Butt issues

[Gilz]

Thank you everyone for your help. I have read all of the comments and am thankful for all of them. We brought her in for a hard bump on the back of her bottom. He said she was low on calcium and high on phosphate or something like that. He has medicine for increasing calcium and lowering phospher. He also has an anyibiotic. How do people feel about this if anyone is still on the thread.

 

[Millz&Jukka]

Thank you everyone for your help. I have read all of the comments and am thankful for all of them. We brought her in for a hard bump on the back of her bottom. He said she was low on calcium and high on phosphate or something like that. He has medicine for increasing calcium and lowering phospher. He also has an anyibiotic. How do people feel about this if anyone is still on the thread.

It definitely seems like male...with a sperm plug imo... antibiotics won't do anything unless there's an infection so those are weird for him to prescribe, plus the fact that you have a male means you should probably get a second veterinary opinion.

 

[bbyoda]

Get a new vet, please. Antibiotics and medicine can be stressful for them and you and hard on their bodies. It's only worth giving the medicine if it's actually going to be more beneficial than that risk/stress.

Regarding calcium/phosphate, we can give you feedback on your supplements and feeders schedule and variety. unless they took a blood test they wouldn't know that. It is important to keep those in balance but unless your Cham has MBD or something else going on with it you can probably address with tweaks to husbandry.

 

[Gilz]

Yes they did an X-ray and a blood test if that helps anything.

 

[Beman]

Thank you everyone for your help. I have read all of the comments and am thankful for all of them. We brought her in for a hard bump on the back of her bottom. He said she was low on calcium and high on phosphate or something like that. He has medicine for increasing calcium and lowering phospher. He also has an anyibiotic. How do people feel about this if anyone is still on the thread.

Did he run blood work to determine the calcium to phosphorus levels? You most certainly have a male not a female. So you want a vet that knows reptiles and has the experience to know the difference between the genders.

 

[Beman]

Yes they did an X-ray and a blood test if that helps anything.

Ok so then husbandry is off if cal to phos is not correct and with the sperm plug. If you want to fill out the form below by copy and pasting it into your reply we can give you feedback. Please include pictures of the entire enclosure including the lights on top.

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.

 

[Gilz]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled, Male, and 8 months. How long has it been in your care? 6 months
• Handling - Once a day(He doesn't mind and is SUPER friendly)?
• Feeding - Crickets or Discoid Roaches(maybe a super worm once a week)? I leave at least 1/4 inch 4 roaches in his cage in an inescapable cup so they can't get out. I also give around 8 large crickets when fed. (they get taken out at night)? Early morning? Fluker's orange cubes or fresh veggies(just using up orange cubes and then buying no more)?
• Supplements - I don't have the vitamins with me atm? A reptile place said to get green and blue, white powder mixes. Also a yellow mix. Ill upload photos when home.
• Watering - bowl and fake leaves(he doesn't eat them as some chams do)? 1 every 2 hours for 15 seconds using Reptirain? Yes, I see him going down to drink at least once a day atm.
• Fecal Description - Brown, Uretha(I think that's what pee is called) and has a white part. Like this (found this online it's super similar)
  
  . Negative no parasites?
• History - Purchased from PetSmart at around the age of 2 months. When was super young I was accidentally giving him too much calcium powder and it was coming out of his nose.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Glass which plenty of climates and perches inside (Glass, Screen, Combo?) Unknown atm?
• Lighting - Retibasking spotlight 100Watts(he likes to rome around his cage so the heat that I gave him might be a little more than recommended so he stays warm when moving around.? 12 hours of UVB and heat then 12 hours of ceramic heat bulb?
• Temperature - 75-89 (cage floor to basking spot)? Most likely 75 that I've checked?
  
