Wellness check

[Bazelthechameleon]

Hey everyone! So I woke up this morning and Bazel was a little darker then usual and I just started to feel a little inkling that something was off. No unusual behavior. He’s still very alert and is drinking and eating as usual. I have a vet visit scheduled for March 30th. I wanted to upload some pics and see if anyone thinks anything might be up. I cant tell if it’s just my anxiety or I’m actually getting that “mom instinct” that everyone talks about. Also, for the record, his legs are just chubby lol. I posted last year with concerns and everyone said he had gout and I freaked and took him to the vet and they cleared him and he’s never showed any signs of discomfort or other symptoms. He’s just got a little chub. Let me know what you think. Am I being irrational?

 

[CalamityCrow]

Is he going through some shedding? My Little Guy is getting ready to shed and he's grumpy/restless I think because he's annoyed in his own skin. But I don't see anything really of note (in my non-expert opinion).

Certainly keep an eye on things and keep the appointment - always easier to cancel one than to get one!

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

Is he going through some shedding? My Little Guy is getting ready to shed and he's grumpy/restless I think because he's annoyed in his own skin. But I don't see anything really of note (in my non-expert opinion).

Certainly keep an eye on things and keep the appointment - always easier to cancel one than to get one!

Thanks for your thoughts. You could totally be right. He is about due for a shed. I’m probably just being paranoid, but thought I’d get some reassurance from the forums to make sure nothing else seems the matter. I’ll def keep the appointment!

 

[MzLaurie11]

Hello. You are not being silly. If something was a little off and you werent concerned would be so much worse. first thing, welcome to spring. With the arrival of spring energies change. With plants, animals, your cham and you! It effects everything. I see a little molting on the face and neck which can be irritataing. otherwise, looks good to me. since your wellness check is within 30 days, start documenting behavior for your vet. keep a log by the cage and enter everyday. like today, note color is off and how it is off. Add any questions you have and make sure you show your vet pics of the setup. Monthly growth changes, etc.. Also take pics of the feeders so the vet can tell you they are size appropriate. If hes overweight, the vet can advise diet changes too. My begger boy is on a diet too! MissSkittles shared a great video on weight. Let mw aee if i can find it..

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

Hello. You are not being silly. If something was a little off and you werent concerned would be so much worse. first thing, welcome to spring. With the arrival of spring energies change. With plants, animals, your cham and you! It effects everything. I see a little molting on the face and neck which can be irritataing. otherwise, looks good to me. since your wellness check is within 30 days, start documenting behavior for your vet. keep a log by the cage and enter everyday. like today, note color is off and how it is off. Add any questions you have and make sure you show your vet pics of the setup. Monthly growth changes, etc.. Also take pics of the feeders so the vet can tell you they are size appropriate. If hes overweight, the vet can advise diet changes too. My begger boy is on a diet too! MissSkittles shared a great video on weight. Let mw aee if i can find it..

Thank you! Will do! I’ll also take pics of supplements etc. I’m worried he might be getting a little chunky but it hasn’t become too noticeable so I assume it’s not a concern quite yet. I’ve been watching his casque and cheeks. He’s not a crazy eater like some chams are so it’s hard to believe he’s chunky considering how picky he can be. I have to change up his main staple feeders regularly so he doesn’t get bored lol

 

[MzLaurie11]

