Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi! I bought a pair of panther chameleons a little more than a month ago. The male has since doubled in size, is showing some nice blues and eats a ton! I had the female in the same cage as him(they were only about a month and a half old and the cage was plenty big for the two of them with mulitple basking sites and lots of folige) and she was doing fine. She never liked eating mealworms, but she ate crickets, and I thought everything was fine. Well, about two weeks ago, I noticed that she wouldn't eat anymore and was very inactive, she slept during much of the day and didn't roam around like healthy chameleons do. I hadn't changed one thing the whole time, so I was kinda shocked. I emailed the breeder and he recomended seperating them because the male was probably intimidating the female. I also ordered a mercury vapor bulb (which has not yet arived). Well, she has been in a seperate cage for over a week now, but she has not improved. She rarely eats, I have meal worms and house flies and crickets to ofer her, but rarely does she eat. I think she has a problem hunting becasue she takes forever before she shoots the bug, which is a problem because she is also afraid of the hemostats I use to keep the bugs still, and the only bug she eats(house flies) can walk out of any container I put them in (I tear off their wings so they can't fly, but they can walk on anything!) Sorry this is so long, but wanted to make sure I covered everything. Does anyone have any ideas? Should I try to force feed her, I did this once with a monitor, but she is so litle I am afraid it would do more harm than good. Please anyone with any idea help me! I know this might just be a genetic thing that went wrong(since she is so young) and there is nothing I can do, but if there is anything that I can do, I would like to do it and try to save her! Thanks in advance to all who reply!
Mike

Obvoiously, make a run through everything about the care and make sure it's right. Babies are more sensitive to proper care than adults are (lighting, temps, water, humidity etc). Make sure she's got the right amount of heat also.... Something like a 40-50W spot bulb sitting on the top of the screen with a basking site about 3" beneath is what I use for young panthers. Also, I would try to come up with some silkworms, since they are slow and won't run away from her. They'll kinda just sit there and she can take as long as she needs to catch them. I would hate to try and forcefeed a baby panther unless you really have to (after 2-3 weeks of not eating). Give her some natural sun if you can too. It seems to help my recovering panthers alot. Taking her to a vet may not do much since she's so small... Not a whole lot can be done. I've had a similar thing happen and I was just patient and did the things I just said and eventually she came through. I think my biggest problem was using a 30W bulb instead of a 50, which I switched to. She was 3 months old at the time, and she's about 2 months behind in growth. But she's strong and healthy now and she'll be breeding soon. Also try not to handle her much. Just let her relax and keep stress low.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
www.BLUEBEASTREPTILE.com

First thing you should do is take her to a reptile vet.
Although you gave info no one here can/should give you medical advice without personally seeing her.
As for force feeding i wouldn't do it. Chameleons are very different from other herps and forcing food into her will likely exacerbate the situation.
Get her to a good reptile vet.
Good Luck..

If she was intimidated by the male she may have not been drinking enough water either. Make sure she is well hydrated. Mist her with warm water several times a day and make sure you see her drinking. If she is dehydrated she may stop eating too. Also it is dangerous to force feed a dehydrated animal without making sure you get her hydrated first.

Just like tyler said she is way to small for a vet to do any blood work or anything except look at her outward appearance and ask how you take care of her. They can also do a fecal but thats it. I would not set her up for an appointment, its a waist of about $50. Just tell them you need a fecal done and take "a few" fresh samples to them.
Definatly make sure she is drinking. that is most importaint.
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.1 Veileds
1.0 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther