Chameleon owners out there??
 

I recently was given a male panther chameleon. His owner was no longer able to take care of him. I'm not sure if he is in good health or not- never having owned a chameleon before. He does a couple of things that make me think he is very weak. If there is anyone out there that is familiar with chameleons, I'd love to ask you a few questions.

THANKS!!

Hi there Pisces20. I don't own a chameleon, but I think they are the coolest lizzards out there! Where about are you located? I know of a couple of reptile supply stores that might be able to help you. What's he doing that has you worried? What kind of enclosure is he in? I, for one, would love to see some pics! :D

I am in Burlington, Ontario. He is in a screened enclosure, with a large plant (it is a plant that is safe for chameleons). His age is estimated at 4 years. He has a uv light and a window and I have been monitoring room temperature. He drinks well, twice a day or more when I mist him. What concerns me, is when he is eating crickets or mealworms, it takes him about 4 tounge flicks to capture his prey. His aim seems to be very bad. As well, he doesn't seem very steady on his feet. I have seen him "fall" twice now off the plant. This morning he kinda fell and slid, ending up with his nose pressed into the bottom of his cage, and his body straight up behind him. We tried to pick him up, but he hissed and tried to bite. We realized he was upset and left the room. 10 min later he had righted himself. It is just the fact he seems kind of weak, lacking aim with his feeding, and not too steady on his feet. I am trying to figure out if this is normal or an indicator of a problem. Thanks :) I will get some pics of him up. He is quite impressive, a blue-green with white spots running down his side...

[QUOTE=Pisces20]I recently was given a male panther chameleon. His owner was no longer able to take care of him. I'm not sure if he is in good health or not- never having owned a chameleon before. He does a couple of things that make me think he is very weak. If there is anyone out there that is familiar with chameleons, I'd love to ask you a few questions.

THANKS!![/QUOTE]

Hello! My son and daughter-in-law have one that is really healthy. Here is her email and you can ask her any questions you want.



Heather and her 3 Golden Girls

Thank you so much!!!!! :thumbs up

Hello, I had a female veiled chameleon that passed away at 5 years of age. Sadly the life of a chameleon is not long. When JD was starting to look old and sick she would not eat, often be near the bottom of her tank, and would sometimes fall. We think she may have had an egg stuck inside of her as well and this could have attributed to her death, but our vet still leans towards old age. As for your little one not gettting crickets on the first try, this can be normal. They do sometimes miss despite their great vision. As for the falling, I would be concerned. Try lowering the branches and climbing areas in his enclosure so if he does fall again no bones will be broken or damage done. I hope this helps a bit and wish I could suggest more. You may want to visit your local petstore or do some research on the net. There are many different webrings on the net with dedicated chameleon owners that would be glad to help you. Good luck

Have you been to Reptilia? They might be able to help you. Here's a fact sheet from their website:
[url]http://www.reptilia.org/care_sheets/lizards/csheets_liz_panther.htm[/url]

Good luck!

Thanks everyone. I have read a lot on the 'net, but there isn't a whole lot about the behaviour patterns I have experienced with my little guy. I appreciate the email contact :) It could just be that he is getting old and loosing his balance a lot. I have gathered some more pieces of wood to put in his enclosure to make his getting around easier. AND when I take my ribbon-eating cat to the vet this afternoon I am going to ask some advice.
Thanks!!

I would love to see some pics. I'm a huge reptile fan, though i currently don't have any because i live with my mother and she is funny about them. I'v never had a chameleon, only small lizards such as anoles. I'm always afraid to get what i call "advanced" lizards because i'm afraid i'd kill them, they have such strict requirments to be healthy it indimidates me a little. One day I would like to have a room and make it into an iguana room and get one of the large iguanas. :D

good evening Pisces20! My mother in law mentioned to me about your chameleon and I thought i should post as soon as possible.
First i have a few questions..
1. What are you dusting your crickets with and what are you gutloading your crickets with?
-It is VERY important that your chameleon gets the right vitamins and such that is needed. I strongly Suggest the Product REP-CAL. for both the Calcium with vitd3(PINK LABEL) and Herptivite multivitamins(BLUE LABEL).You also have to be sure to gut load your crickets or eles they have NO nutritional value to yoru chameleon at all.
2. What lights do you have all together?
-Again this is important for your chameleon to digest the food and to absorp the vit d. JUST LIKE HUMANS...We use the REPTI-SUN 5.0 uva/uvb light..A PLAN UV LIGHT IS NOT ENOUGH!.Also you need to have at least one heat light with approx a 100 watt bulb or something that keeps temps between 85-95 degrees during the day and approx.65 at night.
3.Other than misting do you use a dripper system of some sort?
-Be sure that your humitity is above 50.you can get both humitity and temp gauges at your local pet store if you don't have them already.