Petr Necas has a great video on over weight. He has a lot of videos so u will let you explore his fb page. Put his name in the search above. Well you have to realize if our chams were in the wild they would be putting on more miles climbing upnand down trees and bushes. In a cage, they are limited i imagine. I think i went wrong with the transition to an adult. So i over fed him for a few months when i should have been reducing. Now every other day for a while then every three days with a treat on day two. I have a female panther who is younger. She is now about a year so i can cut back. She loves crickets! Best little hunter ever and my male vieleds name is Hunter! She is putting him to shame. His weakness is wax worm treats. When they cacoon,i throw em in a plant so they are a moth when they hatch. Both. Will eat the moths! That way i have no waste. i have two cricket tubs. I try to put hatcglings in one and grown in the other. I find the more room the better and i covered the outside and bottom with foam i glued on added that heat incillating foil. I have both tubs on a heating pad on low. I feed them carrots and corn meal or wheat germ and have water pillows. also you can throw in apple and orange slices. But dont let the fruit rot as it turns to pure alcohol and they get drunk and die. To start, order 300 1/2 inch striped and 200 1/4 inch. The feeding starts from the 300 and i havw vermiculite as a subatrate and thw adult females will lay the eggs right in there or you can put a sandwhich size tuperware with 2-3 inches of moist soil i. A corner. Once the males start chirping you know they are mating. When that batch is gone.cover container with moist papertiwrl and put lid on tight then set on the corner of the heating pad. If its too hot, it will cook the eggs. You can put a towel under it if needed. Then once a week you peek. When you see little black specks on the paper towel, they are hatching. Dont change anything but add some water to a corner. Keep letting them hatch then take the top off in the tub with fresh vermiculite and apples, carrots and corn meal. Whn they get a bit bigger add paRsley. I make parsley trees which they strip bare. Then you can back off on gweting so many cri kets at petco. I order from rainbowmealworms.com. always fresh, good variety, and toy can trust shipping time. Omg i have to go. Its my sons birthdaym​

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

Petr Necas has a great video on over weight. He has a lot of videos so u will let you explore his fb page. Put his name in the search above. Well you have to realize if our chams were in the wild they would be putting on more miles climbing upnand down trees and bushes. In a cage, they are limited i imagine. I think i went wrong with the transition to an adult. So i over fed him for a few months when i should have been reducing. Now every other day for a while then every three days with a treat on day two. I have a female panther who is younger. She is now about a year so i can cut back. She loves crickets! Best little hunter ever and my male vieleds name is Hunter! She is putting him to shame. His weakness is wax worm treats. When they cacoon,i throw em in a plant so they are a moth when they hatch. Both. Will eat the moths! That way i have no waste. i have two cricket tubs. I try to put hatcglings in one and grown in the other. I find the more room the better and i covered the outside and bottom with foam i glued on added that heat incillating foil. I have both tubs on a heating pad on low. I feed them carrots and corn meal or wheat germ and have water pillows. also you can throw in apple and orange slices. But dont let the fruit rot as it turns to pure alcohol and they get drunk and die. To start, order 300 1/2 inch striped and 200 1/4 inch. The feeding starts from the 300 and i havw vermiculite as a subatrate and thw adult females will lay the eggs right in there or you can put a sandwhich size tuperware with 2-3 inches of moist soil i. A corner. Once the males start chirping you know they are mating. When that batch is gone.cover container with moist papertiwrl and put lid on tight then set on the corner of the heating pad. If its too hot, it will cook the eggs. You can put a towel under it if needed. Then once a week you peek. When you see little black specks on the paper towel, they are hatching. Dont change anything but add some water to a corner. Keep letting them hatch then take the top off in the tub with fresh vermiculite and apples, carrots and corn meal. Whn they get a bit bigger add paRsley. I make parsley trees which they strip bare. Then you can back off on gweting so many cri kets at petco. I order from rainbowmealworms.com. always fresh, good variety, and toy can trust shipping time. Omg i have to go. Its my sons birthdaym​

Happy birthday to your son! And thank you for all the great feeder breeding advice! I’m actually currently breeding dubias and I already think I have more than I can handle. They multiply fast. Now I’m working on breeding superworms. I let some of them turn into beetles so they can reproduce. Scary looking though, those things.

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

Update: I made him a sick visit for this Friday. Today I walked in to my room and past his cage and he hissed at me and hid behind his branch. He has never once hissed at me before. He has never even hissed at the vet during examinations. It’s very abnormal behavior for him and I think it might indicate he’s in pain. He pooped today so I’m saving it so the vet can run a fecal while we’re there. Fingers crossed everything’s fine.

 

[MissSkittles]

I hope your guy is okay. For the fecal, it really needs to be no more than 24 hours old and kept in the fridge. Do keep us posted.

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

I hope your guy is okay. For the fecal, it really needs to be no more than 24 hours old and kept in the fridge. Do keep us posted.

I stuck it in a ziploc with a damp paper towel and put it in the fridge. I’m hoping he’ll poop tmrw or the day of so I can get a fresher one but I’ll hold onto for now just in case. He hasn’t been eating as much so his poops have been less frequent. He also seemed a little dehydrated based on his urates so I’m trying everything to get more water into his system. 2 min mister 2x a day. Dripper running all day and a humidifier going all night. I really hope he’s okay too. I know his husbandry is perfect so I’m just hoping he’s pleasure free and there’s no internal infections going on. I honestly hope he’s just getting older and grumpy and he’s healthy as can be.

