe rest of enclosure is too cool so she's choosing to cook rather than cool. If she is basking with mouth open, IMO no big problem- is OK especially if she seems a little off digesting and eating to begin with- maybe she is working on fixing the problem. If she has mouth open when bulb is off or when away from bulb- that's more serious and could indicate respiratory infection or something else- reason I'm wondering about neck bulging. But sitting and cooking with mouth open is no more wrong for a lizard than a dog sitting in the sun cooking with mouth open- they both use the same cooling system (evaporation in the mouth) and want to do the same thing (get warmer than usual).

I would take a look at your heating situation- maybe add more ambient heat so she doesn't feel like she's got to cook all the time to stay heated up. (secondary bulb near first, maybe lower wattage, or maybe just more limbs around the first for her to choose from- but sounds like maybe she has that already?). If you are keeping her at the cool female temps some use- I've no experience as I use warmer temps, but if she isn't pooping and is trying to heat up, first thing I would do is let her heat up and see if it fixes the problem.

I would also offer plenty of hydration to keep things lubricated inside.

If she isn't operating properly and mealworms are truly clogging her up, you probably want to avoid butterworms. I have read that although they are soft, waxworms and butterworms also have a difficult to digest skin. You are probably better off going to standard crickets or roaches for a while if you can get her to eat.
 
Everyone has already posted great information. The only thing I can ask of is a picture of the said chameleon. If she's receptive or gravid, we would be able to tell you for sure.
 
of course she isnt bulging her neck now so I can't take a picture...but she isn't eating and that has me more concerned than anything...her pooping is better than it has been (twice this week) so that is less of a concern now. Are the dark spots indicative of anything? And the yellowish spot that is at the end of her back? She is desplaying more stripes as well today...I'm near tears I'm so worried...Amazing how these little things can grab your heart...
 
cricket01 said:
of course she isnt bulging her neck now so I can't take a picture...but she isn't eating and that has me more concerned than anything...her pooping is better than it has been (twice this week) so that is less of a concern now. Are the dark spots indicative of anything? And the yellowish spot that is at the end of her back? She is desplaying more stripes as well today...I'm near tears I'm so worried...Amazing how these little things can grab your heart...
Click to expand...

It sounds like she might be receptive or gravid. Upload a picture even if she isn't flared up. We can still tell. :)
 
Also, how old is she? What are your basking and ambient temps?
 
She is WC so I don't know her age but she is a Graceful and about 4 inches nose to vent...Basking temp around 82
 

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spots = stress for that species.

She looks healthy in the photos.

But I think she can see something that is bothering her- another animal of any sort, her reflection, a television- something.

Maybe that is why she doesn't eat and why she sticks out her throat- I can't say without seeing her actually doing it or a pic, but maybe what you are seeing is a threat display against her reflection (any mirrors or windows nearby that might reflect?) or another lizard or pet...
 
unless the spots appeared only when the camera approached, then it is simply the camera and the spots wouldn't indicate a solution to your other problem.
 
She looks healthy to me. (and very pretty)

I don't think she will suddenly drop dead on you- I think you can relax a little and try to troubleshoot for a source of something she can see that is bothering her...
 
sorry for 1 more post/hint- any time spotting like that- it's a reaction to some visual stimulus- she sees something that has her responding.
 
no, the spots seem to be there all the time. She is in a new location but no refection of any kind. I do have another lizard (bearded dragon) on a different floor and a cat and a dog that cannot get to her but from a very particular vantage point in her cage she could see. They havent been around her at all today...

I have only a few locations I can put the cage - I would love to do something outside for her (I have a balcony that I could use just for her) but worry the night is too cold for her here (I'm in LA, winter night temps in the 50's) and the grage seems too depressing and she will never see the light of day!

Can I build an outdoor structure with some insulation? We get some but little rain hee and I could make it water proof on top and some sides?
 
She does look really good, I know nothing specific for Gracefuls so I can't help a lot but I agree with fluxlizard. Relax yourself, she's in no immediate danger. Maybe a new feeder will help, variety is always best anyway. Perhaps she's just not as hungry, they cut back on food as they grow up.
 
ok - phew - thanks all!! I am going to try another new location and see if she is more comfortable...I'll try my bedroom where there is less traffic.

And yes, I'm a little biased but I think sh'es gorgeous :)
 
If your night temps never dip below 50 you should be fine. I let mine dip that low and have kept those (I've bred dilepis as well which are pretty close).

I can't tell you what is bothering her, but can tell you if she isn't stressed about something she sees, she should just be green without the spots.

I don't think I can ever recall one spotting up like that without some visual stimulus of some sort. I don't know what it would be though- you? I'm joking but half serious- if you leave her alone for a while and slowly peek around into the room at her is she still spotted?
 
ok - phew - thanks all!! I am going to try another new location and see if she is more comfortable...I'll try my bedroom where there is less traffic.

And yes, I'm a little biased but I think she's gorgeous :)
 
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