My chameleon seems very weak.

beerg

beerg

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled, female, I was told she's 17 months by the guy i rescued her from. 6 months?
Handling - Every other day on average, she likes to be handled.
Feeding - crickets, she won't accept anything else. I usually give her 7 every other day. I gut-load my feeders with fresh spinach.
Supplements - zoo-med Repti Calcium with D3, every other feed I will dust 2 feeders. I recently bought Multivitamins, but have not used them until today.
Watering - I use a paper cup to drip warm-ish water to her. she will usually only drink every 4 days or so. I mist 3 times a day, Once mid-day and before i change her lights in the morning and night. I see her drink every time I drip to her, and she never gives me a problem, even now.
Fecal Description - brown feces and white urine. as far as i know she's never been tested for parasites.
History - she's an adoptee, and was in a 22 gallon glass tank when i got her.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - I purchased a new cage for her about a week ago. Its a 24x24x40 screen tank. currently I've moved her into the 22 gallon again since she started to seem weak.
Lighting - 100w UVB basking bulb: day, red basking bulb she had when I got her: night. I turn her Daytime light on at 10am, and turn her night light (lol) on at 2am.
Temperature - 70 - 90 degrees F. Gauge on the wall of the cage.
Humidity - 50-80 % Created by misting. Gauge on the wall of the cage.
Plants - No live plants currently.
Placement - The cage is currently in a closet. The top of the cage relative to your room floor is 3.5 feet.
Location - New England.

Current Problem - My chameleon seems like she is very weak. She's not wanting to pick her head up and will stay in one spot for a really long time. She struck at a cricket yesterday and the cricket was able to wiggle out of her mouth because she wasn't biting him hard enough. She was not scouting the bottom of her cage that I noticed, but last night seemed to be hunched over when I took her out.
So last night I put her in the old 22 gallon glass tank that I filled with moist dirt in-case she may lay eggs. She hasn't gone down into the dirt. She is also surrounded by fake plants so she feels secure. But I'm not sure how to help her gain her strength back. she's a very lively girl initially and I want her to be happy and healthy.

Thank you ahead of time for reading and all your support.
You guys are awesome :)
 
unfortunately all we can say is to go to the vet. you could try fisherville animal hospital in concord or weare animal hospital in weare. DO NOT go to northside in hooksett. whatever you do!

Also, did you check out the supplement schedule I gave you? it doesn't look like you have a plain calcium and she may be overdosing on D3. I also don't think you have an actual UVB bulb, they don't come as 100watt and if they go in a hood fixture like that they would look like coils, otherwise they ould be tube lights. She may have MBD, could also have eggs, but a vet visit will be the only way to really know what's wrong.
 
Power sun has a 100 watt mercury vapor uvb bulb. I dont know if this is the case here but there is such a thing :)

If you have been giving d3 every feeding that is not a good thing over a 6 month period. I would definitely pick up some plain calcium as stated from justjumpit and cut the d3 out for a month or so.

Pics of the chameleon??
 
justjumpit621 said:
unfortunately all we can say is to go to the vet. you could try fisherville animal hospital in concord or weare animal hospital in weare. DO NOT go to northside in hooksett. whatever you do!

Also, did you check out the supplement schedule I gave you? it doesn't look like you have a plain calcium and she may be overdosing on D3. I also don't think you have an actual UVB bulb, they don't come as 100watt and if they go in a hood fixture like that they would look like coils, otherwise they ould be tube lights. She may have MBD, could also have eggs, but a vet visit will be the only way to really know what's wrong.
Click to expand...
Maybe Ill take a ride to petco tomorrow and be sure to buy a UVB bulb. Whats the difference between UVB and UVA? Maybe I've got a UVA bulb?

i did see the supplement schedule and I will be changing her over to it, Thank you. could her not having a multi be something to do with it? and should i buy the liquid kind to put into her water to make sure she's getting them?
 
