Poss URI in ambilobe.. help pls

[mika]

I bought a panther 8 days ago. Today I noticed his mouth had mucus & saw a bubble. His gular crest is also expanding & deflating. His colors are a little brighter than normal. I think he is stressed too.

I am quite worried. He's in an 18x18x36 screen enclosure, I keep the humidity at 55% sometimes a lot more. He's in front of an open window so the humidity depends on the air outside because sometimes it sucks the mist outside. but it's usually at that. I use a cool mist humidifier.

Temps are usually 90 but it gets to 95 in the noontime & when the sunlight hits the cage & 85 in the morning at the basking spot. I mist him 3x a day with 24-48 oz of water per mist. At night it doesn't drop more than 65 because he is inside.

Will he end up with URI overnight because I had forgotten to turn off the humidifier for one night?

How long does it take for a panther to get URI, is it overnight or does it take a while?

I know he needs baytril and I need to keep his temps up a little from the other threads I've read. I also turned off the humidifier & don't plan on turning it back on.

Is this a good idea? He's 4 months old.

I also got a misting system that i plan on running 5 times a day. 2 for 15 mins, 2 for 30 mins and 1 for 10 mins. Last one ends at 6 pm and lights turn off at 8pm.

Should I mist him less?

It's too late to contact Dr. Greek but I left a msg for an appointment tomorrow. I'm also going to call him tomorrow as soon as I can.

Is there something wrong with my husbandry? Any suggestions? Comments?

And he's still eating. I saw him eat today.

PS..

Arrggghh.. this is terrible!

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Ok, you need to cut out the 6pm misting. Also you need to get your ambient room temps around 75F. Have a basking area of 90 or 95ish F. Also, while having a URI cut down the misting to 2 times a day just getting the leaves wet. When healthy you can mist him more, but not necessary. Do you have a UVB light or are you trying to get UVB through the window? Also how long have you had him?

-chris

 

[mika]

Ok, you need to cut out the 6pm misting. Also you need to get your ambient room temps around 75F. Have a basking area of 90 or 95ish F. Also, while having a URI cut down the misting to 5 minutes, 3 times a day. When healthy you can mist him more, but not necessary. Do you have a UVB light or are you trying to get UVB through the window?

-chris

Hi Chris,

I haven't started the misting session yet. I just hooked it up today. I was going to start it tomorrow. Since I got him, all he's been getting is less than 5 mins of misting, 3x a day, 24-48 oz of water at each mist with a hand pressure sprayer.

I'm gonna start doing the 5 mins, 3x a day misting then.

The ambient is usually 75 during the morning but it goes up a little during the afternoon to the 80's. The basking spot gets to the 90's.

He has a reptisun 5.0 and a big dripper.

He's in a screened enclosure & the sun usually hits the cage at 430pm until 730pm everyday.

Do you think chams can get URI's in 8 days? or overnight?

What about the humidifier? It's gets dry here, like 30% or less. Sometimes my humidity accurite thermometer says "Lo"..

Thanks for responding.. I really appreciate it..

 

[mika]

Would him coming from florida to california give him URI since it's more humid in florida naturally?

He likes the humidifier, he stays underneath the mist.

I ran the humidifier the 2nd day I got him cuz I noticed my gauge was reading low & when it wasn't it was only 29-30% humidity & that was usually only in the early morning.

What's funny is the first day I got him I thought he was just yawning a lot. I didn't see any mucus then.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Honestly, with what you have described, there is only one of two possibilities. One, he was shipped to you with a URI. Two, you have the humidifier in a room with the door shut and the air stagnates and the stagnate humid air created a URI.

-chris

 

[mika]

It can't be the window cuz eversince I got him I've left it open all the time since it's warm here at night & he's in the living room.

The humidifier turns off before his lights go out. Usually at around 6-7pm.

There's only 1 day that I left it on because I forgot about it since it wasn't on a timer.

I've read threads where members say their chams got worse after taking Baytril.

Do you think it does?

 

[mika]

I have one of those humidifiers where I modified it to run inside the cage with PVC pipes.

I mean it's outside the cage on the top with holes in the pvc pipes like the ones on chameleons ezine.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

If I were you, for right now cut off the humidifier. When chams have URI they need to be warm and dry. So keep your temps where they are, if he gets upside down on the top of your screen cage then bump up the wattage of your light to raise the temps (the chameleons knows what he needs). Also, batryl does work though I do not use it, I am a strong believer of Fortaz which is easier on chams.

