Chance Leon, I believe that your chameleon is getting far too much D3---which is known to cause serious health problems in chameleons.
Vitamin D3 is a fat soluble "vitamin" which means that excesses are stored in the body, rather than being easily flushed out.
The Repashy Lo D isn't really as low in D3 as you might think.
It contains 8000IU of D3 per pound.
Your Rep Cal Calcium with D3 is listed here
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/174-whats-supplements-brand.htmlas containg a whopping 182000 IU of D3 per pound.
(Zoo Med Repti Calcium plus D3, by comparison contains about 10000 IU per pound and it is not marketed as a low in D3 supplement.)
If your cham spends 45 minutes per day on average outdoors, with unfiltered natural sunlight, then he needs absolutely no D3 supplementing.
You needn't take my word for it, as you can read what this vet had to say:
Hypervitaminosis D (too much D3)-
Clinical signs- soft tissue calcification, depression, anorexia, PU/PD, and
weight loss.
By Matthew Wheelock DVM
here
AND
This vet, Scott J. Stahl, DVM
Excess vitamin D3 supplementation -- especially in combination with calcium -- may result in organ toxicity. Metastatic calcification and gout are common results. Gular edema is a common clinical sign. Additionally, pseudo-gout has been noted in veiled chameleons fed a heavily-supplemented vitamin D3- and calcium-based diet in combination with restricted levels of vitamin A.here
http://www.vetlocator.com/newsarticles/pet_lizard_conditions.php
I won't argue the exact nutritional requirements for chameleons because anyone purporting to know them is simply not being truthful.
Scientific studies are very expensive and most nutritional studies have not been done specifically on chameleons, who are more sensitive to oversupplementing than at least some other types of reptiles.
It will be wonderful for chameleon owners when more precise requirements are known.
Until then, the experiences of long-term chamkeepers have to do.
That's where this often repeated recommendation comes from:
calcium without D3 at most feedings
calcium with D3 2x a month
Multivitamin 2x a month com
(Half as often for both D3 and multivitamins for Jackson's and other montane cham species)
You will notice that the calcium recommendation and vitamin recommendations have changed since the 2007 thread.
There are a very small number of people who claim to never use supplements because of the extremely nutritious diet that they feed the feeders.
Most of us use a good feeder diet combined with supplementing to help ensure deficiencies don't occur.
Chance Leon, the How to ask for Help questions are in the Health Clinic forum as a "sticky" near the top of the posts.
if I try a feeder and my cham won't eat it no matter what, I don't worry about it, I just don't buy them anymore. Like us eating foods we hate.
