help. Hektor is clawing his face :(

[crsankey]

I have a veiled chameleon. he's about a year old, give or take a few months, and recently i have noticed that he is having trouble with his left arm. i know this is a sign of metabolic bone disease unfortunately.. when he extends his left arm to grasp a branch, his arm somehow curves towards his face, resulting in his grabbing his face from about the bottom of his eye socket to the bottom of his jaw. i've helping his several times to unhook himself and have noticed he has multiple puncture wounds, scratches, and snags on the scales of his face. no blood or swelling. i feel so bad, he seems as though hes having a very rough time. it's hard for me to sleep at night cause i stay up watching him to make sure he doesn't get stuck on himself again. the good thing is, i feel that he seems to appreciate when i help him, like he knows i am helping and not terrorizing.

so, my question is, since i can't make his bone grow the correct way at this point, what does everyone think about me clipping the nails on the bummed arm, so he doesn't hurt himself further?

please help!


also, it's winter here in pennsylvania, do chameleons know? do they go through a brumation or hibernation? i've noticed that he has been venturing down towards the bottom of his enclosure, away from the heat lamp, and he's been eating less. still active and plump though.

if anyone could answer these questions or just give me an opinion it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[carol5208]

Veilds do not hibernate to my knowledge. Sometimes they just go through stages where they start eating less. Are you 100% you have a male and not a female? Can you post a pic? Females will eat less, and venture down to the bottom to look for a place to digg to lay eggs. As you know, they can lay infertile eggs and do not have to be mated.

 

[Lovereps]

I have a veiled chameleon. he's about a year old, give or take a few months, and recently i have noticed that he is having trouble with his left arm. i know this is a sign of metabolic bone disease unfortunately.. when he extends his left arm to grasp a branch, his arm somehow curves towards his face, resulting in his grabbing his face from about the bottom of his eye socket to the bottom of his jaw.

also, it's winter here in pennsylvania, do chameleons know? do they go through a brumation or hibernation? i've noticed that he has been venturing down towards the bottom of his enclosure, away from the heat lamp, and he's been eating less. still active and plump though.

Assuming it is MBD...
He is probably grabbing at his face as a result of incoordination from the MBD.
MBD can be treated, so please read this thoroughly:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/wha...ase-mbd-looks-like-how-happens-how-fix-95071/

Don't trim the nails. If I'm not mistaken, he will bleed from them and he won't be able to hold onto branches or vines--- especially since he must already be weakened by the MBD.

No, chams do not hibernate, brumate, etc.

Eating less and hanging around the bottom of the cage can also be signs of illness.

Please take him to a cham-experienced vet as soon as possible, and he/she can inject your cham with calcium and get him started towards recovering.
The next important step is to figure out what caused the MBD.

 

[crsankey]

Veilds do not hibernate to my knowledge. Sometimes they just go through stages where they start eating less. Are you 100% you have a male and not a female? Can you post a pic? Females will eat less, and venture down to the bottom to look for a place to digg to lay eggs. As you know, they can lay infertile eggs and do not have to be mated.

he is most definitely a male. i've had a female in the past and she became eggbound at a very young age.

 

[crsankey]

Assuming it is MBD...
He is probably grabbing at his face as a result of incoordination from the MBD.
MBD can be treated, so please read this thoroughly:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/wha...ase-mbd-looks-like-how-happens-how-fix-95071/

Don't trim the nails. If I'm not mistaken, he will bleed from them and he won't be able to hold onto branches or vines--- especially since he must already be weakened by the MBD.

No, chams do not hibernate, brumate, etc.

Eating less and hanging around the bottom of the cage can also be signs of illness.

Please take him to a cham-experienced vet as soon as possible, and he/she can inject your cham with calcium and get him started towards recovering.
The next important step is to figure out what caused the MBD.

do you have any idea about how much a treatment like that would be? for future reference of course. he has been extremely healthy and i give him the amount of supplements he needs. i am worried though. ill post pictures soon.

 

[HolyToledo]

mbd is usually result of combination of things.

even if you have done everything right and he doesn't have mbd, it is possible but not really common that he somehow broke the leg. x-rays are the only way to know what is going on for sure. vet costs vary greatly but my x-rays cost $60 - $85 a set. if it is mbd anyway, the calcium shots is the way to go because it really decreases the recovery time. if a broken leg, the vet may just have you give a few doses of liquid ca or not?

i would wait on trimming the nails but put plain antibiotic ointment without the pain reliever on his face where he is scratching himself.

if the vet recommends splinting, check out the thread by kerbie about using reusable drinking straws. i wish i'd known about it with my cham's broken legs.

good luck with your baby

 

[Lathelia]

do you have any idea about how much a treatment like that would be? for future reference of course. he has been extremely healthy and i give him the amount of supplements he needs. i am worried though. ill post pictures soon.

