How can I save my dear friend with MBD?

[hiei]

My poor little chameleon is sick & I'm pretty sure it's MBD. He/She has all the symptoms for it & a schedualed vet appointment for Wed....6 days away is not soon enough! I can't seem to get in any earlier than that! UGH!

I am so worried about her. She started to eat less & hide more & sleep a lot a few weeks ago whe shedding & thought wow this shedding stuff is really wearing her out! But now that that's over & things are getting worse...& now is mostly ground bound I figured she's searching for a place to lay her eggs. But then yesterday I noticed her hind legs are really awkward looking. I do everything according to the books, the misting, the temp, the dusting crickets/mealworms with calcium powder, the UV lighting & everything. But I just came into realization that the UV light won't transfer the goods through glass or plastic. The pet shop sugested to line the top of the tank with plexy glass to retain the humidity better & therefore the UV light has been blocked from my poor baby for about 4 months!

I am wondering if I even have a chance to save her. How would you suggest to get her what she needs? I have been spraying water on the corner of her mouth but she doesn't open to drink. I have never even seen her drink before. & since she's not eating should I mix some calcium powder in her water? I just can't believe what I've done! Please Help me!

 

[JoshCrane1]

need more backround info, cage,lights,temps,urates etc....

 

[lbesok]

Does your chameleon have the shakes when it walks? Do the arms look more U shaped and rubbery than normal? If so then I would also suspect MBD.
What kind of chameleon is it? Could you please post a picture to help determine the sex......and condition. Are the eyes sunken in?? Does it have any fat pads on it's head?
A lot of people unfortunately on the forums have gone through MBD with their chams and have gotten through it. I would recommend looking through older threads on MBD. Here is one to start from when my guy Mufasa had it:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/suggestions-mufasas-mbd-6648/
Glad you got the light situation fixed, that sinks too b/c you'll want to think about replacing it in a few months..
When was the last time it ate?
You can try to keep it hydrated and offer food that's dusted with PLAIN calcium, if you don't have calcium only, I would not recommend dusting every day.
Maybe you could give it a shower, or mist it really good with warm water to try to stimulate it to drink. You could also try giving her some Pedialyte from a dropper, but you have to be REALLY careful not to get the liquid into the lungs, and only place it on the tip of her tongue if she is smacking and sticking it out to drink. Oftentimes while they are smacking and drinking it's a good time to pop in a calcium dusted cricket.
It's good you made a vet appt, stinks you have to wait so long to go though.... The vet will determine for sure if it is MBD, if so they will prob prescribe liquid calcium, and may choose to administer a shot.

 

[hiei]

unfortunatly I think my vieled chameleon Yoda has a severe case of MBD. the hind legs look more broken then bowed & shakes like he's in pain when walking, & the eyes seem to be sunken in today more so than yesterday. & Yesterday I found him(her?) lying on the belly in the water dish. I wonder if the legs are beyond repair & what kind of a Dr visit I should be expecting.

Haven't found any poo for the past few days.

usually is a bright green, but because I was messing with it for the picture..the brown is more prominate.

I keep the tank on a timer with the ceramic heat lamp clipped on top for an average of 80 deg. & constant misiting to keep the humidity at an average of 70-80%. The UV lamp is timed for 12 hrs on & 12 hrs off.

 

[JoshCrane1]

that back right leg looks pretty bad.

 

[Kent67]

Call your vet back and tell them your animal has a broken leg. It is an emergency. They will see you.

 

[jannb]

Get her to the vet before it's to late.

 

[Justin Carl]

FYI, your she is actually a he.

 

[lbesok]

Def looks like MBD, I think getting in earlier is a good suggestion. Could you find a different vet? Here are some links to help find vets (if you need them):
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/
http://www.arav.org/usmembers.htm
Here is another inspiring thread post MBD:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/post-mbd-6551/

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Hiei,

What part of the world are you located?

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

It seems that there are two fractures here
the hind leg has multiple breaks, that is certain
while the front also seems to be broken above the wrist joint

This may just be due to a fall and weakened bones
not a prolonged case of MBD where the casque is also severely deformed.
The legs may not be quite right again.

Still they're tough little boogers and can make a good recovery
but first things first, .... get that leg set somehow. (vet?)
and start feeding him some fresh gutloaded crickets
or even better a hornworm that's been injected with a bioavailable
calcium /vitamin solution for a quick fix.

he's going to be in pain for a bit
you'll also need to provide him with a fair measure of UV
if he sits at the bottom of the cage due to the breaks
you'll need to make some adjustments.

this isn't fatal if you work on fixing things

 

[kinyonga]

A vet can give him injections of calcium until the blood calcium levels are high enough to give him a shot of calcitonin which draws the calcium quickly back into the bones. Hopefully you are catching it in time that there will be no more damage.

As was said already...make sure that the chameleon gets good UVB...and ask the vet if you should give a supplement with calcium and D3 in it at least a couple of times to ensure that he is getting enough D3.

I know you said that there was plastic between the UVB light and the chameleon, but look at your supplements and at what you feed to your insects and chameleons to see what is in those things in the way of phos. and preformed vitamin A.

I have seen quite a few chameleons live for almost a normal life span if the levels are corrected quickly and the damage hasn't been too extensive.

Good luck!

 

[Kat77]

He definitely has multipal fractures in his back leg, and thats just the one we can see. I would get him to a vet IMMEDIATELY. He is not likely to last much longer in that condition, and I think you mentioned he had been like this for four weeks. He needs to see a vet as soon as you can get him to one. Probably sooner than that.

 

[Billyjack187]

Ugh that leg looks liquified...fashion a splint or get a vet NOW. An internal infection is gonna kill em otherwise. I know if MY leg looked like that I would be in some serious pain, think of it that way. All signs point to a vet, if you dont have one locally contact the ZOO!

 

[MsBrit]

any news on the poor guy?

 

[Kat77]

But whatever you do DO NOT FASHION YOUR OWN SPLINT as advised by the poster a couple above me. Any news? How is he?