i dontknow wats wrong

A

ashrules

New Member
* Your Chameleon -9 month old veiled..had him 9 months
* Handling - once every 2 or 3 days
* Feeding - locusts and crickets...ussually about 5 a day
* Supplements - calcium dust 2 aweek
* Watering - sprayed him twice a day
* Fecal Description - i dunno...brown with the yellow urite on the side
* History - no
Cage Info:

* Cage Type - big tank
* Lighting - have a heat lamp and a coiled 5.0 uv bulb
* Temperature - around80 during the day ..and id say probbout 65 during the night

* Plants - fake
* Placement - next to window
* Location - uk


woke up this morning and he was asleep...turned his bulb on as normall and sprayed him as normal...put a few crickets in there for him...then i went to work,...

mum checks on him during the day and sprays him....and he was fine sittin at the top of his tank...green as u like...

my bro goes in about hour later...and hes hanging from the ropes...with one leg...thort it was strange..cus he was there for ages...wentto try andpickhim up and he hissed at me viciously....(apparently a sign of good health so i was told on here) i backed off then put summet underneath him and he just let go of the rope and lay on hisback with his legs in the air...and his eyes closed..took him to the vets and he said he had a calcium deficency??? hes had a jab and hes got some calcium medicine..but i do all i can for him and this happends...and so quick aswell..he was fine yesterday...day before..etc etc..

his legs and arms are like straight and lifeless..his hands are closed and he cant grab anything...just lays at the bottom of his tank...mostof the time on his back....he was sick at the vets and this brown either bug altho it was FAR bigger than the bugs i have been giving him for tha past 2 weeks or possibly substrate come out that he has eaten...


wat could of gone wrong for him to detereite so quickly?????

he shown no signs of any problems.....he has uv lamp...i dusk his food...spray him...:S


many thanks

ash
 
ashrules said:
* Your Chameleon -9 month old veiled..had him 9 months
* Handling - once every 2 or 3 days
* Feeding - locusts and crickets...ussually about 5 a day
* Supplements - calcium dust 2 aweek
* Watering - sprayed him twice a day
* Fecal Description - i dunno...brown with the yellow urite on the side
* History - no
Cage Info:

* Cage Type - big tank
* Lighting - have a heat lamp and a coiled 5.0 uv bulb
* Temperature - around80 during the day ..and id say probbout 65 during the night

* Plants - fake
* Placement - next to window
* Location - uk


woke up this morning and he was asleep...turned his bulb on as normall and sprayed him as normal...put a few crickets in there for him...then i went to work,...

mum checks on him during the day and sprays him....and he was fine sittin at the top of his tank...green as u like...

my bro goes in about hour later...and hes hanging from the ropes...with one leg...thort it was strange..cus he was there for ages...wentto try andpickhim up and he hissed at me viciously....(apparently a sign of good health so i was told on here) i backed off then put summet underneath him and he just let go of the rope and lay on hisback with his legs in the air...and his eyes closed..took him to the vets and he said he had a calcium deficency??? hes had a jab and hes got some calcium medicine..but i do all i can for him and this happends...and so quick aswell..he was fine yesterday...day before..etc etc..

his legs and arms are like straight and lifeless..his hands are closed and he cant grab anything...just lays at the bottom of his tank...mostof the time on his back....he was sick at the vets and this brown either bug altho it was FAR bigger than the bugs i have been giving him for tha past 2 weeks or possibly substrate come out that he has eaten...


wat could of gone wrong for him to detereite so quickly?????

he shown no signs of any problems.....he has uv lamp...i dusk his food...spray him...:S


many thanks

ash
Click to expand...

First, chams hide signs of any problems until they simply don't have the energy any more. Most likely he has been declining for a while. Most of the time they don't just drop over suddenly. Some chams will play dead if very stressed, but it sounds as if he's lost control of his legs completely.

Did he have any substrate in his cage? If so he could have swallowed enough of it to cause intestinal problems. Extreme stress can make them defecate. What type of light (the brand) were you using? Many coil type fluorescents are not safe for chams...causing eye damage and burns. Many so called UV lights don't produce much if any of the correct UV spectrum either.

What are you gutloading and dusting with and how often?

Is he drinking? What's the cage humidity?
 
yeh he reaches out for things and just waves his legs in random directions...

yesterday he was eating nicely..zappin bugsleft right and centre..

yes he is drinkin..i see him drinkin everytim ei spray him...

i shud also mention that he has just shed....not fully...only a few bits left on him now...

its a repti glow 5.0

i dont know the humidity tho..
 
juts dnt get it...was watching him yesterday burning up and down his tank...he was hunting..and eating..and seem happy and was the same this morning...then within 2 hours he goes like tho :(

doctor said that he wil be lucky if he makes it thru the night. :(
 
erm the bulb is about 7 months old now..i was told every year at the place i bought my cham...so didnt think any thing of it..

just an update..that i held a locust in front of him..and he ate it..altho his tongue came out very slow...and he missed it twice...i had to kinda bring it to him as apose to his tongue zapping it in...but still he at least hes actually wanting to eat it..lol which can only be good...


he also had a quick spurt where he tried to climb..he seem fasted and astho he wanted to climb...has no coordination and he is still weak...i was there jus in case..but he is trying to grab things but his legs are just not going where he wants them to i dnt think..he did grab some vine and kind of pulled himself up..but cudnt stablise....


such a vast change from climbing up and down his tank happily like a day ago :(


thanks
 
I also use the Repti Glo UV bulbs, and they get changed religiously every 6 months - in fact Amy has just had hers replaced. They may well be ok after 6 months but I'm not going to risk Amy's health - without a UV meter you just can't know how strong the output is after 6 months.

