?? help...

[Modkrew]

Hello everyone meet Beldar.... Hes about a year old male veiled .. i feed him about every other day 7-10 large crickets w/ both rep-cal (pink and blue) powders..light coat and once a week i usually do a feed w/ no powder...he gets plenty of water i mist him 2-3 times a day and he drinks from a drippiung system... he loves lettice.. i put 2 pieces in his tank twice a week and he grubs it all!

His tank is shown in the pictures below... i build it, and there real ficus. Now the center divider is taken out of the tank because it is no longer a shared enclosure...its all his! and there is way more vines in there now on the top and all the correct lighting.....

IS THIS A NATURAL BONE STRUCTURE OR IS THERE SOMETHING IM DOING WRONG?

 

[kinyonga]

The shape of his casque is not normal but I can't say why for sure. It could be a calcium issue, but his arms look good and straight. There is a slight thickening to the jaw bones though too. I'm not sure if sitting too close to the basking light could cause this or not. A vet is the only one who could give you an answer for sure.

I use a third Rep-cal (green container) that is phos.-free calcium at most feedings to help balance the often poor ratio of calcium/phos. found in many of the feeder insects.

I only dust twice a month with the pink one....I prefer that the chameleons get most of the D3 by producing it naturally through exposure to the UVB. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent tube Repti-sun 5.0.

I dust twice a month with the Herptivite. Since it only contains a prOformed (beta carotene) source of vitamin A this leaves the owner free to control the amount of prEformed vitamin A given to the chameleon.

Gutloading the insects also helps to provide nutrients for your chameleon. For crickets, roaches, superworms I use a wide variety of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, zucchini, celery leaves, etc.) These same greens and veggies can be given to a veiled chameleon served in an appropriate way. A small amount of fruit can also be given to the chameleon (apple, pear, melon, berries, etc.)

Nice clean looking cage! What happened to his cage mate?

 

[jojackson]

How long have you had it? Looks to be a calcium D3/UVB deficiency early in life.
You cant undo that, but provide correct care now and it wont get worse.
P.S the lettuce is providing moisture but very little nutrition. They dont really need vegetable matter in the diet directly, but since yours likes it, perhaps try some variety.
Dark leafy veg is great.

 

[Julirs]

Can you post some full body pics of that guy? It could just be a casque deformity or an old burn that healed that way. I have seem some wierdly shaped casques! AS stated above-you need a calcium without D3 that you will use most of the time. Use the pink one 2x monthly and the Herptivite 1X monthly-don't mix them.

 

[Modkrew]

i just noticed it ... like 3 days ago maybe.. and it wasnt like that a month ago... its NOT A BURN... i duno its been very cold here recently and he's up by his heat lamp alot... i duno....


can any1 give me some advice?

 

[Modkrew]

really..

so no one has a solid suggestion or anything at all huh... ??

does anyone know anywhere else i can ask..? im pretty worried..

 

[roguekiller23231]

the dent kind of looks the same size and the large mesh that you have around the lights and sides? could he be sticking it through??

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

like roguekiller stated it looks to be about the same size as the metal screen yo use. It is possible he could had gotten his casque stuck in there. Everyone seems to have gotten you on the right track supplement wise which is great. The best place to ask about any health issues or weird things happening with you cham is a n experienced exotics vet who deals with chameleons regularly. The vet would be able to tell you what it is very quickly because they could talk to you in person and see the cham in person. It's harder to guess when its through pictures over the internet. In any case it isn't normal for a veileds casque to do that and depending on the cause, MBD causes the casque to soften and could be the reason it bent so easily. MBD is a serious matter though, and personally It doesn't look like your cham has it since the limbs are straight and it looks strong.



Justin

 

[Modkrew]

 

[Monties1982]

To me, comparing the pictures of now and before, it looks more like the lower part of the casque is swollen and bulging out rather than the casque being dented in. Either way, a visit to the vet would be recommended.

 

[sandrachameleon]

so no one has a solid suggestion or anything at all huh... ??

I have two: reduce the D3 (plain calcium most days, D3 of that brand about once every other week), and more importantly - take the chameleon to a vet