  ?
• Humidity - 50-70 I adjust the Reptifogger to get as accurate to 60 as I can get them? Reptifogger? Above here?
• Plants - Yes he eats the live plant? He has a money tree that I thoroughly rinsed down and he has a basking bulb on when he uses it.?
• Placement - In my room? There is no direct current of air that would hit the cage. It doesn't really affect it if it did though due to the cage being made of glass.? 4-5 feet I think?
• Location - South Florida?

The question marks are because it was directly filled in btw.

 

[bbyoda]

I can't go thru the entire form I'm sure @Beman can help but she'll need pics of the UVB light you're using and the entire cage pic as well.

 

[Beman]

I would need the pics of everything including the supplements. They said they would be able to do all of that later when they get home. Otherwise it is only bits and pieces of info and I prefer not to do a review when details are missing.

 

[Gilz]

Ok, it's fine, I'll be home around 6 est I think. If it's helpful to you I can take pictures and write down any info you need on top of what I'm already taking pictures of. I'll check back in a little and if there's any list ill add it to what I need o take pictures of. Thanks

 

[Gilz]

Getting home later than expected just check tommorow and they should be up. They were sperm plugs and they came out today. Asked the doctor for his medical records ands asked about gender. Only got medical records no response about anything else.

 

[Gilz]

 

[Gilz]

 

[Gilz]

Medicine from the vet.

 

[Beman]

@MissSkittles if you happen to be around today would you be able to go through everything from the OP. I will be in and out the next three days and can not do it today.


@Gilz I tagged my friend who is extremely experienced to help you. You have a ton that really needs correcting. Start reading through every module in this husbandry program so you understand the feedback you receive. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Give me a few and I’ll go over your husbandry.

 

[MissSkittles]

Putting my feedback in bold.

• Your Chameleon - Veiled, Male, and 8 months. How long has it been in your care? 6 months
• Handling - Once a day(He doesn't mind and is SUPER friendly)?
• Feeding - Crickets or Discoid Roaches(maybe a super worm once a week)? I leave at least 1/4 inch 4 roaches in his cage in an inescapable cup so they can't get out. I also give around 8 large crickets when fed. (they get taken out at night)? Early morning? Fluker's orange cubes or fresh veggies(just using up orange cubes and then buying no more)? For his age, he should be getting about 3
• -4 feeders every other day, plus occasional treats. You could give him a bit more variety. Silkworms are great. If you let bsfl pupate into flies, they make fun treats for him to hunt. You know the orange cubes aren’t good. Attaching feeder and gutload graphics for you.
• Supplements - I don't have the vitamins with me atm? A reptile place said to get green and blue, white powder mixes. Also a yellow mix. Ill upload photos when home. You’ve got the right supplements, but you have one extra. You don’t need the big green calcium with D3 as your multivitamin, the orange Reptivite, has D3 in it. You’ll want to use the blue calcium without D3 at every feeding except one every other week. For that one you’ll use the Reptivite with D3. This is the exact same as I do for my chams.
• Watering - bowl and fake leaves(he doesn't eat them as some chams do)? 1 every 2 hours for 15 seconds using Reptirain? Yes, I see him going down to drink at least once a day atm. You don’t need nor want the bowl. It can become a bacterial soup regardless of how diligently you are about cleaning it. You do want to change your misting. Is better to mist for at least 2 minutes, 2-3 times a day - just before lights on and just before lights out, with one mid day. Or mid day you could use a dripper for 20-30 minutes.
• Fecal Description - Brown, Uretha(I think that's what pee is called) urate- spell check probably changed it. and has a white part. Like this (found this online it's super similar)
  
