Healthy cham? I'm concerned.

[SmokeJoker]

Hello all, I have had my cham for almost 3 months and it has been good he eats and drinks fine. My problem is in the last couple days he hasn't eaten very much. And for all the time I've had him he hasn't really grown very much at all.

 

[SmokeJoker]

Here are some pictures

 

[SmokeJoker]

And here is the first picture I have of him.
There were both taken a couple months ago.

 

[kinyonga]

How much do you feed your chameleon per week?

Please answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread at the top of the health forum so we can help you better.

 

[SmokeJoker]

I feed him 10ish crickets per day and I also have dubais and supers. I will fill out the how to ask for help.

 

[SmokeJoker]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, I've had for 3 months, I was told he was 2 or 3 months old when I got him
• Handling - I take him out of his cage to clean it 1 time a week, that's all the handling
• Feeding - crickets, dubais, and supers, 10-15 crickets dailie, a couple dubais and supers all gut loaded with cricket crack
• Supplements - Repti vite multivitamin, repti cal with amd without d3, I follow the recommended schedule from the forum
• Watering - I have a hand pressure mister and he gets sprayed 3 times a day, I see him drink sometimes.
• Fecal Description - brown and white
• History - I've never had any problems

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - screen, 18x18x36
• Lighting - repti sun 100 watt basking and uvb bulb. On at 7:30am and off at 7:30 pm
• Temperature - basking is about 85 to 87 and ambient is around 75
• Humidity - humidity at 42% most of the time, when I spray it gets to 70% then slowly falls to 42% again
• Plants - 2 live plants, hibiscus and pathos, 2 large face vine things, 1 big stick.
• Placement - in my room. Near a fan that never gets turned on. And there is a vent in my room but not near the cage.
• Location Texas

 

[AdrianChamy]

Is it just me or does his elbows look swollen he might be starting to get MBD if his elbows start to look worse contact the vet!

 

[sharp229]

It looks like MBD to me. You said you have a 100W ReptiSun UV bulb, and it looks like there is only one light in the cage. This is most likely an incandescent heat bulb. You need at least a basking (incandescent) bulb which can be just a standards house bulb, and a ReptiSun 5.0 UVB bulb. The ReptiSun 5.0 comes in both a CFL (screw in) and linear (flourescent strip light) form.

He should also be able to get within 7 inches of the UVB bulb since UVB does not travel very far.

In the original pictures I don't see MBD, so you really need to get the lighting fixed as soon as possible. A vet can provide calcium shots to help with the process, but a proper setup and time are the only things that can help him recover.

This thread has more info on MBD:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...-like-how-it-happens-and-how-to-fix-it.95071/

 

[SmokeJoker]

Thank you for the help, I'm getting a new bulb today and was wondering if I could use the reptisun for the basking bulb.

 

[Andee]

It also looks like you have a female veiled not a male.

 

[SmokeJoker]

He has the tarsal spurs you just can't see them in those pictures, I had it confirmed when I first got him by forum members. Here is a picture of the light I was using. Can I keep it for a basking light?

 

[Andee]

Mercury vapor bulbs are usually fine with uvb for other animals. However chameleons recognize the difference between uvb rays and heat rays. Therefore they can end up staying in the heat, since at different times they will be looking for uvb instead of heat. too long of a mercury vapor bulb and have a high chance of burning themselves. How are you measuring your temps? Mercury vapor bulbs tend to burn hotter than other bulbs too.

 

[sharp229]

Like Andee said, PowerSun provides both UVB and heat. I didn't know this is what you had since you said ReptiSun. My guess would be that he either could not get close enough to absorb the UVB he needed, or it was too hot up close. Also, do you have anything other than screen between the bulb and him? Glass and plastic block most UVB.

I would really recommend you get a 24" fluorescent strip light and install a ReptiSun 5.0 UVB bulb, and ensure that he can get at least within 7 inches of it without it being too hot. You can get these at most pet stores for relatively cheap, and I would get one locally as soon as possible just to correct the situation.

If you get a dedicated UVB bulb, I would recommend returning the PowerSun and just using a standard house bulb for heat. It should be far enough away from the UVB that he does not get hot when under the UVB. By the way, from the last of the newer pictures he does look like a male.

 

[SmokeJoker]

I have a thermometer hanging on the side of the cage level with his basking spot to make sure it doesn't get to hot.

 

[SmokeJoker]

I bought a uvb bulb today and will get just a normal basking bulb tomorow. Thank you very much for the help.

 

[Andee]

However if he does have MBD that will require some vet attention. You might want to take him in for a check up. Just to make sure. It looks like it's in the early stages if that's what it is. So you should be able to stop it pretty quickly

 

[SmokeJoker]

I will try to get him to the vet bur I don't know any in my area that are good.

 

[SmokeJoker]

Went to the vet today and got a check up and the vet said the swelling in his knees were from a bacteria infection. So I got antibiotics to get rid of that and I will be taking in a stool sample in tomorow so he can check for parasites. I believe the bacterial infection is true because today the knee that swollen in the picture isn't swollen today. I was just wondering what could have caused it. Like where would the bacteria have come from?

 

[Andee]

Any sort or knick or cut could of done it... is he missing any toenails?

 

[SmokeJoker]

He is not missing any nails. I know the screen cages can sometimes pull off a nail so i check to make sure he has his nails when I get him out to clean his cage.