Mbd and dehydrated veiled chameleon

[Persephone]

I recently came into ownership of a 5 month old veiled chameleon. His previous owner didn't give supplements and the pet store before him didn't either. Now this poor baby had 2 broken back legs and at least one broken front (guessing so because he has trouble controlling it and it's bent weird sometimes. I already took him to the vet and got the needed vitamins and anti-inflammatories etc. It has been about 2 weeks and I've been giving him water through a syringe and hand feeding but I don't think he's getting enough water. I spray him too but he doesn't lick any of the droplets up so syringe water has been having to work. I can't have anything he might climb on in the cage which at the moment is a dinky 10 gallon until I can get a good system worked out with his new tank for automatic mister and heat lamp. He is still very dehydrated and I'm not sure what to do. I've been giving him daily soaks since they seem to soothe him and it's hard keeping his tank humidity up. I'm really worried about his water intake though. I work long hours and have my husband spray and water when I'm gone but lil dude seems to only drink for me....any ideas? I've been feeding him wax worms to help with lack of water intake but am thinking of switching to calciworms. Any tips or ideas to help him recover quicker?

 

[kinyonga]

Please post some photos of your poor little guy.

What exactly did the vet say to do regarding the MBD? Did the vet give you liquid calcium? What was said about supplementing? UVB light? Temperatures?

Regarding watering...have you tried a dripper to get ho, to drink?

Is it a male or female?

 

[JackRipper]

I would like to see a few pics as well. Based on how you described it's health and the fact that you seem to doubt a chance of recovery I would try my hardest to evaluate the animals discomfort, pain or suffering and consider euthanasia as the humane option. If your serious about nursing it back to health you will need to devote some real time and money into it. Temperature and humidity uvb/uva and anything else you think of to make it comfortable.

 

[Gingero]

To answer your original question, hornworms are great for hydration since they are nice and juicy. I’d also try the shower technique (mentioned at 6:00 in the video below). I mention all of this in my video about how to water your chameleon.



Filling out the husbandry form and pics will help determine if there is an underlying cause for the problems you’re having.

 

[Persephone]

Well the vet said he definitely had mbd and was dehydrated gave my liquid calcium, a vitamin a&d combo and anti-inflammatory. Doc also said to keep him in the 10 gallon but since I'm having trouble keeping the humidity high I got him a new fancier tank I've just got to fix the top of it and pick up an automatic mister. I use a syringe to give him water (just drip it into his mouth and I spray him regularly. I have all the right bulbs for him though once I move him I'll have to get higher capacity ones. So uvb, dayheat and night time heat emitter. He'll be ok if I can get him hydrated again. He's already in significantly better shape than he was. I just want him to have the best chance at a full recovery. Doc said he may not ever be able to climb properly again and seeing as they are definitely arboreal critters I feel really bad for him. I'll upload some pictures soon as I can though.

Please post some photos of your poor little guy.

What exactly did the vet say to do regarding the MBD? Did the vet give you liquid calcium? What was said about supplementing? UVB light? Temperatures?

Regarding watering...have you tried a dripper to get ho, to drink?

Is it a male or female?

 

[Persephone]

The vet said euthanasia wasn't really necessary, it'll just be a few months recovery and he's already started. He's moving around a lot more and eating fine my worry is just his water intake. Almost have everything I need for a rather nice set up just waiting on an order for the automatic mister and next pay comes new stronger bulbs for the bigger tank. Since he can't climb it's a little tough keeping him as warm as I'd like too but that why the stronger bulbs. I think he's getting ready to shed too so trying to keep humidity up as best I can.

I would like to see a few pics as well. Based on how you described it's health and the fact that you seem to doubt a chance of recovery I would try my hardest to evaluate the animals discomfort, pain or suffering and consider euthanasia as the humane option. If your serious about nursing it back to health you will need to devote some real time and money into it. Temperature and humidity uvb/uva and anything else you think of to make it comfortable.

 

[MissSkittles]

When you say he’s in a tank, do you mean an aquarium style tank?

 

[Persephone]

When you say he’s in a tank, do you mean an aquarium style tank?

The 10 gallon yes the other isn't. It's an exo terra but I can't think of the size at the moment. It's at least meant for arboreal if that helps

 

[MissSkittles]

The 10 gallon yes the other isn't. It's an exo terra but I can't think of the size at the moment. It's at least meant for arboreal if that helps

Ok. Good. Thanks

 

[Persephone]

Ok. Good. Thanks

I'm looking at droppers right now. He likes drinking from the syringe so I'm guessing it's the best move. Any tips for getting a good one? Most I've seen require him to go up and well that's not really viable right now so this is what I'm looking at

 

[Persephone]

To answer your original question, hornworms are great for hydration since they are nice and juicy. I’d also try the shower technique (mentioned at 6:00 in the video below). I mention all of this in my video about how to water your chameleon.



