Ways to encourage drinking and eating

[fear742]

Alright this is the story. i have a 6 month old panther who i found at last week at the vets has coccidia. From looking at random posts and pictures on the site, when looking at his pooped he seemed to be ok since there were no signs of stress, he ate, drank, and was merry. The day before i brought him to the vet i moved him into a new cage. 30x24x48. he ate crickets the morning before going to the vet and also drank water. It has been 4 days since i have been to the vets office and since then, he hasnt eaten or really drank anything. i know this because his urates are orange. my issue i think is a little complicated because of him moving. i think that this would have a little bit more stress on him and even tho it was just across the room, he still seems a bit off. i watch him when i mist and see him open and close his mouth almost like he is licking his lips but he just doesnt seem to want to drink. i run a dripper that goesas long as there is liquid in it(79 ouces). i have never cup fed him because he (A)was in a smaller cage and able to just catch crickets and (B) i just never felt right allowing a hunter to have it that easy, i.e. shooting fish in a barrel. I plan on putting him in the shower in the morning just to let him get rehydrated with the air and i also understand that the albon may be affecting his appetite. any ideas on how to get him to either feed or drink?

 

[fear742]

Cage Info:
Cage Type - wire 30x24x48
Lighting - reptisun 5.0 and two 75 watt basking bulbs
Temperature - 80-70 basking is 90 and at night it gets between 70-77
Humidity - 65-80% through live plants misting, dripping and a humidifier for the room
Plants - 2 small ficus, 1 large hibiscus and 1 pothos
Location -in my room, no one goes in there but me, fan on the ceiling

Chameleon Info:male 6 month old panther
Feeding - crickets, 10-15 per day, put them in in the moring. gutloaded with food from cricketfood.com and oranges for moisture
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Supplements - i use miner all twice a weak, mutivitamins once a week, and calcium with d3 once every two weeks
Watering - misting, humidifier and dripper
Fecal Description - white til the last few days when it had been slightly orange and then really orange tonight. poop is jelly-like but that is from the coccidia
History - Nothing wrong before. bought from the kammers and came healthy right out of the box

 

[Jordan]

I guess I would have to see how your dripper is working in person but assuming it is decent, your chameleon may just not understand it. A lot of chameleons reconize drippers as a water source, some never do or will. I would suggest that you mist longer. If he is moving his jaw around like you describe then he is getting water. I would suggest that you just do longer durations. A shower is not a bad idea to get his hydration back up again since his urates is off colored. He could have greater water demands depending on the medication. So his normal water supply may not be enough.

I guess I can not really comment on him eating as I have no experience with coccidia or the medication.

 

[Glittergloomgirl]

I can help you with info if you chameleon is not eatting. I had the same problem after my roomates cat tried to eat my cham he stopped eatting so the vet suggested Oxbow to feed.

http://www.oxbowhay.com/link.sp?page=CarnivoreCare

You dont have to mix any calcium or vitamins in cause it already has it.
I would feed him about 2 to 3 cc about twice a day.

The other thing you can do is give NutirBAC df Probiotic for reptiles to help him deal with any antibiotics your vet gives him, help promote "good" bacteria" in the tummy.

http://search.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bi...tileinc.com/

http://www.cornutopia.com/Corn Uto...nformation.htm

The other thing to stimulate appetite is metronidizole, your vet has to prescribe it, and give you the correct dose for weight.

Ok hope that helps