Sick Chameleon? Maybe?

[imari361]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Senegal. Unknown sex (thought she was a girl). Guessing age of about 7 months. Brought her home in September.
• Handling - Only to take her outside to get some sunlight, 2-3 times per week.
• Feeding - Crickets or Superworms. Usually 2-3 worms, 3-4 crickets. (when she would eat). Once a day, mid morning. Gutloading with sweet potatoes (previously flucker's orange cube)
• Supplements - Every two weeks RepCal Herptivite & Calcium w/ D3. Every other feeding Calcium w/o d3.
• Watering - Misting system (Monsoon RS100 ExoTerra), Every two hours for 10 secs. She drinks regularly.
• Fecal Description - Only water dropping (just white) for the past two months. No parasite testing (not recommend by vet).
• History - The pet store where we bought her from was HORRIBLE. Sold as a veiled chameleon. unknown age or where she came from. Not proper set-up or care. After two weeks with our care, she became very healthy and active.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Screen cage, 18" x 18" x 36"
• Lighting - Heat Lamp 60W. UVB 15. Replaced in December. She goes outside about twice per week. Lights turn on at 7:00AM and off at 7:15PM
• Temperature - Top of cage is 80-82F. Low cage is 70F. 68F at night. Measured with in cage thermometer.
• Humidity - 50-80 humidity. Measured w thermometer.
• Plants - Fake plants & vines.
• Placement - Little traffic room. Ventilated spot. On top of small table.
• Location - South Texas

Current Problem - We have not seen Daisy eat since Late December. She naps throughout the day. Very active some days, other days not so active. Took her to a vet in Mid January but they saw no issues and she is not pregnant. They were not able to identify sex as well.
Before this very long no eating period, she would eat every other day 3-4 super worms (her favorite).

Pictures are all recent. (within the past month)

 

[Hardy]

Hi I've been researching flap necks... Are you certain you do not have one of these? Apparently flap necks arent very happy pets... Here in South Africa they are often found crossing roads or falling victim to pets such as cats. I've saved a couple of them and the pictures you have seem identical to some of the younger variety I've found... I don't know if I'm right but if it is a flap neck its worth a mention that flapnecks like lots of space... They don't usually live up a tree or in a specific bush but would travel around quite a lot and live in a whole garden rather than a cage. They are super good at catching prey and prefer dry areas to wet humidity of around 50 percent is usually what I give potential rehab cases... Also the climate they enjoy in Limpopo region of south Africa is around 28 degrees celcius in day time and drops to about 18 at night... They usually hide during day time only to emerge late afternoon for some sunlight... They prefer brown to green in my personal experience and when young can eat up to 25 crickets a week they drink when they want (dripper system recommended) and shy away from misting (although I've found some larger ones who enjoy misting quite a lot) please be aware I don't keep pet chameleon but I live in a cham friendly area and have three flapnecks living happily in my garden.

 

[imari361]

Hi I've been researching flap necks... Are you certain you do not have one of these? Apparently flap necks arent very happy pets... Here in South Africa they are often found crossing roads or falling victim to pets such as cats. I've saved a couple of them and the pictures you have seem identical to some of the younger variety I've found... I don't know if I'm right but if it is a flap neck its worth a mention that flapnecks like lots of space... They don't usually live up a tree or in a specific bush but would travel around quite a lot and live in a whole garden rather than a cage. They are super good at catching prey and prefer dry areas to wet humidity of around 50 percent is usually what I give potential rehab cases... Also the climate they enjoy in Limpopo region of south Africa is around 28 degrees celcius in day time and drops to about 18 at night... They usually hide during day time only to emerge late afternoon for some sunlight... They prefer brown to green in my personal experience and when young can eat up to 25 crickets a week they drink when they want (dripper system recommended) and shy away from misting (although I've found some larger ones who enjoy misting quite a lot) please be aware I don't keep pet chameleon but I live in a cham friendly area and have three flapnecks living happily in my garden.

Thank you for the reply! I am only certain because there is not the flap on the back of her neck. Its smooth all the way down from her head to neck. She's pretty friendly and goes to the edge of the cage when she wants to be let out for sunlight and is pretty easy to handle. I do appreciate the help

 

[brownie64]

I would take he/she to another reptile vet. her/him sleeping during the day is a sign of illness. If she/he hasn't ate sense the middle of January I wouldn't put it off. I would take in a fecal as well so they can check for parasites. Good luck I hope he/she makes a full recovery.

 

[imari361]

I would take he/she to another reptile vet. her/him sleeping during the day is a sign of illness. If she/he hasn't ate sense the middle of January I wouldn't put it off. I would take in a fecal as well so they can check for parasites. Good luck I hope he/she makes a full recovery.

Sadly I can't do that. There is no other exotic vets nearby. I drove an hour to see that vet. The next closest one would be three hours away thank you for the help though.

 

[Hardy]

I do hope you figure this out! Good luck

 

[alphakenc]

My suggestion for u will be checking the poop in that cage,cause sometimes,the chameleon wont eat in front of ur face ,so count the poops or the feeders u give her.

 

[imari361]

My suggestion for u will be checking the poop in that cage,cause sometimes,the chameleon wont eat in front of ur face ,so count the poops or the feeders u give her.

