MBD. Trying to save rescued cham

[ReptileNovice]

Hey guys

I'm new to chameleons and the wonderful world of reptile ownership. I work at an exotics animals hospital so I'm experienced in that sense but never owned them. We had a approx 1 year old veiled Cham surrendered to our work because our vet believed she could be saved but owners didn't want to do the work. So I decided to step up and take her.

She is now in a small screened in cage (18in tall ~12 wide) due to the fact she cannot climb very well and I'm worried about her falling. As soon as she gets stronger she will be moved
to an appropriate sized enclosure. The substrate is the coconut fibers but I'm going to switch it to a towel as I am worried she will ingest it when feeding.

Her light was the zoomed powersun (was lent to me by a friend). I've heard this is too much for her.. however I did have to supplement with heat and was told from a credible reptile store this was okay for a few days (7 total) to get her jumpstarted. Now she has the zoomed mini fluorescent 10.0 with supplemented heat.

Temp on the bottom where she spends all of her time is 76-80 daytime and 60 night time. Humidity varies between 50-70. Twice daily misting. Today I am going to try a cham shower to help hydrate.

She does have eggs (we saw on x ray) but doc thinks that she will reabsorb them. I feel like she might be turning Gravid colors though as I see blue spots starting to appear (is this a gradual or instant change?) she has a big belly from the eggs but other than that is very thin as she wasn't able to eat for a bit.

She is getting IM injections of calcium gluconate once every day. I dusted the worms and crickets with calcium with d3 but Now I know I need to get the kind without d3. Also haven't dusted with vitamins yet but will 1-2x a month.

She is eating for me.. she is very interested in crickets but they are too hard for her to catch (any tips for a feeding cup for a Cham on the ground?) so I switched to wax worms as they are soft.. she seemed to get one stuck in her mouth though which scared the shit out of me but she is okay now. I am now raising my own crickets for when she is ready.

I am only handling her as needed (injections and to try and get worn out of her mouth).

My main questions:

1. Am I insane to think she will get better?

2. With the temp at 80 in her cage (probe is near her) she still feels cold to touch.. can I get a reptile heating pad to place underneath her to help warm her up?

3. Anything else I need to be doing to help her recover?

4. Any other foods I should try?

5. Her eyes look a little sunken in to me as of yesterday.. help??

I'm trying to do everything I can for her so please let me know how I can help this little baby!! Sorry the post is so long.. just wanted you all to have the necessary details.

 

[Nursemaia]

1. not insane.
2. No heating pad and I'd increase her temps to about 85 basking and in all honesty I'd make her enclosure so she could climb. She needs to use her muscles. Have the towel at the bottom in case she falls
3. Check out the caresheets, sticky threads on MBD, and laybins.
4. I recommend black soldier fly larva, hornworms, dubia roaches
5. Put her in the shower on a plant with the shower bouncing off the wall so it creates a mist. That could help stimulate her to drink

 

[ReptileNovice]

1. not insane.
2. No heating pad and I'd increase her temps to about 85 basking and in all honesty I'd make her enclosure so she could climb. She needs to use her muscles. Have the towel at the bottom in case she falls
3. Check out the caresheets, sticky threads on MBD, and laybins.
4. I recommend black soldier fly larva, hornworms, dubia roaches
5. Put her in the shower on a plant with the shower bouncing off the wall so it creates a mist. That could help stimulate her to drink

Thank you! I've definitely read all the care sheets and everything but I think you learn a lot from experience. Im going to get her some more plants today.. I agree she should climb more.

 

[WAMBO]

I also suggest some BSF larva, since they are high in calcium content. They are small. Be carful how you present them, because they can crawl out of anything that has moisture on the sides.

 

[Andee]

I agree with Maia I have dealt a lot with MBD recovery and vitamin problems, the thing is you have a vet who can constantly help you at this point so that is huge and will help a lot at this point. I have a female Jackson who was about where your girl is with just a little more mobility and though it has taken 8 months, she is climbing with no falling ever anymore, can eat relatively easily, her leg bones have actually straightened which I never expected. The thing you need to realize is it can take an extremely long time to see any sort of improvement, it took six months for me to see good improvement with Hope that made me stop worrying so much. What you need to work is making a good diet, and I approve of all the feeders of what everyone else has mentioned. If you want to cup feed while they are on the floor I would use a shorter glass bowl. I also strongly suggest using more vines and making her use her muscles as much as she will. If you are worried about her falling use towels and make a catch net. The problem with calcium deficiency is it causes muscles to get weak and making her use them will help her recovery along. She may or may not reabsorb the eggs. Though she has mbd it may not happen. It would be expected, but sometimes it doesn't happen. Then you really have to worry and consider whether surgery is a viable option. She has a strong possibility to get better, in my opinion though her mbd is a more severe caae, it's definitely not the worse I've seen. Good luck.

 

[ReptileNovice]

Incase anyone checks this.. she is doing great! recovered mostly with a few cage modifications! Thank you for all of your help!

 

[Thehippie]

that's great!!! I'm so happy to hear a cham rescue story go right!!!

 

[ChamChamChangeForMe]

So happy to hear! Thank you for caring for her!