I took on a rescue, Advice appreciated.

[bluesox68]

So I am the new owner of a 2 year old Ambilobe. In his life he has fought mouth rot - apparently caused by a horn worm bite - but was treated at the vet. He does have some deformity and while at the vet the cham was diagnosed with mild MBD, was given vitamin C injections, and has recovered. The previous owner had the best of intentions but she spent a lot of time out of the country, so she just wanted a better home for him. Any advice or wisdom is appre ciated. I've added a ficus tree and will add a pothos soon. He was hand misted but always had a fogger on. This is my first experience with a fogger because my other panther in a separate part of the house has a Mist King. I will try to make a dripper tonight too. A big problem is that I'm told he won't eat crickets unless in a small feeding cup with the legs ripped off so his diet has always been wax worms. I will be trying to get him off wax worms totally and make a bigger feeder bowl and get him back on crickets. I would love tips for that. We are going to name him Rocky because my kids love paw patrol and his mouth reminds me of Sylvester Stallone lol. Thanks!

 

[Link]

The vitamin C we go for the mouth rot. IMDb good lighting and I do calcium drops without D3 in it. If it's not that bad it can be reversed but it's going to take awhile. I'm pretty sure the vet if they did not give it a shot it's not that bad. No wax worms at all no superworms mealworms and off of hornworms for a while high in fat. I don't know if you're using the fogger. And depending on your location if you are in. But simple misting should suffice I'm not a big fan of the fogger. You have a lot more device for him he was a very smart good luck. Good looking colors though. The Y is very dominant in the stripes

 

[bluesox68]

The vitamin C we go for the mouth rot. IMDb good lighting and I do calcium drops without D3 in it. If it's not that bad it can be reversed but it's going to take awhile. I'm pretty sure the vet if they did not give it a shot it's not that bad. No wax worms at all no superworms mealworms and off of hornworms for a while high in fat. I don't know if you're using the fogger. And depending on your location if you are in. But simple misting should suffice I'm not a big fan of the fogger. You have a lot more device for him he was a very smart good luck. Good looking colors though. The Y is very dominant in the stripes

Thanks. Yeah he will not see another wax worm lol. I am using the fogger but I am not a fan of it either. His feeding cup is just a tiny cup so that's getting an upgrade to a small apple cider size feeder cup. If crickets are his only option he will eat them right? I mean a chameleon won't starve itself because its picky right? The uvb bulb is 7 months on the 18'' reptisun t5ho and a basking spot.

 

[Link]

Thanks. Yeah he will not see another wax worm lol. I am using the fogger but I am not a fan of it either. His feeding cup is just a tiny cup so that's getting an upgrade to a small apple cider size feeder cup. If crickets are his only option he will eat them right? I mean a chameleon won't starve itself because its picky right? The uvb bulb is 7 months on the 18'' reptisun t5ho and a basking spot.

Sometimes I'll get spoiled on worms. And you have to wait them out. I've had many like that. Once you give them worms sometimes they get picky so I do it only on occasions is really stick with the hornworms or silkworms when I can get them. I just use large Deli cups for my feeding dishes put a piece of metal on it and a magnet for the other side. Easy to check out and clean

 

[bluesox68]

So just to be clear a chameleon won't allow himself to starve to death. If crickets are present he should at some point eat them right?

 

[bluesox68]

This was a present surprise! I didn't expect to see these colour. Sorry for the bad pic but this is neat. I do wish I could find out more about this guy.

 

[Link]

They won't stop himself unless they have a real bad illness and sickness or infection. The color looks great

 

[Andee]

So they didn't give him any sort of liquid calcium? I would take him to your vet for sure and get him rechecked... The deformity could be from MBD being untreated correctly. Foggers on constantly are bad. If you are using a fogger only do it for an hour or so at a time. He may not be able to use his tongue well because of MBD, remember this. Replace the UVB, it's too old and should have been replaced a month ago.