Now to answer some of your questions
A chameleon missing the prey is not always something to worry about, but when its happening alot its called LAZY TONGUE. this happens when a chameleon is feed by hand/cup and they don't have to work for the food, its good "tongue exercise" for them to have to chase down the food and it makes them work the tongue. if you hand/cup feed there is nothing wrong with it and in fact we do it as well but we tend to feed her some that way and then dump the rest in her cage for her to look for, this works well for us.
Its difficult to find a vet and can be costly but with the problems that your mentioning with him being weak i would really suggest a vet visit. Im not the most experinced but from the things you have mentioned it does kinda sound like something i heard called MBD. i often visit a reptile site called [url]www.petreptiles.com[/url] THEY ARE WONDERFUL THERE i do hope you check it out there are very many wonderful owners with so much information to share so please visit us there and i hope this helped you..
GOOD LUCK AND PLEASE KEEP UPDATING US ON YOUR PROGRESS AND SOME PICTURES!
SLICKS_MOMMA

call this place
 

I used to live in Niagara, near the Seaway mall. At one time they had a huge reptile exhibit there. It was run by one of the pet store guys consultants who is known to be a reptile expert. If you call this store and tell them that you are looking for the reptile guy, they should be able to get you in touch with him. He's excellent and very knowledgeable. Hope it helps your chameleon out.
Pets 4 Us
905-714-0641
800 Niagara Street,
Welland, ON L3C 5Z4

Thanks Goldenmom for your info :) I am dusting the crickets and gut loading them. I can't remember what the stuff is called (I am at work right now, not home). I am using the stuff that was given to me with the chameleon. He has a good reptile light, and the enclosure is right beside a window. I have a space heater with a timer and pre-set temps, so that is regulated on a 24 hour basis. I have a humidity gage and have been monitoring that as well. I don't have a drip cup, but my boyfriend and I work opposite shifts, so he gets misted a min of 3 times a day. He usually licks the water from the leaves in the morning and evening. We were told that he likes to eat raw beef hanging from a thread- but he hasn't really shown any interest in it with us. My usual vet does examine exotics, so I am thinking of bringing him in for a check-up. I'm not sure what kind of care he got from his former owner. He gave him up because he did not have enough time to look after him properly.

Thank you :)

no problem, when you get a chance you should look into a heat light instead of a heater because they need to bask under that light to help digest there food and if he can't do that it could cause some problems SPACE HEATERS WILL NOT WORK FOR THIS. you can have your lights all hooked up to a timer as well which i think you mentioned but i would really get rid of that space heater. I have mentioned your chameleon in the chat group i usually use and im hoping to hear soon but i find it VERY odd that your chameleon should have raw beef, maybe its just something ive never heard of, which is completly possible. There are a few different fruits and veggies you could try to feed your chameleon some will, some wont. i will look for that list and maybe you could try it out.
a dripper is always good to have even when misting a few times a day. They are easy to make as well, just get a bucket, drill a small hole into the bottom and put a tube/hose about eighth of an inch into it..they even carry them in the pet stores like petsmart..its just a good idea so when your not home they still have something to drink.

i was just messaged by someone eles concerning the beef question here is what he posts.
[COLOR=Blue]i have never heard of it. I do know that some of the larger chameleons in the wild will eat smaller lizards and frogs. So some get meat in their diets. I don't know if the chameleons digestive system can handle the beef compared to frog and lizard meat. I would reccomend against it unless a vet said it's ok. Stick with gut loaded and calcium dusted insects........along with UV lighting[/COLOR]..
he has a good suggestion maybe ask your vet when your there.
good luck again!

Update...
 

Poor Mr. Camo ended his life in June of this year. He just got slower and slower until one day, he crawled up on the floor of his enclosure and went to sleep :(

But- as fate would have it, shortly after that a veiled chameleon, less than a year old came into my life, needing a home. This guy is very healthy, and eats his insects with vigor!

Sorry to hear about Mr. Camo. My roommate has a veiled. I just wanted to add, or let you in on a secret. When using a screened cage, place ice cubes on the top of the cage. When they melt, your little guy will lick them. He does this for his guy and loves it.

hey, i own a panther chameleon! I've had my pretty Bert for just about two years now and he's doing swell!

Please add me to MSN: [email]gabber_kitty@hotmail.com[/email] if you have questions!