Please help doobie!!

DoobieBrother

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? - Graceful, Male, about 2 years old, had him almost a year now.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? - rarely
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Crickets, mealworms, wax worms, silk worms, butter worms, roaches. 8 prey items daily, some days skipped. Gutload with cricket crack and fresh fruits, veggies.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Rep-Cal, Calcium daily, Cal w/ d3 once a month, herptivite 2 times a month.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? He has a dripper, I hand mist 4-5 times daily and he usually likes to drink water that drips from the top of the screen.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Tested when first purchased, results neg. Tested again 3 days ago, results neg. Droppings are normally hard and with white urate, last 7 days droppings have had orange urate.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. - Rescued chameleon that was severely dehydrated when I got him, had his tail snapped at the tip.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? - large reptibreeze
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? reptisun 5.0 and a normal 75 watt house bulb for basking in a dome fixture. 8am on, 8pm off. 12 hours on, 12 hours off.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? 74-76 in cooler area, 83-85 in basking area.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? humidity is low at times, I compensate with misting and usually can bring it back from 40% to 60-70%
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? In front of a window that has no direct sun beating on it. no fans, air vents, etc. No traffic, he is in a quiet bedroom.
Location - Where are you geographically located? florida

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

For the last week my chameleon has been acting lethargic. He first started by going to the bottom of the cage and just standing near the bottom. Then began trying to scratch is way out near the top, rubbing his nose raw (I assumed it was breeding season and he was trying to get out to look for a mate.) But then he stopped eating and trying to drink water. I rushed him to the vet and had him check him over but this vet is not as experienced as my other vet, but I couldn't get an appointment until next week and I wanted him to be seen asap. The fecal float was neg for any parasites they said. He gave him a appetite stimulant and force fed some water and some mashed up wax worms with doxycycline?? That I was unsure about, Is doxycycline okay for reptiles, I'm nervous to continue that treatment.

He has not opened his eyes in three days, he has not eaten or drank on his own and he has not had a bowel movement in about 5 days. His stomach is slightly bloated, I've tried placing him in a bowl of lukewarm water and very gently rubbing his stomach toward his vent to help palpate any stool to dislodge or to help relieve constipation but he never produced. He is also cleaning his eyes a lot lately, Rolling them around in his head and actually showing me the white part through his lid before putting his eye back normally, no discharge or anything stuck in them, I increased the humidity more since I've seen this.

He still has not eaten or drank anything without help. I'm worried about impaction or kidney failure. Is there anything else I'm missing? Could this be a vitamin issue? I really need help, I have researched and tried to ensure he had the best life possible and I feel I am failing him.

His name is Doobie. doobie.jpg
 
One thing you should change is your gut load. Cricket crack is not a very good gut load and seems to cause more issues than anything. Try repashy super load, you can buy it from some of the sit sponsors. Keep adding the fresh veggies as well, try mustard greens and kale, but do not resort to just kale it's high in oxolates which block the Chams calcium absorption. Many people on here have superb recipes for gut loads too.

As for the roastral rubbing- my eldest chameleon had this issue too, some times it's due to shedding and some times it's a physiological issue. Either way my chameleons resulted in an abscess, which was lanced. It's best to keep something like silvadene and neo poly vac in a reptile first aid kit in your house. That way the second you notice you can apply some to the area with a sterile qtip( try not to touch the cotton with your fingers or on any other surface)
This should help kill the bacteria in the area and help the scar tissue. Some times even that isn't enough so you will need to keep a close eye on it and tell your vet what happened so he can make sure there are no early signs of an abscess.

What plant is that he is on?
 
One thing you should change is your gut load. Cricket crack is not a very good gut load and seems to cause more issues than anything. Try repashy super load, you can buy it from some of the sit sponsors. Keep adding the fresh veggies as well, try mustard greens and kale, but do not resort to just kale it's high in oxolates which block the Chams calcium absorption. Many people on here have superb recipes for gut loads too.

As for the roastral rubbing- my eldest chameleon had this issue too, some times it's due to shedding and some times it's a physiological issue. Either way my chameleons resulted in an abscess, which was lanced. It's best to keep something like silvadene and neo poly vac in a reptile first aid kit in your house. That way the second you notice you can apply some to the area with a sterile qtip( try not to touch the cotton with your fingers or on any other surface)
This should help kill the bacteria in the area and help the scar tissue. Some times even that isn't enough so you will need to keep a close eye on it and tell your vet what happened so he can make sure there are no early signs of an abscess.

What plant is that he is on?

He is on a hibiscus plant, it's just a carrier plant I use to take him outside for sun on. He lives on a ficus tree in his cage.

I use kale on occasion, not very often. Mustard greens I also use on occasion. I also used to be a member on this site a while back when I first obtained my guy, I got some of the gut load recipes from one of the senior members on here that had made a ton of threads that were specifically related to this subject. I also continuously used the site throughout his life as a resource. I just forgot my old username and password.

As for an abscess I don't think that is an issue that's occurring currently. I'm seriously worried about impaction right now. I used river rocks to cover his soil in his potted plant. He has no access to anything else in his cage except for his ficus tree. But I do take him outside on occasion and he could have eaten something then that he shouldn't have while we were out.

Just hoping to get some answers, it's going to be a long weekend waiting for my herp vet otherwise.. :(
 
I know an abscess is not a current issue but it is something that may occur in the future. I didn't think my guy rubbed far down enough to get an infection, the area was just irritated and not even really raw and he still got one.

As for impaction - when's the last time he pooped?
Mineral oil/ cod liver oil can be administered orally about once a week to help “lubricate” your chameleon intestine.

As for the eyes, it could more than likely be the ficus, the sap can get on them and infect the eyes.

Does he have increased mucus or does his breathing sound labored?
if you would hold him close to your head and listen for crackly/ popping sounds.
It could be an R.I
 
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I know an abscess is not a current issue but it is something that may occur in the future. I didn't think my guy rubbed far down enough to get an infection, the area was just irritated and not even really raw and he still got one.

As for impaction - when's the last time he pooped?

As for the eyes, it could more than likely be the ficus, the sap can get on them and infect the eyes.

Does he have increased mucus or does his breathing sound labored?
if you would hold him close to your head and listen for crackly/ popping sounds.
It could be an R.I

He had his last BM 5 days ago, which I know is normal for them to not go for a week or more sometimes if stressed etc but with these other symptoms and no sign of parasites in his old stool samples I don't know what to think.

When I took him in, the vet check him over and opened his mouth and listened to his lungs and didn't mention anything about respiratory problems. His eyes are clear and currently he is in a hospital cage that just has the hibiscus in it and low branches. He is still sitting in the tree with his eyes closed but he is upright and if I touch him he reacts.
 
In the mean time see if you can get some mineral or Codd liver oil in his system. Only buy 100% Codd liver oil if you do. Many bottles say they are Codd liver oil and are not 100% that. Administer it with a syringe( no needle) and just do one small drop in his mouth. That way he can try and have a bowl movement.
Also have you tried giving your Cham a shower? If he's lethargic and keeping his eyes closed- I can assume he hasn't been drinking enough?
The shower may help him perk up long enough to drink
 
Still Alive

Doobie is still alive but clinging. Taking him to my herp vet today. But I guess no one had anymore ideas in the meantime?? I'm still praying for my little one. Any advice would be wonderful.

Thank you
 
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