Bump on my male partner chameleons wrist.

OliviaDayle

New Member
Okay, so I've noticed some weird behavior with my male panther chameleon. He's about three years old and I've never had any health issues with him, but within the past week or so I've noticed him having a hard time climbing in his cage and when resting on a branch he let's his front arms dangle to either side, he seem to not have much grip strength in his front paws and mostly relies on his back legs to climb. When I took him out to check and see that he was okay I noticed a bump on his wrist. Some Googling said that it may be metabolic bone disease, but I don't know how that would be possible, I change his uvb bulb every six months and I see him hanging out right under it a lot, and I dust all of his food in calcium powder with d3. I'm worried he dislocated his wrist. There isn't an exotic vet anywhere near me, but if he needs ones I'll find away to get to one. If anyone knows what is going on please let me know. For reference he lives in the XL reptibreeze and has an automatic rainfall system that goes off every two hours for 15 seconds. I haven't noticed any other sort of bumps on him, just the one on his wrist. Since I noticed his behavior I went out and bought a new 5.0 uvb bulb and new calcium powder incase something was wrong with either of them. He eats a mix of live super worms and live crickets that are dusted with calcium powder with d3. If you have any other questions let me know.
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UVB is inadequate, must be updated to T5 HO immediately.

Exactly which supplements are you giving him? Thinking maybe your ODing him on D3.

I do see the lump but I think it’s most likely a symptom of a bigger issue, not the issue itself.
 
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It’s not dislocated. Yes, you need a vet. Where do you live?

I also suggest filling out this form.

Please fill out the “how to ask for help” form and post your answers back here. Quality pictures will help us help you.

Chameleon Info:
◦ Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
◦ Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
◦ Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
◦ Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
◦ Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?


◦ Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

◦ History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
◦ Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
◦ Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
◦ Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?


◦ Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
◦ Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
◦ Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
◦ Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------
Please Note:



1 The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2 Photos can be very helpful.
 
UVB is inadequate, must be updated to T5 HO immediately.

Exactly which supplements are you giving him? Thinking maybe your ODing him on D3.

I do see the lump but I think it’s most likely a symptom of a bigger issue, not the issue itself.
So I have been giving repcal lightly dusting his food with it every other feeding time. I changed to flukers repta calcium because it was the kind available at my local pet store. I'll upgrade to a t5 ho when the store opens tomorrow, and I'll see about finding him a vet as well. Do you have any advice for tonight and possibly what his issue is? Is it metabolic bone disease? And can it be cured? I love my boy so much and I don't want him to have to go through something like this. Please any other advice would be wonderful. Thank you so much
 
It's hard to know what it is for sure...could be an insect bite or an infection or both.

It could be a calcium bump if the D3 is too high.

Arm hanging happens with gout...but the bump doesn't look like gout to me.

This is why a vet is likely the best option...a vet can test to see what it is. (Please note...I'm not a vet...just giving you my best "likelihoods".)
 
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So I have been giving repcal lightly dusting his food with it every other feeding time. I changed to flukers repta calcium because it was the kind available at my local pet store. I'll upgrade to a t5 ho when the store opens tomorrow, and I'll see about finding him a vet as well. Do you have any advice for tonight and possibly what his issue is? Is it metabolic bone disease? And can it be cured? I love my boy so much and I don't want him to have to go through something like this. Please any other advice would be wonderful. Thank you so much
I would discard the flukers repta calcium, it is a D3 calcium and I believe it has very high amounts of d3. I used it for a period of time not knowing it had d3 and it did one of my old panthers a world of trouble. I too believe it is d3 overdose. I Wouldn’t supplement him with anything other then plain calcium and a good gut load for a while.
 
It's hard to know what it is for sure...could be an insect bite or an infection or both.

It could be a calcium bump if the D3 is too high.

Arm hanging happens with gout...but the bump doesn't look like gout to me.

This is why a vet is likely the best option...a. Et can test to see what it is. (Please note...I'm not a vet...just giving you my best "likelihoods".)
The bump on his wrist is hard, so I don't thinks it's an infection or bite. The nearest vet that works with reptiles is about two hours away and I'll have to call them in the morning. Its winter where I live and we've been having snow storms and very bad road conditions, but hopefully I'll be able to get him there as soon as possible. Any advice until then?
 
