Dead backend?

[christyo2o2]

ok guys I will try to describe EVERYthing as good as I can.

I have a 1 year old male Veiled Cham named Scooter. We have had him for his entire life. About a week ago we noticed that he was not eating as much as normal. About a day later we noticed his back legs and tail were limp. We imediately made an appointment for the vet that day and after taking Xrays he told us that he saw nothing wrong but felt that he may have something compacted in his stomach. After watching him for the past few days I notice this could be true because he has not pooped in atleast 4 days. The doc gave scooter a shot of calcium as well as some worm treatment. He also sent us home with a bottle of calcium to give scooter orally daily as we have been doing religiously. Today we noticed something that has scared us. Scooter's tale is being discoloured. Just behind his rectum his tail is turning extremely pale liek it is literally dieing.

He has not eaten on his own in several days and we have been force feeding him crickets and water because he wont do either on his own.

The cage set up:
2.5-3 ft tall mesh cage that he can climb around.
lots of vines to climb on.
75 watt heat lamp to keep warm.
1 gallon water drip running constantly with fresh water daily.
UVB light on 12 hours a day.
We also spray with warm water twice daily.

If I missed anything I need to add here to give more knowledge on area or anything please let me know. This is my Girlfriend's pet and she loves it dearly. Please let me know if you guys have any ideas on what to do or ideas on what could be causing this.



-Justin


These are pics of scooter.

You can see that he is holding himself up by only his front arms. You can also see the white in his tale from where it is Extremely pale.

There you can see his feet just kinda dangling.

 

[Jam]

I know that beardies can suffer from paralysis due to eating crickets too large and getting impacted (it presses on one nerve or another) but I have never heard of it in a chameleon.

I would go back to your vet and ask for a barium study. Barium shows up on xrays and can be force "fed" to the cham. Then, by taking a series of xrays you can see WHERE it goes, how quickly it goes, and where it potentially stops (usually due to an impaction).

Do you think that your cham could have fallen and injured his back leading to his hind end paralysis? I don't know if chams can get anti-inflammatories (??) but if they could it might help with any inflammation that could be pressing on his spine due to an injury.

Good luck.

 

[christyo2o2]

thanks for writing back.

the vet felt on scooter's stomach and said he felt an impaction. It sounds right because scooter has not pooped in several days, Its bad for obviousl reasons.

Would you or anyone else know a good way to clear up impactions?

 

[TRI0N]

Is there any signs of a bite? Perhaps a spider bite him? I would think a fall would show up in the x-ray but a bite may not.

I don't even see any darkness on his back above the whiteness that is creeping up his tail Does it get outside exposure without a cage or such?

 

[christyo2o2]

no we dont really ever take him out of the cage. we have been now, teh pictures taken were on teh couch just now when I fed him his calcium the vet gave me.

He doesnt ever get out of his cage much. He hates peopel LOL. I suppose I can look for a spider bit but it would have to be hella small of a spider because of the small sized mesh that surrounds teh cage. We are talking new born spider size.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

The X-rays likely ruled out spinal chord trauma.

Hind limb paralysis can result secondary to metabolic bone desease (MBD- calcium deficiency). It's a little hard to tell from you photos, but the front legs seem to look a little odd too. I suppose the vet would have seen this on x-rays, though. The calcium supplementation may work if other aspects are correct. Calcium deficiency can result from poor absorption of calcium, not always necessarily from lack of calcium in the diet. What sort of UVB light are you using? This, and vitamin regimin, can be critical to calcium absorption. I'm no expert, but other experienced cham owners who have actually been through this will probably answer your thread, as well.

 

[christyo2o2]

the bulb I am using (I have it infront of me) is...

Exo Terra - Repti Glow 8.0 Terrarium Lamp
"for reptiles with very high UV requirements"
33%UVA, 8% UVB

It is the best one that our pet stores sell...

If it is the calcium deficiency, will that cause an impaction as well? Is it cureable?

