Female Veiled Chameleon with mbd

Tommy Bonnet

Tommy Bonnet

Member
Hello all I just rescued a femal veiled chameleon who is in real need of attention. She has a broken jaw from a fall, and she has a bad case of mbd. Oh and she has a clutch in her belly.

So I just got her 10 mins ago from a family that gave her to a 6yr old son. They were not aware of the needs a chameleon has so she got mbd. Right now she is syringe feed, has calcium drops and a antibiotic for the jaw. She is really weak and has a hard time keeping her tongue and her mouth and can not really move anywhere.

Cage info, supplementation etc...

I have a custom built screen and wood vivarium
Reptisun 5.0 24 inch bulb
150 watt basking bulb
Zoo meds dripper
Must 3-5 times a day
Basking area 85°
Ambient 70°
Flukers calcium with d3 will be used twice a week, multivitamins, twice a week and calcium every feeding.

Vet orders:
Calcium drops once a day
Antibiotic once a day
1.5 ml canned dog food twice a day.

Is this a good way to help her. What should I do about the clutch in her belly in this weakened state, and what have you seen work heal these poor animals suffering like this
20160110_114818.jpg
 
Poor girl! She looks so bad. I'm glad you were able to rescue her. I hope she's able to pull through this. My thoughts are with the two of you.
 
Poor thing. Did the vet do an X-ray to determine if she does have eggs? Judging by the picture it doesnt appear to me that she is carrying. Also ditch the dog food idea and mush up some insects (gross I know) She isn't terribly skinny so I'd focus on hydration and calcium at the moment. In my opinion the vet definitely should have given her a shot of calcium to get her started. The liquid calcium will be important as she won't be able to eat solids for a while. The set-up and enclosure sound good but I'd put something soft in the bottom (some old towels maybe) as she's likely to fall in her current state. Then for supplementation once she's able to eat insects again I'd do the following:

Calcium WITHOUT d3 every feeding
Calcium WITH d3 once a week
Multivitamin once a week

Do this for two weeks then cut back on the calcium W/d3 and multivitamin to every two weeks (not at the same time)

This should get her back to a healthy state, although her bones will likely be bent forever. Good luck and I hope she pulls through.
 
Poor girl! What stupid, ignorant people giving her (or any animal) to a 6 yr old. I mean come on! With that being said, I would take her to a vet and have her xrayed for eggs. If you are friends with these people, I would present them with the vet bills. That can really complicate matters if she is carrying eggs on top of all her other problems. The vet can also give her calcium injections which can go directly into her bones. Also, just curious why she is getting an antibiotic? If she has no infection present, then the med may do her more harm than good, especially in her fragile state.
 
We are not friends but they said they would pay the vet bills.
Antibiotic is for the broken jaw. There is no infection. If I should stop the use of this until it is needed I will. I'm just going off what I was told by the family.
I am not the one that took her to the vet they are so I do not know what all done and plan on bringing her in again.
She is currently confined to the bottom of the cage with lights lowered to a safe level.

I didn't like the dog food idea and was planning on making bug smoothies.

Thank you for your help!
 
If the vet said to give antibiotics, then maybe it is a precaution for the jaw like you said. I would not want to tell you to not give something and have things take a turn for the worse because of it. Do you know why they think she has eggs? She could have them. Sometimes you cannot tell from outward appearance and the only way to be sure is an xray. I just hate seeing chameleons in this condition, especially when it is complete irresponsibility of the owners.
 
yes, that is true, you can feel them. But now the problem is they have to come out, and she is no condition to lay them I don't think. She needs to be able to dig into soil or sand to make a tunnel and hole to lay the eggs. I am not sure what you can do, but someone else will chime in I am sure. You could pm Jannb. She has dealt with alot of egg issues, but I don't believe she ever had a female with MBD. What did they say the vet said about the eggs?
 
Nothing other then he thought she was carrying. The egg thing has me worried cause she is in no condition to dig let alone move right now.
 
I would put a laying bin in her cage to see if she tries to dig.
There is a "bug juice" recipe by Lopez/James...i posted a link to it in the last two days. It's a good one to use.
Good luck with her.
 
She is really mentally active always looking around and trying to go somewhere even tho she can't stand up. I'm assuming this is a good sign. She even tried to hiss at me when I was feeding her lol
 
Poor girl :( It sounds like you are willing to do what it takes to help her, so I am so glad she is in your hands!
 
Never mind i figured out how to see your post.

I made her a laying bin and will put it in her cage when she wakes up. I made a test hole and I'm going to leave it in hopes that she can use it if she cant dig herself one in this weakened condition. I ued washed play sand and organic soil. When I put her in there should I hang her lights over it? She does not have the strength to climb out on her own!
 
Apparently she has not.gone.to the bathroom in several days! I'm calling the vet to see what needs to be done! Any ideas? Her vet is sw animal hospital

Dr. Mark Burgess
 
I put the laying bin in and put her in it. I'm going to leaver there for a few hours and then sneak a peak threw a hole I put in the thin Blanket covering her cage for privacy. I placed the Uvb bulb on the bin to give her Uvb rays during this recovery. I also hung her basking light about a foot and a half above the bin so she does not get too cold sitting on the moist sand/soil. Please deal free to chime in if I'm not doing this correctly.
 
After 3 hours I checked in on her and she was face down in the tunnel I made her but she was stuck there. I helped her out and her tongue was all the way out with dirt and sand all over it and her mouth full of dirt. She had her eyes closed and didn't move at all. I rinsed her tongue off and washed her a little bit. She regurgitated a bunch of dirt/sand so I'm afraid to put her back in there. I'm currently waiting on the vet to call back.
 
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