My jacksons stopped eating!!!

[PsychoBillyNiki]

What would cause jacksons to stop eating? Mine stopped taking their mealworms and refuse crickets. HELP!!!!

 

[Dave W.]

Howdy,

Possibilities are long...

food item boredom
hydration
temps
stress from external sources
soon to shed
overfed/overweight
undiagnosed illness
.
.
.
How long has it been since they ate "normally"?
Tell us about the critters and their environment and how you've been feeding/supplementing.

Tell us everything...

Dave Weldon

 

[PsychoBillyNiki]

Okay well Ive got two jacksons In a huge vertical cage I converted myself from an entertainment system. I had a water fall setup with a fogger but their poo clogged the waterfalls motor so ive been spraying them with a bottle whenever the humidity goes down. Theyve been refusing food for a couple days now. My female wont open her eyes. The male is shedding but hes underwieght I got him to eat a mealworm and two crickets yesterday but thats about it for a couple days. I supplement their food with the calci-vita dust. Plus he looks like its an unhealthy shed only his top half is shedding. I have a small fan setup so that they can have circulation and I have UVB lighting on the top of the cage.

 

[Dave W.]

...I had a water fall setup with a fogger but their poo clogged the waterfalls...

...ive been spraying them with a bottle whenever the humidity goes down...

Theyve been refusing food for a couple days now.

My female wont open her eyes.

...I supplement their food with the calci-vita dust.

...I have a small fan setup so that they can have circulation and I have UVB lighting on the top of the cage.

Howdy,

A couple of quick notes before I have to dash back to work...!

Good that the waterfall is gone. Easy bacteria growth.

Your critters would benefit from long, warm water mistings. Try somewhere between 5-20 minutes of misting until they drink. They may not drink but usually if they are thirsty (or worse yet, dehydrated) they will begin to drink. Carefully mist them and their surroundings until they drink. Water temp 90-100F.

A couple of days without eating is not a problem. WHY they are not eating needs to be figure out. Illness or just tired of their food items.

Female's eyes closed is often a sure sign of impending doom. She is shutting down. Turn it around or the end is near. VET ASAP. You are not too far from Dr. Greek in Yorba Linda. 714-777-2314. Fare prices. Expert at chameleons. Schedule a visit NOW! Take them both. There's a discount for a 2nd animal. I guarantee that you won't find a better one closer. I strongly recommend him over anyone closer to you. I drive over 45 minutes to get to him.

Suspicious of the calci-vita dust as not having everything that they need.... I don't know the product (yet).

I didn't see mention of temperatures.

Take a look through:

www.chameleonsdish.com to begin sorting out husbandry issues etc.

Gotta dash!

Dave Weldon

 

[PsychoBillyNiki]

Im taking them to him today.

 

[PsychoBillyNiki]

Ill tell you the diagnosis.

 

[Dave W.]

Howdy,

Aaah, now I get it. You wrote calci-vita meaning calcium and vitamins and not a product called calci-vita What supplements are you using?

Hopefully you got some good results from Dr. Greek. I wasn't kidding about driving past a 100 vets between Reseda and Yorba Linda to get to Dr. Greek.... What extra you spent on gas and time is often easily made up for by not paying the higher charges from some of the other vets and the cost of mis-diagnosis. I won't say that I've seen it all but I've seen enough when it comes to vets practicing (and I mean practicing!) out of their league .

Dave Weldon

 

[PsychoBillyNiki]

Heres the update. I spent 3 hours in traffic trying to get to my 5 pm appointment I tried in vain. I couldnt make it there because they closed at 6 pm. I called them and said where I was and how traffic was moving and they told me to go to a place in Diamond Bar. I went. The receptionist was extremely rude to us but we werent picky at the rate my babies deteriorated. We went in and the woman listing their symptoms was a bitch too, I tried to show her June Carter Cham (female) and she was disgusted and said just put her back in the carrier. I waited for 15 minutes for a Doctor to come in and tell me they both were going to die. I was puzzled because John Cham (male) was extremely active. He manhandled June for a little bit and left. He asked me what I fed them and I said Gut Loaded Crickets and Mealies. He told me he was surprized that I knew what I was doing. He left and came back with a list of prices for shots. He didnt tell me what their problem was. He took shed samples off the male and said he saw nothing. We decided June was better off not suffering anymore the way she looked. Like a little cham skeleton sunken eyes and all. We had June put to sleep. When we did we told the woman that was our choice and she demanded June with out a proper good bye and there was no offer of remains. We had them treat Johnny, he was active so we had a chance. They gave him an antibiotic and a fluid shot and gave us antibiotics for at home. He's very tired. We soaked him in warm water to get his shed off and it worked. He looks great. The real test is tomorrow at feeding time. So, were all sad today as I lost my cham. She didnt deserve what happened to her. R.I.P. June Carter Cham. P.S. After the Doctor told me I feed them well and took proper care of my animals he wrote that the cause of illness was "Poor Nutrition" thank you for your help! We saved one!

By The Way Calci-Vita dust is just short for when you mix your own dusts together to make sure you get everything you need.

