Injured adolescent male

[Kris10]

Hello!
I'm desperately seeking advice. My 4-5 mo old male veiled cham, Chameleonair, has had a rough month. A month ago our dog snipped him for a brief moment while I was cleaning his cage. He seemed to be recovering over the last few weeks, eating and pooing as usual, even tho he hadn't been getting around quite as well....he was steadily improving. Just yesterday he started to not be able to hang on to branches and would fall periodically. He also stopped eating (but that could be due to molting). It looks as if his arm is limp, which strangely, is a brand new injury....possibly from a fall. I have no idea what could have caused it since we have not handled him since the incident to give him optimal recovery time. Since he can no longer navigate his cage without risk, we have him in a comfortable shallow container, (based on advice we saw on this forum elsewhere) keeping him as warm and hydrated as possible, but he eats little to nothing at all. We were both recently laid off and are heartbroken we don't have the funds to take him in for care and are seeking any help we can get for our little guy. I already love him so stinking much!
Does anyone have any advice on how we can get him proper nutrition since he isn't eating?? I have had luck getting him to take a water dropper by hand, but he won't take crickets.
Or if anyone else has thoughts on what i could do to boost his recovery or make him more comfortable I'd really appreciate it!! Gosh, I wish we could get him to the vet....Im so sad were all on our own here.
Thank you!!

 

[alphakenc]

I understand ur frustration on how poor condition in this cham,hydration will be the first priority as u already started to do so,once he able to drink maybe u can try feed him some smallest size silkworm since the silkworm has very soft body for him to take in then u can SLOWLY increase the amount one at a time until he can eat on his own with no rejection or having hard time on his own,let us know if this helps n keep us some posted,good luck to ur cham

 

[FlChamMom]

This may sound gross, but since he is taking water from a dropper he should take "bug juice" as well. Place feeders, crickets, silkworms, etc, in a blender with a little water. Blend until it is liquid, then put the mixture in the dropper and give it to him like you are giving him water. Make sure you put the blender on sanitize in your dishwasher before making margaritas!

 

[Kris10]

Update: Chameleonair is eating today!! Thank you so much for the advice! Luckily, I didn't have to resort to a cricket milk shake.
Some slight "body modification" to the crickets to stay in his bowl seem to do the trick.
I do have a follow up question though...has anyone ever had to confine their chams motion for recovery purposes? If so, does this arrangement seem adequate? I tried a bigger container but he kept struggling to move around, he seems cozy here. I know he normally likes to dangle while he diddles (poo), so I was wondering if this situation would be uncomfortable for that purpose. Any ideas or concerns with our set up? Just want this guy to hand his best shot of pulling thru!

 

[Kris10]

Here is the little set up. Suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[Carlton]

Hello!
I'm desperately seeking advice. My 4-5 mo old male veiled cham, Chameleonair, has had a rough month. A month ago our dog snipped him for a brief moment while I was cleaning his cage. He seemed to be recovering over the last few weeks, eating and pooing as usual, even tho he hadn't been getting around quite as well....he was steadily improving. Just yesterday he started to not be able to hang on to branches and would fall periodically. He also stopped eating (but that could be due to molting). It looks as if his arm is limp, which strangely, is a brand new injury....possibly from a fall. I have no idea what could have caused it since we have not handled him since the incident to give him optimal recovery time. Since he can no longer navigate his cage without risk, we have him in a comfortable shallow container, (based on advice we saw on this forum elsewhere) keeping him as warm and hydrated as possible, but he eats little to nothing at all. We were both recently laid off and are heartbroken we don't have the funds to take him in for care and are seeking any help we can get for our little guy. I already love him so stinking much!
Does anyone have any advice on how we can get him proper nutrition since he isn't eating?? I have had luck getting him to take a water dropper by hand, but he won't take crickets.
Or if anyone else has thoughts on what i could do to boost his recovery or make him more comfortable I'd really appreciate it!! Gosh, I wish we could get him to the vet....Im so sad were all on our own here.
Thank you!!

There's a possibility that this "new" injury was not caused by the dog bite, but from an underlying calcium deficiency that could make him more vulnerable to a fall or to bone fractures. Could you describe your cham's mineral and vitamin supplementation schedule and gutloading? How old is his UV lighting?

 

[Kris10]

He's pretty picky and sticks mainly to crickets. We get fresh batches of crickets every two weeks and feed them a combination of lettuce, sweet potatoes, apples and the little orange food vitamin pellets. I also have a calcium block in there to munch on. We just replaced his lamp, but to be honest I'm not 100% sure we have the best lighting system now. There's so much conflicting info out there for what is recommended. Could you share the specifics (uv wattage, blue/ red, timing etc)of what you would suggest? Any other tips for gut loading that might help? He has a very poor appetite right now, only ate 1 cricket today...

 

[MeruJack]

Please click on the "Resources" tab above and then click on "Chameleon Caresheets" and then "Veiled Chameleon." You'll find lots of valuable information that is specific to Veiled chameleons. There's also a caresheet about lighting and supplements such as calcium and vitamins. Most cham people are sleeping now (and I'm headed there) but read all you can now and then come back in the morning and there will be lots of experienced cham keepers and lovers to answer all your questions. Good night & good luck with your little guy.