I would discard the flukers repta calcium, it is a D3 calcium and I believe it has very high amounts of d3. I used it for a period of time not knowing it had d3 and it did one of my old panthers a world of trouble. I too believe it is d3 overdose. I Wouldn’t supplement him with anything other then plain calcium and a good gut load for a while.
Okay, that makes sense. I'd been using a kind with d3 because I was told it aided in the absorption of calcium and was good for reptiles that don't go outside. Obviously I can't really take him outside right now as it's been like 20° f for like a month. But it makes sense that it might be a part of the problem, I'll go back to the store and get a kind without d3. Thank you for the advice.
 
Yes d3 is needed but putting a d3 powder on every second feed is far to much. There’s several tactics out there to give your chameleon adequate d3 whether that’s a d3 supplement twice a month, Natural sunlight, proper uv index ratings (solar metre is needed), all in one supplement (Repashy calcium plus loD). I would completely cut the flukers out of your supplementation schedule and Go with a plain calcium powder such as Repashy calcium plus noD or Arcadia earth pro A for a month-6 weeks before you supplement any d3 at all. During this time I hope the chameleon starts to act and appear like him normal self. There is plenty of info on here on supplementation. I would advise strongly against going off what the pet store tells you and research through these forums. Always keep researching ! Feel free to pm me with any questions as I once had a similar experience with the same supplement.
 
Okay, that makes sense. I'd been using a kind with d3 because I was told it aided in the absorption of calcium and was good for reptiles that don't go outside. Obviously I can't really take him outside right now as it's been like 20° f for like a month. But it makes sense that it might be a part of the problem, I'll go back to the store and get a kind without d3. Thank you for the advice.
Chameleons are very finicky. Missing 1 mineral or vitamin from their diet, or a combination, or too much of 1 thing or the other and boom. They're also good at hiding that things are wrong until they physically can't hide it anymore. Most of us use T5HO lighting in a 5.0 or 6% bulb for our panthers and are slowly trying to get away from D3 supplements all together. As UVB creates D3 in our systems naturally. You cannot get the proper UVI levels necessary to trigger that response from a CFL bulb. Your chameleon would literally need to lay directly under the bulb to benefit at all they're that bad.

That being said please fill out our help form to see that you're not making any other husbandry mistakes that could be causing the issues or prevent other issues from happening.
 
It’s not dislocated. Yes, you need a vet. Where do you live?

I also suggest filling out this form.

Please fill out the “how to ask for help” form and post your answers back here. Quality pictures will help us help you.

Chameleon Info:
◦ Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
◦ Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
◦ Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
◦ Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
◦ Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?


◦ Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

◦ History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
◦ Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
◦ Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
◦ Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?


◦ Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
◦ Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
◦ Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
◦ Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------
Please Note:



1 The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2 Photos can be very helpful.
Sorry the first time I filled this out I didn't post it, I guess
I have a Male Nosey Be panther chameleon.
He is about three years old. He has been in my care for two years after he was rehome to me from a friend.
I try to handle him as little as possible, maybe once a month ish?
I feed him a mix of super worms and crickets, for gut loading I give them fresh fruit like apples before I feed them to him. When feeding super worms I put about twenty into a feeding bowl attached to the side of his cage and I let him eat them at his leisure, it usually takes him about two to four days to eat them all. With crickets I put about 5 to ten into his cage so that he can get a little bit of enrichment as he hunts them down. I'm always extremely careful to make sure that they don't irritate him or bite him, if I see them not getting eaten with the first few hours I take them out and put them in the next day. After he finishes a meal i usually wait a day or two before feeding him again.
As for supplements up until this week he got repcal dusted onto his food every other feeding time.
For watering he has a misting system that goes off every two hours for 15 seconds, if he seems to be looking for more water I manually spray a leaf near him so he can drink more.
As for his poo it's an oblong bit that is dark brown in color and a white bit that is gloopy. This hasn't seen much change since the day I got him. He was tested for parasites when my friend first got him, but not since. Though there hasn't been any changes with him to warrant checking.
As for history he hasn't had any medical problems before this and has been all around very healthy.
He is in a XL reptibreeze that is 4 ft tall by 2ft by 2ft . One side is covered by paper to help keep humidity in.
As for lighting I have a flukers 100 watt heat lamp and a zoo-med 5.0 tropical uvb light. During the summer I turn off both lights at night for about 8 hours, during the winter some nights I have to leave his heat lamp on at night due to it getting cold in my room (into the 50s if it's super cold out) but usually both his lamps are unplugged for 8 hours each night.
His basking spot is around 90° and the temperature of the change floor is 65° at night the lowest I let the cage get is about 62° though it usually is between 70° and 65°. I measure his temperature with a laser thermometer (whatever the real name for the is)
As for humidity, he is kept between 60 to 75% humidity. I use the misting system as listed previously and I have a humidity gauge attached to the side of his cage.
I don't use live plants. And I have coconut fiber for his substrate.
The cage is located in my room. It's not in a high traffic area, I'm the only person who goes in and out, and the side by the door is the side that has paper covering it to prevent him getting stressed when I come in. His cage is currently about two feet away from and air vent to he gets air flow and heat from it, during the summer he is moved away from it and kept by my window which I have cracked open for airflow. His cage sits on the floor so the top of his cage is 4 ft from the floor. I am located on the east side of South Dakota, US.
And my current problem is him not having much grip in his front legs and having a hard bump on his wrist.
 
