Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a one year male panther that was in good health until about four days ago.The cage set follows the standard practice of care.Every morning ,after he drinks ,he stands up on his hindlegs and has these convulsions for about two minutes,afterwards he seems normal, but he is eating less and today he had some diarrhea. I am taking him to a vet today ,has anyone had any experiance with the vet Bruce Levine in Tustin Ca? Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be, I was thinking he might have pneumonia ,because of the gulping and grasping after he drinks,although it does not happen when he eats something. PS:I have been giving him dusted insects with rep cal calcium one or two times a week and miner all every second week.Any comments would be appreciated.

It sounds like he's really filling his stomach with water every time he drinks. When a cham is "full" they usually tip their head straight up and gulp to avoid stomach contents from backing up into their esophagus. In contrast, if he has an URI he will sit dark and quiet with his head straight up gulping over and over for a longer time, puffing out the throat, heavy breathing, stop eating or drinking, and basking without changing color as he warms up. Drinking a lot of water can cause loose stools too. Is the cage air drier than normal right now? He could be overly thirsty if the climate is too dry (winter heating) and is trying to make up for low level but constant dehydration.

A comment on your supplements...I see 2 calcium sources but NO vitamins. Both RepCal and MinerAl are primarily mineral sources (one will do), but I don't see vitamin dusting in your schedule. Both mineral dusts have added D3, but nothing else. Check the labels. Depending on how good your gutload is (most are not nearly complete enough) you should give a vitamin dusting about once a month to fill in any gaps in the gutload. Herptivite is OK.

Thanks for the input, your comment is correct , in that he keeps his head up , and I continue to spray him and he continues to drink , which is probably causing him to cough a bit.I do not think it is URI as he has very light color and is active during the day time. I also provide the vitiman dusting ( Rep cal Herptivite ) so I think I am okay there. The vet did notice some inflamation in the back of his throat , he indicated I should increase the overall heat temparature surrounding the cage as the room can have some cold drafts during the winter period. He also treated him for parasites ( gave panucur(?) ) which he treats most chameleon on a yearly preventive measure. What is your thoughts on this preventive step , eventhough we had no indications he had worms and he was not wild caught. The vet indicated that he could obtain the parasites from normal feeding of the standard insect fare.

Mine get de wormed about once a year. They can also do a fecal test and only de worm if he actually has worms. Some of mine have not needed the yearly worming and have been free of parasites. I usually prefer to get them a fecal sample and only de worm when necessary but the med he used is pretty safe so it is up to you and your vet.

thanks for the update

I agree here. Almost all chams will have a few parasites at any one time due to the foods they eat. I doubt any are completely clear of them. Parasites are a problem if the cham is stressed or ill, but they can carry around some without harm if they are healthy. I do fecal checks every year or if a cham is losing weight and only treat if any one population seems high. Panacur is relatively safe to use, but I have the check done first rather than "shotgun".