I don't want to be rude, but MBD is not something "extremely healthy" chameleon gets. There is probably something off with his supplementaion, lights or else.
Could you please fill put to form, to make sure there's everything ok with your husbandry?:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Please, don't take it the wrong way. Chameleons hide their illnesses very well and even very experienced keeper often find out when it's too late.

so, my question is, since i can't make his bone grow the correct way at this point, what does everyone think about me clipping the nails on the bummed arm, so he doesn't hurt himself further?

MBD is irreversible, but can be stopped from further progression. It's extermely important, especially since your boy is still young and his bones are growing!

 

[Lovereps]

do you have any idea about how much a treatment like that would be? for future reference of course. he has been extremely healthy and i give him the amount of supplements he needs. i am worried though. ill post pictures soon.

Everything depends on the cost of living in your and your vet's area. If a vet in NY charged the same fees that an average vet in Idaho charged, he would not be able to pay his bills and would be out of business and in debt within no time at all.

I would be worried about my cham too. They hide all signs of illness for as long as they possibly can. It helps them to keep from being eaten by another creature in the wild.
While it is possible that you have done everything right, that is usually not the case when MBD develops.
You might be following the pet store's care directions exactly but if they gave you bad advice--and many do--it's still the wrong care.
For example, a pet store never told you that UV bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months because they stop putting out enough UV over time even though the bulb lights up just fine. So you use the same bulb for a year and are puzzled when MBD develops.
Or they might have told you that natural sunlight is excellent--so you put his cage in a sunny window. The problem with that is that UV light which is needed for bones and health does not pass through glass at all.
Or
Or maybe you have a UV bulb but it has a plastic cover between the bulb and your cham--also not good for UV to pass through.
Maybe your pet store never told you to use calcium with D3 twice a month. Maybe your pet store told you that all you need is an "all in one" supplement, instead of telling you to use phosphorus-free calcium without D3 at most feedings or every other at the very least and a separate vitamin 2x a month and calcium with D3 2x a month.
The list goes on.
That's why people are asked to cut and paste the
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ questions and add their answers.
Please know that we want to help you to help your cham to recover.


Please arrange a visit to a cham experienced vet now, before more damage is done and arrange to pay in payments or give your cham to someone whose finances allow them to get veterinary treatment for the cham.

If you didn't already read the link about MBD, written by a veterinarian, here it is again:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/wha...ase-mbd-looks-like-how-happens-how-fix-95071/

 

[OzzyVeiledCham]

do you have any idea about how much a treatment like that would be? for future reference of course. he has been extremely healthy and i give him the amount of supplements he needs. i am worried though. ill post pictures soon.

I paid 95$ for vet visit..I couldn't afford x-rays so they did calcium and fluid injection first time. Next week I did vet tech visit ND just injections 65$ then I bought calcium, reptile vitamin, reptile with d3 it wS around 35$, then I purchased 24 inch reptile TH50 and light that wS almost 100$ then I purchased a reptirain system for misting ND that wS on sale. Normally 99$ but I paid 50$

 

[OzzyVeiledCham]

I was a victim of a petstore..but ultimately I was crazy for purchasing a animal I hD no preparation for. Anyone who wants a chameleon needs to do research first, unfortunately my pet Ozzy has pId the price for my ignorance...but I am now correcting issues ...my main lesson ...2nd do not think u can wit to buy these things..you will end up with a very sick chameleon ND maybe even. DeD one..I am a new chMeleon owner. I bought ozzy at the end of August. He was diagnosed with mbd a Month ago now ND he still is not able to use his tongue, matter of fact the past few days he has finally started opening his mouth to take food without me force feeding him. He also this week recovered from dehydration ND his poop is normL again

 

[bbyoda]

I was a victim of a petstore..but ultimately I was crazy for purchasing a animal I hD no preparation for. Anyone who wants a chameleon needs to do research first, unfortunately my pet Ozzy has pId the price for my ignorance...but I am now correcting issues ...my main lesson ...2nd do not think u can wit to buy these things..you will end up with a very sick chameleon ND maybe even. DeD one..I am a new chMeleon owner. I bought ozzy at the end of August. He was diagnosed with mbd a Month ago now ND he still is not able to use his tongue, matter of fact the past few days he has finally started opening his mouth to take food without me force feeding him. He also this week recovered from dehydration ND his poop is normL again

Glad to hear of Ozzy's progress. One step at a time! BTW you posted on a very old thread here so I don't think you'll get much response from the other posters.

Would you consider writing blog posts about Ozzy's progression? It's always nice to read about chameleons who recover from MBD.

 

[MissSkittles]

Would you consider writing blog posts about Ozzy's progression? It's always nice to read about chameleons who recover from MBD.

This is an excellent idea! It could be of so much help to so many.

 

[OzzyVeiledCham]

This is an excellent idea! It could be of so much help to so many.

You know, that's been the biggest lack of info. You can find everything about what to do to change everything right but no information on how progress will go ect... I find that very helpful. That way you can see things and notice them getting better as you go. I also keep reading about how easy it is to care for them aND that is absolutely wrong. These babies need knowledgeable care that someone walking in right off the streets don't know will not be able to care for them correctly. Especially with the info petstores give...it's a mess