Chemeleon Possible MBD? Please help.

[ChameleonNewb]

Hello everyone, I am posting this here due to the fact that my closest vet that handles with chameleons is over 2 hours away, and I am making a run to the pet store today and would like to get some items that can help him if he needs anything, over the past few days I've noticed that my chameleon is not moving around as much as he normally did in the past, sitting still on a branch and not moving, only really moving to eat food. He was not keen to me holding him, so I started working with holding him more often and he finally started coming around after a few days to where he allows me to, over that time I noticed that his back left leg he is having trouble moving it or grabbing things with it? Its rather hard to explain, anyhow, he seems to be struggling to climb onto things where I has started to bother me, I did look at the date that I bought his bulb, and its time to replace it, and I've been out of calcium. so I'm afraid that he may be getting sick from it, which I'm replacing both of them later today. I will be taking a picture of him shortly and posting it on this thread, I have looked at the top of his head and looked for any signs of MBD but I've not seen anything? Any help would be awesome! Thank you!

 

[ChameleonNewb]

Here is a picture of him

 

[brownie64]

From what I can see in the pictures he don't look to have MBD. A couple of tips I would give is to get the UVB light, calcium, and calcium with d3 like you mentioned. I would also be careful not to over do the whole handling thing you might be stressing him out which could be causing him not to act his normal way of healthiness. Chameleons are very solitary animals, and it takes a great deal of time, and patience to earn their trust. Hope he starts feeling better good luck.

 

[ChameleonNewb]

Thank you so much for the feed back it means a lot for you responding! Is there two different types of calcium im assuming?

 

[brownie64]

Thank you so much for the feed back it means a lot for you responding! Is there two different types of calcium im assuming?

Yes you have a calcium with D3 that you give him twice a month, multivitamins you give him twice a month alternating with the calcium with D3, and then give him the calcium without D3 at about every other feeding.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. If he has MBD it's not a bad case. I'd say he has another health issue. I would make the drive to the vet and take a fresh poop to be checked for parasites. He could have parasites. Please fill out this form so we can see how you are keeping him and if there's anything you need o change. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

 

[ChameleonNewb]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled, less than a year old, I've had him around 6 months
• Handling - Not very often, he seems to not like it.
• Feeding - I feed him Once a day, unknown how many crickets he is eating, if I have meal worms ill feed him them from time to time, but his main diat is crickets.
• Supplements - I recently learned when you should dust the crickets and what type of calcium to get, unknown what brand I was using before.
• Watering - I have a waterfall in his cage, I see him drink from it and I also mist when I can a few times a day.
• Fecal Description - Not been tested, I'd have to search his cage for the colors. But judging from pictures I've seen from other threads on this site it seems healthy.
• History - No prior history.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Screen cage, its a bit smaller than I would like, due to this I am ordering a bigger one for him today that is on sale, it will be 24x24x48
• Lighting - Aqua Cultre is what is currently in his cage for a Heat lamp, 75 wats, the uvb bulb I could not tell you as I do not have the box, but will be picking one up today at the pet store.
• Temperature - My temperature gage/humidity checker broke recently, I am picking up a new one today.
• Humidity - Same as above, I would like to know however how humid would be good to keep it at?
• Plants - I am not using live plants however with the new cage I am getting I would like to get some, any recommendations?
• Placement - My cage is located in my bedroom,It is not near a high traffic area and the cage sits around 4 feet off the room floor.
• Location - Central united states.

Current Problem - Health of my chameleon



As I was filling this out and got to the lighting/temperature/humidity, I realized that I was not keeping track of it as much as I should, Also I would like to ask how recent you feed you chameleons?

 

[jannb]

Thank you for filling that out. Instead of going through it line by line with suggestions I am attaching my blog for how I recommend keeping veileds.....type of lights, plants, supplements and so forth.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-with-young-veiled-or-panther-chameleons.325/

 

[ChameleonNewb]

How long do you leave their lights on for and how long do you leave them off? Due to my sleep schedule for work its hard for me to get on a set time to have them off/on. Do you think he may just be exhausted due to not getting enough sleep? Also How often do you feed them?

 

[Crashbandit05]

Light schedule should be 12 on, 12 off. I work long days (8-5 in winter, 8-6 in summer) so my lights are set up to come on at 6:30AM then off at 6:30PM. Timers help tremendously with multiple light sources so I'd definitely recommend one or two.

 

[brownie64]

Chameleon - Veiled, less than a year old, I've had him around 6 months

• Handling - Not very often, he seems to not like it.

• Feeding - I feed him Once a day, unknown how many crickets he is eating, if I have meal worms ill feed him them from time to time, but his main diat is crickets.

• Supplements - I recently learned when you should dust the crickets and what type of calcium to get, unknown what brand I was using before.

• Watering - I have a waterfall in his cage, I see him drink from it and I also mist when I can a few times a day.
• Okay the waterfall is not a good Idea it harbors bad bacteria, and can cause your cham to get sick. Just stick with the misting's, and use a dripper.

• Fecal Description - Not been tested, I'd have to search his cage for the colors. But judging from pictures I've seen from other threads on this site it seems healthy.

• History - No prior history.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Screen cage, its a bit smaller than I would like, due to this I am ordering a bigger one for him today that is on sale, it will be 24x24x48
• Lighting - Aqua Cultre is what is currently in his cage for a Heat lamp, 75 wats, the uvb bulb I could not tell you as I do not have the box, but will be picking one up today at the pet store.
• 
  
• When you get your UVB bulb I would opt for the linier type because it distributes the UBV much more evenly. Twelve on twelve off, no lights at night.
• Temperature - My temperature gage/humidity checker broke recently, I am picking up a new one today.
• Okay on this I recommend a infrared heat temp gun. You can get them fairly cheap on E-bay, and you can even take the temp of your chams skin with this thing. Your gradient should be about 90-95 basking, 70-75 ambient, and the lower part of the cage can reach as low as 65. You don't need any heat at night unless it gets below 55, they like a cool down it is beneficial to them.
• Humidity - Same as above, I would like to know however how humid would be good to keep it at?
• A good digital one you will find to be much more accurate than the analog ones. Put it near the center of the enclosure away from the heat source. You will want to keep your humidity around 70%, the with a dry out in-between misting's were you see a drop as low as the 40% range.
• Plants - I am not using live plants however with the new cage I am getting I would like to get some, any recommendations?
• Plants are a good idea they help a great deal with regulating your humidity, and they make the environment closer to the real environment he is used to. I would suggest a pothos, or a rubber tree plant.
• Placement - My cage is located in my bedroom,It is not near a high traffic area and the cage sits around 4 feet off the room floor.
• Location - Central united states

The last thing I would add when time, and finances allows I would automate everything with timers, auto misters, and so forth it makes life so much easer. And anything that @jannb has to say about veiled I would listen no one knows them better.

 

[ChameleonNewb]

I am posting on this thread So I do not need to make a new one and waste space, I came home today to my chameleon with bright orange poop/pee, had white attached to it, Figured he was dehydrated so I am tending to that, but I seen 2-3 Greenish circles next to it? Sadly I didn't think to take a picture of them, maybe you can help me out on what it could have been?