HELP, CHAMELEON HAS FALLEN....swollen leg

[Dunnigan]

I absolutely HATE to bring this up but the whole depth perception thing made me.

Are you using a Compact Florescent UV light? They can POTENTIALLY damage a chameleons eyes. A member on here has a chameleon (who they think) has damaged vision (possibly blind if i remember correctly) from using UV lighting from a CFL.

If you are using a CFL this may explain why he is having depth perception problems.

As far as the leg/foot area, call a reptile vet and ask their opinion, a good vet will tell you yes or no.

 

[JackAttack]

hello,


thank you to you all for your replies........he is not doing any better and i am taking him to the vet asap...........i hope he will be ok until monday please keep the ideas coming........

 

[Docility]

I absolutely HATE to bring this up but the whole depth perception thing made me.

Are you using a Compact Florescent UV light? They can POTENTIALLY damage a chameleons eyes. A member on here has a chameleon (who they think) has damaged vision (possibly blind if i remember correctly) from using UV lighting from a CFL.

If you are using a CFL this may explain why he is having depth perception problems.

As far as the leg/foot area, call a reptile vet and ask their opinion, a good vet will tell you yes or no.

A compact is the same as a strip lighting it goes through the same filtration, and gas. So go ahead and throw all ideas about that out the window. Though like people some chams will be a little bit sensitive to the UVB, and may enjoy a 2.0 instead of 5.0. If thats the case the lost UVB needs to be made up with higher quality supplement, and food

Dont be rough with it, but see if he can even clasp your finger when you stick it in his foot, and if he does thats good, but once he latched one try applying a small amount of tension to test how his muscles, and leg bone structure are doing. DO THIS IN SUCH MINUTE INCREMENTS THAT WAY YOU DONT BREAK SOMETHING! if he starts to loose strength then hes probably just sprained, but if he has instant resentment, or not strength means hes probably broken something, or torn a muscle. until you get him to a vet try to keeo heat on his leg with a spot lamp. same principles apply like we hurt ourselves. he may even be hanging upside down right now instictivly to help move the fluid out of the damaged area

 

[JackAttack]

Docility, thank you for your input.....we have tried feeling his leg, he is latching on, but he doesnt want us to touch the leg and instantly tries to pull it away. if he has to , he uses the leg, but i am now noticing that his other back leg is getting weaker, and he's starting to treat it the same way he has the hurt one. he's not moving very much at all now, resting his entire body on branches............. hasn't eaten yet today either. do you know what the vet will tell me? will taking him there stress him out too much, because he is hurt already? thanks again,

 

[WelshOneEmma]

A compact is the same as a strip lighting it goes through the same filtration, and gas. So go ahead and throw all ideas about that out the window. Though like people some chams will be a little bit sensitive to the UVB, and may enjoy a 2.0 instead of 5.0. If thats the case the lost UVB needs to be made up with higher quality supplement, and food

Dont be rough with it, but see if he can even clasp your finger when you stick it in his foot, and if he does thats good, but once he latched one try applying a small amount of tension to test how his muscles, and leg bone structure are doing. DO THIS IN SUCH MINUTE INCREMENTS THAT WAY YOU DONT BREAK SOMETHING! if he starts to loose strength then hes probably just sprained, but if he has instant resentment, or not strength means hes probably broken something, or torn a muscle. until you get him to a vet try to keeo heat on his leg with a spot lamp. same principles apply like we hurt ourselves. he may even be hanging upside down right now instictivly to help move the fluid out of the damaged area

Have they not been discussing studies showing this is damaging to chams? Seeing as all the senior members with many years experience are adamant they cause damage, i would be inclined to believe them when it comes to compact lights.

 

[blackbetty]

That sounds like to beginning of MBD to me.

 

[critterguy]

I'm sure chams fall out of trees all the time in the wild. My unexpert opinion is to suspect something is up and get the underlying cause checked out.

 

[kinyonga]

Docility...you said..."A compact is the same as a strip lighting it goes through the same filtration, and gas. So go ahead and throw all ideas about that out the window"...guess you haven't seen the studies...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

 

[JackAttack]

ok, i will check out his lights.......but he seems to be able to see fine.......i dont suspect he fell because he couldnt see the branches....thank you for your input, i will let you know what happens on monday with the vet.....keep the ideas coming on how to keep him comfortable until then, thanks again

 

[blackbetty]

If he is falling, put him in a small container, like a rubbermaid tub with some crumpled paper towels for him to grab onto but no vines or climbing so that he doesnt injure himself further. Just make sure to still put his basking in a corner overhead and his UVB. REGARDLESS if he has eye issues or not, SPIRAL UVB bulbs are very very dangerous and it needs to be a strip light 5.0.

