possible impaction?

[fear742]

panther chameleon that is 7months old. temps are in the mid 70s with his basking spot 90. mist him with a system for 5 min every 2 hours and use a dripper once a day. ficus pothos are in the cage which is 30x24x48. now here is my question. my cham has had 2 bouts of coccidia. the first time around didnt eat but went through the treatment and came out ok. 2nd time was different. ate during the whole time be it 2 crickets a day instead of 5-7, but still ate. lately he has done two things. just bummed around in a lower branch with a blackish marking to him, and i interpret that as him being upset in some way shape or form. 2nd thing is i have not seem poop from him in the last 10 days. i have given him about 15-20 wax worms to see how much he would eat and he just gobbled them done and he eats 2-3 crickets a day. i plan on bringing him to the vet either tuesday or friday depending on when he is in, but any advice? from reading, he could be constipated but his coloring and actions are telling me different. he drinks more so now than i have ever seen him before since he finally got used to the misting system i installed 3 weeks ago so dehydration is out of the picture. just looking for some advice til i have a chance to go to the vet

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Some people recommend a warm bath. That seems to work in many cases. Do a search for it on this forum under "bath" or "impaction". In the mean time, I would be careful not to over feed him.

 

[Dave Weldon]

panther chameleon that is 7months old.

temps are in the mid 70s with his basking spot 90.

mist him with a system for 5 min every 2 hours and use a dripper once a day.

...my cham has had 2 bouts of coccidia. ...2nd time was different. ate during the whole time be it 2 crickets a day...

lately he has done two things. just bummed around in a lower branch with a blackish marking to him...

...2nd thing is i have not seem poop from him in the last 10 days.

i have given him about 15-20 wax worms ...he eats 2-3 crickets a day instead of 5-7.

he drinks more so now than i have ever seen him before since he finally got used to the misting system i installed 3 weeks ago...

Howdy,

Now is a good time to fill-out: https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Digestion/pooping problems can be related to not getting up to full operating temp. Is he basking at some time during the day? If his body temp isn't getting to 90F then that could be part of the problem.

I'd be tempted to change a morning and an afternoon misting session to 15-20 minutes if your mister is the kind that is capable of running that long.

I see that you are in Arizona. What is the enclosure humidity?

I'd like to understand more about the coccidia treatments that he had. Which drugs, how long, how many fecal tests were done etc.? Give us the long version . Since coccidia invades the intestinal lining and can be tough to knock out, this too, could be a major part of the problem.

What do you think the total food item count to be since his last poop? It seems like it's going to be pretty high . At this point it might be safer to stop feeding him rather than risk compounding the potential impaction. Giving him plenty of water might loosen-up whatever isn't coming out. There is anecdotal evidence that a couple of ml 50/50 Pedialyte and water 1-2 times a day can assist with getting things moving. Other remedies may work too. I've seen enough impaction necropsies to know that if there really is an impaction, it may be severe enough that a vet's intervention may be the only way to save him.