Very Peculiar Behavior.

ilovereptar

New Member
My Chameleon:
Reptar is an 8 month old Ambilobe Male, who I've taken care of for 4 months.

Handling:
I only handle him as often as he will let me, and that is a rare occurance (Maybe once a week for around 5 minutes?)

Feeding:
I feed my chameleon large crickets and super worms.
He has no specific schedule, I leave crickets in the cage always (More then he needs so he can eat as often as he desires).
I give him anywhere from 3-5 superworms a day just a tasty treat, he will ignore the crickets for them.

Supplements:
I gutload with fluker's.
I dust with Rep-Cal Calcium & Hepto-Vitamins

Watering:
When I'm not at home, I leave a 2ltr dropper to make sure he doesn't dehydrate, which will pour out over an hour and a half.
I mist him frequently, 4 to 5 handheld bottles a day.

Fecal Description:
All recent droppings have been rather moist and slimy. Very dark colored, but I he hasn't been pooping consistently everyday like he was.

History:
He lived on a poisonous schefflera for 3 weeks.

Cage Info:

Cage Type:
Homemade- Wood with aluminum screen.
5'x3'1.5'

Lighting:
2x Repti-Glo 5.0
1x 100w Clear House Bulb
His light cycle is 10am-1030pm
The lights rest 6 inches above the highest point of his two trees.

Temperature:
The temperature at the top of the cage stays around 82F, while the bottom is around 70F.
During the evening, it sits 69-74 depending on the house temperature.

Humidity:
I do not use anything to measure the cages humidity, but it stays wet.

Plants:
He has a Ficus Benjamina as well as a Dracaena Deremensis

Placement:
The cage is located near a window that has full curtains (You cannot see inside or outside).
The cage sits at 5' tall.

Location:
I am located in Austin, Texas.



Here is the scenario:
I was given my pet from another owner who did not treat him as well as he needed to be treated. I took him in with 0 lizard experience at 4 months old. He has done great, and has had an astounding diet, until recently.

I introduced him to superworms around 5 weeks ago, which he enjoyed more then the crickets. I know this because he would rush to eat them as soon as i dropped one in his cage. He had a stable diet of PetSmart crickets and would eat about 12-15 a day. After introducing him to the Superworms, I got him crickets that were bred at the pet shop he was purchased from, this is where his diet went downhill. He rejected these crickets, and would only eat around 3-4 a day, and would only eat superworms.

Next, I changed his enclosure from the small one to the large one. I gave him a schefflera which i found out after 2 weeks was poisonous. However, during this time, he was eating 6-8 crickets that were purchased from petsmart (what he's accustomed too), with around the same in superworms.

Once I found out that the plant was poisonous I switched it out with a large Drasena and Ficus to give him tons of roaming room. At the same time, i upgraded his lighting to what is mentioned above.

Here are the current symptoms of my poor sick pet:
1. Poor coloring- he is staying darker then he normally does.
2. He keeps one eye closed often, and sucks it in.
3. I often find him basking and sleeping in the middle of the cage (both eyes are closed).
4. He is only eating 2-3 crickets right now, and is also eating 2-3 superworms.
5. My guy is very stubborn and H A T E S to be held. But recently he has been more accepting, and not put up any fight. This is the most peculiar of all, and makes me feel as if he is really ill.
6. All of this happened 3 days after he shed.
7. He keeps his eyes closed for the majority of the day.

I do not know what to do for him. I do not like seeing his eyes closed the majority of the time, and this pigment change. The place I got the plants from is strictly organic, and rated the best retail tropical plant store in all of Austin, Texas, and I know there is nothing wrong with them.

Any feedback would be fantastic!

One last note, the last picture (Img 426) was taken before I posted. He hasn't moved or 30 minutes.
 

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Last edited:
You might put the cage up higher, they like to be well off the ground.
Try not feeding any superworms for a week or so, and try to aquire some different feeders if you can. It wont starve to death if its a bit stubborn, provided your temps are good for the species, it will get hungry. :)
p.s. one reptiglo is enough.
 
He looks to be in decent body shape, no visible MBD but the eyes closed thing is never a good sign. I think a Vet visit is in order. Shefflera is not poisonous, it is actually a great cham plant.
 
My Chameleon:
Reptar is an 8 month old Ambilobe Male, who I've taken care of for 4 months.

Handling:
I only handle him as often as he will let me, and that is a rare occurance (Maybe once a week for around 5 minutes?)

