Respiratory Infection?

[therealmermaid]

Hi guys,

The reason I'm not acting so panicked is because my chameleon, Roger, seems to be doing okay in himself. However, he is my first chameleon and this is generally the best place for advice!

He's a panther chameleon, nosey be x mitsio, 1 year old now, i've had him since he was 4 months old. I mist him 3 times a day for 2-3 minutes, he's even learned to drink straight from the misting bottle. I hand feed him once every 2 days, and he normally eats around 4-5 crickets or locusts (gut loaded of course), and they are all lightly dusted with nutrabol or calcium without D3. I have changed his vitamin schedule recently, for the past 2 weeks as I was originally told to just use Nutrabol to dust all feeders, and although Roger has been fine with this - I decided to change that to calcium without D3 all week and then Nutrabol dusting once a week after some background reading.

For the past 3-4 weeks, Roger has been gaping sometimes - which might be down to overheating. His basking spot is at 29-30 degrees, the bottom of his viv is at 24-25 degrees and at night his viv goes down to 20-21 degrees (at this time of year in the UK!

He has a 60W natural light spot lamp and a ReptiSun 5.0 UVA/B bulb.

He has also sometimes been letting out a gentle puff of air every now and then? This is what worries me. Even though he's feeding well, drinking well, is active and generally brightly coloured and happy - he lets out a gentle puff from his nose every so often, at least once when I have him out to play. I've never seen him do it when his mouths open though (don't know if that's significant!)

I've been reading the "Essential Care for Chameleons" by Phillippe de Vosjoli and it says in this that:

"Gaping and puffing, accompanied by forced exhalations, are usually signs of respiratory infection."

Do you guys have any other experience with respiratory infections? What would be the next thing for me to do to see if my Roger has it?

Pictures coming up as soon as I learn how to do it!

Thank you

Hollie & Roger

 

[chameleonkev]

Kind of enclosure are you using? If if doesn't have good air flow threw the viv like a wood/glass door viv that could cause this problem

 

[therealmermaid]

It's a wooden viv with a glass door - with 2 mesh openings for ventilation. I've sourced an all-mesh sided one and am just saving up for it.

You think this could be the problem?

 

[therealmermaid]

This is his general body condition...

 

[chameleonkev]

I'm not saying that will cause a problem but it's a lot higher of a chance as the air gets stagnet in the viv, also do you have drainage to that viv? What happens to the water after misting

 

[chameleonkev]

He doesn't look to bad to me, looks hydrated maybe a little walm in there? With the dark shades but I wouldn't no about infections without holding him, someone else on here may no

 

[therealmermaid]

I'm not saying that will cause a problem but it's a lot higher of a chance as the air gets stagnet in the viv, also do you have drainage to that viv? What happens to the water after misting

I'm sorry if I'm going to sound horrible or a proper newbie... But the viv doesn't have any means of drainage - he has an umbrella tree that I mainly spray, he likes to lick the dew off of the leaves when he's not drinking straight from the bottle. I've heard that a live plant helps with drainage and humidity?

I was told by the guy that I got it from that my set up was fine for Roger - I made him come round and actually check it before I put him in there.

 

[chameleonkev]

All it is if water is sitting on the bottom of the viv after misting it will not be good for your Cham long term, that will build up mold on wood, won't help with the breathing of your Cham as it will stink and only get worse with out good air flow, there are a few down sides to it, most people like to use mesh vivs with a couple of holes in the bottom with a bucket or tray or something underneath to collect spoil water. You want your viv to completely dry out between misting, also do you have any substrait on the bottom of the viv?

 

[therealmermaid]

As if I couldn't get any worse, he did have some substrate but I've just this second taken it out. Again, I was misinformed by the person that sold him to me - he said that the worse thing that can happen with substrate is that he could swallow it, but because I got him handfeeding he said it wouldn't be a problem with it.

Now I see that it can hold water and cause the wood to rot and increase the humidity etc etc. It's all out now, the only wet patch I had was a small bit where the umbrella tree is. Taken it all out, given it a clean and a rinse and a dry. Tree is now on a small dish for the water to collect there when I water it.

I feel rather stupid! Should have got more advice sooner I think. Is there anything else I can do?


Thanks for your help so far

 

[chameleonkev]

There is a care sheet that you could fill out and be completely honest in it and people can then point out where you can improve you set up, are you dusting your insects? Gut loading?

 

[therealmermaid]

Yes, I'd like to do that. Where can I find it?

I gut-load my crickets and locusts with carrots, potatoes, apple, pear - whatever I have in the house. I change the food daily for them daily.

