Chameleons Northwest
Avid Member
Here are 2 bloodwork samples you may find interesting. The first one is from Guido (male veiled) in august. At the time he was eating almost exclusively superworms (gutloaded with greens and potato and dusted with Miner-all (I) and reptivite). You can see that his calcium and phosphorus ratios are out of whack. The second one is from Pegasus (male panther), in December. He was eating crickets, silkworms, and dubias (gutloaded with various fruits and vegetables, a special blend of dry food, and dusted with miner-all (I) and reptivite). His calcium/phosphorus ratio is good.
Guido's diet was changed to crickets/silkworms/dubias in August, when his blood was drawn, but we have not had his blood drawn since then. So, keep in mind these 2 bloodworks are from 2 different chameleons. I am offering them for comparison of the calcium/phosphorus levels resulting from 2 different diets.
The URIC acid in Pegasus' sample is high because he had an infection at the time, resulting in mild dehydration. The vet said the Uric acid was the only value affected by the infection.
You can see that in Guido's bloodwork the SGOT enzyme levels are very high, suggesting liver or other organ problems at the time. Perhaps resulting from poor diet. He was suffering from a general infection at the time, and also had signs (puffy eyes and overweight body) of less than adequate nutrition. Guido's CPK value was high as well. That can be related to skeletal muscle disease, but may also be related to poor diet. One of the reasons we took Guido to the vet for this evaluation in August was because he was lethargic and showed a weakened grip and loss of appetite. You can see that Guido would be an excellent candidate for a re-evaluation, now that he has been on the new diet for 4-5 months. But the bloodwork costs about $100. He is behaving strong and normal, with good appetite, great color, clean stools, and his eyes look nice, round, and normal, too.
Calcium/phosphorus ratio in the diet should be 1:1 to 2:1
GUIDO
PEGASUS
Guido's diet was changed to crickets/silkworms/dubias in August, when his blood was drawn, but we have not had his blood drawn since then. So, keep in mind these 2 bloodworks are from 2 different chameleons. I am offering them for comparison of the calcium/phosphorus levels resulting from 2 different diets.
The URIC acid in Pegasus' sample is high because he had an infection at the time, resulting in mild dehydration. The vet said the Uric acid was the only value affected by the infection.
You can see that in Guido's bloodwork the SGOT enzyme levels are very high, suggesting liver or other organ problems at the time. Perhaps resulting from poor diet. He was suffering from a general infection at the time, and also had signs (puffy eyes and overweight body) of less than adequate nutrition. Guido's CPK value was high as well. That can be related to skeletal muscle disease, but may also be related to poor diet. One of the reasons we took Guido to the vet for this evaluation in August was because he was lethargic and showed a weakened grip and loss of appetite. You can see that Guido would be an excellent candidate for a re-evaluation, now that he has been on the new diet for 4-5 months. But the bloodwork costs about $100. He is behaving strong and normal, with good appetite, great color, clean stools, and his eyes look nice, round, and normal, too.
Calcium/phosphorus ratio in the diet should be 1:1 to 2:1
GUIDO
PEGASUS
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