Filling out the husbandry form and pics will help determine if there is an underlying cause for the problems you’re having.

I will definitely go pick up some hornworms after work then. Thanks for the tip! I think he's getting tired of waxworms anyway. Some variety will be nice

 

[MissSkittles]

Definitely go with the little dripper. Put a plant under it to catch the water.
Waxworms are high in fat and not a good staple feeder. Attaching feeder sheet for you.

 

[Tihshho]

Keep an eye on drippers/misting systems within an ExoTerra. Between the massive humidity spike they can have since they are only vented with fresh air being pulled in by convection you will run into two issues; high humidity and/or pools of water. Don't get me wrong, I love Exo's and they are great terrariums, but the only thing IMO that they lack is a drain. You may want to consider looking into a vivarium drain kit and drilling the Exo Terra so that you can let the collected water overflow into a drainage bucket.

 

[Persephone]

Definitely go with the little dripper. Put a plant under it to catch the water.
Waxworms are high in fat and not a good staple feeder. Attaching feeder sheet for you.
View attachment 252258

Awesome thank you! His previous person fed him only mealworms so he was kinda skinny. Now that he's fattened up a bit time for some new bugs. Now I just have to find silkworms and black soldier larvae. Probably gonna have to order online

 

[Persephone]

Keep an eye on drippers/misting systems within an ExoTerra. Between the massive humidity spike they can have since they are only vented with fresh air being pulled in by convection you will run into two issues; high humidity and/or pools of water. Don't get me wrong, I love Exo's and they are great terrariums, but the only thing IMO that they lack is a drain. You may want to consider looking into a vivarium drain kit and drilling the Exo Terra so that you can let the collected water overflow into a drainage bucket.

I'll look into it. I am trying to figure out a different bedding too. He's on coconut fiber but it's getting in his eyes and I'm afraid he'll get an infection. Any other bedding ideas or maybe just a towel? :/

 

[Tihshho]

I'd axe the bedding period. Not only is this an issue with impaction, but you're going to provide a sponge for extra moisture in a system that cannot drain as well as a bacteria pit for nasty's to grow unless you clean it out regularly/go bioactive.

You mentioned something that's concerning, why is he getting the bedding in hi eyes? He shouldn't be going to the bottom of the enclosure often/if at all. If he's roaming on the bottom he could be trying to escape from too high of heat and/or stressed about something in the enclosure.

 

[Persephone]

I'd axe the bedding period. Not only is this an issue with impaction, but you're going to provide a sponge for extra moisture in a system that cannot drain as well as a bacteria pit for nasty's to grow unless you clean it out regularly/go bioactive.

You mentioned something that's concerning, why is he getting the bedding in hi eyes? He shouldn't be going to the bottom of the enclosure often/if at all. If he's roaming on the bottom he could be trying to escape from too high of heat and/or stressed about something in the enclosure.

His back legs are broken and one arm. He can't climb at all. That's why he's in that tank to begin with on doc orders so he has no choice. I had him just on paper towels but it just didn't hold moisture in at all granted the fiber isn't doing too good a job either. Eventually I want to have moss as the flooring but that'll tank some time

 

[JackRipper]

Can you post a few pics please?

 

[Persephone]

His back legs are broken and one arm. He can't climb at all. That's why he's in that tank to begin with on doc orders so he has no choice. I had him just on paper towels but it just didn't hold moisture in at all granted the fiber isn't doing too good a job either. Eventually I want to have moss as the flooring but that'll tank some time

I feed him mostly by hand but he's eating out of a dish so he's at least not ingesting any bedding

 

[Tihshho]

Ah, I thought he was still able to hold on, just wasn't as active.

That being the case here is the budget DIY solution I would recommend. go to your local hardware store and/or hardware bigbox store and grab a sheet of eggcrate light diffuser, a bag of zipties, a small roll of weed blocker fabric and a bag of 2" tall by 1" diameter PVC unions. From there you can cut the eggcrate to size of the enclosures base and then you need to ziptie a layer of the weed blocker to the egg crate. Place a range of PVC unions as a legs to hold up the eggrate and viola, what you have created is something called a false bottom. This will allow water to pass through and collect below and your Cham won't be on a substrate, but on a surface that is able to dry and won't get stuck in his mouth. This method will allow you to drain the enclosure as water builds up as well as replace the weed blocker as it gets covered in feces.