See my notes in red.

PS I lived in SuFu for 5yrs

Sorry the first time I filled this out I didn't post it, I guess
I have a Male Nosey Be panther chameleon.
He is about three years old. He has been in my care for two years after he was rehome to me from a friend.
I try to handle him as little as possible, maybe once a month ish?
I feed him a mix of super worms and crickets, equivalent to feeding a child only cheeseburgers. Variety is key and there's much more nutritious feeders out there to try or gut loading I give them fresh fruit like apples this is the most important part of owning a chameleon. This needs to be greatly improved upon. See gutload care sheet before I feed them to him. When feeding super worms I put about twenty this is way too many. 5 a day or 10 every other obesity is just as bad as starving to a chameleon into a feeding bowl attached to the side of his cage and I let him eat them at his leisure, it usually takes him about two to four days to eat them all. Unless you're feeding your bugs while their in there that long they're losing nutrients. Feed every other day. With crickets I put about 5 to ten into his cage so that he can get a little bit of enrichment as he hunts them down. I'm always extremely careful to make sure that they don't irritate him or bite him, if I see them not getting eaten with the first few hours I take them out and put them in the next day. After he finishes a meal i usually wait a day or two before feeding him again.
As for supplements up until this week he got repcal dusted onto his food every other feeding time. This has been addressed previously
For watering he has a misting system that goes off every two hours for 15 seconds, if he seems to be looking for more water I manually spray a leaf near him so he can drink more.
As for his poo it's an oblong bit that is dark brown in color and a white bit that is gloopy. This hasn't seen much change since the day I got him. He was tested for parasites when my friend first got him, but not since. Though there hasn't been any changes with him to warrant checking.
As for history he hasn't had any medical problems before this and has been all around very healthy.
He is in a XL reptibreeze that is 4 ft tall by 2ft by 2ft . One side is covered by paper to help keep humidity in.
As for lighting I have a flukers 100 watt heat lamp and a zoo-med 5.0 tropical uvb light. This has been discussed previously During the summer I turn off both lights at night for about 8 hours, during the winter some nights I have to leave his heat lamp on at night due to it getting cold in my room (into the 50s if it's super cold out) but usually both his lamps are unplugged for 8 hours each night. Chameleons need 12hrs of sun and 12hrs of complete darkness. They can take night drops into the mid 50s. Anything below that you need to use a Ceramic Heat Admidter. These produce heat but no light this is imperative!
His basking spot is around 90° and the temperature of the change floor is 65° at night the lowest I let the cage get is about 62° though it usually is between 70° and 65°. I measure his temperature with a laser thermometer (whatever the real name for the is)
As for humidity, he is kept between 60 to 75% humidity. I use the misting system as listed previously and I have a humidity gauge attached to the side of his cage.
I don't use live plants. And I have coconut fiber for his substrate.
The cage is located in my room. It's not in a high traffic area, I'm the only person who goes in and out, and the side by the door is the side that has paper covering it to prevent him getting stressed when I come in. His cage is currently about two feet away from and air vent to he gets air flow and heat from it, during the summer he is moved away from it and kept by my window which I have cracked open for airflow. His cage sits on the floor so the top of his cage is 4 ft from the floor. I am located on the east side of South Dakota, US.
And my current problem is him not having much grip in his front legs and having a hard bump on his wrist.
I'm not a vet and I will never claim to be able to replace one. But from the sounds of it and from reviewing your husbandry it sounds like early onslaught of MBD IMHO. It could be over supplementation or under supplementation and lack of quality gutload. You'll need a reputable reptile vet to confirm this and discuss further treatment beyond the things you'll need to fix in your husbandry.
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@OliviaDayle said..."during the winter some nights I have to leave his heat lamp on at night due to it getting cold in my room (into the 50s if it's super cold out)"...there should be no light at night. Get a heat emitter 'bulb' to provide heat at night if you need heat.
 
See my notes in red.