2a7y5mw.jpg


Sorry about the quality. I used my phone because my camera is missing. Really its not that severe looking in still life.
She is also bright green, as usual. When she was in the old cage before I moved her she would get dark all the time, but I never see her dark anymore.
 
uva and uvb are two different kinds of ultra violet rays. Your chameleon needs both. Look at the 100 watt and tell us what is says. Is it a tube or coil bulb. If you have been depriving your chameleon of uvb for 6 months most likely that is the cause of its illness.UVB is critical for their health and survival. That coupled with the fact that you have been giving too much d3. You have been gutloading your crickets with just spinach, which unfortunately is one of the vegetables that is not recommended. You should not be using a night light either. Get rid of the red light.
 
beerg said:
2a7y5mw.jpg


Sorry about the quality. I used my phone because my camera is missing. Really its not that severe looking in still life.
She is also bright green, as usual. When she was in the old cage before I moved her she would get dark all the time, but I never see her dark anymore.
Click to expand...

can you post a better pic of her front legs. We need to determine if she has MBD. It is hard to tell from that pic. Her front legs should not be curvy. They should bend like an "L" at the elbow.
 
beerg said:
Maybe Ill take a ride to petco tomorrow and be sure to buy a UVB bulb. Whats the difference between UVB and UVA? Maybe I've got a UVA bulb?

i did see the supplement schedule and I will be changing her over to it, Thank you. could her not having a multi be something to do with it? and should i buy the liquid kind to put into her water to make sure she's getting them?
Click to expand...

UVB is what you get from the sun, it helps your body process calcium, UVA is pretty much just the light.

Definitely. Also the D3 every feeding is a huge problem, and no vitamins definitely adds to it :( if you need some supplements I will gladly give you some, as well as a UVB bulb, you can borrow mine if you would like until you can get your own :) I don't need it right now and it is brand new.

Also don't give your crickets spinach it has too high oxilates, here is a great blog by sandra with feeder gutload suggestions https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
 
I put her in the tank to be closer to the ground of the tank because I don't want her falling. and so she could be closer to the crickets because she's having a rough time getting them. she's currently in the screen cage, sleeping, with no light.
I really don't feel like this picture is a very good angle..
I'll take a better picture or possibly a video tomorrow (today) bright and early
 
I would make a vet appointment. She does look to have MBD. A vet will tell you after some blood work and can get her back on track.

For now fix your lights, use a UVB & household bulb for heat 12 h on 12h off
Do not use any light at night, if it gets very cold, get a heat emmitter.

Fix your dusting schedule. But use NO calcium with d3 for a month, just plain calcium & multi vitamin

Change your gutload for your crickets. Use collard greens, mustard greens, sweet potato, oranges, strawberries. That will work for now.

If she is shooting crickets and you have substrate on the floor she could eat it and get impacted. Remove the substrate and use papertowels.
 
yep MBD. Her front legs are way too curvy. Did you find out about the light? She needs to see a vet now as Laurie stated.
 
I dont use substrate, and I just got her a UVB fixture & bulb.

Here are more pictures as promised:

ikk1.jpg


ikk.jpg
 
That does look better, but she looks quite chunky, could possibly have eggs. Did you get to put a lay bin in her cage yet? That is one reason why females become lethargic is right before laying. I would still do a vet visit to have him feel her in case she is egg bound but you should be able to put her back in the screen cage, put a bucket in with moist play sand, and cover the sides so she has privacy.
 
Do you see what i mean? she's just not picking herself up. I changed her lights, I've stopped with the d3, and started the multi. not gutloading with spinach.
Her legs seem stalky...
 
She probably does have MBD as well, or at least the start of it. I will be able to know how severe when I see her, but definitely calciumify everything. The feeders gutload, feed a couple things that are on the list of high in calcium low in phosphorus and oxilates, and you can also give them cleaned out eggshells, after breakfast you know instead of throwing them out clean them with hot hot water, or boil them, and give them to the feeders. I have calcium for you, you will need to dust every feeder at every feeding. Also probably the most important thing will be to bring her outside for long periods of time in the sun, this week is beautiful for it! The natural UVB will work the best for her, and they can't overdose from natural D3 the sun gives off, just our man made stuff :rolleyes:
 
beerg said:
Do you see what i mean? she's just not picking herself up. I changed her lights, I've stopped with the d3, and started the multi. not gutloading with spinach.
Her legs seem stalky...
Click to expand...

one of the symptoms of MBD is they cannot support themselves. Their bones are not strong enough to support their weight.
 
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