 

[TRI0N]

Anything is possible with cleaning out a cage. Example: Moving plants out to sun and/or clean or swapping plants in and out. Its impossible to catch anything like that for a spider that can get in. I'm not going to say this is no doubt a spider bite but a possible idea. The fact that their skin is tough would make it hard to get in a good bite but it is a possible aspect. Did the vet do any blood work on Scooter? I'm suppriesed if the X-Ray showed nothing that blood work was not done to see if there was something in his system that shouldn't be.

 

[christyo2o2]

i dont remember him taking blood. We have another Appt this week, prolly tuesday cuz I leave again thursday for my job and will be gone for a few weeks. My gf will be taking care of Mr scoots while i am gone.

We removed teh live plants several months ago. teh only thing that goes in and out is the bowl the water drips into. The flooring is removed a few times a week and thrown away. I would say it is nearly impossible for a spider to come in in teh flooring being that we use Paper flooring.

 

[Jam]

When my current cham had an impaction they had me give him mineral oil everyday and subq fluids to help loosen up and move along the impaction. my first cham had a very severe impaction and with her they did that plus upping her cage temp and giving her long hot soaks in a water bath (not scourching hot though! but warm).

 

[christyo2o2]

where do i get mineral oil? do i just feed it to him with his calcium the doc gave me? how much do i give him as well? My gf just got some from her friend. I will start giving him some imediately. how much should I feed?

 

[Jerambis]

If I am not mistaken, someone on this forum had a similar problem to this. I think the cure was the vet gave them some sort of acupuncture shot type thing and he immediatly released his poop. This of course is if the problem is impaction and not MBD related problems.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

the bulb I am using (I have it infront of me) is...

Exo Terra - Repti Glow 8.0 Terrarium Lamp
"for reptiles with very high UV requirements"
33%UVA, 8% UVB

It is the best one that our pet stores sell...

If it is the calcium deficiency, will that cause an impaction as well? Is it cureable?

Sorry to hear about your handsome little guy. That is great that you have him under a vet's care. Is the vet experienced with chameleons? We all hope for a full recovery for your veiled. But I have had no personal experience with this particular issue.

About the bulb- Is that the desert terrarium bulb? There have been some problems associated with desert bulbs. But I think that is the R-zilla. You may want to do a search on this forum about the various UVB bulbs. There have been a few recent reports about compact bulbs and desert bulbs being not too good for chams. For calcium absorption- diet and lighting are crucial.

I am in and out of meetings this evening and so my answers have had to be brief, and now I am headed out the door again- or else I would have looked up those threads for you (on this forum) concerning those bulbs. My apologies for being so brief. Got to go.

 

[christyo2o2]

If I am not mistaken, someone on this forum had a similar problem to this. I think the cure was the vet gave them some sort of acupuncture shot type thing and he immediatly released his poop. This of course is if the problem is impaction and not MBD related problems.

I HOPE its not MBD!!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

A long soak in a warm bath will not harm him.
I would gently massage the area above and around the hind legs during this soaking....try to get any fecal matter that may be compacted or pressing on the nerves back there dislodged. Massage around the base of the tail and vent as well. Press gently on the base of the tail and massage where the hemipenal glands are located.
My guess is that this may be the problem.
Can't really tell much from the photo and I'm not a vet. Although his front limbs do look a little odd..I think it is the picture though.
It won't hurt him to try this.
Keep us updated.

-Brad

 

[TRI0N]

Your chams legs look very square to me. So its visable appearance does not suggest that. Most that do have MBD have very round elbows/knees.

 

[christyo2o2]

thansk guys ill try everything yall have suggested. hopefully the mineral oil will help and make it pass!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

How are you giving him this oil?
It will make him vomit.

-Brad

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Cod liver oil is a much better choice and should be only a tiny tiny drop!
This will make him throw up too if you give him too much.
Bath and Massage!

-Brad

 

[christyo2o2]

the vet had mention the mineral oil... ok so your sayin a VERY little bit? I can do that the vet gave me a messuring deal for his calcium. I can messure a small amount in with his water when i have to give him that.