throwing up?!?!?

[AgentP77]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? veiled male, not sure of age id say around 6 months, ive had him for 3 months
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? once every couple days
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? he gets around 10 crickets a day, meal worms are always available to him and fruit flies every couple of days.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? flukers calcium powder, and i usually put it on most the crickets.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? he has a dripper system and he gets misted atleast twice a day. ive seen him drink a few times but not too often.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? normal brown and yellowish white, no he hasnt been tested.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. hes always been very normal eats everything thats put in front of him

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? mostly glass and screen top. i know its not the best and im working on getting him a larger screen one. its around 2 1/2 feet tall and 2 feet wide.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? its an exo terra one of the starter kits. he has a repti glo 5.0 thats on during the day and then a red light for night time
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? between 65-80, lowest is 65 and thats at night my thermometer is at the top so the bottom is a little cooler although he doesnt go down there unless hes eating meal worms.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? humidity is always atleast 70 if not higher, i mist the cage and the dripper helps.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? no live ones yet
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? in a corner of my room its pretty quiet there. and about 3 feet from the floor
Location - Where are you geographically located? in california

current problem - just today ive been noticing he will eat a cricket and throw them back up ive seen him do it to about 3 crickets now. but i have seen him eat a meal worm and as far as i know he kept that down, ive also noticed that he may be having a balancing issue cuz he hasnt fallen but he will kinda lean to the side if the item underneath him moves. idk if that makes since it could just be because hes getting bigger not really sure. main thing right now is the eating. and sorry if not all the questions are answered perfectly im in a hurry but i want to get this posted. and help would be great =]

 

[Elizadolots]

I don't see anything dramatically off "board standard" that you haven't said you were going to fix. I do think you want to look at your supplements. This board recommends calcium without D3 daily. D3 twice a month. A multi-vitamin twice a month.

They do lean. Sometimes quite dramatically. Usually they try to get in line with the branch or vine they are standing on at the time. It's sort of a chameleon thing.

Throwing up crickets all day is possibly a problem. I guess I would wait a day and see if that goes on. If so, then a vet visit is probably in order.

 

[AgentP77]

ok thanks i will cut back on the calcium.
and i will keep an eye on him tomorrow i hope it doesnt continue im very worried =/

 

[Elizadolots]

Monitoring a chameleon is a bit like monitoring your weight....it might seem important to check it every few hours, but the reality is, you get better information from checking every week...

However, if he's still puking up crickets tomorrow, that's an issue.

One thought: are these his "normal" crickets? By that I mean, did you give him black crickets when he's used to brown?(or vice versa)

(see? we can come up with questions regardless of how much information you give!!!)

 

[AgentP77]

thanks for all your help. yes these are his normal crickets.
this morning however i saw him eat about 5 meal worms and one or two crickets and he kept everything down, so im very happy. maybe he had a stomach ache? do they even get those haha

 

[ashley9333]

i was reading this and the meal worms are very high in fat umm i do alot of reading and sometimes i get confused myself but google meal worms for chameleons and see. but i read that they r very high in fat and dont feed on a reg basic

 

[carol5208]

ok thanks i will cut back on the calcium.
and i will keep an eye on him tomorrow i hope it doesnt continue im very worried =/

no, you want to use calcium every day or at every feeding. the other two supplements mentioned a few times a month.

 

[camimom]

i was reading this and the meal worms are very high in fat umm i do alot of reading and sometimes i get confused myself but google meal worms for chameleons and see. but i read that they r very high in fat and dont feed on a reg basic

You are correct on the mealworms. These should be given as a treat. I only feed my chams them 1 or 2 a month.
not only are they fattyish, but they also have a hard exoskeleton that can cause impaction soemtimes. Not a regular thing, but if you feed to many of them it can.

 

[lindawaz]

Chameleon Info:

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? he gets around 10 crickets a day, meal worms are always available to him and fruit flies every couple of days.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? flukers calcium powder, and i usually put it on most the crickets.

