Please help!

[Slicknick09]

Nosy Be panther chameleon-6 months old
Zoo med reptisun 5.0
150 watt zoomed blue bulb
Three schefflera plants
Cage is 20x20x42
Eating crickets, supers and wax worms
Shower curtain around three sides to keep up humidity
On medication for parasites: Giardia and pinworms


He is still eating and drinking but I'm concerned about his color. When I first got him two weeks ago he was very blue with a white stripe. Now he is a darker blue almost green with barring showing all the time. Is this normal. At night I noticed his white stripe is sometimes brown for a little while until late at night it turns white. He hasn't been eating that much. He was enjoying the supers for a while but now doesn't want them. He likes te wax worms. Are his colors stress induced? Is it too hot in there? He hand feeds too.

 

[Lovereps]

Without a thermometer it is just anyone's guess what the temperature is.

Sometimes medications will diminish the appetite for a while--but it's better than not curing him of the parasites, for sure.

If you take a careful look at this caresheet, it can help you to know if all is the way he needs it to be:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

Sorry he has been worrying you but you are a caring enough cham owner to have taken him to the vet, so I'm sure he will do well in your care.

 

[GabeCastro]

Colors sound fine, sometime chams are white, blue, and red, then 4 months later they're orange, blue green, red, etc. lol

Coloring sounds normal for a Be so I wouldn't worry to much. He might be coming up with a shed soon if his whites look a bit brown/off color.

I had to fight coccidia & pinworms with my last cham...Thats probably the two worst parasite combo for a cham. Pinworms eat and take all the nutrients from your chams digestive system so your cham doesn't really get much out of them. Since you have the proper meds, it should slowly start killing them off. Your cham just has dead parasites & alive ones inside so he's having a hard time. Eventually they'll all pass through and he'll be back to normal. I tried looking up Giardia because I've never heard of it. Also came up with nothing with chameleons on how to treat. Worst comes to worst, if he doesn't eat ANYTHING for a week then you may have to try force feeding. My cham went through this and my vet recommended it to me. Just be sure he's drinking water in the meantime. If he's not drinking water, try those hornworms.

He can also be addicted to those waxworms so keep him off those. They're bad for your cham and can cause similar side effects like a sinus infection, I guess they're fatty and it can cause problems (Vet told this to me). Wax worms are super fatty and are only really used as a treat. He may be on a food strike so try and offer him other worms such as silkworms or hornworms. Supers are good too, but again only as a treat. If your guy is really hungry, he'll eat regardless. You can also try anything that flys. My cham wouldn't eat anything I put infront of him unless it had wings and flew.

Another thing I noticed is you have a 150watt bulb...thats insane. You can use half of that wattage from a regular house bulb. Try using a 60-75watt one. They emit the same heat. If he's too hot, he'll tell you. chams will "gape" and have their mouths open to regulate their body temps. Eitherway, you need to change that bulb. Especially that it's blue, it may hurt your chams eyes. Thats more of an artificial light you want something more natural. Just telling you to get a new bulb so you don't cause any further problems with burns.

-Gabe

 

[Slicknick09]

The temp around basking is over 90s. He use to hang out near the bulb but now he hangs out lower not near it. I agree I think it's too hot. The vet advised me to get a hotter bulb. He only told me this becuase I was mistaking his darker colors for stress colors. The vet said try it. If he's cold he'll be darker if he's stressed he'll be darker but slightly tweak things and see what he likes. I had a 100 watt bulb and he seemed fine with that. Ill try the 75 watt bulb and see how it goes. I ordered silkworms just waiting for them to come. He hasn't really eaten crickets and I don't really want to give them to him be uses they are some joe getting out. I had to flick one off of my moms leg last night. She freaked out lol. The breeder told me he was beginning to shed too. Even though I have the 150 watt he has t gaped or anything. He hasn't shown any signs of over heating.

Giardia is an interesting parasite. Under the microscope they look like a smiley face. They are transmitted through dirty water or contaminated feces. They bellied try are facultative anerobes since they thrive in the intestinal gut. I'm a biology major so I'm familiar with the organism.

Thank you both for your help. I've been narcotic taking care of him. Constantly spraying checking him, recording heat weighing him. I appreciate all the help.

 

[GabeCastro]

The temp around basking is over 90s. He use to hang out near the bulb but now he hangs out lower not near it. I agree I think it's too hot. The vet advised me to get a hotter bulb. He only told me this becuase I was mistaking his darker colors for stress colors. The vet said try it. If he's cold he'll be darker if he's stressed he'll be darker but slightly tweak things and see what he likes. I had a 100 watt bulb and he seemed fine with that. Ill try the 75 watt bulb and see how it goes. I ordered silkworms just waiting for them to come. He hasn't really eaten crickets and I don't really want to give them to him be uses they are some joe getting out. I had to flick one off of my moms leg last night. She freaked out lol. The breeder told me he was beginning to shed too. Even though I have the 150 watt he has t gaped or anything. He hasn't shown any signs of over heating.

Giardia is an interesting parasite. Under the microscope they look like a smiley face. They are transmitted through dirty water or contaminated feces. They bellied try are facultative anerobes since they thrive in the intestinal gut. I'm a biology major so I'm familiar with the organism.

Thank you both for your help. I've been narcotic taking care of him. Constantly spraying checking him, recording heat weighing him. I appreciate all the help.

If temps are over 90's I'd turn it down a bit so it's mid-high 80's. Especially for a 6 month old panther cham. Those temps are suitable for an adult veiled/Adult panther at around 90. Give the 75watt bulb a shot, thats what I'm using for my 5 month old panther. I just have the bulb ontop of the mesh cage and his basking perch about 8-10 inches away from the bulb.

Glad you took your boy to the vet. That was the best thing you could of done, then you have chameleonforums to get other help from members. Also it's GREAT that you know bio, i'm at a loss with that one due to me not paying attention in high school haha. And crickets crawling on your parents leg is not a good sign either lol.

Since you said that giardia is passed through feces, be sure you are cup feeding only. Don't free range your crickets or bowl feed. Also once your cham drops a load, instantly clean it up. I'd also recommend you making your cage a bit bare so you can clean up easily. Cup feeding would be best because your crickets won't be able to jump around and eat poop re-gutloading themselves with it. What I do to ALL my crickets is I pinch their back legs off so they can't jump out their feeder cup. All they do is crowd around the top of the feeder cup and wait to be eaten

Here's a link to show you how to make one:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/modified-milk-jug-feeding-cup-40365/

That one is a bit sloppy, but you get the idea. I just used an old smaller juice jug.

Good luck with your fight! I'm 100% sure you'll be fine. You sound like you know what you're doing and you're interested in learning about the parasites and how to treat them. I suggest you make a blog about Giardia to help others who try and search for it.

If you already have the cup feeder, sorry just making sure I give you the best feedback possible. But i do recommend pinching the cricket legs off so they don't jump out.

-Gabe