Nagyb
New Member
Chameleon Info:
So, I've been holding off to post anything for a while because I have done so much research almost every single day on the problem I am having and have been to the vet At LEAST 8-10 times in a matter of 2 months. To help some understand better, that is like once a week for a little over 2 months... Many of us have read forums and posts on here about chams grabbing their front legs with their back legs. Before going to the vet, I have read tons of posts on here about it and most of them have noted that it is a start of MBD, Vitamin A deficiency, Calcium deficiency, etc... I have done everything in my power to help Apollo, my 5 month old chameleon. He is an extremely picky eater, not to mention, I rarely ever actually see him eat anything. I dust his crickets and wax worms (when I actually do give him worms because he won't touch them anymore) with Rep-Cal no D3 every feeding, and every Friday of the week I switch between Rep-Cal with D3 and an Exo Terra multivitamin. I have tried crickets, meal worms, wax worms and horn worms but he was not eating the worms after a while and would not touch the hornworms at all. I have tried cup feeding and free ranging the crickets, but no luck either way. He will not drink or even notice the droplets coming off of the fake plants in his enclosure, so I have to literally take him out every single day, open his mouth and put a couple eye droppers full of water in his mouth... Now to the vet part and the really big kicker... This has been going on since basically the start of the year and it is literally breaking me apart. The vet had to guess it was a calcium deficiency, so we tried Calcium Glubionate for that, but it did not help... and then she said it may be his bones, so we did an X-Ray. The X-Rays came back and they were absolutely PERFECT she said. He has great bone density, no MBD AT ALL, no start of MBD, nothing to worry about with his bones. So she then put him on an inflammatory, thinking maybe it was his muscles that were inflamed from a calcium deficiency that may be in the way of his legs working properly?... that did not work. So, after all of this testing, and many trial and errors, she suggested that it may be neurological in his brain and maybe a parasite was somewhere inside of his head, blocking whatever part of his brain it is that tells him to move his back legs properly. So, we tried a medicine for that. And still nothing. The vet had said there was no other way to really tell if it was a neurological issue because they would need to draw blood, and because he's technically still a baby, he wouldn't have enough blood for that. I have done so much research for Apollo and spent so much money on his setup, to ensure everything is perfect for him, but I feel like I am failing him as a reptile mother and it is bringing me in tears, seeing him hurt himself over and over. I'm sorry for whomever is reading this, because this story is so long but I feel like it is important to know every bit of detail in this case... Also, his cage setup is a little different. I have a 2ftx2ftx4ft screened enclosure, but because he grabs his limbs and falls numerous times a day, I had to put a soft yoga mat/screen type thing in the middle of the enclosure so when he does fall, he will not get hurt and possibly break a bone (which, thank God, has not happened). So, if he did end up getting better throughout all of that stress of going to the vet and the constant processes of giving him medicine, then I was going to put a nice, huge, REAL plant in his Viv and take out the yoga mat that is setup in his enclosure. But he still grabs himself to the point where he has open wounds that he reopens every time he grabs himself, so I cannot trust him with an open 4ft tall enclosure when I am at work... He has plenty of branches in his enclosure, but every time I would tie leafy vines around his branches, he would trip over them and fall, hurting himself again. So, basically the vet had told me there was nothing she could do to help me and I was on my own with this. I have been trying to think of ways to get his wounds to heal, and this is what I have came up with. I have hockey stick tape which is very soft and bendable. I cut two small pieces off and put the sticky parts together and wrapped it around his arm(like a cast) so he could still bend and move around. One arm cast is doing good but the other arm is so wounded that it will not stay on because of the dead skin that is forming around the wound... I am at a loss on what to do anymore because I have tried almost everything and he is my precious baby. I am willing to try anything and everything to help him, and up for any ideas that may work if anyone could please help me. I do not want his wounds to get infected, so I don't even know how to or if I should even attempt to clean them because I know it'll hurt him even worse. Another thing to add, when I hold him, he does not walk or stand. He sits, just like a dog would. I am at work right now and my boyfriend did not send many pictures I can use to show what is happening exactly, but imagine a dog sitting. His back legs are perfectly straight out, while his front legs are bent like they should be. The pictures I am going to attach are not examples of what I mean. When I get home, I will post pictures of his enclosure and what I explained with that.
- Your Chameleon - Male Veiled, 5 months
- Handling - Every day (you will understand why when you read the serious problem I am having)
- Feeding - 10 crickets a day (barely touches them) that are gut-loaded with fresh kale and carrots, sometimes on occasion with appropriate fruits.
- Supplements - I dust my feeders with Rep-Cal no D3 every feeding, and switch between Rep-Cal with D3 and a multivitamin every Friday (2 times a month for each)
- Watering - Misted from 9am-6pm every hour for 45 seconds (Vet told me to do so)
- Fecal Description - his fecal is very small, but looks healthy, and his urine is yellow (you will understand when you read the problem I am having)
- History - Nothing was wrong with Apollo before I had bought him from Underground Reptiles.
