very odd behaviour in furcifer.

[chamden]

i currently maintain a large collection of chameleons which include f.lateralis,f.major,f.minor and f.pardalis.its the pardalis that make up the bulk of the collection comprising of around 12 males and 15 females.

i have noticed some very strange behaviour in recent weeks,this includes-

-very washed out colour and very pale (not dark) compared to normal.

-very slight water retension between the front legs and surrounding the area where the front legs enter the body.(looks like early signs of edema but is very slight at the minute and is not visable all the time) this is only in two of the older males.

-raised area around the front of the eye turret between the nostril and the eye.again only very slight but its a definate change ive not seen before.this is also in the two older males.

some of the smaller males have also lost colour but everything is still eating as it should be.the 5% repti suns are coming up for change but it cant be the uv diminishing as they have only lost colour in the last 3 weeks or so.

in general most of the animals just dont seem quite right and are not in the tip top condition they were.

right heres what i think could contribute to the cause-

i moved home around 7 weeks ago and the chams have now been moved into a purpose built cellar,they were in an attic before and now in the cellar the temps are much more stable and are a little higher than before.
the water in the new house is very cloudy straight out the tap and although i use a conditioner im not sure it is the best water to give the chams.
the humidity in the new cellar is also much lower (down to 30% at times)so i have to spray much more than when i was in the old place.its now normally around 40-50 with extra spraying which is similar to the old place.

im also interested to know if anyone has noticed big changes in their chams related to barometric air pressure,in the last few weeks it has been snowing very heavily in the uk and im wondring if this change in air pressure is a contributing factor to them acting weird.even tho the temps have remained stable and consistant im pretty sure they can sense these changes.

any help or personal experiances will be very greatly recieved.

 

[chamden]

anybody.....

i have come to a few conclusions myself.i think that the very low humidity in the first few weeks may be making the liver and kidneys work much harder than normal and therefore affecting the old boys first causing the water retension.a few of the animals have also been taking much longer to shed than normal which again will be related to the low humidity.
i still cant work out why the area around the eye (at around the 4 0 clock position) is raised up towards the eye turret.it is almost what you would expect a cham to look like if it was full of cold and bunged up,although they are obviously not.
i still strongly believe that the silly amounts of snow and the change in air pressure has had an effect on them.

surely someone on here has seen something similar or has some input.....any vets maybe...

 

[james L]

Well I hope the best for your collection. Im interested in hearing what caused all this strange stuff in your furcifers. When I moved about a year ago i lost most of my werners chams and bunch of newts about 4-12 weeks into my new house. My vet could only come up with that it was the changes in the enviroment. There is a big difference between the houses so it made sense. Maybe something similar is going on with your chams. Again I hope your the best...

 

[sandrachameleon]

I have certainly noticed changes in behaviour and demeanour from a house move, including dull colouration/appearance. But have not noticed the specific eye turret condition you described. My moves have not be of a significant distance, so no significant change in distance from sea level or general weather conditions.

Interesting concept, that barometric pressure may effect them.
THere might be something to the idea. Certainly my hip joint "knows" when a change is coming, and my partners migraines "know" too.

I look forward to learning more, if you get more information or have other observations.