Slept in - advice for me and qs for Vet?

bbyoda

Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi all,

This morning Yoda didn't follow his usual routine and "slept in" until about 10am. Usually he's up and roaming about by 7:30, after his lights come on. I got an appointment with his vet (Dr. Bruce in Orlando) on Monday afternoon. I'd love your advice on what to ask Dr. Bruce (x-rays? Blood work) to advocate for Yoda, but also any thoughts on what could cause this based on husbandry.

One thought we had is that it was too cold this morning - about 60 at the top of his cage - so we cranked the heat in our home and got it up to 82 in his basking spot and 70 ambient. He started moving about after that.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Yoda, Veiled Chameleon. He's little over year old. I got him last March.
Handling - Only for medical reasons or pruning back and rearranging cage. We took him outside once and it freaked him out but will try again in the summer so he gets natural sun.
Feeding - I feed two bugs every 3 days now that he's fully grown. Usually roaches or silkworms, superworms and hornworms for treats. I feed the roaches and superworms greens (mustard, collard, turnip), carrots, sweet potatoes, and a mix of spirulina, bee pollen, ground flax seed, and chlorella.
Supplements -
Reptivite with D3 every two weeks
Rep-cal calcium (no phos or D3) for the other feedings

Watering - mistking goes over for 90 seconds at 8am and 12am. I have a fogger that runs from 1-3am. I don't see him drinking but his urates are white and firm. They used to be runny and my bioactive soil was getting too wet so I cut misting down from 3 min over the course of a month.

Fecal Description - haven't seen one this past week since he's pooping less as an adult and likes to poop in a bromeliad, but the ones I saw last week were solid. Urates looked firm and white. He has been tested for parasites. Had coccidia but I cleared that up before moving him to this adult cage. He had pinworms after that which was treated but not re-tested for.

History - the issues with the parasites described above. He also had some minor casque burns that we treated with silvadene. He gets alarmed when I'm near unless I'm holding food, so most pictures I have of him his eyes are sucked in. It makes these online diagnoses tougher! Also, we did recently spray for fleas but I took precautions to remove him and his feeders from the room that day and cover his cage and materials with plastic sheeting to protect the cage, cuc, and plants.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Dragon strand screen with pvc back. 2×2×4.

Lighting - Reptisun 5.0. solarmeter UVB rating varies in different branch spots but there are places where he can get 2.5-3 and places where he can get less. His basking lamp is zoo med 75w. His basking branch gets to about 80 degrees. I'm using a probe on the branch to measure the temp.


Temperature - it's about 60-65 at night so I can fog. Then 70-75 throughout the day. Basking spot is 80 at the branch. I have a flukers thermometer outside the cage to measure the room temps, a probe inside on the basking branch, and a temp gun. My govee bluetooth tracker kicked the bucket sadly! I put it in a bad position in the cage and it got misted.

Humidity - I'm in Florida so they're pretty high throughout the day. I turn on a humidifier to get it down to 40 in the morning. Then I let it climb naturally in th afternoon and evening. I have a computer fan on top of the cage to keep air circulating.

Plants - yes - bromeliad, umbrella plant, airplane, ficus, and pitcher plant. I have a bioactive setup.

Placement - corner of a room on top of a table so he's nice and high. My work office is in the room but otherwise not high trafficked, not under a vent, and no cats are allowed in the back room.

Location - Orlando, FL.

Current Problem - Yoda was roosting in his sleepy spot at 10am instead of doing his usual routine. Once we turned up the heat in the house he started moving around. He's basked for a bit and done his rounds. He's got good grip. I don't see him gaping or breathing strangely.

So...what do you think? Any advice on what to tweak? Any thoughts on what I should tell and ask the vet on Monday?

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Hi I will let someone else go through husbandry but misting ideally b 2-5 minutes. I run mine 2 minutes 3times a day. 1 thing I would mention sometimes with vibration the mist heads can lossen and you wouldn't want that to spray on your plug socket
 
Husbandry looks pretty good. Missing multi vitamin. People will help with any changes.

For the vet. Often cost is a factor. If you can afford it there is nor reason not to get a full screen. Ask for what you want, the vet will guide you past that.
So ask, is there a test to see if he is balanced in vitamins. X-Ray can verify bone structure, and to some degree internals. Ask to get a fecal done.
Ask what he thinks could cause this behavior. Specifically mention that he has not been getting a multivitamin. Ask them about vit A levels.

It is best if you actually write out a list for the vet. Also a prehistory of feeding and supplement schedules. Take your supplements with you so the vet can see the exact contents on the label.
This way you will get the most out of your visit.
 
