Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My veiled (Mittens 4 months old) has been on a hunger strike for the last 5 days (although I suspect he's eating some of the plants in the cage). He dosen't look emaciated or bony just thinner than I'd like and since I found out how fast this can progress if left unchecked with my last cham I'm nervous.

The cage set-up is as follows.

A 4'x4'x6' cage
A heating/UVA lamp that I leave on for 12 hrs a day.
A 2 bulb 48" fixture with 2 Full spectrum bulbs (not a decent source of UV)
2 pothos plants that I am sure are free of pesticides.
A clear feeding bowl that currently has 2 crickets and 6 mealworms in it.

Daytime Air temp is 75 and the basking spot is about 95. At night the temp drops to about 70 and the humidity varies from 50% to 60%.I offer him veggies and fruit although he has never eaten any before other than little nibbles I find in the plants in the cage. The rest of the cage is fully decorated with fake vines and such. I spray 2 times a day with warm water (mittens comes into the spray and laps/cleans eyes). Other than that I leave him alone and he is in a no traffic zone of the house so stress shouldn't be an issue.

Now comes the speculation. I've ruled out Bone disease simply because he is getting good amounts of UV and Calicum and of course isn't showing any of the signs. It's not dehydration because I see him drink quite a bit twice a day and again there are no signs. My only conclusion is a bacterial infection in which case I'd have to take some poo to the vet to confirm.(a daunting task with such a big cage) my only thoughts on this is that there are no strange stools (color or runny) or funny smells.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated and I'll keep you updated.

You said the lights on the cage consist of "A heating/UVA lamp that I leave on for 12 hrs a day"...and "A 2 bulb 48" fixture with 2 Full spectrum bulbs (not a decent source of UV)" and you said..."he is getting good amounts of UV"....so where does he get the UVB needed to produce vitamin D3 so that he can use the calcium? Does he get direct sunlight? Do you dust the insects with a vitamin D3 powder? Gutload the insects?

You said you'd "have to take some poo to the vet to confirm.(a daunting task with such a big cage)"...is there a substrate in the cage? Has he been pooping since he stopped eating?

Why do you think he has a bacterial infection?

Yeah sorry if I was vague. I dust the crickets as well as gut load them with veggies and dog food (for extra protein). Also I take him outside for 15-20 min everyday. So he should be getting good amounts of calcium.

The vet said there were no parasites or infections of any kind and was stumped. Basically he said to get him more water and see if that helps. He's in day 7 of the hunger strike now. I'm really not sure what to do. I think in 2 days I'm gonna force feed him (I have a method that consists of basically gently clasping the back of the jaw untill he hisses then chuck a meal worm in there. If you have a suggestion let me know). If I can get the time I might post some pics as well.

Oh and yes he has been pooping (although very little) so I'm pretty sure nothing is impacted.

You said..."I dust the crickets as well as gut load them with veggies and dog food (for extra protein)"...I never use dog food as gutload because it usually has quite a bit of phosphorous and I'm not sure if the vitamin A it contains is preformed. Preformed vitamin A can build up in the system and contribute to MBD. You didn't say what you dust the crickets (brands? vitamins? calcium? D3?)

Good to hear that he gets some sunshine! If he's outside a lot then I would NOT dust with a D3 powder. Vitamin D from sunlight is self-regulated by the body usually...but D3 obtained from dusting isn't, so you have to be careful with the D3 dusting.

Vitamin A, vitamin D3, calcium and phosphorous all need to be balanced for good bone health. Here are some articles about it (there are other good articles on this site too...
http://www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html

Here's a gutload that has been recommended by lots of people...
http://adcham.com/html/husbandry/gutload.html

And there's lots more information about keeping chameleons on these sites...
http://adcham.com/html/husbandry/gutload.html
http://www.chameleonnews.com/

You said.."The vet said there were no parasites or infections of any kind and was stumped. Basically he said to get him more water and see if that helps"...one fecal is not always enough when checking for parasites. Sometimes they are not shedding so they don't show up in the fecal.

Don't just chuck a meal worm in there...you might choke him and he needs to chew it IMHO. Force feeding him might keep him alive for a few days extra but if there is something wrong with him, it needs to be looked after. Also, what I do before I resort to force feeding is "assist feeding"...while he is drinking (his mouth will open and shut), I stick an insect in between his teeth as he drinks. If a chameleon is very sick, it will likely spit it out.

Wish I could tell you what is wrong, but I'm not a vet...so I can only offer suggestions of what to check in the husbandry.

Thanks I'll try some of that stuff out and update as needed.

Turns out is was impaction. So I started getting him lots of water. I mean lots. About 2 cc's every hour. And it worked. He passed the blockage with no problem (it was pretty gross but there was no blood . So now I have to get him bulked back up. I think he's getting tired of mealworms and crickets so I was wondering about alternatives. Has anyone had any experience with moths? Because he loves watching them fly arround.

What I've learned form this that I hope others can use is that the key to taking care of impaction is lots of water. Don't worry you can't over hydrate them and most likely they won't wanna drink so take your time and coax them.

You were very lucky that you got him through this so easily. Most impactions are almost impossible to get to move.

You could try silkworms, super worms, phoenix worms, butter worms, waxworms (fatty, so go easy on the waxworms), greens, veggies, fruit. (If I didn't tell you which greens, veggies and fruit you could use, let me know.) I don't know if he will take moths or not.
I don't use mealworms because they are very hard to digest.

Hope that he will bulk up and not become impacted again. If the problem isn't corrected it could very well happen again.

Thanks for all your help. It's been about a week and while he hasn't bulked up yet, he is eating and drinking normally again. He won't touch fruits or veggies, but I keep a variety in his cage anyway. A few days ago I cought a baby preying mantis, cleaned it off, and as soon as it got into his cage he ate it. So thing are looking up for my veiled and as soon as I find my camera cord I hope to get some pics up of before, during, and after his impaction so people can see the signs.