Help with seriously shakey Veiled Chameleon

[madzombieguy]

Hi all,
I've read through as many posts as I could, so have answered the /how to ask for help' below.

Basically, we bought this little fellow around 6 weeks ago.
Once he settled in, he's been a great wee feeder and actually quite lively. For a chameleon, I was surprised to see how much attention he seemed to crave.
Over the last 2 days, things have taken a real u-turn. He's begun walking like an old man with a cane. Really wobbly legs and a very low centre of gravity. It's like he is really struggling to get around.
I noticed his urine was orangey, and hydrated him. I have also upped the misting slightly and setup a dripper system.
He ate as normal yesterday, but today his appetite is non existent. Help!!

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, 3/4 months old, i;ve owned him for around 6 weeks.
Handling - Just when spot cleaning if needed, and sometimes to feed by hand.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Mealworms and locusts. Once a day, around 5 or 6 per time.
Supplements - Repton insect dusting supplement for multivitamin and D3, Komodo premium pure calcium for chameleons. Dusted daily without D3, once a week with.
Watering - Misting daily, 3 times or so per day. He drinks from the droplets on the wall usually.
Fecal Description - As normal until the last few days. It was an orangey colour suggestiong dehydration, so I have upped the misting slightly and dropped a small amount of water onto the top of his nose.
History - n/a


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Exo terra - Glas/mesh combo as seen in the picture below
Lighting - Repti-glo 10.0 13 watt, Europ rep basking spotlight 100 watt - 12 hours daily.
Temperature - As per suggested temperatures, creating a gradient within the viv and a warmer area for a pure basking spot. Thermostat controlled.
Humidity - Hygrometer used to measure. Aiming for around 40%-50% on average.
Plants - No live plants
Placement - Where is your cage located? Living area. Quite high traffic due to cats.
Location - Dundee, Scotland


Current Problem - As topic title

Pictures:

 

[lslcronk]

Hi! From what I can see, there are a couple issues with your husbandry:

The Repti-Glo 10.0 may be too much. It is recommended to use no more then the 5.0 UVB and most ppl recommend the Repti-Sun...but I dont know how much of a difference that will make.

For your feeders, what are you gutloading with? Without proper gutload most feeders are too high in phosphorus and low in calcium. They should be fed nutritious feed no more than 12 hoursprior to feeding them to your cham. Research gutloading here on the forums, a lot of great recipes/info. Also, mealworms are not a great staple food item, too much chitin in the shell - can cause impactions so they are better as treats.

If his urine was orange he is dehydrated, also his eyes look sunken which is a sign of more long term dehydration. Do you have an automatic mister? I would definately increase the lenth and/or frequency of your misting on a regular basis.

From the look of his one leg, he may be showing signs of MDB, it looks bendy which would be why he is weak. I am not familiar with the supplements you have but he may be getting too much vitamin A/Vitamin D3??

Hope this helps! Good luck!!

 

[TyggyToo]

There are a few things that I noticed, but not knowing if the Scot's English version of my Amer English is the same, take this with a dose of salt:

Mealworms are difficult for chams to digest, not a good basic food source.
I don't know about locust. I generally feed crickets which are not exactly the same.

Excess D3 can be a bad thing. If he has a light and is supplemented with D3, he may be having issues.

Good luck!
Submitted for your perusal,
Tyg

 

[EvilLost]

Answers underlined below...

EDIT: You don't need water dishes. They do not drink standing water.

Hi all,

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, 3/4 months old, i;ve owned him for around 6 weeks.
Handling - Just when spot cleaning if needed, and sometimes to feed by hand.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Mealworms and locusts. Once a day, around 5 or 6 per time. Crickets are much more nutritious and should be his staple; give the worms as a "snack" or bonus. I believe locusts and crickets are nutritionally similar but I am not positive on this; EU members may be able to better confirm
Supplements - Repton insect dusting supplement for multivitamin and D3, Komodo premium pure calcium for chameleons. Dusted daily without D3, once a week with. Are you SURE on your supplements? My understanding of this is limited, but I was under the impression that nobody made a multivitamin+D3 combo b/c of something to do with the way the chemicals combined when sitting on the shelf...which is why everyone has a calcium, calcium+d3, and separate multivitamin.

you might want to post pictures of the labels of your 2 supplements for more specific info as I am not at all familiar with the brands....someone else may be able to comment better.
Watering - Misting daily, 3 times or so per day. He drinks from the droplets on the wall usually.
Fecal Description - As normal until the last few days. It was an orangey colour suggestiong dehydration, so I have upped the misting slightly and dropped a small amount of water onto the top of his nose.
History - n/a


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Exo terra - Glas/mesh combo as seen in the picture below what are the dimensions? it looks way too small...it should be 2'x2'x4' tall (adult) ...thats very roughly 60cmx60cmx120cm. Since he is a juvenile still a smaller cage is okay, but you should plan to move him to a larger one within the next few months. Also, unless you are in a place that is very dry or has very extreme temperatures, you should generally be using a screen cage not a glass cage.
Lighting - Repti-glo 10.0 13 watt, Europ rep basking spotlight 100 watt - 12 hours daily. Given the setup in the picture below, a 10.0 UVB is too high! Get a 5.0 for sure and add foliage. With the current setup, your cham has nowhere to setup a gradient (he is either fully exposed, getting too much UV or in the bottom under the log in the shade...he has no UV gradient)
Temperature - As per suggested temperatures, creating a gradient within the viv and a warmer area for a pure basking spot. Thermostat controlled. You didn't actually say what your temperatures were....they should range from 70F in the coolest spot of the setup to ~85F directly under the bask spot. (21C coolest, to ~30C hottest)
Humidity - Hygrometer used to measure. Aiming for around 40%-50% on average.
Plants - No live plants
Placement - Where is your cage located? Living area. Quite high traffic due to cats. Given the lack of foliage in the tank, this may be a problem as the cats can bother him if he doesn't have somewhere high up/hidden to sit comfortably.
Location - Dundee, Scotland


Current Problem - As topic title

Pictures:

 

[Draco1702]

Possibly unrelated question, did something happen to your cham's tail?

 

[Elizadolots]

Hi!

What is your temperature gradient?

As others have said, that UVB bulb is probably too much for that set up, also, I think the 100W basking bulb is probably too hot. With that enclosure, I would expect you to be using no more than a 60W, probably even a 40W.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."He's begun walking like an old man with a cane. Really wobbly legs and a very low centre of gravity. It's like he is really struggling to get around"...although this can indicate that the chameleon is developing MBD it could be a number of other things too. Since it doesn't seem to have any other obvious signs of MBD all I can say is that a vet could run some tests to tell you if that's what it is. If it is it needs to be treated asap to prevent further damage.