very sick please help

[carriegirl]

I have an 10 month old male veiled cham I'm a manager at PETCO and have access to great suplies for him n saying that I've got a hand made screen enclosure all live plants and vines so much its hard to find him at times I mist 3-5 times a day I have a drip system I use 10.0 reptisun lights w a basking light during the day 7am to 7 pm temp is bout 80f humidity 75-85 I got load w fruits veggies kitten chow orange cubes by flukers I feed med crickets meal worms waxies I rarely hold him and he's n my room very quiet.
Prob is he ate only meal worms for bout a week now he's weak won't drink eat lays on bottom of cage this started 5 days ago I took him to vet they sd gut impact gave me baytril sd soak in pedialyte w liquid calcium twice a day until he poops prob is he still hasn't pooped he looks good but still very weak won't eat or drink hard time walking and now I gave him his baytril and his tongue is black I offered a few waxies he tried but his tongue wouldn't reach em so he stopped PLEASE HELP

 

[Juliaf3]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/


Fill this out, this will help tremendously. Pictures of your chameleon and enclosure will be beneficial as well when it comes to getting help. Your post was very detailed, but kind of all over the place. This will help it organize the info and make it easier to follow.

 

[Devokid]

Your humidity is too high. I have found that that leads to infections and other problems so I would try to decrease that, unless his eyes are sunken in and that is the only way to get water into him.

 

[carriegirl]

OK Will do thank u

 

[laurie]

Hello, I will put my comments in red next to yours, that makes is easier for both of us.

I have an 10 month old male veiled cham I'm a manager at PETCO and have access to great suplies for him n saying that I've got a hand made screen enclosure all live plants and vines so much its hard to find him at times I mist 3-5 times a day How long do you mist? I have a drip system How long does the dripper run for? I use 10.0 reptisun lights w a basking light during the day 7am to 7 pmThis sounds good the reptisun needs to be replaced after 6 months temp is bout 80fHe needs a higher basking temp to help digest his food and get warm. Up the to 95 humidity 75-85 drop the humidity to about 60 I got load w fruits veggies kitten chow orange cubes by flukers. you should toss the kitten chow and the flukers. If he isn't pooping the kitten chow may be why. It has way to much protein for a chameleon. Instead of kitten chow use fresh veggies like collard greens, mustard greens, and the list is in the link at the bottom
I feed med crickets meal worms waxies I rarely hold him and he's n my room very quiet.
Prob is he ate only meal worms for bout a week now he's weak won't drink eat lays on bottom of cage this started 5 days ago I took him to vet they sd gut impact gave me baytril sd soak in pedialyte w liquid calcium twice a day until he poops prob is he still hasn't pooped he looks good but still very weak won't eat or drink hard time walking and now I gave him his baytril and his tongue is black I offered a few waxies he tried but his tongue wouldn't reach em so he stopped PLEASE HELP

Baytril is an antibiotic, what does he have you using it for? You didn't mention an infection. Did you say soak in pedialyte with calcium twice a day? You can drip a mixture of pedialyte and a few drops of calcium on his mouth to see if he will drink it. Soaking him will do nothing except make him very sticky. Giving him long misting sessions of 10 or 15 minutes a couple time a day will help. Not hot or cold water, just above room temp.



this is a link to care sheets for your cham https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

 

[carriegirl]

Idk y he gave me baytril maybe cuz he's dehydrated but hishelp has not helped me at all I mist for a min to two mins a session w a fine mister I turn on his lights let him bask bout an hour then do first misting I wait bout 2 hours then turn on dripper for 20 mins then go to work.I haven't done any misting since this started the vet sd put him in a smaller container so I can see if he poops and that soaking him 3 times a day will help keep him hydrated the soakings have helped a Lil he seems more aware he's walking more and keeping his eyes open now and has a few times drank the soaking mixture half water half pedialyte liquid calcium last nite he ate one small waax worm but was having a very hard time w his tongue like it wouldn't come out far enough I moved worms closer but this scarred him and he never tried again.on my own I started mixing reptiboost oxbow and water n w his baytril dose he seems to b taking it n OK it doesn't come back out any where? I'm trying so hard and will do anything to help him its been like 8 days now and no poop he is a Lil better but still very critical in my eyes

 

[carriegirl]

Also I've been keeping his smaller enclosure at about 90 I also soak him for 30 mins at a time vet sd he can absorb through his vent to help w hydration. When I soak him he always tries to poop he inhales deeply then pushes he does this bout 10-15 per soaking and only does it when soaking never n his enclosure?

 

[mmminyard]

I have always been told that a Reptisun 5.0 is best for UVB.

