ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
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Panther chameleon hanging his leg
- Thread starter Sailouchai
- Start date
Sailouchai
Member
So the humidity is in between 55% and 60% throughout the whole day and at night the temp is at 67
So gout and hydration are tied together as well. If a cham is consistently not getting enough fluid intake this can cause strain on the renal organs.
Crickets are not a feeder we worry about with gout. Actually this is one of the feeders we will switch to from roaches to try to help. Because crickets uric acid levels are lower. Roaches are higher. So a cham consistantly only fed roaches can have issues with gout due to the high uric acid levels. And this is exactly what they have problems with in their bodies. The body can not filter the uric acid out well enough.
Sailouchai
Member
Okay, I already set up the longer misting sessions and im hand misting from time to time, Im gonna try and call a few veterinarians today hopefully ill find a good one and ill be taking him in between tomorrow or the day after that since im gonna struggle getting him out of the cage
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
If you could get the humidity up more at night, it would be great (65°F or lower would be perfect for making higher humidity nighttime levels, like fogging and misting, but 67°F will work)! What are his basking temps, and what do you use to measure temps and humidity?
Sailouchai
Member
I can, I have a fogging system but I dont use it because I got told not to use it if its not below 65F his basking temp is 87 and I use a digital hygrometer and thermometer with a cord sensor and I cant really get it cooler during the night I tried because I wanted to use the fogging system but 67 is the least I can get to
Sailouchai
Member
Okay so follow up, I just came back from the vet and did some fecal exam and blood test, his uric acid is high Its 13 and 10 its normal, They havent sent me the results yet but I dont know if anyone has some kind of experience or knowledge with this, treatment will be proper diet a hydration
Did they recommend any medication? The diet is not what I see as the issue in your case... I believe it is linked in more with hydration. Most chams need to see water moving to trigger a drinking response. This is where drippers come in handy. I use a plastic solo cup and put tiny pin holes in the bottom. Then I set it directly on the screen above plants to drip down on. Add ice cubes for a slow drip or water. I only have mine on the cage for about 45 minutes each day. But I also run long 5 minute misting sessions in the day. One I run 15 minutes after lights kick on and then one in late afternoon and another an hour before all lights are off. My boy will not drink unless he sees water moving. This is the one thing that I find concerning about people that do not mist during their awake hours. Some chams simply will not drink because a leaf has water drops on it. Some really need to actually see the water movement.
Sailouchai
Member
He did get some medication for bacteria they found on the feces, nothing uncommon according to the doctor nothing too alarming but hes getting it once a day for 10 days and I just got the blood work ill post it to see if someone can give me a more detailed explanation for it, when it comes to the hydration I already set up the dripper next to his basking spot and its running all day long, by the way he pooped yesterday and it was all white so for now he is hydrated (poop wise)
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Sailouchai
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I just gave him food today, major change of getting overfed with 10 crickets a day to the schedule I got recommended in one of the comments, he struggled to shoot his tongue far and had to try 3 times to get the bug, I hope it has something to do with the change of food schedule or him being overstressed today by getting him out of the cage getting handled, getting blood from him but If anyone knows anything about it please let me know
What medication did the vet put your chameleon on?
Make sure you hydrate well for the medication as well as the high uric acid.
You said..."He did get some medication for bacteria they found on the feces, nothing uncommon according to the doctor"... Did the vet mention what bacteria it was? You said he bacteria was ON the feces...not in it?
Make sure you hydrate well for the medication as well as the high uric acid.
You said..."He did get some medication for bacteria they found on the feces, nothing uncommon according to the doctor"... Did the vet mention what bacteria it was? You said he bacteria was ON the feces...not in it?
Sailouchai
Member
I cant really tell wether if he said on or in the feces but I have the details on the email they will probably give you a better information on it
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Sailouchai
Member
And when it comes to him struggling with his tongue not getting it out more than 2 inches Can someone give me a good diet for a 1 year old male panther chameleons because I was planning on giving him 3 to 4 full size crickets 3 to 4 days a week, but he is used to his 10 to 15 small crickets daily, because I did a little research on the tongue problem and I found that it could be calcium deficiency so I could use some help because I dont want to cause a major problem (for example MBD) just because I changed his diet trying to lower his uric acid levels and avoid gout disease
Sailouchai
Member
It might sound paranoic but I just feel like im stuck in the middle of a situation where i can give him his regular diet that might be causing gout disease for overfeeding or lower it and maybe giving him calcium deficiency ( which might not be the case hopefully) its just that hes my baby and im just not risking anything
You said..."I did a little research on the tongue problem and I found that it could be calcium deficiency"...you should ask the vet about what the ratio of calcium (13.8) to phos (5.5) was. I'm not a vet, but I think your test results you posted indicate it's ok....but I'm not sure because I'm not a vet...however, the tongue issues could be from other things...injury, infection, etc.
Lowering the number of bugs won't cause a calcium defeciency as long as you're still dusting the insects properly and feeding/gutloading them properly. I don't think the number if bugs has anything to do with the gout either...depending on which bugs you're were using and what you're using now.
Lowering the number of bugs won't cause a calcium defeciency as long as you're still dusting the insects properly and feeding/gutloading them properly. I don't think the number if bugs has anything to do with the gout either...depending on which bugs you're were using and what you're using now.
Sailouchai
Member
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He did say that the only concerning thing was the uric acid being a 13 when 10 is normal, So maybe hes just stressed since this is the first time he got out of the cage in his whole lifetime and he has never been handled let alone taken blood from him and thats why the tongue problem happened I just wanted to get it out of the way and be confident on lowering his diet for the gout problem
Sailouchai
Member
He didnt really give me any instructions, We just covered the fact that the uric acid levels are high and we need to lower them so he told me that the two causes for uric acid levels are either high protein (overfeeding because crickets are not the highest on protein) and dehydration which I already covered by increasing the misting sessions and setting up the dripper, as I said im not risking it so Im trying to cover the two probable causes, And im just trying to figure out a normal or regular diet for a chameleon my age, im not trying to go lower than usual or higher than usual Im just trying to find a normal diet (quantity wise) for him with his regular supplements
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