Baby Male Veiled with MBD

[charlotteclaraschameleon]

Hi All !!
SO, I rescued a baby veiled (not certain how old but guessing 3-4 months or so) from a certain death at the back of some sketchy pet store. I know I know, I was so torn, half of me wanted to leave him there and not support the sh*t place, but my heartstrings pulled harder and I just had to save him. I'm a pretty experienced chameleon owner, but in the past have only had girls (which I think are a bit harder) so any male advice is appreciated.
NOW to get to the point, he has MBD, which I have never dealt with before. He has a vet appointment tomorrow, and will get a calcium shot at the very least. So I'm posting pics of him and his current state, he's not nearly as bad as some I've seen. His front legs look affected by it, the right one definitely has a fracture, his casque is slightly crooked and a bit shrively/wonky on the right side as you can see in the pics. His front legs tremble a bit when he climbs, and he seems too skinny to me, BUT he is climbing all around his cage and I haven't seen him fall a single time, which gives me hope since he appears to have his strength.
He also isn't eating, but doesn't seem terribly interested either, it's not as if he's doing the head bobble and getting ready to hunt, he sees the worms and crickets I hold up to his mouth but just doesn't see very interested at all. Hoping it's because he's just not hungry, but again, he does look a bit too skinny to me. Since I've just got him less than 24 hours ago I don't know if he just isn't eating because he's full and was fed yesterday at the pet shop.
SO, here are pic of him, a few taken last night when he came home (promptly climbed up my arm and into my hair to sleep lol, he is SUCH a sweet little boy) and a few this morning, so you loveley helpers can see his state. ANY advice, where to go from here etc would be so appreciated, and if any of you have experience with MBD let me know how advanced his case is? Again he's not laying on his cage floor, he's still climbing around and being a little chameleon, but is weak and a bit shakey. I've already ordered the Rep-Cal calcium powder, multivitamin, and calcium with d3 as well, and have just put organic kale, carrots and oranges in my cricket keeper so as to properly gutload them for him.

HELP HELP HELP, I wanna make sure this little dude gets back to feeling 100% asap, he is such a sweet little trooper <3 We're headed to the reptile vet tomorrow afternoon but any advice or peace of mind until then would be so appreciated -- thank you all so much !!!

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

How much are you handling him? I see in one picture that he's sleeping. If you handle them to much they will just shut down and go to sleep. I'd keep handling to a minimum right now until you find out more on his health condition.

 

[kinyonga]

Not the worst case I've ever seen but definitely needs some help. He is showing lack of trunkal lifting and of course has bone breaks in the arms....but I've seen much worse.

The quickest way to correct the calcium imbalance is to get calcium injections done by a vet until the blood calcium levels are back to normal and the bones and muscles are strong again. You can also give him some liquid calcium sandoz or gluconate.

It's important to provide the right supplements and to feed/gutload the insects properly and provide a source of UVB and you need to provide appropriate temperatures to keep the MBD from returning once it's corrected.

Appropriate temperatures allow for proper digestion and thus play a part in nutrient absorption.

You can feed/gutload the crickets, superworms, roaches, locusts with a wide assortment of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.

Since many of the feeder insects we use have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous we dust them with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for it.

It's important to dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system and lead to overdoses like prEformed sources can and will leave it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed or not.

Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce the D3 it needs to use the calcium in its system. D3 produced from exposure to UVB won't likely build up as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB when it wants to. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues such as MBD.
Good luck with him!

 

[Andee]

I would also suggest taking him outside after he settles in and when the weather permits it, for an hour or more each day. The natural UVB rays from the sunlight will help extremely.

 

[charlotteclaraschameleon]

How much are you handling him? I see in one picture that he's sleeping. If you handle them to much they will just shut down and go to sleep. I'd keep handling to a minimum right now until you find out more on his health condition.

That was just as I was taking him out of his box I brought him home at, I picked him up around 8pm so he was already a sleepy lol guy

 

[carol5208]

I would also suggest taking him outside after he settles in and when the weather permits it, for an hour or more each day. The natural UVB rays from the sunlight will help extremely.

yes, good advice depending on where she lives! Somewhere like Minnesota, probably not! If it is somewhere like Florida where it's warm. I would take him outside for as long as possible.

 

[charlotteclaraschameleon]

UPDATE he hissed so I popped a calcium loaded cricket in and he spat it out so must just not be hungry atm?

 

[charlotteclaraschameleon]

Not the worst case I've ever seen but definitely needs some help. He is showing lack of trunkal lifting and of course has bone breaks in the arms....but I've seen much worse.

The quickest way to correct the calcium imbalance is to get calcium injections done by a vet until the blood calcium levels are back to normal and the bones and muscles are strong again. You can also give him some liquid calcium sandoz or gluconate.

It's important to provide the right supplements and to feed/gutload the insects properly and provide a source of UVB and you need to provide appropriate temperatures to keep the MBD from returning once it's corrected.

Appropriate temperatures allow for proper digestion and thus play a part in nutrient absorption.

You can feed/gutload the crickets, superworms, roaches, locusts with a wide assortment of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.

Since many of the feeder insects we use have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous we dust them with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for it.

It's important to dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system and lead to overdoses like prEformed sources can and will leave it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed or not.

Exposure to UVB allows the chameleon to produce the D3 it needs to use the calcium in its system. D3 produced from exposure to UVB won't likely build up as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB when it wants to. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues such as MBD.
Good luck with him!

THANK YOU!!! Oh you are a godsend thank you for the info and I'm so happy he's not the worst you've seen, I already love him to bits

 

[kinyonga]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...-like-how-it-happens-and-how-to-fix-it.95071/

 

[Andee]

He may just need some time adjusting, don''t try forcefeeding him until your a few days in.

 

[charlotteclaraschameleon]

yes, good advice depending on where she lives! Somewhere like Minnesota, probably not! If it is somewhere like Florida where it's warm. I would take him outside for as long as possible.

I live in San Diego we spent a couple hours today in the sun, probably the first time in his life he's ever seen the real thing, and he totally loved it, puffed himself up and soaked it in !