 

[Carlton]

Idk y he gave me baytril maybe cuz he's dehydrated but hishelp has not helped me at all I mist for a min to two mins a session w a fine mister I turn on his lights let him bask bout an hour then do first misting I wait bout 2 hours then turn on dripper for 20 mins then go to work.I haven't done any misting since this started the vet sd put him in a smaller container so I can see if he poops and that soaking him 3 times a day will help keep him hydrated the soakings have helped a Lil he seems more aware he's walking more and keeping his eyes open now and has a few times drank the soaking mixture half water half pedialyte liquid calcium last nite he ate one small waax worm but was having a very hard time w his tongue like it wouldn't come out far enough I moved worms closer but this scarred him and he never tried again.on my own I started mixing reptiboost oxbow and water n w his baytril dose he seems to b taking it n OK it doesn't come back out any where? I'm trying so hard and will do anything to help him its been like 8 days now and no poop he is a Lil better but still very critical in my eyes

Baytril won't do anything about the dehydration. In fact, if he's not well hydrated Baytril can damage his kidneys. If there is no obvious infection don't use it!

I don't understand why he is being soaked in a Pedialyte and calcium mixture. Can't be good for his skin. If you must soak him, use plain water. If he is drinking on his own I would not use Pedialyte. To give him calcium you may be able to give him a correct dose by mouth with a syringe.

 

[kinyonga]

Unless I missed it you didn't mention what supplements you used or how often for each. Check the kitten chow cause it likely has prEformed vitamin A in it so it's not good for a gutload. I would use a wide variety of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc to gut,oad the insects.

You said he's having trouble walking and using his tongue....wondering if he is developing MBD? Can you post a recent photo please? Both those things could be caused by something else too.

It's important to provide a balance of calcium, phosphorous, D3 and vitamin A for good bone health and other things in the body. You needto look at what you're feeding the insects, what you're feeding he Chameleonnews the supplements to have a balance.

I use a reptisun 5.0 for UVB. UVB exposureallows the chameleon to produce D3 which allows it to use the calcium in the diet.

Dusting with a phosphorous - free calcium powder at most feedings helps balance the poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.

Providing D3 supplement twice a month gives the chameleon some without overdosing it and leaves it to produce the rest from its exposure to the UVB.

Providing a vitamin powder twice a month that has a beta carotene (a prOformed) source of vitamin A provides vitamins without overdosing the vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system like prEformed sources can and if your chameleon needs prEformed it can be given separately and thus be in your control.

Don't know if any of the above is causing your chameleon's problems or not but still thought these things should be mentioned.

Hope your chameleon will be okay.

 

[carriegirl]

I use calcium dust once a day d3 once a month and reptivit 2 times a week?? Not to sound stupid but I'm very new to this forum and am not sure how to post a pic if u can explain it I'd b more than happy to post a pic. As for his walking it seems to b a Lil better and he walks all over his enclosure he's just kinda wobbly and his tongue used to be white and now its kinda black and he used it yest to eat one very small waxie but it wouldn't go out very far. Now that uve mentioned mbd I'm curious if that's not what's wrong will that make them not poop cuz he tries really hard to go but Nada comes out?

 

[carriegirl]

OK I figured out the pic thing but it keeps sayn unable to complete due to low memory??

 

[Carlton]

I use calcium dust once a day d3 once a month and reptivit 2 times a week?? Not to sound stupid but I'm very new to this forum and am not sure how to post a pic if u can explain it I'd b more than happy to post a pic. As for his walking it seems to b a Lil better and he walks all over his enclosure he's just kinda wobbly and his tongue used to be white and now its kinda black and he used it yest to eat one very small waxie but it wouldn't go out very far. Now that uve mentioned mbd I'm curious if that's not what's wrong will that make them not poop cuz he tries really hard to go but Nada comes out?

The dusting should be plain calcium once a day, calcium with D3 once every 2 weeks, and reptivite once every 2 weeks. If, as you described, he hasn't been eating much lately there isn't going to be much for him to pass. MBD doesn't really cause constipation on its own.

 

[kinyonga]

Here's some information I hope will help.

If your chameleon has MBD you need to correct the imbalance first and then follow the following information.
Regarding gutloading, for crickets, superworms, roaches etc you can use a wide assortment of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.

Regarding supplements, it's important for good bone health and other things in the system that there is a balance between the calcium,phosphorous, D3 and vitamin A. You need to look at he gutloading, what you supplement with and what you feed the chameleon when trying to balance them.

For supplements, it's recommended that you dust the insects just before feeding them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phosphorous - free calcium powder to help make up for getting usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous - free calcium D3 powder to ensure the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it. Exposure to the UVB light will allow it to produce the rest of what it needs and shouldn't lead to an overdose as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB when it wants to.

It's recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene ( prOformed) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system like prEformed sources can and will leave it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed or not.

Appropriate temperatures are also important since they play a part in digestion thus nutrient absorption.