Crystal Build up

[SleepyMeerkat]

Okay, so a little background.

My chameleon is about 8 months old, and one day I noticed her roaming the bottom of her cage, clawing at her mat. Soooo I figured she was gravid, I set up her laying pen, and I upped her calcium input for the time being.

Well turns out she wasn't gravid, and now has crystal build up on her nose, due to the oversupply of calcium.

She drinks regularly, uria is white, and I have given her drops of water by pipette so I know she's drinking.

Heat isn't an issue, ranges from 87 to 75 and has plenty of climbing room.

I haven't witnessed her sneeze on her own and neither has anybody else in my household. The only time I'm seen anything like sneezing, I was removing the crystals with warm water droplets.

Humidity is great, so no concern there.


What I want to know, is how long it takes for buildup to subside, granted it depends on the surplus of minerals, but from experience, how long did it take before crystals stop being produced so I can stop worrying?

 

[JoeVet]

If she isn't in distressed I would stop worrying right away. She has a little bit of salts she is getting rid of. Its normal. Don't worry. Be happy.

 

[kinyonga]

It's not calcium being expelled out her nose. It's other salts.
What supplements are you using SPECIFICALLY and how often do you use each?
What are you SPECIFICALLY feeding your insects?

 

[JoeVet]

It's not calcium being expelled out her nose. It's other salts.
What supplements are you using SPECIFICALLY and how often do you use each?
What are you SPECIFICALLY feeding your insects?

You are right. The salt glands excrete sodium chloride. Thanks for catching that (yeah, had to pull out my books). Still a normal function and a requirement since reptile kidneys do not regulate salt concentration like mammals. The definitive answer was given by Ferretinmy shoes here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...-cause-of-the-white-crusts-on-the-nose.75998/ She suggests it is salt from gut loading prey with veggies and from the prey themselves.

 

[kinyonga]

I just don't want people to stop using or decrease calcium thinking that they are giving too much calcium when the salts come out of the nose when the salts coming out are not calcium.