Baby with broken arms

[VeiledChams]

So as some of you have seen, the last clutch of my female Enana has started hatching. 50+ are out now and all but one are doing well. I check them every 2 hours or so while I am at home. So today after getting home from school I went to feed them and saw one at the bottom of the exoterra with both arms broken above the elbow. I dont know what to do.
Although I could take it to the vet, I doubt there is much to do. I could try to get some toothpicks and make a makeshift cast on them. It seems mean not taking it to the vet, but I gotta keep cash to maintain the rest of the babies.

Any ideas??

He must've fallen on his arms because I have checked each and everyone before placing them in their cages. He is wide alert looking everywhere, but his poor arms are just bending everywhere.

 

[jannb]

First I would get that baby in a small bin by himself so the others want hurt him. For the make shift cast you will want something sturdy but not super stiff like a bandage made out of flexible non-stick tape called Vet-Flex of Co-Flex. It will be strong enough and cushioned enough to provide stability. This is what my vet used to wrap Elly's broke leg. You will have to cut the tape into long narrow strips to wrap the little arms.

 

[Whammo72]

I hate to say it, but, seriously? casts on a hatchling? If you can pull that off and it survives then WOW.

 

[okiroo]

thats heart breaking. im so sorry

 

[kinyonga]

I'm wondering if its a calcium issue although I've never heard of it happening to a hatchling. I would make sure it gets some calcium and exposure to the UVB.

How did you incubate the eggs? Please be specific....in what? Temperature?

 

[fluxlizard]

I'm wondering if its a calcium issue although I've never heard of it happening to a hatchling. I would make sure it gets some calcium and exposure to the UVB.

As someone who has dropped a few babies over the years from solar plexus height onto hard floors like concrete and tile, I was thinking the same thing.

Sometimes one has bolted and caught me off guard when moving it for cleaning or transferring from incubator. Embarrassed to admit that and it always gives me a heart attack, and it hasn't happened more than a handful of times over a couple of decades when moving zillions of babies, but it has happened and I've never seen one seriously injured even from that height onto that surface. I think their light weight and compact body helps. I've got very serious doubts that a fall inside a baby-sized terrarium could ever cause this kind of injury.

It could be just a problem with that individual chameleon, but to be on the safe side make sure the rest get plenty of calcium supplements and uvb. I don't know what your routine with d3 is, but if it were mine I'd make sure that was covered as well...

The other thing I would check if it happened to one of mine is the furniture in the cage-make sure everything is secure. It is possible that he got pinched between branches or doors or something like that...

 

[VeiledChams]

I'm wondering if its a calcium issue although I've never heard of it happening to a hatchling. I would make sure it gets some calcium and exposure to the UVB.

How did you incubate the eggs? Please be specific....in what? Temperature?

I kept them in a homemade incubator. the 67 eggs were kept in tupperware containers with hatchrite (I added water every few weeks to keep from drying). Then tupperware containers were placed in a plastic box and kept in my drawer. There was about an inch of water at the bottom to help keep humidity and temperature constant. They were kept between 75 and 77 degrees throughout the incubation period (the higher temperatures were during the day as my room gets a little warmer from the morning sun shining through my window).

 

[VeiledChams]

As someone who has dropped a few babies over the years from solar plexus height onto hard floors like concrete and tile, I was thinking the same thing.

Sometimes one has bolted and caught me off guard when moving it for cleaning or transferring from incubator. Embarrassed to admit that and it always gives me a heart attack, and it hasn't happened more than a handful of times over a couple of decades when moving zillions of babies, but it has happened and I've never seen one seriously injured even from that height onto that surface. I think their light weight and compact body helps. I've got very serious doubts that a fall inside a baby-sized terrarium could ever cause this kind of injury.

It could be just a problem with that individual chameleon, but to be on the safe side make sure the rest get plenty of calcium supplements and uvb. I don't know what your routine with d3 is, but if it were mine I'd make sure that was covered as well...

The other thing I would check if it happened to one of mine is the furniture in the cage-make sure everything is secure. It is possible that he got pinched between branches or doors or something like that...

These babies just hatched on sunday.. not even a week old. I dust with calcium every feeding, D3 2x a month (unless kept outside), and my multivitamins 2x a month. I also give 1-2 drops of Dr. Alfonso's vitamins every 10-14 days.

 

[millerman6401]

my 5 month old ambilobe had MBD and one of his legs had a compound fracture which is basically a break. the vet told me there was basically nothing you can do in a scae like that. so i put him in a cage with no climbable objects for about a month and he can use it to climb now even tho is kind of faces backwards. seemed to have healed itself for the mostpart and eats and drinks like crazy. im just not sure how strong those little hatchlings are. Best of wishes.

 

[carol5208]

sorry to hear about your little baby! What are you going to do with FIFTY little chameleons!?

 

[VeiledChams]

sorry to hear about your little baby! What are you going to do with FIFTY little chameleons!?

I'm going to give my vet a call and see what he recommends doing. I hate seeing the little guy like this, and I dont think its right to have him suffer like that. No mobility at all.

Fifty have hatched, theres still like 15 to go! Im going to keep them until they are ready to go to new homes