Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going to call & take our baby Jackson's (approx. 12 wks., 3" SVL) to the vet tomorrow; he's just not doing well @ all. We got him 2 wks. ago this Tuesday, & he's been on a hunger strike. We moved his cage (65g Reptarium with plastic to back wall, 1 hibiscus, 1 ficus, various sized twigs, drip system & ultrasonic humidifier) to a low-activity room, decreased the size of his crix (to 1/8" & 1/4" & offered wax worms, but all to no avail. Hubby did see him eat one cricket a couple of nights ago, so we were very careful to keep count of how many we put in. It appeared, by count, that he had eaten a couple yesterday, & we thought the strike may be over. Upon counting tonight, however, I realized he hadn't eaten any. Those crix can hide so well! He's only poo'd a couple of times, & that was around last weekend. He's been active & alert until this evening, except for napping through the day, which I know they don't normally do. We're getting in some fruitflies & meal worms Tuesday. He has, however, been drinking like an alcoholic (15-30 minute shower everyday in addition to 2 or 3 20-30 minute sprayings/day.) He's only lost 1 gram, but his poor little legs look like a skeleton. It's very painful for us to see him wasting away. I tried to give him some Pedialyte earlier, but I'm not sure he got any down.
Anyway, thanks for listening; I'm open to any suggestions anyone may have that might help until we get him to the vet.

P. S. His temps have been mid-70s in the day, with 83-85 basking, & mid-60s @ night. Can't seem to get humidity above 65-70%, but I'm checking my hygrometer now to see what it reads in a closed bathroom with a warm shower running. I've also been taking him outside everyday; our humidity levels in Indiana have been running 100%.
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™

Did you try hooking up a plastic dish to his enclosure, i tie mine to the side so i can put the insects in there so i can keep track in what my baby chameleons are eating this is easier, plus dont mist your baby direct as this causes stress mine hide when i mist there enclosure, just spray on the leaves and sides of his enclosure. Hopefully this will help a little but take him vets anyway just in case of parasites.

Thank you for replying! I plan on trying the cup-feeding tomorrow; I've also been very careful not to mist him directly. When he's in the shower, he's on a ficus & the shower head is aimed so that the water is hitting the wall & bouncing back onto the plant. Also, he's only turning his dark stress coloration when I'm moving him to the shower or outside; otherwise, he's a light to normal olive color.

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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™

How old is he again, is that him in the pic? I hope everything is fine, i have 2 4 month old Tavetas ive only had them for 2 weeks and they where healthy and very energetic they eat like crazy. They are only 2 inches thats why im asking the age of yours.

the guy said he was around 10 wks; that was 2 wks ago so my best guestimate is 12 wks. The breeder had 3 or 4 of them left & said they were all eating like crazy; he suggested throwing about 20 crix in @ a time, then throwing in another 20 whenever there were only 5 or 6 left. The pic is when we first got him out of the shipping box.
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™

Dont mind me asking where did you get him? his big for 12 weeks lol but maybe its the breed?

I was thinking the same thing...

It does look way too big to be a 12 week old.

My Jax were that size after about a year.

Try moving his cage to a room where he can look out a window, maybe a different plant, more places to hide. Sometimes just the simple changes are all that are needed. We had a wild caught that took four different cages until he finally started eating on his own.
Be careful about just throwing in lots of crix. They will munch on your cham when its asleep. Put a carrot or slice of orange in the bottom for the crix to eat. I you can find a grasshopper or butterfly that sometimes gets them going. Cup feeding is a good way to monitor their food intake. Just pinch the hoppers off the crix and they will stay in the cup.

Hoe this helps
Yosemite
Reptayls Ltd.

>>I'm going to call & take our baby Jackson's (approx. 12 wks., 3" SVL) to the vet tomorrow; he's just not doing well @ all. We got him 2 wks. ago this Tuesday, & he's been on a hunger strike. We moved his cage (65g Reptarium with plastic to back wall, 1 hibiscus, 1 ficus, various sized twigs, drip system & ultrasonic humidifier) to a low-activity room, decreased the size of his crix (to 1/8" & 1/4" & offered wax worms, but all to no avail. Hubby did see him eat one cricket a couple of nights ago, so we were very careful to keep count of how many we put in. It appeared, by count, that he had eaten a couple yesterday, & we thought the strike may be over. Upon counting tonight, however, I realized he hadn't eaten any. Those crix can hide so well! He's only poo'd a couple of times, & that was around last weekend. He's been active & alert until this evening, except for napping through the day, which I know they don't normally do. We're getting in some fruitflies & meal worms Tuesday. He has, however, been drinking like an alcoholic (15-30 minute shower everyday in addition to 2 or 3 20-30 minute sprayings/day.) He's only lost 1 gram, but his poor little legs look like a skeleton. It's very painful for us to see him wasting away. I tried to give him some Pedialyte earlier, but I'm not sure he got any down.
>>Anyway, thanks for listening; I'm open to any suggestions anyone may have that might help until we get him to the vet.
>>
>>P. S. His temps have been mid-70s in the day, with 83-85 basking, & mid-60s @ night. Can't seem to get humidity above 65-70%, but I'm checking my hygrometer now to see what it reads in a closed bathroom with a warm shower running. I've also been taking him outside everyday; our humidity levels in Indiana have been running 100%.
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>>God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
>>Pogoniacs™

