Calcium deficiency? Or something else?

[ScarletLin]

Hello

I have been trying to help my sick
Panther Chameleon, Pickles.
He is
1.5 years old in an extra large cage with a 100 watt bulb and a T5
When he is cold he goes to the top but he has various temps to enjoy based on the size of this cage.
These bulbs are new because it was not warm enough. . I think it might be still at night. So I am working on that today.


He is larthargic I wake up to find him hanging from his tail.
He dangles , does not eat and his head pads are less pronounced. He sleeps alot during the day and is weak.
Its very cold here and drafty in my house so I upped his light and before he had the UVB bulb where I worry he didn't get enough UVB.
I gave his Rescue Cal yesterday for the first time and crickets with Rapashy calcium plus.
But this is force feeding.
I give him a shower every day now which perks him up..

He isn't drinking alot..

Could this be something else other than Calcium deficiency?
How long the the Rescue Cal start to work? I see no difference.

The issue is that he would not eat his crickets for days and the gut load and powder would be gone. He's been a tricky one as he doesn't drink water much either.
My other chams are good eaters and drinkers.


I can not afford a vet right now. Plus the one close to me made horrible choices with a beardie I had and he didn't make it so I really don't want to go there again..

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[kinyonga]

Please post some recent photos of the chameleon.

 

[ScarletLin]

Here he is.
He is more alert at the moment. I moved him into a warmer room.

 

[timw1]

Do you have temp probes in there? How are you measuring temps? I'm a little confused at the UVB bulb you described, can you elaborate? Do you hand mist, or do you have an auto mister? He does not look dehydrated. His left rear leg looks a little swollen, but just may be the way he is sitting.

 

[ScarletLin]

Sorry for not discribing well.

My thermometer broke. So I am going to buy a new one. It's been a constant whirlwind of buying things and setting them up since yesterday. As the stores were closed before.


I bought the track light t5 because the deep dome would not cover his whole cage. So that was an issue. Which is now resolved.
I hand water him. He was getting 2 times a day but I have been giving him a shower a day as well.

He is not drinking the water.


Do the symptoms sound like calcium deficiency?
Could it be anything else?
He's so weak and won't eat. It's just heart breaking.

How long if it was calcium deficiency would he begin to recover?

 

[ScarletLin]

Also his droppings are either diarrhea or undigested crickets. Could be because he is not chewing so well. Or maybe something else
.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."he has various temps to enjoy" and "These bulbs are new because it was not warm enough. . I think it might be still at night. So I am working on that today" this might be part of his problem....if he's too cold all the time he won't be able to digest his food properly....so he won't be hungry. How do we know he's warm enough...too hot...etc from this answer?? What is the basking temperature? What lights do you use for basking lights? What color do they give off?
You said..."Its very cold here and drafty in my house so I upped his light"...Where is the cage located? Near a window? Near a door? Are the lights all off at night?
You said..."before he had the UVB bulb where I worry he didn't get enough UVB"...so how long was he without the UVB bulb? During that time was he getting any supplements with D3 in them? What specific UVB light do you have?
What specific supplements do you use and how often for each? What do you need/gutload the insects with specifically?
Has he been pooping?
Specific answers are needed somwe have a better idea of what's going on and what might solve the problems.

 

[ScarletLin]

I think I answered some of those in my previous message. But perhaps I am not clear enough.

I live in a drafty century home.
Even still, the bulbs were either 75 watt and now 100 watt.

The heat issue has been resolved since putting him in a warmer room he is now even further from the top.

I give him repashy Calcium Plus for his Vit needs. But because he is not a big eater he takes his time with his crickets and the powder comes off.

I do try to hand feed him. The others love that but he is picky. This has always been the case even in the summer. When our house is not drafty.

Yes my last message was about his droppings he is using the washroom but either diarrhea or undigested food. The undigested food I'm concerned is because of our force-feeding I'm trying to make sure that he choose it enough but it's a little difficult.


I've tackled all the temperature issues I've changed his UVB bulb from the reptisun to the T5 track lighting.

What I'd like to know is it his symptoms are similar to Calcium deficiency or if it could be another ailment all together. I've done a lot of research on chameleon illnesses and the two that sound the most like his symptoms are Calcium deficiency but perhaps I am missing something else.

And if it is Calcium deficiency and I'm giving him the rescue cal, how long until he shows signs of improvement?