- Cage Type - Large Repti Breeze. 2ftx2ftx4ft
- Lighting - His lights are on from 8am-8pm. I have a 150W basking light (because his enclosure is in my basement and it is cold down there and I live in Michigan) and there is a 50W-75W UVB/UVA light as well.
- Temperature - His basking spot is around 85-90 degrees, the rest of his enclosure 70-75 degrees and during the night 62-70 degrees
- Humidity - Humidity hits 70%-80% while the Mist King is on and stays at about 50%-60% any other time
- Plants - No real plants (read my problem)
- Placement - In the basement
- Location - Michigan, U.S.A.
So, I've been holding off to post anything for a while because I have done so much research almost every single day on the problem I am having and have been to the vet At LEAST 8-10 times in a matter of 2 months. To help some understand better, that is like once a week for a little over 2 months... Many of us have read forums and posts on here about chams grabbing their front legs with their back legs. Before going to the vet, I have read tons of posts on here about it and most of them have noted that it is a start of MBD, Vitamin A deficiency, Calcium deficiency, etc... I have done everything in my power to help Apollo, my 5 month old chameleon. He is an extremely picky eater, not to mention, I rarely ever actually see him eat anything. I dust his crickets and wax worms (when I actually do give him worms because he won't touch them anymore) with Rep-Cal no D3 every feeding, and every Friday of the week I switch between Rep-Cal with D3 and an Exo Terra multivitamin. I have tried crickets, meal worms, wax worms and horn worms but he was not eating the worms after a while and would not touch the hornworms at all. I have tried cup feeding and free ranging the crickets, but no luck either way. He will not drink or even notice the droplets coming off of the fake plants in his enclosure, so I have to literally take him out every single day, open his mouth and put a couple eye droppers full of water in his mouth... Now to the vet part and the really big kicker... This has been going on since basically the start of the year and it is literally breaking me apart. The vet had to guess it was a calcium deficiency, so we tried Calcium Glubionate for that, but it did not help... and then she said it may be his bones, so we did an X-Ray. The X-Rays came back and they were absolutely PERFECT she said. He has great bone density, no MBD AT ALL, no start of MBD, nothing to worry about with his bones. So she then put him on an inflammatory, thinking maybe it was his muscles that were inflamed from a calcium deficiency that may be in the way of his legs working properly?... that did not work. So, after all of this testing, and many trial and errors, she suggested that it may be neurological in his brain and maybe a parasite was somewhere inside of his head, blocking whatever part of his brain it is that tells him to move his back legs properly. So, we tried a medicine for that. And still nothing. The vet had said there was no other way to really tell if it was a neurological issue because they would need to draw blood, and because he's technically still a baby, he wouldn't have enough blood for that. I have done so much research for Apollo and spent so much money on his setup, to ensure everything is perfect for him, but I feel like I am failing him as a reptile mother and it is bringing me in tears, seeing him hurt himself over and over. I'm sorry for whomever is reading this, because this story is so long but I feel like it is important to know every bit of detail in this case... Also, his cage setup is a little different. I have a 2ftx2ftx4ft screened enclosure, but because he grabs his limbs and falls numerous times a day, I had to put a soft yoga mat/screen type thing in the middle of the enclosure so when he does fall, he will not get hurt and possibly break a bone (which, thank God, has not happened). So, if he did end up getting better throughout all of that stress of going to the vet and the constant processes of giving him medicine, then I was going to put a nice, huge, REAL plant in his Viv and take out the yoga mat that is setup in his enclosure. But he still grabs himself to the point where he has open wounds that he reopens every time he grabs himself, so I cannot trust him with an open 4ft tall enclosure when I am at work... He has plenty of branches in his enclosure, but every time I would tie leafy vines around his branches, he would trip over them and fall, hurting himself again. So, basically the vet had told me there was nothing she could do to help me and I was on my own with this. I have been trying to think of ways to get his wounds to heal, and this is what I have came up with. I have hockey stick tape which is very soft and bendable. I cut two small pieces off and put the sticky parts together and wrapped it around his arm(like a cast) so he could still bend and move around. One arm cast is doing good but the other arm is so wounded that it will not stay on because of the dead skin that is forming around the wound... I am at a loss on what to do anymore because I have tried almost everything and he is my precious baby. I am willing to try anything and everything to help him, and up for any ideas that may work if anyone could please help me. I do not want his wounds to get infected, so I don't even know how to or if I should even attempt to clean them because I know it'll hurt him even worse. Another thing to add, when I hold him, he does not walk or stand. He sits, just like a dog would. I am at work right now and my boyfriend did not send many pictures I can use to show what is happening exactly, but imagine a dog sitting. His back legs are perfectly straight out, while his front legs are bent like they should be. The pictures I am going to attach are not examples of what I mean. When I get home, I will post pictures of his enclosure and what I explained with that.