...Alex (pnthrcham) in CA (not sure I'm allowed to post last names). He's 3" SVL; 6" STL. I put a small dish of greens in for the crix to munch on, & only put about 4-5 crix in @ a time for him. Someone suggested it may be a possible respiratory infection from watering so much.
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™

Taking him to the vet is a good idea. If he's not eating like he should, theres no way you're going to get him back to health.

If the cham has already lost weight, and doesn't take advanage of available prey, you're going to have to intervene and get nutrition into him. (The vet will definatly be able to help and educate) Otherwise his immune system will not be able to fight any type of an infection, and eventually his symptoms will be terminal.

If there is an URI, it's probably secondary to whatever is ailing him right now.

By your description, you are doing everything right. I can't find anything in your care that I would change..

Since you have had him, was he doing fine..eating and drinking properly, and then started to fade?

Is there any chance that this chameleon could have been wild caught?

Joe

...that he was wild-caught; I don't really know anything about the breeder & haven't recognized him yet if he's on this forum. He stated that both, father & babies, were captive-bred; his classified ad has pics of the baby & the father. He said all the babies were "eating small crickets like crazy."

Thanks for re-assuring me on my husbandry; we have beardies & igs, but this is our first cham & I've been extremely challenged with him. I don't have an appt. with the vet yet, but I'm going to "beg, borrow, or steal" to get him seen tomorrow.
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™

There are some people that will sell a wild caught animal as captive bred. Based on the picture vs. the supposed age of the chameleon, I would say there is something fishy.

If you can find some feces before you head to the vet, take some with you. You may want the vet to do a check on the sample for parasites.

Moving your foilage around, adding vines.. as said by another poster..is common practice on acclimating a new cham. (especially a sub-adult) Sometimes it takes a week or so for the chameleon to come around and get settled in.

At this point, I would get the seller involved with the issue. If he did, in fact, sell you a wild-caught animal then you absolutely have a grievance. (I am speculating on this whole scenerio - please look into it further before making
any kind of accusation)

Let me know if I can assist any further.

Joe

...emailing me for more info? My primary addy is ted6199-at-hotmail-dot-com; I get emails @ that addy faster than my other 2. Thanks VERY much!
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™

...he's drank properly the whole time we've had him, but hasn't eaten anything, except 1 cricket, that we've seen.
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™

Just for your peace of mind, I would definitely suggest taking him to the vet, and do a 'healthy chameleon' check, and while you're at it, do a fecal exam. You still have time, try to find a vet in your area that specializes in exotic lizards. That being said...
You've had him 2 weeks, he's drinking normally, you've seen him eat one cricket, but you're not 100% sure how much he's actually eating. Might I suggest that perhaps you might be worrying a bit too much over him?
Give him more privacy, clean out his cage of stray crickets, and try cup feeding. Do an actual count of crickets he's eating. While you're cleaning his cage, count how many dropping you find. They won't be as small as you might think coming from such a small animal, if he's eating well!
Anyways, good luck, hope you and your Jax are good!
>>...he's drank properly the whole time we've had him, but hasn't eaten anything, except 1 cricket, that we've seen.
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>>God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
>>Pogoniacs™
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Just for your peace of mind, I would definitely suggest taking him to the vet, and do a 'healthy chameleon' check, and while you're at it, do a fecal exam. You still have time, try to find a vet in your area that specializes in exotic lizards. That being said...
You've had him 2 weeks, he's drinking normally, you've seen him eat one cricket, but you're not 100% sure how much he's actually eating. Might I suggest that perhaps you might be worrying a bit too much over him?
Give him more privacy, clean out his cage of stray crickets, and try cup feeding. Do an actual count of crickets he's eating. While you're cleaning his cage, count how many dropping you find. They won't be as small as you might think coming from such a small animal, if he's eating well!
Anyways, good luck, hope you and your Jax are good!
Thanks for replying! I'm leaving in about an hour for the vet's; it's about a 70 mile drive. I'll be posting an update at the top of the forum later this evening.
Actually, we have been counting how many crix we put in & he's not eating any. Although I naturally worry over my loved ones (ppl & animals) too much, I don't think that's the case this time. There's been no poo for almost 10 days now, & his little legs look like tiny sticks with skin on them; not how they looked when he first arrived.
Gotta go now; will be back on later. Thanks for everyone's help & well-wishes!
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™