I notice that you say it's a coiled UV bulb. Is it a coil rather than a linear/tube one? Some coiled UV bulbs can cause eye problems in chameleons.
 
his legs look like there like spasming.....at full stretch with his hands wrapped down...like the same as us humans when we spasm...


hesstill trying to climb...its just not happening
 
First of all...coiled UVB lights can often cause problems. The most often recommended UVB light is the Repti-sun 5.0 long linear tube fluorescent light.

You said..."calcium dust 2 a week"...since most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. its important to dust at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder. What brand are you using and does it contain d3, vitamin A and/or phosphorus?

What are you (specifically) feeding the insects?

Keeping the cage near the window at night might be a bad idea...the chameleon might get a damp sort of chill.

The waving of his arms and legs is a sign of MBD as it the inability to shoot the tongue out completely, etc...and it sounds like he is in a lot of trouble. Unfortunately a shortage of calcium not only weakens the bones but can cause other issues as well and things need to be corrected ASAP IMHO.

The quickest way to correct the calcium imbalance is for the chameleon to have calcium injections until the blood calcium levels are high enough to give it a shot of calcitonin to draw the calcium back into the bones rapidly.

You also need to make sure that your husbandry is right...supplements, temperature, what you are gutloading the insects with, etc.
 
goes to be ussually at about 9.30...and wakes up when u do at 9...


his colour is normal...maybe slightly darker...


thort they went blakc or white when they are ill???
 
also...i dnt understand how mbd works...surley its not a case where they wake up and have it all of a sudden.?????

he was fit as anything yesterday...ate about 4 bugs from my fingers quickly and without hesitation....

was moving about easily...climbing....and his grip was good


surely u cant juts wake up one day and have it..???????


i dnt gutload....i know u are supposed to...but i have a friend that doesnt gut load either and hes had his cham for 2 years...he has never gutloaded and we buy from the same place..


i just dnt understand.....

:(
 
They do show stress colouration (darker and/or dark spots) when ill, or show colours different to their normal ones. When Lily was ill she turned more yellow, but I think that was because she had trouble with her liver. Did the vet give you an appointemnt for a follow up check?
 
ashrules said:
also...i dnt understand how mbd works...surley its not a case where they wake up and have it all of a sudden.?????

he was fit as anything yesterday...ate about 4 bugs from my fingers quickly and without hesitation....

was moving about easily...climbing....and his grip was good


surely u cant juts wake up one day and have it..???????


i dnt gutload....i know u are supposed to...but i have a friend that doesnt gut load either and hes had his cham for 2 years...he has never gutloaded and we buy from the same place..


i just dnt understand.....

:(
Click to expand...

Other nutrients/vitamins and minerals play a role to help absorb calcium as well as help other nutrients be used by the body. These things must be in balance. Like D3 helps the body absorb calcium and with out it (natural sunlight or UVB radiation and supplementation), it does not matter how much calcium you give your animal.

Gut loading your feeders is just as important as supplementing them. Sorry to hear about your chameleon but if it does pull through you need to start a good gut loading regimen ASAP! I would also tell your friend he is providing next to nothing for his chameleon by just feeding it empty insects and it will not live a very long life if they keep it up. Along with the bit of nutrition in an insect the chameleon benefits greatly from what the insect has been eating.
 
You need to get him to a Vet ASAP.

After that i would do a TOOON of research and re-think your husbandry completley. If Your not gutloading your crickets what do they eat to survive? Are you just buying your crickets straight from the petstore then feeding them off? Most petstores feed their crickets a very poor diet like fishflakes.

GL with your cham, but i don't think there is much you can do without a vets help.
 
* Your Chameleon -9 month old veiled..had him 9 months
* Handling - once every 2 or 3 days even when he's acting how he is?
* Feeding - locusts and crickets...ussually about 5 a day gut loading is very very very important, just because your friend doesn't do it, doesn't mean it's the right idea. you either need to start doing this, or get insects with more protein, like hornworms, or silkworms.
* Supplements - calcium dust 2 aweek what kind 2 times a week?
* Watering - sprayed him twice a day for how long?
* Fecal Description - i dunno...brown with the yellow urite on the side yellow urate means dehydration. has it always been like this?

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - big tank what type? glass tank? what size?
* Lighting - have a heat lamp and a coiled 5.0 uv bulb what is the wattage of the heat lamp? and coiled bulbs are a no no.
* Temperature - around80 during the day ..and id say probbout 65 during the night 85 at the basking? how are you measuring this?

* Plants - fake real plants hold moisture and humidity better, both things chameleons need.

looks like you seem to have to work on majorly are keeping your cham hydrated.
I'm surprised he's done so well, in the time you've had him under some of these conditions, but some are very easy cheap fixes.
I hope the best for you, and you should read up a little, and use the search button if you have any questions! :)
 
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