Sick or jus tbeing lazy??

richpass6

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Nosy Be Panther , male, 1 year and 6 months. I've had him about 1 year and 2 months
Handling -not much lately but i try to hold him every now and then if i can catch him
Feeding - I feed my cham large crickets. He eats 8-10 every other day. ive been gut-loading with cricket crack and also giving the crix a water source
Supplements - i dust with miner-allO every feeding, i give my cham a dusting of rep-cal w/ d3 once to twice a month (in summer its like once a month but barley) i also have the rep-cal multivit and i dust once a month
Watering - i have a really nice pro-products mister. timer is set to mist 4 times a day. 2 minute misting sessions each time it goes on. i also have a make shift drip that i fill up a couple times a day.
Fecal Description - i was looking at his dropping the other dya as i was cleaning up and saw the poop he took this morning. it all looked normal, his urate is white but at times there is some orange..
History - I've had no problems

Cage Info:
Cage Type - its a costom cage i built this summer (2X2X4)
Lighting - i follow a 12 hour cycle... lights on 7am lights off at 7:30 (half hour extra because last mist is at 7pm) i use a 100W power sun UV bulb
Temperature - The normal temperature is between 70-74 degrees. the loweer part of the cage is a little cooler and the basking spot is between 85-92 degrees. I have two probes..one where he basks which reads 96 right now and the one at the middle of thew cage reads 69 (the prob was being blocke under a vine)
Humidity - It's usually between 40-50% but i think it has dropped since the winter
Plants - i have a hibiscus which is temporary at the middle of the cage, a fake umbrella plant that occupies the whole cage and pothos creeping up form the bottom.
Placement - In my room, it's in a quiet corner, my room rarely gets major traffic except my dog laying on my bed but other than that he is never bothered. i have a python tank across the room but i have it set up that he barely gets a view of it..don't think it matters but i felt i should share
Location - new york (right outside of the city)

i have noticed he has been less active the past week or so and tha till catch him with an eye closed maybe both at times but i jsut wanna make sure everything is cool. maybe i need to fix the ambient temps, up the humidity.. let me know

i have more pictures on my album just let me know if you need more specifics better pictures..anything.
 

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he just had his eye closed in this picture.. that is the usual spot i see him sitting like this (right under his uv bulb which is a 5.0 reptibulb btw)
 

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if anyone is even following this.... he is still in the same position as the picture i posted in my second reply.
 
Closing the eyes in the day time is a sign of illness. I would take him to the vet for a good check up and be sure to take some fresh poop for a fecal.
 
yeah that sounds like a good idea.. but other than that shoul di improve on anything?? i mean he looks healthy (eating and drinking) just his activity has been slowed down the past week or so and he does the whole one eye closed thing.. he is moving towards hit water now but ill try and get an appt. this week for him.
 
I would drop his basking temps to 85 or 86. Has UVB light been changed lately or do you have a meter to check the UV out put? I would not mist late in the evening. The cage needs plenty of time to dry out before the lights go out. IMO 4 mistings a day is too much. I would do two longer mistings a day. I do not use the miner-allO, does that have D3 in it? At his age I would only dust with calcium without D3 at everyother feeding and Calcium with D3 and the mulit vit. twice a month. And please buy him some different feeders besides just crickets. They need more than crickets.
 
yeah the uv bulb is a year old so i was gunna buy a new one tomorrow. ill change the misting to twice a day for like 4 mins. crickets are his main source of food but i do give him other feeders as treats. i will also cut back on the miner-allO (no D3).

what about the humidity? is it too low? its just under 40% i would like it to be higher seems to be my biggest challenge.
thanks for your help jann, i appreciate the advice.
 
Yes, I would try to get his humidity up to 60 and you might need a humidifier to do that. I would also recommend getting the Reptisun 5.0 tube light for UVB and just a regular household bulb for basking.
 
i do have the 5.0 UVB bulb its a year old so im getting a new one tomorrow. for basking i use the zoomed power sun uv bulb. its a mercury vapor UVB lamp (it was recommended). think it could be a problem? i was also thinking of swapping that basking light for a 65K grow light to house my plants better as well keep the cage warmer and brighter.
 
The eyes closed thing is certainly not good, however he looks healthy and robust, but I would at least get a fecal to make sure nothing is going on there. You caging looks great, your misting is good and I imagine with that kind of planted cage and misting your humidity is not really an issue at all. He is an adult now, and it is not uncommom for adult panthers to get lazy. He is well fed, and does not have alot of stimulation as you mentioned. They will bask the day away with nothing else to do. I usually have a bunch of happy basking lazy panthers until they see a girl or another male, then you see some movement in the cage! Show him a mirror or something to get his blood going! As suggested I would also get some variation in his feeding schedule.
You have a 5.0 and the Powersun? I don't imagine it is doing any harm, but it would be cheaper to just replace the UVB now and would use less electricity to say put a 75 watt bulb in the clamp lamp.
 
I personally don't know much about the power sun but thought it was basking and UVB together. I would go with the Reptisun 5.0 tube light for UVB and just a regular household bulb for basking
 
I'm going get a humidifier anyways just to be on the safe side. also, i just tried the mirror thing and i don't think he was bothered by it. i moved the mirror closer and he puffed up a little but no flaring. he seems very timid at the moment.
 
If you get a humidifier, keep it very, very clean. You also do not want to up the humidity so much you cause respiratory infection. If he is usually mild mannered he might not be too concerned with the mirror, and may have just puffed up since you approached him with a foreign object. Watch him over the next day or so and see if a Vet visit may be in order.
 
My guys never pay any attention to a mirror. The thing that concerns me is closing the eye or eyes. If he were mine I would make all the changes talked about here in the thread and still take him for a vet check up and a fecal. Has he been to the vet lately? My chameleon vet (one of the best in this country) recommends a well check up for chameleons every 6 months. He says they are not like dogs and cats and once a year is just not enough.
 
yeah im going to keep a close eye on him but regardless he is alittle over one and a checkup couldn't hurt..
what am i looking at as far as a standard fee for a checkup at a reptile vet? i know of one in my area but im curious as to what ill probably end up paying.
 
Where do you live? My chameleon vet charges $54 for a check up and $17.00 for a fecal. Then if he has parasites it would be extra for meds.
 
i live right outside of new york city. in the lower hudson valley area. im 15- 20 mins from conn., the city, and jersey so im sure ill find a vet for him. it could also be a little more being that its NY lol but even so that's not a bad price. i was thinking a check up would be 150 or something crazy like that, which id still pay for dont get me wrong but 54 would be right up my alley :)
 
i live right outside of new york city. in the lower hudson valley area. im 15- 20 mins from conn., the city, and jersey so im sure ill find a vet for him. it could also be a little more being that its NY lol but even so that's not a bad price. i was thinking a check up would be 150 or something crazy like that, which id still pay for dont get me wrong but 54 would be right up my alley :)

Yea, here in FL nothing is as expensive as NY.
 
I just thought I would say that powersuns are a bit strong to have so close to the chameleon. See if anything changes if you keep it off and just use an incandescent. From what I understand about the powersuns is that you should probably keep it several feet away from the animal unless you have a UVB meter to check the actual output.
 
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