Not eating. Parasites? UPDATED.

[MeganAlyse]

Please help.
I know he's not a bearded dragon, but this is the only place I knew I could go for free, immediate help.
Vishnu is a male pygmy chameleon that I ordered from LLLReptile. He's been in his 20 gallon terrarium with two females since Wednesday, 1/6/10, and as far as I can tell, hasn't eaten. I've even killed crickets and put them under his nose, and while the girls, Kali Ma and Sita, gobble up any cricket they can reach, dead or alive, Vishnu won't even look twice at it. He is fat, but I have reason to believe this is water weight - he drinks a lot of water, even drinking it from the small waterfall I have in there for him, which I have been told is uncommon.... He spends most of his time in one spot, but this is not so unusual for pygmies. When I hold him up to the light he's translucent, and there is no evidence he has eaten anything. In fact, when held up to the light, there's no evidence of anything inside him, except I saw something wiggling... That may have been his skin changing colors, but I don't want to dismiss the possibility it may be a parasite.
Could it still be relocation stress?
I don't know where he came from, but I know he's not captive bred. The people at LLLReptile told me he's probably either WC or farm bred, whatever that means.
Please help.
He's a sweet boy, and I don't want him to die....

Me trying to get him to eat a freshly killed cricket.

Taken a few minutes ago.

Taken a few minutes ago.

His terrarium, before he and the girls arrived. Substrate: a mix of coconut husk and unfertilized top soil, topped with Fluker's forest moss. (substrate not present at time of photography)

Please help.
-Megan

 

[MeganAlyse]

Here's a video of him moving, and photos of him held up to the light.


This isn't slow... it's about normal speed for a pygmy chameleon.


The two circles to the left may be worms, and appear to move. The lower right one may be impaction...

He's fat, but I think it's water weight, based on what he looks like in front of a light.

 

[pimmsoclock87]

Sorry i can't help at all but just wanted to say hope he gets better soon. Also its amazing how they can camoflage themselves! It took me quite a while to find him in most of those pics!!

 

[reddragon1]

i dont know a thing about chameleons, but from what i kno about dragons maybe you should cage your chameleon by itself. i kno with dragons you should only keep one in a tank. as far as parasites go, when dragons have them their poop smells really really bad. have you tried calling some vets to your chameleon in? maybe a fecal would help. just keep that in mind.. hopefully someone one here will give you some helpful advice! good luck

 

[MeganAlyse]

thanks for your responses.
I'm trying to breed him, actually, with no success. He shows no interest in the two females, probably because he's sick...
But pygmies are usually fine housed together, granted only one male.
He's active, but no apparant improvement in the way of eating.

-Megan

 

[darkspire091]

Can you give an update on your chameleon? Is he doing any better?

 

[MeganAlyse]

He's eating, but he's still obscenely fat.
Turns out he's not an R. brevicaudatus, like I ordered, but he's a Rh. temporalis.
Damn it.

 

[Emeraldcoast]

Go to http://www.yahoogroups.com

type: (the animal type)

Search the chameleon groups that appear. Look for one that has a moderator and requires membership. These two things help to cut down on spam.

You can visit a groups' home page before joing. You can view the messages that are posted. See if they are spam-like, serious messages, info, etc. If you like the group, join. They are all free. You can also email the owner, etc., to inquire. Also, check out http://www.reptileforums.com . I hope this helps.

Emerald