Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a new addition to my reptile family. A panther cham. He is about a year old and raised by a greta breeder. I have had him for about 2 weeks now.

Here is the issue. He has some orange in his feces/urate it gies from white to some orange to the regular brown (brown is the majority of course. He also hangs his mouth open once and a while during the day (top of cage at 85-87 rest of cage at 77-82.

I made sure to set up his habitat almost exactly like the one he had at the breeders. He eats like a champ (10 to 14 crickets a day a few silkworms as snak every other day or so, and one day of 4-6 silks only) I have been dusting every other day using a power sun bulb (big enclosure) and have a Mr. Moister misting system with aquarium heater (80 water) going off 4 times a day 1 or 2 mins each.

He has been to the vet and looked good a little pale and a little skinny but that is to be expected on a stressful move in to a new habitat, doc says. Gave him Baytril to fight of any infection.

Should I be worried? could this be something more? Vet did not hear about the orange urate because he had not had that issue yet.

Any ideas? thanks a bunch!

sounds like his cage is too hot. temps should be in the 70s aside from the basking spot.

sounds like to much water for starters. I have a ambilobe male and female and I only water once maybe twice a day.all so I only give mine silkworms twice a week and i only give one maybe two worms.but there like three inchs long.I dont think it your heat because mine is out side and the temps been up prety hot and mines doing fine. I do give him drinking water two times a day.sounds like it could be from the baytril it did not have that problem till you took it to the vet right.its not the powder i you's that every day also. sounds like he just got a little strest out maybe good luck.

Thanks for the replies. Boris is an Ambilobe as well! How long do you mist them during each watering session? DO you let the leaves go completely dry? Yes the issue started right after the vet so I think it must be the baytril as well.
Thanks again for your help.

yes I let the leaves dry up. I have mine out side on the portch so he get a lot of sun pluse I put 3 kinds of plants in to give him some cover and I find him down on the bottom onder the plants just looking out. then he will go back to the top and look around for a while or he will get some thing to eat as well.I do not spray him when he first gets up he dont like that you will be able to tell what he likes and dont like you just have to watch him for a while. dont feed to many silk worm or they get spould. I all so have to kind of light on him floresent and spot and the natural sun light.but back to the water he likes the water in the afternoon to cool off and he will stay right there and let me spray him and when he's done he will walk away . 1)10 month ambilobe male 1)8 month ambilobe female 1)13 month veil male 2)4 month veil males 2)10 month veil females 1)2 year old veil female

I forgot to ask you where did you get your ambilobe from and if you dont mind me asking how much did you pay. the male I got i paid $ 350 when he was a little guy and he was a wild caught one and he is doing fine i all ready mated him once. but now I could sell him for around 600 or 700 I have not seen one better no where.I got him from extrem reptiles the female I got the guy was selling them for 100 and I did not have the money or I would have bought them all she is a little mean she bites and she all ways will no matter how good you are to her she's a biter.she laid 15 egg's on her first clutch and she never stoped eating I got a new book called Chameleons their care and breeding. and it is realy good you might want to check it out it's by linda J Davison good luck.

Hi Scott
I got my Ambilobe from screameleons.com great people. Paid 495 for him about 1 year old he is doing great now! Thanks for the advice.

Hi - I have a veiled not a panther so I can't comment on your temps, but orange in urates is often a sign of dehydration. You want to see creamy/white (and of course the brown solids). A not if orange at the tip is OK but if there is a higher % of orange than white you need to rethink your hydration methods. Other than misting does he have a dripper? have you seen him drinking at all?

The open mouth is gaping which is the normal way they cool off. What are you dusting with? Are you gutloading your crix? If you are gutloading well and giving a varied diet (crix, silkies, supers, etc.) you should need minimal dustng.

it sounds like the baytril was given without any real problem and I don't know oif that is such a good idea or not.

Well , there's my 2 cents!

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Why was he given Baytril without a specific diagnosis? Not a good idea...Baytril is hard on kidneys so DO NOT decrease his water!! I have never heard of a cham getting too much water. I don't think you can overdo this. The issue here is whether or not the cage can dry out between mistings due to poor air flow. It is much easier to dehydrate a cham than it is to overhydrate one especially one that has been given antibiotics recently. Some orange in the urates is very common. It is a sign that the urates are a bit more concentrated and have been "sitting" in the intestine for a longer time. If anything he needs to drink a bit more to dilute it. Also check the urate for hardness. If the texture is soft he's fine. If the texture is hard he's dehydrated. Gaping for a few minutes after or during a morning bask is normal.

Thanks mangreat feedback I did not know that about Baytril. He was a little pale and the doc thought he might have a cold so she diagnosed only .2cc or .02cc (1st line on a small syring) every other day for 5 doses. Just injected a silk worm with it. Good news is the oranges is almost completely gone and the urate and feces is not hard and not too soft!! Yeah!!! His last dose was today. Should the leaves be able to get dry after misting or should I set up the misting so that it is always a little wet on the leaves? I can program the mister up to 14 times a day right now it goes off for 1 minute 6 times a day (9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm) It is hotest between 3-5pm. Thanks to everyone again for there help I am pretty sure he is pulling through. He also got an hour of supervised outside sun on Friday Saturday and Sunday! The sun is amazing his color is back and he is very active!

Rather than setting it so leaves are always wet, use your humidity gauge to set the cycles. You want to keep the humidity above 60%, but it can cycle from a low of 60% to over 80% just fine. As long as misting gives him a chance to drink at leasure (being able to lick droplets off leaves for 15 minutes or so before they are too dry) at least once a day he should be OK. Again, watch the urates. They can be an indicator of basic hydration without having to handle him. Chams can be pale for several reasons including body temp, stress of a new home, age. Trips out in the sun will really help him.