I dust them with calcium lightly at every feed, and I dust lightly with Nutrabol once weekly. I try to feed him every day or every 2 days.

 

[chameleonkev]

Well thats ok, you could learn a lot more about the gut loading if you search for Sandrachameleon and look at her blogs in gut loading and I'm not sure where it actuly is I've never filled it out, somebody normaly posts it on when someone has a problem but I surprise it's the wrong time for the yanks atm. Might be worth searching for the official enclosure thread aswel then you can see how people set up there mesh enclosures

 

[chameleonkev]

*surpose. Stupid predictive txt on my phone

 

[therealmermaid]

Got a list of things to get at the shops today thanks to yourself and sandrachameleon

Just feel rather stupid that I haven't been doing it correctly, only want what's best for Roger!

I'll wait and see what anyone else posts on here, but thanks for the starting point kev

 

[chameleonkev]

Nothing stupid about it at all, with shops they only no the general knowable about reptiles witch you can get away with with some reptiles but with chams theres that bit more to learn. Instead of buying a new viv you could get a bit of mesh and cut a side of the viv out an put the mesh there!

 

[Kate]

I have a viv that's wooden with glass doors and a mesh top. I used heavyduty varnish to make it waterproof before I got Popeye. I run mistking for 1.5 mins x 4 times daily. Use a dripper for a couple of hrs a day and hand spray the mesh so "it's raining" a couple of times a day. Most of the water is taken up by a large ficus plant. The overflow goes into a container under it which I can empty. This seems to work for me and my humidity and temps stay stable. I also use a basking light during the day and a ceramic heat emitter during the night and this seems to dry viv out by bedtime. Hope this helps.

 

[blackened]

Hello Hollie,

Here's the form Kev was talking about:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
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?
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?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

If you fill this out we'll have a look and help in any way we can.

RE - drainage, have a look through the enclosures section of the forum. Many fantastic ideas in there. Ultimately you'll have to find your own solution but it may give you some inspiration

 

[therealmermaid]

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Male, Panther chameleon, been in my care 8 months, he is 1 year old.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Every day for at least an hour - he loves coming out.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Mainly crickets and locusts, he has approximately 4-5 every 2 days, dusted with calcium every feed, and nutrabol once weekly. Gut loaded with carrots, potatoes, apples, rocket, whatever I have in the house.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? see above
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I purify with Reptisafe, I water him 3 times daily, I offer a jet to him which he normally drinks from and then mist the viv generally for 1-2 minutes 3 times a day. I use a hand spraybottle. Yes I see him drink, directly from the bottle mainly.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. faecal matter tends to be moist, with black and brown bits in colour. I've seen him pass recently and he didn't show any signs of being in pain or discomfort.
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?No. He is captive bred in the UK though - if this is any help?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Nope, he was born from a successful breeder that supplies a large chain of reptile shops. I spoke to the shop assistant and the breeder with regards to his care and he said that my setup was fine :-S

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? 3 sides wooden, one side glass doors, 2 x small ventilation holes with a metal mesh over them in the sides. dimensions are 2 feet x 2ft x 3ft.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Turn lights on at 7am, as that's when I start work, have a 60W ProRep natural spot light, and a ReptiSun 5.0 UVB bulb. Turn lights off at 8pm when I come back from work - although I live next door to work so this can be changed if this is having a bad effect on him.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Digital thermometer with a probe: basking spot 29-30 degrees C, bottom of cage at 23-24 degrees, overnight temperature varies on the time of year, right now at approximately 20-21 degrees.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? This is where I sound bad, I do not measure the humidity as i was told that my spraying schedule would be adequate for him.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I have a young umbrella tree, approximately 1 1/2 feet high.
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? Cage is located in my living room, 2 metres away from a large window, cage is never directly in the sunlight. Not near any fans or air vents, no high traffic areas - I live literally right on a beach front. The cage is directly on the room floor.
Location - Where are you geographically located? I live in Norfolk, in the UK, right next to the coast.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. I'm concerned that I'm not looking after him effectively, although he is eating and drinking very well and is playful and generally happy looking. He sometimes gaps, and exhales through his nose.





I'm so worried that I'm not looking after him properly :-( please be nice!

 

[chameleonkev]

1 you need more ventilation an this is a must to be honest, 2 do you have any fake plants or any other foliage in there apart from that plant? If not you may Benifit from a little more and do you have much vine/ branches in there for plenty of climbing? 3 at what times roughly do you mist?

 

[chameleonkev]

Also the viv, is that 3 foot tall?