PS I lived in SuFu for 5yrs

Sorry the first time I filled this out I didn't post it, I guess
I have a Male Nosey Be panther chameleon.
He is about three years old. He has been in my care for two years after he was rehome to me from a friend.
I try to handle him as little as possible, maybe once a month ish?
I feed him a mix of super worms and crickets, equivalent to feeding a child only cheeseburgers. Variety is key and there's much more nutritious feeders out there to try or gut loading I give them fresh fruit like apples this is the most important part of owning a chameleon. This needs to be greatly improved upon. See gutload care sheet before I feed them to him. When feeding super worms I put about twenty this is way too many. 5 a day or 10 every other obesity is just as bad as starving to a chameleon into a feeding bowl attached to the side of his cage and I let him eat them at his leisure, it usually takes him about two to four days to eat them all. Unless you're feeding your bugs while their in there that long they're losing nutrients. Feed every other day. With crickets I put about 5 to ten into his cage so that he can get a little bit of enrichment as he hunts them down. I'm always extremely careful to make sure that they don't irritate him or bite him, if I see them not getting eaten with the first few hours I take them out and put them in the next day. After he finishes a meal i usually wait a day or two before feeding him again.
As for supplements up until this week he got repcal dusted onto his food every other feeding time. This has been addressed previously
For watering he has a misting system that goes off every two hours for 15 seconds, if he seems to be looking for more water I manually spray a leaf near him so he can drink more.
As for his poo it's an oblong bit that is dark brown in color and a white bit that is gloopy. This hasn't seen much change since the day I got him. He was tested for parasites when my friend first got him, but not since. Though there hasn't been any changes with him to warrant checking.
As for history he hasn't had any medical problems before this and has been all around very healthy.
He is in a XL reptibreeze that is 4 ft tall by 2ft by 2ft . One side is covered by paper to help keep humidity in.
As for lighting I have a flukers 100 watt heat lamp and a zoo-med 5.0 tropical uvb light. This has been discussed previously During the summer I turn off both lights at night for about 8 hours, during the winter some nights I have to leave his heat lamp on at night due to it getting cold in my room (into the 50s if it's super cold out) but usually both his lamps are unplugged for 8 hours each night. Chameleons need 12hrs of sun and 12hrs of complete darkness. They can take night drops into the mud 50s. Anything below that you need to use a Ceramic Heat Admidter. These produce heat but no light this is imperative!
His basking spot is around 90° and the temperature of the change floor is 65° at night the lowest I let the cage get is about 62° though it usually is between 70° and 65°. I measure his temperature with a laser thermometer (whatever the real name for the is)
As for humidity, he is kept between 60 to 75% humidity. I use the misting system as listed previously and I have a humidity gauge attached to the side of his cage.
I don't use live plants. And I have coconut fiber for his substrate.
The cage is located in my room. It's not in a high traffic area, I'm the only person who goes in and out, and the side by the door is the side that has paper covering it to prevent him getting stressed when I come in. His cage is currently about two feet away from and air vent to he gets air flow and heat from it, during the summer he is moved away from it and kept by my window which I have cracked open for airflow. His cage sits on the floor so the top of his cage is 4 ft from the floor. I am located on the east side of South Dakota, US.
And my current problem is him not having much grip in his front legs and having a hard bump on his wrist.
I'm not a vet and I will never claim to be able to replace one. But from the sounds of it and from reviewing your husbandry it sounds like early onslaught of MBD. You'll need a reputable reptile vet to confirm this and discuss further treatment beyond the things you'll need to fix in your husbandry.
View attachment 251272View attachment 251273
If you lived in Sufu you'll know how difficult it is to find anything for reptiles there, that's why his diet is as varied as I'd like it to be. I live in Brookings where the closest thing we have to a post store is an aquarium and hobby store that sells reptile lights and supplements. What would you recommend for his diet like that I can add in to make it healthier, but that I can find in stores around here. He's mostly given crickets and when I give him about twenty super worms that's when it takes him like four days to eat them, so he eating the 5 day, just more at his leisure. As for gutloading how should I improve? I give them a mix of frest fruit that are from the gutloading sheet. I tried leafy greens, but they didn't seem to eat them so I went back to fruit. What would you recommend for gutloading instead?. For lighting I've heard so many different opinions from people during my research, I just stuck with the most common one, I'll change that tonight. And get a timer so it'll be more accurate. I've found a few vets that work with exotic animals and I'll be calling them in the morning. Thank you so much for the help you've already given. I thought I had very good husbandry as I had done a lot of research and found what seemed to be the most widely accepted husbandry, but I didn't really continue to di research, which is bad because it seems like care requirements change every day. If there's anything else I can do to better his care please let me know.
 