No poop. Just water (white stuff). I haven't seen any poop in about 6 weeks.

 

[alphakenc]

Have u try other feeders besides superworm? Cause chameleon can be very addicted to the superworm and ignore everything ,6 weeks is a long time for a hunger strike,U will need to do something fast before things gets real ugly.....ur cham needs nutrition in the body so can function properly n why haven't u take it to another vet yet,its precious life depends on u if u not doing something about this quickly!!!

 

[macyb-vancouver]

It is good that she is drinking water, I would try several other types of feeders (silkworms, hornworms, there are lots of options). Maybe she is just picky. If nothing else works, you could do some research on force feeding your chameleon because she needs to get some nutrition no matter what.

 

[imari361]

Have u try other feeders besides superworm? Cause chameleon can be very addicted to the superworm and ignore everything ,6 weeks is a long time for a hunger strike,U will need to do something fast before things gets real ugly.....ur cham needs nutrition in the body so can function properly n why haven't u take it to another vet yet,its precious life depends on u if u not doing something about this quickly!!!

If you read the post you would find that she has had crickets and super worms. She also eats moths when Avaliable. You would also know that I have took her to a vet already and they found nothing.

 

[imari361]

It is good that she is drinking water, I would try several other types of feeders (silkworms, hornworms, there are lots of options). Maybe she is just picky. If nothing else works, you could do some research on force feeding your chameleon because she needs to get some nutrition no matter what.

Thank you. I'll be looking for othe feeders online.

 

[alphakenc]

Took her to a vet in Mid January but they saw no issues and she is not pregnant. They were not able to identify sex as well.

Yes i did read ur post n i think u should fire that vet cause they were not able to identify "ANYTHING",thats why I suggested on my post for u to take it to "ANOTHER VET", CAUSE "6WEEKS WITHOUT FOOD" ITS A BIG NO NO!!

 

[alphakenc]

We have not seen Daisy eat since Late December

Actually that will be more than 6Weeks,now its the end of February according to ur post.
Also force feeding is not the correct long run solution,that will just add more stress into the cham,u will need to find out why its not eating for 2month long,even if another Chameleon specialist vet is a 3 hours away from u,u should already take it in to do a complete diagnostic on ur cham ,if that was my cham I would took it in to another vet long time ago since the first vet can not tell me anything at all,the choice is urs to make n ur precious cham life is depending on ur clever decision .we can only suggest but the 2month long not eating will need more than just suggestion to correct the whole situation in ur case.

 

[R.H]

hey there, sorry to hear ur buddy is poorly, I'm no professional but my pantha went around 2/3 weeks with out eating and I had to result in force feeding for a while, however some great people on here advised to change up diet and well i never she started eating again, and has continued to feed ( by her self ) for about 4 weeks now!!

regarding poop that is a big factor here aswell we had her 1st poop on 26th in 3/4 weeks , I started to feed silk worms and added a little dripper I can't say this was the solution but on the other hand I was givin lactolose Dailey for 3 weeks and nothing happened.

There is light at the end of this work wind just be persistent in chams care and do all u can.

GOOD LUCK

 

[imari361]

hey there, sorry to hear ur buddy is poorly, I'm no professional but my pantha went around 2/3 weeks with out eating and I had to result in force feeding for a while, however some great people on here advised to change up diet and well i never she started eating again, and has continued to feed ( by her self ) for about 4 weeks now!!

regarding poop that is a big factor here aswell we had her 1st poop on 26th in 3/4 weeks , I started to feed silk worms and added a little dripper I can't say this was the solution but on the other hand I was givin lactolose Dailey for 3 weeks and nothing happened.

There is light at the end of this work wind just be persistent in chams care and do all u can.

GOOD LUCK

Thank you! I will definitely look into it

 

[imari361]

Actually that will be more than 6Weeks,now its the end of February according to ur post.
Also force feeding is not the correct long run solution,that will just add more stress into the cham,u will need to find out why its not eating for 2month long,even if another Chameleon specialist vet is a 3 hours away from u,u should already take it in to do a complete diagnostic on ur cham ,if that was my cham I would took it in to another vet long time ago since the first vet can not tell me anything at all,the choice is urs to make n ur precious cham life is depending on ur clever decision .we can only suggest but the 2month long not eating will need more than just suggestion to correct the whole situation in ur case.

If that was ideal, I would make that drive but it can not be done. Thanks for your input.

 

[imari361]

Update on Daisy!
Called a local vet who does not treat exotic animals but made an exception for my baby. They gave her a dose of Panacur Suspension today and will give another in two weeks. We did try to do a fecal exam but with her not eating, there is no poop (or very little), so we have to wait for her to eat again. Hopefully this de wormer will help

 

[kinyonga]

You said she naps through the day and the vet says she is not pregnant but can't tell the sex...how is the vet telling that it's not pregnant? Sleeping during the day is not a good thing. I can't tell for sure what the sex is because the photos are not clear...but I'm leaning towards male.
You said it produces urates but no poop...do you have a substrate in the cage?

 

[alphakenc]

2Month without any food intake is a very long time and Medications on Panacur Suspension will put the cham even more stress,can u give us a updated photo of ur cham,did the vet knows that she hasn't ate any food since last December ??