 

[PsychoBillyNiki]

I tried to make it there, The traffic was awful. They directed me to that place who did nothing for June. They didnt even try anything. Ive been in pieces for a couple days now over her. I just feel better knowing she doesnt have to struggle anymore, I could tell she was in real pain towards the end. She got slow and clung onto a branch and laid her body down. She looked dead and was barely breathing. It reminded me of the Horned Toad I had when I was younger, when he died my Mom's husband dried him out and I saw it all sunken in and dried.

 

[Dave W.]

Howdy Nicole,

Sorry to hear that she didn't make it. I'm extra sorry that you weren't able to make it to Dr. Greek's office. That experience would have been much more more to your liking. If it wasn't a 3-day weekend at peak traffic hour, the drive would have been one hour.

If you can post PHOTOS of you setup, it would help us give feedback.

Don't forget to read through www.chameleonsdish.com

Post more info about:

UVB light source
hydration quantity and schedule
Heat source type, basking temps and overall temps
brand of supplements
.
.
.

 

[PsychoBillyNiki]

Okay I'll take the pictures when I find my camera.

UVB light source. I have a basking light (clamp light) attached to the roof pointing in.

hydration quantity and schedule. I spray him by hand. I use the bottle to spray the leaves and stuff inside until it drips down. I do it twice a day, when I first get up and then again in the afternoon.

heat source. UVA bulb on a clamp lamp. It usually gets the top cage up to 80 when the cage itself is around 65. I do have a fan on top to keep the air moving. I was told that they dont like it hot, that they like it cool and breezie-like Hawaii.

the brand of supplements. Jurrasi Cal mixed with ZooMed vitamins.

Please tell me what I can do to make things better. I dont want my chameleon to suffer anymore.

 

[Dave W.]

Howdy Nicole,

Take a look at the UVB tube and let us know the mfgr and the style. You may see something like ZooMed 2.0 or 5.0 or 10.0 or some other brand and type. This could be an important data point.

If you are using a typical trigger-style sprayer that requires a trigger squeeze every time you want to squirt water then I suggest picking-up one of these mist bottles for about $7 at Home Depot:

It's the middle one in this photo...
http://rlflomaster.com/sprayers/hand.htm

You can partially fill it with warm water (gets cooler when misted), pump it up and mist the enclosure plants and him until he drinks. It may take 5-20 minutes to trigger his drinking process. He will get used to the warm mist and enjoy it after a while. It is very likely that he needs a lot more access to mist water than he has been getting. This may help quite a bit. Think about an excess water drainage plan for your enclosure...

I' a little concerned with the supplements. The ZooMed vitamin has a lot of things in it. Vitamin A is one of those vitamins that can be overdosed in chameleons. Some need it much more than others but I think that Jackson's are one of the chameleons that are sensitive to O.D. I'd suggest that you switch to Miner-All (I) as a source for Calcium with vitamin D3 and use Herptivite multivitamin as a source for vitamins. Also pick-up a can of Miner-All (O) as a source of Ca/with no D3 to use once in a while instead of the Ca/D3 product. Try Ca/D3 once a week and Vitamins once every two weeks. Maybe add Ca/no D3 once a week.

The photos will be very telling...

 

[PsychoBillyNiki]

I actually got him to drink water from a kitten ottle tonight. We have to give him medicines and he actually used a little water bottle. Well off the top of my head I know its ZooMed but it actually broke yesterday. Which is the best bulb for them? I put him in a feeder tank, for crickets. How does gut loading affect his vitamin intake?

 

[Dave W.]

I actually got him to drink water from a kitten ottle tonight. We have to give him medicines and he actually used a little water bottle. Well off the top of my head I know its ZooMed but it actually broke yesterday. Which is the best bulb for them? I put him in a feeder tank, for crickets. How does gut loading affect his vitamin intake?

Howdy Nicole,

You still want to give hime the warm water misting for 5-20 minutes 2-3 times a day to help him out of his dehydrated state. He will still be taking in water even if you don't see him gulping it down while he is being warm water misted.

The ZooMed 5.0 tube will be safe to use. It needs to be mounted so that it is above him and not on a side surface. He needs to be able to get within about 6"-12" of the tube. No glass or plastic should be between him and the tube.

For some reason I was under the impression that he was being kept in a screened enclosure. If he is in something other than that, then this will lead to more health problems in addition to his present condition.

Photos...

 

[Dave W.]

...How does gut loading affect his vitamin intake?

Howdy Nicole,

The vitamin supplementation schedule that I mentioned is ok to follow in addition to properly gutloaded crickets. What are you using to gutload?

 

[PsychoBillyNiki]

Im using Fluckers gut load. And I feed the crickets fruits too.

 

[PsychoBillyNiki]

I bought him a screen cage and a new bulb. Hes looking great! Its making me so happy to see him healthy. I still want to buy that spray bottle. I guess they came sick... they were the worst kind of cham... wc

 

[Kaa needs a wife]

One thing I don't noticew you having is a Dripper. I never kept chameleons myself but I know a few fellows who do and I have always seen all there cages with a large water dripper that drips water into the cage at a semi constant rate.