As far as regulating humidity, the normal house humidity is around 40%. If you have live plants in your cage it will bump up the humidity in the cage a good 5% at least putting the cage at a comfortable humidity range (with some spikes after misting). Mist him (while sick) twice a day, just getting the leaves wet. When he gets better, you can mist him 3 times a day but not too close to nighttime. Make sure you have moving air, possibly put a small fan in the room just to circulate the air, but do not point the fan directly at his cage. Stagnate, humid air will cause bacterial growth which leads to URIs.

If you don't mind me asking...how old is he?

-chris

 

[Brian]

Im dealing with the same problem right now. Chris, for how long would you recommend misting and how many times daily. Some people say they recommend sessions for 15 min each is that good?

Brian

p.s Mika says he's 4 months old.

 

[mika]

You use Fortaz for URI?

He's 4 months old.

As soon as I saw the mucus this afternoon I turned off the humidifier.

We also keep the door open when its warm like right now at 9:54pm its still open.

The windows are open all day long too even when I'm at work.

I'll try to get a fan in there.

What do you mean by upside down on his cage?

 

[mika]

Im dealing with the same problem right now. Chris, for how long would you recommend misting and how many times daily. Some people say they recommend sessions for 15 min each is that good?

Brian

p.s Mika says he's 4 months old.

Hey Brian,

How long have you had your cham that has URI?

 

[Brian]

Hi Mika,
Im not shure if thats what caused mine to get, but for some reason he's the only one that got it and he's right next to the window the other cages arent. Im no shure if that caused it though...now I keep the window closed. Can a little draft cause URI?

 

[mika]

Isn't URI a bacterial infection?

If it is, wouldn't the bacteria need to accumulate for it to show signs such as the mucus in the mouth?

I'm wondering if the cham could have gotten it so fast, like in 8 days?

 

[Brian]

Hey Brian,

How long have you had your cham that has URI?

Ive had that cham for about 2 months now. I never heard pooping noises though, just a little bubbles and mucus, I noticed If you put them outside It makes them feel a lot better...its pretty warm at night also so hes stayin outside for now.

 

[mika]

Hi Mika,
Im not shure if thats what caused mine to get, but for some reason he's the only one that got it and he's right next to the window the other cages arent. Im no shure if that caused it though...now I keep the window closed. Can a little draft cause URI?

Brian, he's right next to the window but the windows are closed? All the time?

I have another cham, a veiled, in the same spot next to my ambilobes cage so she gets the same thing sun exposure & everything. She doesn't have URI so this is puzzling me.

My ambilobe is the only one with it & the only difference bet the veiled and the ambilobe is the humidifier. My veileds don't get "humidified".

 

[Brian]

I did see a little swelling in the gular (neck) region, But I noticed It kinda went back to normal after he's been outside soaking up the sunshine.

Brian

 

[mika]

Ive had that cham for about 2 months now. I never heard pooping noises though, just a little bubbles and mucus, I noticed If you put them outside It makes them feel a lot better...its pretty warm at night also so hes stayin outside for now.

How long ago did you notice the mucus & bubbles?

My chams are like almost outside cuz the only thing in between their cage & the outside is a window screen.

I closed the window tonight though to keep him extra warm.

Have you gone to the vet already? Dr. Greek is like 1 hr plus from where I live.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

You shouldn't see the leaves of your plants within the cage moving. Basically, a URI is like us getting a cold or soar throat in the way that if sometimes when you sleep if their is no circulation the air sits and you get clogged up, sometimes if the air is moving a lot your throat gets dry. So, you have to find the happy medium. I monitor my humidity constantly and it is normally right around 55% with moderate air flow. I live in NC and I never leave the windows or doors open at night because here in the south we have a huge problem with pollen and I think that too can irritate your chams respiratory system.

-chris

 

[SoCaliSon]

Mika,

You said you got this Cham 8 days ago? I know most breeders offer a 10 day health guarantee... I know it sucks... But if I were in your situation I would definately look into that. Good luck.

~Joe

 

[mika]

I did see a little swelling in the gular (neck) region, But I noticed It kinda went back to normal after he's been outside soaking up the sunshine.

Brian

When you saw the swelling, was it like when chams puff up when they see a male?

It inflates & deflates?

or was it there constantly?