Respiratory infection

[CryptKeeper]

I took my panther Cham to vet (he’s about 1 year old) and was diagnosed with a respiratory infection. I was given oral enroflox for 10 days. Today is day 9 he’s still not eating much and a little mucus and now he’s going to bottom of enclosure and looks like he’s trying to escape. I’m gonna bring him back to vet for the injection instead but what’s with him on bottom of cage trying to escape? Is that a normal behavior for a sick Cham? Also anyone experience the oral meds not working?

 

[Beman]

Did you adjust husbandry to ensure the environment is correct? They tend to move down in the cage where it is cooler. The not eating much is normal. Make sure you have a dripper doing during the day. The meds can make them feel awful and hydration is really important.

 

[CryptKeeper]

Did you adjust husbandry to ensure the environment is correct? They tend to move down in the cage where it is cooler. The not eating much is normal. Make sure you have a dripper doing during the day. The meds can make them feel awful and hydration is really important.

Ok I don’t have a dripper during the day and only up top it’s hot on his branch under the heat light. He has plenty of spots to hide from the heat and the spot he used to sleep in a lot is near the bottom free from any heat and with the house having the AC on is its reading between 70-73 during day. And he’s going directly on the bottom not on any branches is what I meant. I’m also putting the humidifier right on him at night which he seems to like. But I will get a dripper going for him to drink more.

Also shouldn’t he be better by now that’s also what I’m really worried about. I don’t want to over medicate him ya know

 

[Beman]

Ok I don’t have a dripper during the day and only up top it’s hot on his branch under the heat light. He has plenty of spots to hide from the heat and the spot he used to sleep in a lot is near the bottom free from any heat and with the house having the AC on is its reading between 70-73 during day. And he’s going directly on the bottom not on any branches is what I meant. I’m also putting the humidifier right on him at night which he seems to like. But I will get a dripper going for him to drink more.

Also shouldn’t he be better by now that’s also what I’m really worried about. I don’t want to over medicate him ya know

So what are your night time temps?
What is the basking temp?

What is daytime humidity running?

he is a 1 year old male. At this stage in their life they typically will explore all areas of their cage. They are looking for a mate as they are sexually mature now. So this may be a part of it even with the health issues. Or something may be driving him down farther in the cage totally separate from that. Can you add a picture of the entire set up?

 

[CryptKeeper]

So what are your night time temps?
What is the basking temp?

What is daytime humidity running?

he is a 1 year old male. At this stage in their life they typically will explore all areas of their cage. They are looking for a mate as they are sexually mature now. So this may be a part of it even with the health issues. Or something may be driving him down farther in the cage totally separate from that. Can you add a picture of the entire set up?

Night time down there is mid 65-70 (it’s very hot and humid here right now) basking is between 85-90 daytime humidity has been hard to keep up bc the Ac running in the house it’s like 55-60% maybe I should mist a couple extra times. I do 2-3 mists a day. He only started going to the very bottom yesterday and today. I let him out and climb the curtains next to the enclosure he explored for like 10 min then wanted to go back in it seemed (tried climbing down) he seemed to be satiated by that and was hanging out on the basking branch afterwards. I had just left the house so can’t get a pic. I’m going to be redoing the cage as I ordered a bunch of new plants. I won’t change it too much he’s seemed to like this setup just fine up until yesterday. I’ll get a pic later when I’m home.

I doubt you’re a vet but I was asking if he should’ve been better by the end of the medicine or could it take a bit longer? I’m waiting on the vet to call me back I will ask her of course but never know if they just want money and tell me to take him in to get the injection.

 

[Beman]

Night time down there is mid 65-70 (it’s very hot and humid here right now) basking is between 85-90 daytime humidity has been hard to keep up bc the Ac running in the house it’s like 55-60% maybe I should mist a couple extra times. I do 2-3 mists a day. He only started going to the very bottom yesterday and today. I let him out and climb the curtains next to the enclosure he explored for like 10 min then wanted to go back in it seemed (tried climbing down) he seemed to be satiated by that and was hanging out on the basking branch afterwards. I had just left the house so can’t get a pic. I’m going to be redoing the cage as I ordered a bunch of new plants. I won’t change it too much he’s seemed to like this setup just fine up until yesterday. I’ll get a pic later when I’m home.

