what the heck did howard poop?

linnette

New Member
howard a jackson been doing great, then suddenly seemed to lose his appetite. then he started shedding so i wasn't too concerned then he left this on his favorite basking shelf. he mainly eats crickets but i just got some roaches and he has eaten maybe 4 over a couple of days. lots of liquid that soaked into wood...
 

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Hi Welcome to the forum! Has he had a parasite check? Also what is his enclosure humidity and temps during the day and evening?
 
Hi Welcome to the forum! Has he had a parasite check? Also what is his enclosure humidity and temps during the day and evening?
thank you grannyK. hmmmm its been very cold here at nite (well to us ) 51 ish... during day gets up into the 70s. humidity,i am guessing in the 60 to 70 range. i found Howard about 3 months ago walking down the driveway in pretty bad shape. mostly black skinny as a bread knife. so much bulldozing going on we decided to keep him and fatten him up. used to find these all the time but not so much anymore, but he is in the same environment he was born in, his big cage is on a screened lanai so same temp/humidity he has lived in. we did decide to get him a basking lamp and he found it the very first morning and now every morning we find him up there on his "sundeck" i have it come on at 6 to about 10 in the morning then the winter sun is full in his cage. he ate like crazy at first now slowed down. i read everything i could or i would have fainted when i woke up to that shedding, never seen it before... his cage is 5 feet tall and about 2.5 deep and wide all the plants native here. i dont know how to rotate the pic but it is standing up and not laying down. i never took him to the vet, i dont think we can legally keep them as pets here. i have only been able to get crickets and until i found them was chasing house spiders and whatever i could find. he seems hydrated, moves around alot and finally today he started eating and had another normal looking poop. that long funny white thing was huge maybe 2 inches... could it be a parasite?? anyway thank u for responding, we are older folks and really enjoying howard and his antics....aloha
 
What a story for you and him! 😄 I think the heat lamp was a good addition. Glad he seems normal acting. These little creatures grab hold of our hearts and don’t let go. They have personality and are surely smarter than we give them credit for.
Continued good luck with him and keeping him in safe quarters! 😉
 
thank you, yes we love Howard. so two days later there was another big white thing and howard looked like his insides were coming out. a prolapsed of some sort. again panicked and ran to internet and was rushing back to get his prolapsed part wet as per instructions and it went back on its own. so now we are waiting for a normal poop to happen. he always poops in the same spot... but i find myself checking on him all day instead of getting things done. he has slowed down on his eating but is a nice fatter look now and a nice color and is all over the cage but every morning under the heat lamp... i guess we will take it one day at a time, no one seemed to recognize that long slimy white thing and i couldn't find anything on line that it might be some sort of giant parasite.... anyway thank you for responding...
 
thank you, yes we love Howard. so two days later there was another big white thing and howard looked like his insides were coming out. a prolapsed of some sort. again panicked and ran to internet and was rushing back to get his prolapsed part wet as per instructions and it went back on its own. so now we are waiting for a normal poop to happen. he always poops in the same spot... but i find myself checking on him all day instead of getting things done. he has slowed down on his eating but is a nice fatter look now and a nice color and is all over the cage but every morning under the heat lamp... i guess we will take it one day at a time, no one seemed to recognize that long slimy white thing and i couldn't find anything on line that it might be some sort of giant parasite.... anyway thank you for responding...

Post pictures when you can for something to reference.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich
 
thank you, yes we love Howard. so two days later there was another big white thing and howard looked like his insides were coming out. a prolapsed of some sort. again panicked and ran to internet and was rushing back to get his prolapsed part wet as per instructions and it went back on its own. so now we are waiting for a normal poop to happen. he always poops in the same spot... but i find myself checking on him all day instead of getting things done. he has slowed down on his eating but is a nice fatter look now and a nice color and is all over the cage but every morning under the heat lamp... i guess we will take it one day at a time, no one seemed to recognize that long slimy white thing and i couldn't find anything on line that it might be some sort of giant parasite.... anyway thank you for responding...
 

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Word of advice…if you have a “prolapse” like that again…keep it moist with KY jelly not water and not Vaseline.

If one ever does not recede, get the chameleon to a good chameleon vet asap. You can try using sugar water to shrink the swelling of the parts that are (moist/pink/protruding) sticking out to help them retract.
 
thank you so much. it was "out" for a few hours (the prolapse) i think and went back in on its own. i will follow your advice if it happens again and have been asking around about a vet. i looked on line and it said you were not supposed to keep as pets so hoping vet wouldn't call agriculture people on me and take howard. he seems ok, finally stopped shedding, isnt eating as much as when i found him but is pretty round now instead of terribly skinny. he spends all day traveling his enclosure and if i get too close he opens his mouth wide at me. i hope i did the right thing bringing him in from the forest,
 
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