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? normal brown and yellowish white, no he hasnt been tested.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. hes always been very normal eats everything thats put in front of him

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? mostly glass and screen top. i know its not the best and im working on getting him a larger screen one. its around 2 1/2 feet tall and 2 feet wide.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? its an exo terra one of the starter kits. he has a repti glo 5.0 thats on during the day and then a red light for night time
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? between 65-80, lowest is 65 and thats at night my thermometer is at the top so the bottom is a little cooler although he doesnt go down there unless hes eating meal worms.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? humidity is always atleast 70 if not higher, i mist the cage and the dripper helps.

current problem - just today ive been noticing he will eat a cricket and throw them back up ive seen him do it to about 3 crickets now. but i have seen him eat a meal worm and as far as i know he kept that down, ive also noticed that he may be having a balancing issue cuz he hasnt fallen but he will kinda lean to the side if the item underneath him moves. idk if that makes since it could just be because hes getting bigger not really sure. main thing right now is the eating. and sorry if not all the questions are answered perfectly im in a hurry but i want to get this posted. and help would be great =]

The Calcium you do not say if it has D3 in it or not. You should have 2 different kinds- One without and that is everyday. The one with 2x's a month. I also did not see vitamins. Those should also be done 2x's a month.

Their Poo should be white with the brown/black not yellow or orange. This is a sign of de-hydration. Up your mistings or do a shower until they get white.

Don't have the meal worms always available- like everyone said those are a treat to be given sparingly.

I am very glad he kept his food down today and the changes you said you were making are great. Hopefully he will continue to be a happy little eating cham

 

[Elizadolots]

thanks for all your help. yes these are his normal crickets.
this morning however i saw him eat about 5 meal worms and one or two crickets and he kept everything down, so im very happy. maybe he had a stomach ache? do they even get those haha

Good news! I think any animal can suffer from tummy troubles. Possibly he ate something he shouldn't (like something flying by when you weren't looking).

 

[ashley9333]

i heard you can use tums

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."ok thanks i will cut back on the calcium"...why??

 

[AgentP77]

thanks for everyones imput. im wondering what is a good brand of calcium and vitamins that he should get, because the one that im giving him should only be given twice a month ( it does have d3 in it). When i asked people at the pet store they said this was the one to give them, i guess thats what i get for asking people that dont know much about them. also he is back to eating all his crickets today =]

 

[lindawaz]

you have to order it on line. Most pet stores do not carry the one without D3. I use the Repti calcium.

 

[AgentP77]

Thanks i just ordered some for him

 

[AgentP77]

what is a good brand of vitamin for him?

 

[suzi]

If it were me I would raise his basking temps, I think 80 is a little low. I would Bump it up to 85. I am glad to hear he is holding down his food today

 

[Elizadolots]

I'm glad he's eating again!

you have to order it on line. Most pet stores do not carry the one without D3. I use the Repti calcium.

I just wanted to note that this does seem to be changing. I've seen calcium without D3 (and vitamins without D3) in 2 stores. I do have the luxury of being close to an LLL, but the other store was really just a "pet store"... so, it's worth calling around a little if that's all that's needed and shipping seems prohibitive.

 

[Karunika]

vitamins

I live in Mauritius and reptile vitamins are not available here. Can I give my 6 month old chameleon vitamins meant for human consumption. If so, what would be the dosage? Thanks

 

[Elizadolots]

Karunika, welcome to the board. You might get a more informative response if you start a new thread. It's just a little easier and less confusing that way.

I do not have an answer to your question except to say I would be very wary of doing that until you get some sort of answer from an expert. In the meantime, be really conscientious and varied with gutloading your feeders. That will help ensure your chameleon gets good nutrition. There are work arounds for calcium, which most people give daily. You can get a "cuttlebone" like those used in bird cages and grind it as finely as possible. That will work. Egg shells which have been thoroughly cleaned can be ground to a dust and used as well.