I doubt you’re a vet but I was asking if he should’ve been better by the end of the medicine or could it take a bit longer? I’m waiting on the vet to call me back I will ask her of course but never know if they just want money and tell me to take him in to get the injection.

So night time temps for fogging have to be lower than 70. Really need to be more around the 65-68max... Otherwise he ends up breathing in hot moisture and this can lead to a respiratory infection.

Basking temp is too hot. You want a range of 80-85 max.

55-60% daytime is fine. I would not go higher than that for daytime humidity. Even down to 45% he will be good.

I am not a vet... But not all chams get better with a first round of antibiotics. Especially if he had an advanced case it may take longer or a different med. This is where a follow up with the vet would be good.

 

[CryptKeeper]

So night time temps for fogging have to be lower than 70. Really need to be more around the 65-68max... Otherwise he ends up breathing in hot moisture and this can lead to a respiratory infection.

Basking temp is too hot. You want a range of 80-85 max.

55-60% daytime is fine. I would not go higher than that for daytime humidity. Even down to 45% he will be good.

I am not a vet... But not all chams get better with a first round of antibiotics. Especially if he had an advanced case it may take longer or a different med. This is where a follow up with the vet would be good.

Ok thanks so much! I can get the temp down pretty easy at night. And the basking temp down too, I have two lights there I’ll just use one from now on. And the vet said it was a very mild case. But he hasn’t gotten any better it seems. She did say that they’re not sure if chams absorb the meds orally great, that injection is better but I didn’t wanna have to give him injections at home since it’s 3-4 shots he’d need. But I’ll see what she says on follow up.

 

[CryptKeeper]

So night time temps for fogging have to be lower than 70. Really need to be more around the 65-68max... Otherwise he ends up breathing in hot moisture and this can lead to a respiratory infection.

Basking temp is too hot. You want a range of 80-85 max.

55-60% daytime is fine. I would not go higher than that for daytime humidity. Even down to 45% he will be good.

I am not a vet... But not all chams get better with a first round of antibiotics. Especially if he had an advanced case it may take longer or a different med. This is where a follow up with the vet would be good.

What should the humidity be at night ideally? Like I said I’ve been putting the mister directly on him lately. But the humidifier has much higher settings than I use that could better mist the entire enclosure at night.

 

[Beman]

What should the humidity be at night ideally? Like I said I’ve been putting the mister directly on him lately. But the humidifier has much higher settings than I use that could better mist the entire enclosure at night.

Night time humidity should be the daytime minimum for the species. So you have a panther which would be daytime range of 40-50%. Night time up to 100% but only with air circulation and cold temps. If you can get the temp to 65 that is great for night and fogging.

I would not spray him directly. May just cause stress and you do not want anything further impacting his immune system right now with him being sick.

Having tons of live plants really helps with not only better air quality but creating lots of gradients in the cage for him to choose from.

 

[CryptKeeper]

Night time humidity should be the daytime minimum for the species. So you have a panther which would be daytime range of 40-50%. Night time up to 100% but only with air circulation and cold temps. If you can get the temp to 65 that is great for night and fogging.

I would not spray him directly. May just cause stress and you do not want anything further impacting his immune system right now with him being sick.

Having tons of live plants really helps with not only better air quality but creating lots of gradients in the cage for him to choose from.

Ok great to know. Appreciate it, and I have mostly all live plants besides one fake tree. And just bought a bunch of different species of wandering Jews so I can add more plants. One plant died that I had and decided to just add a bunch more for those reasons you listed. Plus they’re really pretty. Again thanks for your help I’ll take all that advice!

 

[Beman]

Ok great to know. Appreciate it, and I have mostly all live plants besides one fake tree. And just bought a bunch of different species of wandering Jews so I can add more plants. One plant died that I had and decided to just add a bunch more for those reasons you listed. Plus they’re really pretty. Again thanks for your help I’ll take all that advice!

My pleasure.