Stressed Panther Troubleshooting

See my feedback and questions in red bold.


Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Panther Chameleon, Male, 1y 3 months, in my care for 1 year.
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Once every two weeks or more for 5 minutes or less.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Majority crickets, black soldier fly larvae, Dubai roaches when he will eat them, occasionally a horn worm or two. I gut-load the crickets with Romain lettuce and carrots. You want to have a better gutload see image below.
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Zoo-med repticalcium without d3, every feeding, zoo-med reptivite one feeding every other week(has been paused for close to two months due to edema), zoo-med repticalcium with d3 every other week alternating with the reptivite (paused for close to three months due to edema) Ok I want you to switch this up.... Get repashy Calcium plus LoD version. It has a jacksons cham on the label. This would replace the Reptivite with D3. Then never use the calcium with D3 again. So your rotation would be Calcium without D3 at every feeding and then 2 times a month say the 1st and the 15th the repashy multivitamin. And just for insurance replace the calcium without D3 with a new one. Just in case there is an issue with the one you got. Sometimes they can react to different multivitamin supplements. And with him being given both the calcium with D3 and the reptivite with D3 this would have been far too much D3 for him. But besides that sometime one multivitamin will work better than another which is why I want you to switch it up.
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • distilled water in automatic misting system that sprays for 3-5 minutes every few hours only at night. Humidity reaches +90% every night (from 8pm-6am). Dripper during the day (soft tap water). I rarely see him drink, but eyes are not sunken at all.
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • medium firm, white/light yellow urate. Not tested for parasites but came from a parasite free father and mother. This does not ensure parasite free. They can get parasites from feeders. Crickets will carry pin worms.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
  • clean well taken care of parents. Not from a breeder but a trusted source.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • screen cage, 2x2x4. Plastic shower curtain on 3 sides for humidity.
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • zoo-med t5 HO 22” UVB, 75w incandescent bulb for basking spot, full spectrum plant grow light. All lights on automatic timer, 7am-7pm. What is your distance to basking branch below the UVB? When did you replace the bulb last? Zoomed UVB bulbs should be replaced every 6-9 months.
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • cage floor 63, basking spot 82, lowest temp over night 64 ambient temp, highest ambient temp during the day 73. Temps taken with digital temp/humidity gage
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • humidity during the day will drop to 44%, at night it will reach 94%. humidity is increased at night with misting, live plants, and a plastic shower curtain wrapped around the two sides and back of screen enclosure. Humidity is measured by digital temp/humidity gage.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • all live plants. Main plant is an umbrella tree, two pothos hanging about the middle of the cage, dracaena plant at the bottom of cage.
  • 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 a room solely used for the Cham on the second floor, very low traffic area, one vent in the room on the opposite side of the room, cage facing a window and the blinds stay closed at all times. Top of the cage is exactly 6ft off the floor.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?
  • located in northwest Ohio, just south of Toledo
Current Problem - Cham is always showing his spots, even when not flaring colors, Edema I would like to see a recent pic of the edema as well. Just to get an idea where it is now.
 

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Okay I have ordered the repashy calcium no D3 and the LoD, here are some photos I just took of the edema. It is a little smaller than it was a few days ago but he has very rarely left this spot (it’s where he sleeps, about the middle of the cage) the past few days.
 

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It does look more reduced... So lets see what happens with the total supplement change... This may take a few weeks to see results.

One question that I forgot to ask. Are you or have you been adding bee pollen? I have seen where too much of this directly given can cause issues with edema.
 
It does look more reduced... So lets see what happens with the total supplement change... This may take a few weeks to see results.

One question that I forgot to ask. Are you or have you been adding bee pollen? I have seen where too much of this directly given can cause issues with edema.
No I haven’t ever added pee pollen because I had heard that it can be a large contributor to health issues like edema. Should I stop using all supplements until I get the new ones in? I got a notification that those supplements have been shipped to me today, so I’ll check back in a couple weeks for an update.
Thanks for all of the help!
 
No I haven’t ever added pee pollen because I had heard that it can be a large contributor to health issues like edema. Should I stop using all supplements until I get the new ones in? I got a notification that those supplements have been shipped to me today, so I’ll check back in a couple weeks for an update.
Thanks for all of the help!
Ok good just wanted to double check about that one.

Only use the calcium without D3 until you get the new in. Then when you get the new supplements in I would wait until february 1st before giving the repashy LoD multivitamin. Just give the Repashy NoD calcium. This will give him a few more weeks for any fat soluble vitamins to clear his system. Make sure with supplements your very lightly coating the bugs. There should not be a ton of excess like powdered donuts.
 
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