Thanks all! I will confirm the supplements with the vet and ask about bloodwork in particular. Will defer to the vet if an x-ray will be helpful. Keeping an eye out for poops to get a fecal but not sure if the timing will be right.
 
Hi I will let someone else go through husbandry but misting ideally b 2-5 minutes. I run mine 2 minutes 3times a day. 1 thing I would mention sometimes with vibration the mist heads can lossen and you wouldn't want that to spray on your plug socket

Yes I have been thinking about covering the surge protector and plugs - thank you for a reminder.

I need to figure out a way to bump up mistings to 2 min without waterlogging the bioactive bottom. Probably need more plants in the right places. Or maybe switch to the single nozzle rather than double.
 
Vet said breathing, grip, and overall physical exam looked good. Supplements and feeding schedule got a thumbs up from vet as well. The reptivite with D3 is both multivitamin and D3.

Should have blood results tomorrow. No x-ray for now and no poops yet to test, but planning to follow up on the poop front once we find one. He thinks it's caused by the temperature in the room and suggested turning the basking lamp on earlier and having it run longer since he's only coming out once the basking lamp is on.

Here's a picture of Yoda after the appointment before going back to his enclosure. I was told he had a bit of a fit getting his blood drawn but he calmed down when he went back on my boyfriend. I guess big tall men make for good safe trees?

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air temp of 60 and basking in the 80's-low 90's is fine. And yea id just leave the basking lamp on if the UVB bulbs are going. The only time i turn off my basking bulbs is during the summer when air temps get in the 80's, and then the basking bulbs are cut off around 11am. Plus by then everyone is hiding from the heat of the day anyway.

Another idea is i went with multiple low wattage halogen bulbs. So instead of say a 125-150 watt flood, i have a 18" long bank of 35 watt bulbs, so i have an "area" of temps in the 80's instead of just 1 6" wide spot.

But i dont like doing room heaters etc, it just drops the humidity into the lower 20's, and running humdifiers just causes URI if my goal is getting to even 50% during the day.
 
That's an interesting approach - a basking area instead of a spot. I know some folks adjust the angle of the spotlight to get a range as well. My setup at the moment is just a regular dome.
 
What do y'all think of these poopies? Normal adult? Slight dehydration? My boo will take these into the vet today for testing.

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Blood work came back mostly normal. 1 liver enzyme slightly elevated probably because of stress from the visit. And his calcium was a little low, especially in proportion to phosphorous. He suggested a heavier dusting on feeders (shake and bake as he called it) and clothespinning some edible greens to his vines for grazing in between feedings.

I've never heard of the clothespinning greens thing. I think I'd rather get some BSFL back into his diet and maybe switch to a better calcium powder. I think Arcadia is a good brand that adheres well. @Beman do I recall you saying that?

Fecal dropped off at vet to test for parasites. Fingers crossed cause I really do not wanna deal with them again and in the bioactive enclosure too. 😅
 
Blood work came back mostly normal. 1 liver enzyme slightly elevated probably because of stress from the visit. And his calcium was a little low, especially in proportion to phosphorous. He suggested a heavier dusting on feeders (shake and bake as he called it) and clothespinning some edible greens to his vines for grazing in between feedings.

I've never heard of the clothespinning greens thing. I think I'd rather get some BSFL back into his diet and maybe switch to a better calcium powder. I think Arcadia is a good brand that adheres well. @Beman do I recall you saying that?

Fecal dropped off at vet to test for parasites. Fingers crossed cause I really do not wanna deal with them again and in the bioactive enclosure too. 😅
So clothes pinning... Yes some will do this with things like dandelion greens. When I tried to do it to keep Beman from ripping apart his pothos it never worked though. He would look at it then walk over to the pothos and take a chunk out.

Arcadia is good so it would be the Earthpro A you would want. I really like the repashy noD as well. That is what I am currently using. It coats well without it being like a powdered donut.
 
So clothes pinning... Yes some will do this with things like dandelion greens. When I tried to do it to keep Beman from ripping apart his pothos it never worked though. He would look at it then walk over to the pothos and take a chunk out.

Arcadia is good so it would be the Earthpro A you would want. I really like the repashy noD as well. That is what I am currently using. It coats well without it being like a powdered donut.

Thank you! I will look into threads about Earth pro supplementation. I have some good follow-ups and tweaks to make. I'm so glad for a pretty clear vet visit and all of the advice and help so many of you provide!
 
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