 

[Chameleon Crazy Chick]

So they didn't give him any sort of liquid calcium? I would take him to your vet for sure and get him rechecked... The deformity could be from MBD being untreated correctly. Foggers on constantly are bad. If you are using a fogger only do it for an hour or so at a time. He may not be able to use his tongue well because of MBD, remember this. Replace the UVB, it's too old and should have been replaced a month ago.

Yeah that's true. Well stated.

 

[bluesox68]

So they didn't give him any sort of liquid calcium? I would take him to your vet for sure and get him rechecked... The deformity could be from MBD being untreated correctly. Foggers on constantly are bad. If you are using a fogger only do it for an hour or so at a time. He may not be able to use his tongue well because of MBD, remember this. Replace the UVB, it's too old and should have been replaced a month ago.

Great info Andee, thanks! From my understanding when the mouth rot was present the previous owner took him to the vet for medication for the mouth rot. At that time mild mbd was diagnosed and was given 2 shots of calcium. She has owned him since 1 month and has always had the t5ho and I'm also now told that she has dusted the waxworms with calcium everyday and with d3 once a week, again I know wax worms are garbage! Thanks for the heads up on the fogger too. I wasn't aware. It will be on a timer from tonight on. I should have another mist king in a few months. I also bought materials and will be building a dripper tonight once the kids are in bed and i will be done the new feeding cup. I will be picking a new bulb up tomorrow too. I do appreciate all the input. When asking for advice you never know who will respond. Worst case I start an argument then all the members will come out of the woodwork please know that's me being funny and not offending!

 

[Andee]

I don't think he's too bad other than his jaw... I didn't look at all his pics. So I didn't look at his legs. I will in a bit after my internet starts be less annoying. If it is MBD that is affecting his jaw, with liquid calcium done regularly during the rehabilitation stage, that issue usually fixes itself after about 6 months or so from what I've realized. Usually shots are not enough, liquid calcium is usually what fixes it in the long run, D3 shots just help them absorb better. <3 Good luck with him.

 

[bluesox68]

I don't think he's too bad other than his jaw... I didn't look at all his pics. So I didn't look at his legs. I will in a bit after my internet starts be less annoying. If it is MBD that is affecting his jaw, with liquid calcium done regularly during the rehabilitation stage, that issue usually fixes itself after about 6 months or so from what I've realized. Usually shots are not enough, liquid calcium is usually what fixes it in the long run, D3 shots just help them absorb better. <3 Good luck with him.[/QUO

Awesome. Let me know if you want specific pics too. Is liquid calcium fed through syringe? Can it be shot into a silk worm or anything?

 

[Andee]

I have heard people of doing the silk worm thing, it usually kills the worm really fast so you have to feed it immediately. Usually they are given it through oral syringe.

 

[Andee]

His legs don't look too horrible at all, definitely seen a lot worse. I think he definitely has a bit of MBD but it hasn't cause folding of his bones or breaking. It may have caused some issues with muscle control and muscle building from the look of his right back thigh. It looks almost like he has some atrophied muscle in his thigh. Which if he is weak back there and also low on calcium that could definitely be affecting keeping the muscles there healthy. Have you been able to look inside his mouth along his lower front gums? From the picture from what I see I almost want to say there is an infection there again. It looks like some mouth rot may be still or come back to that area. Not sure though.

 

[bluesox68]

Well today's the day he gets to try his cricket feeder. I haven't done arts and crafts since I was a kid lol

 

[ChamLB]

Nice work on your feeder. Just be sure the bugs can't get behind the screen and that if water gets in it can drain. Most feeders don't do the backstroke very well.

 

[bluesox68]

So Rocky is at the vet and being treated for sever mouth rot today. I will know more tonight but the good new is the mbd isn't a concern anymore. His grip and co ordination ard movement are great. Ill update later but it will likely get worse before it gets better. Fingers crossed.

 

[Andee]

I am glad you took him in. I was wondering if he had mouth rot. I am glad his MBD is good. Good luck to you two for sure, keep us updated. Your vet is good yeah?

 

[bluesox68]

Thanks and will do! His previous work experience was being in charge of reptiles at a bigger Zoo!

 

[Andee]

Nice catch 8D lots of exotic vets are hit and miss with chameleons so it's nice to know you got a good one!