Thank you so much for your time. I apologize again if I am not communicating well. I am quite sick right now and a bit fuzzy myself..

 

[ScarletLin]

Oh and never by windows.. I've had 6 Chams for 2 years. This is quite new to me.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."What I'd like to know is it his symptoms are similar to Calcium deficiency or if it could be another ailment all together"...to determine this I need specific answers to the questions.

I asked the basking temperature because the temperature needs to be right to allow him to digest his food properly...so if the temperature isn't right it might be why he has undigested crickets in his stool...it might be why he isn't eating...the proper temperature helps the food digest properly and move through the digestive tract so he will then be hungry again. But you've told me it's been dealt with and you changed the lights but you still haven't told me the basking temperature or the temperature elsewhere in the cage....so I still can't give you an answer!!!

Lethargy, dangling by his tail, sleeping during the day, not eating, head pads declining are all symptoms of something going on that needs to be fixed asap though.

If it is a calcium issue then it will depend on how long it will take to be normal again depends on how bad the issue is and I can't tell you that. A vet can give you an idea by looking at an x-ray or doing blood tests. We can only give an approximation based on the specific information you give us. What I can tell you is that once the calcium levels are corrected and even during the time they are being corrected you need to get your supplements on track..you need to get your feeding/gutloading of the insects on track...you need to have your temperatures right, proper UVB lights, good hydration, etc or it will likely come back....and please don't take this as me saying he does have MBD...because you haven't given me specific enough information to give you my best guess and he has no outward signs of it to indicate it either.

Sorry to hear you're sick.

 

[ScarletLin]

Basking is 91
He is hanging at the 81 area
Bottom is 73.
His night temps I have yet to determine

We kept the house set at 74 and an electric heater beside him until we did this..

He is now with three other chams hidden from eachother in seperate terrariums of course..
I gut load them calcium gel and dandelion greens. Sometimes Chard.

I always remove the potatoes from the box and make sure they eat those greens!

I dust them with repashy.
A Cham breeder suggested that it be

Calcium plus, calcium no d, then nothing day three then repeat. We feed them every other day.
I'm also moving the other two upstairs just have to buy some tables and move more stuff around.
My husband is the builder here so he has this week off and is dedicating much needed time to our scale babies.


And you're right I'll have to be on him. On all of them to really make sure they are getting all they need. Crickets can not stay in the cage losing all their nutrition..

 

[kinyonga]

Well...now we know that it's not likely slow digestion caused by low temperatures..so we can look at other things.

I would add other greens and veggies and a bit of fruit to what you feed/gutload the insects...collards, endive, escarole, kale, squash, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, zucchini, carrots, berries, melon, apples, pears, etc.

Can he see the chameleon's next to him or is there an opaque barrier between the cages?

 

[ScarletLin]

Well he just moved there today.

So if there was digestion issues before I wouldn't know.
Everything is private for him. And all of them. They all have solitude.
However my house has other animals they have seen since they were little.
They tolerate them

Pickles is actually really friendly and loves to come out and chill. He is my absolute favorite and I love him so much so I really do not want to lose my boy.
So how often should I feed him like this?
Force feeding shocks him
And we all know reptiles in shock are not great.

But I also need to make sure he is getting Vit A and D in him

Repashy Rescue Cal is what I could buy at the store. Hoping it helps.

Showed everyday alright? They really perk him up but I don't want to over do it on him

I read that Kale is actually not a good food or broccoli ect.

But I will add those others for sure. I'll have to make sure they are okay for beardies too.

Thanks again for taking the time.

 

[kinyonga]

All of those greens and veggies and fruits I have used for my beardies and my tortoises and my prehensile tailed anoles and my water dragons, etc for years...they seem to be safe. If you don't want to use kale don't...one green more or less won't make a big difference usually.

You said..."So how often should I feed him like this?"... how often should you feed him like what??
I have never used repashy rescue Cal...I've always used a liquid calcium sandoz or gluconate to increase calcium IF a chameleon has/had MBD. It hasn't really been established that your chameleon has MBD or a calcium issue. I don't like to force feed any reptile unless there is no other choice. I try to use other methods....like when the chameleon is drinking and it's mouth is opening and shutting slip the food in between it's teeth and hope it eats it. A word of warning...don't ever shoot stuff into a chameleon's mouth...you want to ease it in so it has time to deal with it and chew/swallow it without aspirating it.