If you lived in Sufu you'll know how difficult it is to find anything for reptiles there, that's why his diet is as varied as I'd like it to be. I live in Brookings where the closest thing we have to a post store is an aquarium and hobby store that sells reptile lights and supplements. What would you recommend for his diet like that I can add in to make it healthier, but that I can find in stores around here. He's mostly given crickets and when I give him about twenty super worms that's when it takes him like four days to eat them, so he eating the 5 day, just more at his leisure. As for gutloading how should I improve? I give them a mix of frest fruit that are from the gutloading sheet. I tried leafy greens, but they didn't seem to eat them so I went back to fruit. What would you recommend for gutloading instead?. For lighting I've heard so many different opinions from people during my research, I just stuck with the most common one, I'll change that tonight. And get a timer so it'll be more accurate. I've found a few vets that work with exotic animals and I'll be calling them in the morning. Thank you so much for the help you've already given. I thought I had very good husbandry as I had done a lot of research and found what seemed to be the most widely accepted husbandry, but I didn't really continue to di research, which is bad because it seems like care requirements change every day. If there's anything else I can do to better his care please let me know.
24" T5HO with a 5.0 or Arcadia 6% bulb (last longer). ZooMed makes a T5HO that comes with a 5.0 bulb. CHE bulb for when your temps get below mid 50s, Repashy Bug Burger or cricket crack are good commercial gutloads. I apologize I thought you were only feeding apples to your feeders my mistake. I order my bugs online. I use rainbowmealworms.net and they have a huge selection. Id recommended silkworms and dubia roaches to try and start. You need a new plain phosphorus free calcium. And a multivitamin that includes vitamin A and doesn't include d3 if possible. Or you can just use Repashy Calcium + LoD every feeding but this could be bad so if he's truly over supplemented on d3 already. He needs at least a month or 2 under his new T5 and no D3 supplements at all. All of these can be purchased online. So no need for small town Brookings
 
24" T5HO with a 5.0 or Arcadia 6% bulb (last longer). ZooMed makes a T5HO that comes with a 5.0 bulb. CHE bulb for when your temps get below mid 50s, Repashy Bug Burger or cricket crack are good commercial gutloads. I apologize I thought you were only feeding apples to your feeders my mistake. I order my bugs online. I use rainbowmealworms.net and they have a huge selection. Id recommended silkworms and dubia roaches to try and start. You need a new plain phosphorus free calcium. And a multivitamin that includes vitamin A and doesn't include d3 if possible. All these can be purchased online. Our you can just use Repashy Calcium + LoD every feeding but this could be bad so if he's truly over supplemented on d3 already. He needs at least a month or 2 under his new T5 and no D3 supplements at all.
Will online feeder stores ship to SD in winter? When I've ordered feeders online it's had to be within a certain temp range for them to ship them. Maybe it was just the people I went through. And okay, everything else seems pretty simple. If it is metabolic bone disease will it ever go away, like I know in severe cases they are permanently disfigured, I just don't want him to have so much trouble getting around forever. I'm sure the vet will be able to give me more information, but I just want to be prepared for whatever the vet will tell me because having a breakdown in front of a vet is something I'd like to avoid. Thank you so much for all of your help.
 
Will online feeder stores ship to SD in winter? When I've ordered feeders online it's had to be within a certain temp range for them to ship them. Maybe it was just the people I went through. And okay, everything else seems pretty simple. If it is metabolic bone disease will it ever go away, like I know in severe cases they are permanently disfigured, I just don't want him to have so much trouble getting around forever. I'm sure the vet will be able to give me more information, but I just want to be prepared for whatever the vet will tell me because having a breakdown in front of a vet is something I'd like to avoid. Thank you so much for all of your help.
They may and they may not. Rainbowmealworms.net does sell great pads you can put in with them and you can also have them held at your post office. MBD is not reversible im afraid but it can be managed. Take a look on YouTube for a female veiled chameleon named sweat pea. You'd be surprised what that little girl can do with how bad she truly was. The key is getting into the vet and fixing your husbandry asap. And you're very welcome. I come on here to learn more and try and educate others to try to avoid problems like MBD that can easily be ruled out of the equation with proper husbandry
 
Damn! Yall been busy since I went to bed! lol

Agree with Camo, Its hard to think of a better MBD success story than Sweet Pea's. Defiantly check her out. I believe she has a FB page as well.
 
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