 

[elizaann2]

I stuck it in a ziploc with a damp paper towel and put it in the fridge. I’m hoping he’ll poop tmrw or the day of so I can get a fresher one but I’ll hold onto for now just in case. He hasn’t been eating as much so his poops have been less frequent. He also seemed a little dehydrated based on his urates so I’m trying everything to get more water into his system. 2 min mister 2x a day. Dripper running all day and a humidifier going all night. I really hope he’s okay too. I know his husbandry is perfect so I’m just hoping he’s pleasure free and there’s no internal infections going on. I honestly hope he’s just getting older and grumpy and he’s healthy as can be.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[Beman]

Do you have any pics... from the ones you posted I do not see anything that stands out but I can not see his limbs very well in those.

How old is he now? What does his diet consist of?

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

Do you have any pics... from the ones you posted I do not see anything that stands out but I can not see his limbs very well in those.

How old is he now? What does his diet consist of?

Hi! Yes, he came out and climbed on me when I put bugs in his feeder yesterday (after he had previously hissed at me?? lol) I took a bunch of pics. He is around 2 1/2 and he eats mainly dubias and black soldier flies with occasional superworms, hornworms, and silkworms for variation.

 

[Beman]

Hi! Yes, he came out and climbed on me when I put bugs in his feeder yesterday (after he had previously hissed at me?? lol) I took a bunch of pics. He is around 2 1/2 and he eats mainly dubias and black soldier flies with occasional superworms, hornworms, and silkworms for variation.

Well age wise you do not need to stress old... He is not there yet.

His limbs are fairly thick. does not look to be presenting like gout though since all limbs are thicker. Casque and fat pads on the cheeks do look a little chunky. So the limbs could be directly linked to the little man being a little overweight.

With the dubia what are you feeding them?

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

Well age wise you do not need to stress old... He is not there yet.

His limbs are fairly thick. does not look to be presenting like gout though since all limbs are thicker. Casque and fat pads on the cheeks do look a little chunky. So the limbs could be directly linked to the little man being a little overweight.

With the dubia what are you feeding them?

I feed the dubias sweet potatoes, carrots, and collard greens. Sometimes mustard greens too. Yeah, I was wondering if he was getting a little chunky. It doesn’t seem like he eats that much in the grand scheme of things though… I suppose he just doesn’t have the fasted metabolism Any recommendations for a dieting regimen?

 

[Beman]

I feed the dubias sweet potatoes, carrots, and collard greens. Sometimes mustard greens too. Yeah, I was wondering if he was getting a little chunky. It doesn’t seem like he eats that much in the grand scheme of things though… I suppose he just doesn’t have the fasted metabolism Any recommendations for a dieting regimen?

Ok just wanted to make sure the dubia are not getting a higher than recommended protein diet.

How often and how many feeders are you feeding?

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

Ok just wanted to make sure the dubia are not getting a higher than recommended protein diet.

How often and how many feeders are you feeding?

I offer him food about every other day. Around 3 feeders. He doesn’t always want to eat though…

 

[Beman]

I offer him food about every other day. Around 3 feeders. He doesn’t always want to eat though…

Thats pretty normal for a healthy weight cham. Consider skipping two days between feedings. See if he starts slowly dropping grams.

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

Send good vibes! Vet appointment in an hour.

 

[Bazelthechameleon]

So according to the vet he looks very healthy and has a strong grip, no physical ailments, etc. and they wouldn’t be worried about him if I didn’t note his change in behavior. They’re running a fecal and will get back to me and told me to change out his UVB light for good measure so we can cover all the bases that may be causing it. They also said it could be hormonal fluctuations that could cause the change in behavior. They said to contact them again if the behavior persists after these changes are made. They also were slightly concerned about how much stuck shed he had. They recommended misting him one more time a day and helping him out with a wet qtip when there’s little spots of shed he can’t get off. They were quite rough with him which concerned me a little but they assured me it was necessary to perform the exam. I almost couldn’t watch because I was concerned about them hurting him since he’s so delicate.