  . Negative no parasites?
• History - Purchased from PetSmart at around the age of 2 months. When was super young I was accidentally giving him too much calcium powder and it was coming out of his nose. Snalt happens and isn’t necessarily from too much calcium.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Glass which plenty of climates and perches inside (Glass, Screen, Combo?) Unknown atm? The enclosure in your pic looks much too small for a chameleon. He should have a minimum of a 2x2x4’ enclosure or equivalent. As you’re in humid S Fla, I’d suggest getting all screen to help with air circulation.
• Lighting - Retibasking spotlight 100Watts(he likes to rome around his cage so the heat that I gave him might be a little more than recommended so he stays warm when moving around.? 12 hours of UVB and heat then 12 hours of ceramic heat bulb? I’m a bit confused by this. Do you mean you use the ceramic heat bulb at night? If so, there is no need. You want the temp to drop at night and veileds can handle temps as low as the 60’s. From the pic, you’re using the screw in uvb. This can’t provide adequate uvb levels at any distance farther than 2-3”. This is likely the reason his calcium is low. You need to get a linear T5HO fixture with either a ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% uvb bulb and long enough th span the width of his enclosure. Then basking needs to be at a distance where the top of his back is about 8-9” down. This will give you the ideal UV index of 3.0 or close to it. Uvb provides vitamin D3, which is needed for the body to be able to convert calcium into a usable form. Even though we give D3 supplements, it’s not as good as uvb or enough.
• Temperature - 75-89 (cage floor to basking spot)? Most likely 75 that I've checked? 89 is a bit high. I keep my males around 82-84 at basking area.
  
  ?
• Humidity - 50-70 I adjust the Reptifogger to get as accurate to 60 as I can get them? Reptifogger? Above here? Humidity needs to come down to between 30-50% during the day. High heat+high humidity is a recipe for a respiratory infection. Add in the decreased air circulation of a mostly glass enclosure and the risk level gets very high. At night with a temp drop below 70, humidity can be increased to 80-100% to simulate the natural hydration of fog.
• Plants - Yes he eats the live plant? He has a money tree that I thoroughly rinsed down and he has a basking bulb on when he uses it.? You’ll need to replace all of the fake plants with real ones. It only takes one bite of a fake leaf to become impacted. I hang my fake plants on the outside of the enclosure for extra privacy. Also adding safe plant graphic. You want to create a forest edge environment for him. Give him some areas of thick plants to hide or take shade in. I’ll also attach some pics of a couple of my enclosures to give you an idea. It’s a full sized 2x2x4’ with Dragon Ledges, which make hanging things so much easier.
• Placement - In my room? There is no direct current of air that would hit the cage. It doesn't really affect it if it did though due to the cage being made of glass.? 4-5 feet I think? Higher is always better, as they feel safer.
• Location - South Florida?
• 
  
  
  
  

 

[MissSkittles]

View attachment 315134Medicine from the vet.

While I’m really not terribly knowledgeable about chameleon meds, the calcium glubonate is to increase your guys calcium levels, which are low due to the incorrect uvb source. The other med, while I can’t read the name it does say that it is to lower phosphorus. One of the reasons we use calcium at every feeding is to correct the calcium-phosphorus levels of our feeders. Phosphorus binds to calcium, so we need to compensate with supplements to keep our animals healthy. Some feeders like bsfl have a much better calcium-phosphorus ratio and usually don’t need to be dusted (even though I still do). So to raise your guy’s blood calcium levels, the vet is also giving something to help prevent the phosphorus from binding to it. Hope I’m explaining it well enough. If you have any questions about this, my feedback on your husbandry or anything else, don’t hesitate to ask. I hope I’ve been of some help to you.

 

[Gilz]

Thanks you everyone so much for taking time out of your lives to help me. I read all the information and will make changes. Ps. The cage is small because the vet said to add sand into the cage to make a nesting bed. Its normally around 4 feet. Everything was very informative and helpful.

 

[AnamCara]

Thanks you everyone so much for taking time out of your lives to help me. I read all the information and will make changes. Ps. The cage is small because the vet said to add sand into the cage to make a nesting bed. Its normally around 4 feet. Everything was very informative and helpful.

I'd get a new vet. She doesn't "nest.' a large enclosure with a lay bin permanently at the bottom will do.