I need help please!!!

[SamG6]

Ive had my veiled since the end of october and he has been fine, but recently he has started shaking abit when he walks and he has gone a horrible colour, im scared and dont want him to die. I feed him locusts and waxworms and cucumber. I use calcium and nutrition powder like once a week or something and sprinkle it on his locusts. I dont have a clue whats wrong with him. his heat lamp comes on at seven in the morning and it goes off at 12 in the afternoon for an hour and at 5 oclock for an hour just so hes cool for abit, is this wrong? should i leave it on for a full 12 hours? these are some pics of his tank and him. Any advice would be much appreciated!!!!

 

[SamG6]

 

[brandychams]

welcom sorry to hear hes not well do u have a uvb light they need it to make vit d3 or theyll get metabolic bone desease and they need calcium at every feeding calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivite twice a month

 

[brandychams]

ahve u seen him eat the substrate? it can cause impaction id remove it and if using cukes evev just for gutload i would remove the skin because of waxes and pesticides.

 

[brandychams]

hopefully someone else will take a look his legs look slightly edemic

 

[SamG6]

can that bone disease be cured? OK ill put the cucumber in with the locusts

 

[brandychams]

depends on hoe far along it is he would definately need a vet to inject him with calcium do u have a uvb?

 

[fluxlizard]

To me the legs look like he's got a calcium deficiency.

So does his casque.

What brand of uvb tube are you using?

What brand of supplements?

What are your temperatures?

Brandychams advice on supplements and lighting is correct.

You have to be careful what brand supplements and lighting you use.

 

[ricardo velthuizen]

wel a veiled doesnt eat cucumber just feed him crickets,grasshopers and cackroaches with the right supplements.

Put on the right uvb and drip him some water to drink with extra vit d3 not too much offcourse and i think its gonna be a lot better with him.

Also i thinks your tank is too empty put more brenches in it and its better too take a higher tank instead of this one.

sorry for my xxx english but om from holland.

 

[fluxlizard]

As far as a cure- his bones can strengthen again if you correct his situation, but he will always look a bit deformed as he does now.

Cucumbers alone aren't a great gutload. You might want to search the forums for gutload recipe, uvb light brand, supplement schedule and veiled care.

 

[brandychams]

thanks fluxlizard! i knew the legs didnt look right hopin g someone else would chime in!

 

[SamG6]

yeah i have a 75 watt uvb light made by exo terra

 

[Ryan Jarosek]

Your cage is too small. You need to get something in the 3-4ft range. What are your basking temps? I would also recomend using two bulbs one for basking and one for UVB.

 

[ricardo velthuizen]

well that light bulb is crap i had one here after two months it wasnt giving any uvb radiation anymore.

Here we are stunned of arcadia uvb light's.

 

[donnak0125]

More light/ heat.

yeah i have a 75 watt uvb light made by exo terra

I'd give him 12 hours of uvb light and make sure he's warm enough esp. if he's stressed or ill at least 85-92 degrees in the day, not less than 70 at night. It's good to start looking for a reptile specialist veterinarian as soon as you get a cham because there isn't as many as there are regular vets. You need to have one in mind with the phone number, address, etc for when you need to go. If he's shaking, that's worrisome. I'd think I'd take him in just to be safe, and work on the husbandry issues ASAP.

 

[ataraxia]

man i wish there was just some way to reach people before they buy a chameleon! first thing is if you want a long life for your guy many things will have to change with your current care. a basic care sheet should get you started. you need to follow this and do some more research. otherwise it will just be a matter of time before he is pale white and on the floor. here is a basic care sheet. things that need to be changed needs to be done ASAP so your guy can even try and make a recovery.

Cage:24x24x48' SCREEN cage lots of rope, vines and live plants if you can. live plants will help with the humidity. make sure you cover the soil with screen. put cage as high up in the room as you can. not near any vents, fans or windows. no substrate. if you just have to have some sort of thing on the floor of cage put some paper towel down.

Lighting: 5.0 reptisun or reptiglo linear tube (length depends on cage size)/house hold bulb for basking. the house bulb watt will depend on how far your nearest branch is from the light and your ambient room temps.
***change bulbs every 6 months.

Temps: basking temp around 90* / ambient temps 72* measure by digital guages.

Hydration: manual spray 2-5 minutes/2-3 times a day. provide a dripper.

Feeders: gutload (24 hours before feeding) with fresh veggies and fruits and once a week with sticky tongues gutload. Crickets, mealworms, superworms, silkworms, hornworms, dubai roaches, reptiworms, BB flies.

Supplements: repcal calcium w/o d3 every feeding, repcal calcium w/d3 twice a month, repcal herptivite twice a month

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[sdheli420]

first off go to the vet , his calcium levels need to be balanced..take him into the sun as often as possible, get some calcium and supplements that are good(if he is still eating coat the crap out of the crickets for a few days)..good luck with yer lil buddy, hope all goes well

P.s get yer cham to drink water as much as possible..(use a kind of water with electrolytes)

 

[kinyonga]

To correct the calcium imbalance a vet can give the chameleon a series of calcium injections followed by a shot of calcitonin once the blood calcium levels are high enough. The calcitonin draws the calcium rapidly back into the bones. Not only are the bones damaged by a calcium imbalance...but other systems in the chameleon can be damaged too. If caught quickly enough the damage can be stopped...but most of what was already damaged will remain that way.

To keep the calcium in balance you need to make changes to your husbandry...I posted this already....but here it is once again so you won't have to look for it...
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

These same veggies, greens and a small amount of fruit can be fed to veiled chameleons too.

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/