Feeding:
I feed my chameleon large crickets and super worms.
He has no specific schedule, I leave crickets in the cage always (More then he needs so he can eat as often as he desires).
I give him anywhere from 3-5 superworms a day just a tasty treat, he will ignore the crickets for them.

Supplements:
I gutload with fluker's.
I dust with Rep-Cal Calcium & Hepto-Vitaminsdoes your calcium have d3 and im not familiar with hepto vit? start supplementing plain calcium every feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month, multivitamin twice a month

Watering:
When I'm not at home, I leave a 2ltr dropper to make sure he doesn't dehydrate, which will pour out over an hour and a half.
I mist him frequently, 4 to 5 handheld bottles a day. misting 2-3 times a day @ 2-5 minutes each session is sufficient.

Fecal Description:
All recent droppings have been rather moist and slimy. Very dark colored, but I he hasn't been pooping consistently everyday like he was.the urates are what color?

History:
He lived on a poisonous schefflera for 3 weeks. notice him chewing on this?

Cage Info:

Cage Type:
Homemade- Wood with aluminum screen.
5'x3'1.5'

Lighting:
2x Repti-Glo 5.0 from the picture it looks like these are coils? if so change to linear tubes.
1x 100w Clear House Bulb
His light cycle is 10am-1030pm
The lights rest 6 inches above the highest point of his two trees.

Temperature:
The temperature at the top of the cage stays around 82F i would raise this to 90*, while the bottom is around 70F.
During the evening, it sits 69-74 depending on the house temperature.

Humidity:
I do not use anything to measure the cages humidity, but it stays wet.you want the cage to dry out.

Plants:
He has a Ficus Benjamina as well as a Dracaena Deremensis

Placement:
The cage is located near a window that has full curtains (You cannot see inside or outside).
The cage sits at 5' tall.

Location:
I am located in Austin, Texas.



Here is the scenario:
I was given my pet from another owner who did not treat him as well as he needed to be treated. I took him in with 0 lizard experience at 4 months old. He has done great, and has had an astounding diet, until recently.

I introduced him to superworms around 5 weeks ago, which he enjoyed more then the crickets. I know this because he would rush to eat them as soon as i dropped one in his cage. He had a stable diet of PetSmart crickets and would eat about 12-15 a day. After introducing him to the Superworms, I got him crickets that were bred at the pet shop he was purchased from, this is where his diet went downhill. He rejected these crickets, and would only eat around 3-4 a day, and would only eat superworms.

Next, I changed his enclosure from the small one to the large one. I gave him a schefflera which i found out after 2 weeks was poisonous. However, during this time, he was eating 6-8 crickets that were purchased from petsmart (what he's accustomed too), with around the same in superworms.

Once I found out that the plant was poisonous I switched it out with a large Drasena and Ficus to give him tons of roaming room. At the same time, i upgraded his lighting to what is mentioned above.

Here are the current symptoms of my poor sick pet:
1. Poor coloring- he is staying darker then he normally does.darker colors normally means two things.1) he is trying to get warm. 2)stressed
2. He keeps one eye closed often, and sucks it in.your panther is coming of age where it starts to be very important to get your husbandry 100% up to par. make sure you gut load you crickets with fresh veggies and fruits. sticky tongues makes a great gutload. dust as i mentioned above.
3. I often find him basking and sleeping in the middle of the cage (both eyes are closed).could be from a few things. 1:maybe he has nothing to stimulate him (bored). 2:he is by a window. he will get up with the sun. so his schedule time maybe differ from your set times. 3:improper lighting. 4: improper gutload and use of supplements.
4. He is only eating 2-3 crickets right now, and is also eating 2-3 superworms.
5. My guy is very stubborn and H A T E S to be held. But recently he has been more accepting, and not put up any fight. This is the most peculiar of all, and makes me feel as if he is really ill.this change in attitude is great that you recognize. a drastic change is normally not a good sign. make sure he is drinking. we know he is eatting so start ASAP with a proper dusting schedule.
6. All of this happened 3 days after he shed.

I do not know what to do for him. I do not like seeing his eyes closed the majority of the time, and this pigment change. The place I got the plants from is strictly organic, and rated the best retail tropical plant store in all of Austin, Texas, and I know there is nothing wrong with them.

Any feedback would be fantastic!

One last note, the last picture (Img 426) was taken before I posted. He hasn't moved or 30 minutes.


heres some suggestions.
 
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