 

[JackAttack]

i had no idea that the spiral bulbs were harmful to chams.......what is the reason for this? its not in the cage with him, its on the outside of the screen.... just curious?

 

[blackbetty]

i THINK they give off too much UVB and damage the eyes. There is an article in some UK paper/mag/website. I never read through it, I just never used them.

Also, know that the UVB has to be without film or glass as it cannot penetrate through, hence why most of us use Screen enclosures. They REQUIRE Uvb for their bones or they develop severe issues and die.

 

[viaje]

From what I read it seemed that the spiral bulbs give off too much UVB and can be harmful. I hate to say that I also found it hard to understand, but I just trusted everyone and didn't use it.

This could be a terrible question, but I feel it's appropriate and I hope to get a real answer. I don't plan on ever using these bulbs- but I want to learn about them.
Since the UVB is too strong with the spiral bulbs would it be weaker farther away?
Could it perhaps be less dangerous at a greater distance or is it something that is always dangerous?

 

[BocaJan]

This is the article - - - http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

I can speak from experience since my adult male can't see well enough to shoot at crickets. He has to be cup fed. The first year of his life was spent under a spiral bulb and towards the end of that time I was wondering why he was getting thin. Crickets were all over his cage - he wasn't eating, at least not much. I found this forum and saw everyone saying linear, linear, linear so I got myself one for my Arnie. I put his crickets in a cup and he started eating as soon as he figured out where food was. He still can't shoot a roving cricket so I have to make sure I take any escapees out at night.

Please follow the advice and never use one of those bulbs, please.

 

[kinyonga]

JackAttack...quoting from the site I gave the link for....
"the fluorescent lamps which have been connected in some way with cases of photo-kerato-conjunctivitis all appear to utilise a specific phosphor".

 

[JackAttack]

ok everyone, thanks for the advice on the bulbs......i will be switching them out as soon as i can, and i wont use a spiral bulb anymore. jack has always been able to track and eat his food without a problem, but he does like the cup, i guess thats my fault, he is a little lazy.......i just got back from the vet, she took and xray and there is no broken bones that she can see. she said that he most likely bruised the soft tissue in the fall, but thought that it was suspicious that it spread to his other back leg, this suggested an infection. so she gave me pain medication and an anitbiotic......any advice on how to get him to open his mouth? hahaha, he's smart, and figured out already that if he does it, i will stick something in there :s thank you all so much for all of your help and advice, i will keep this post going and let you all know how jack is doing. i know you all know how it feels when your chameleon gets sick/hurt, and i appreciate your comments. thanks again!!!!!

 

[leid]

I use a guitar pick and gently slide it between Fred's lips. Then, I press down a little and it usually pisses him off enough to hiss at me.

 

[Murrdox]

Well, two good things from that vet visit!

- No broken bones
- No MDB

Your vet should have been able to tell you right away from an X-Ray if he had MDB issues.

However, I'm not following your vet's logic that a bruise can turn into an infection. Is your vet experienced with chameleons? In my humble opinion if your vet is just guessing at an infection and prescribing antibiotics, you might just be unnecessarily stressing your chameleon out by administering them.

The pain medication might help though... I guess I'd still probably go with your vet's advice.

 

[JackAttack]

well she said that it was either the bruising that caused the inflamation, or it is an infection. its impossible to tell which one it is, so she perscribed the antibiotics. she said that because the pain and swelling spread to his other back leg, she suspected infection as apposed to the bruising, hence the antibiotics.................and as for the guitar pick idea, that made me laugh. usually i have no problem getting jack to hiss at me, but he is not himself lately, and just lets me poke and prod at him........i gave him the pain medicine, and within half an hour he had a bowel movement.......lots of it , a regular size brown piece but lots of white and yellow gooey stuff........hopefully he is ok with the meds, i called the vet but she is gone for the day, she'll be in tomorrow morn.......now to get him to open his mouth again for the antibiotics.....!

 

[blackbetty]

Well, two good things from that vet visit!

- No broken bones
- No MDB

Your vet should have been able to tell you right away from an X-Ray if he had MDB issues.

However, I'm not following your vet's logic that a bruise can turn into an infection. Is your vet experienced with chameleons? In my humble opinion if your vet is just guessing at an infection and prescribing antibiotics, you might just be unnecessarily stressing your chameleon out by administering them.

The pain medication might help though... I guess I'd still probably go with your vet's advice.

Provided that the vet looked specifically for it. I had a friend take her lizard that had MBD so noticeably and the vet didnt say a peep about it until my friend mentioned it.. Sometimes they just do and say what gets you in and out the fastest...

But glad to hear he is better althoug it does seem odd that it would affect the other leg..

Put him in front of a mirror. He will gape at his reflection thinking its another cham.