Need help

[Cham_love]

So my veiled Cham had some swollen joints, I took him to the vet to get checked out . Vet ruled out gout , noticed calcium was low which is common so he was given some calcium drops and some medication for upper respiratory infection. Vet noticed some bubbles so she wanted to make sure she covered that. Swelling went down a bit but his from left arm join became swollen so we brought him in and vet suggested we get a culture to make sure we are treating for the right strain of bacteria and she wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything serious . He was prescribed meds for pain and swelling and also meds for his upper respiratory infection just to make sure , vet didn’t see nothing concerning in his lungs but wanted all bases covered. Culture came back good nothing bad. But not I’ve noticed his not eating as frequently or moving as much.

His about 1year and two months
I handle him about 2-3times a week
I feed hornworms , super worms , butter worms , crickets I try and make it different as much as possible
I gut load feeders with veggies
I spray twice a day for about 1-2 minutes

 

[blue_cham]

What is your dusting/calcium/vitamin regiment look like? And what type of UVB do you use?

Odd that the vet couldn't peg the swelling... Did she have any theories to the cause??

 

[Cham_love]

I dust my feeders with rep cal calcium with d3 twice a week and feeders are gut loaded with Maputo better bug diet with added omega 3 and vitamin a , uvb bulb is the zoo med 5.0 uvb. She thought it could be due to An infection maybe in his respiratory tract she did see a few bubbles but on the second visit the bubbles cleared. Other than that she can’t figure why it would be swollen. He doesn’t seem to favor one side when he walks

 

[blue_cham]

I dust my feeders with rep cal calcium with d3 twice a week and feeders are gut loaded with Maputo better bug diet with added omega 3 and vitamin a , uvb bulb is the zoo med 5.0 uvb. She thought it could be due to An infection maybe in his respiratory tract she did see a few bubbles but on the second visit the bubbles cleared. Other than that she can’t figure why it would be swollen. He doesn’t seem to favor one side when he walks

Did your vet ask about supplements? I've not used Rep Cal D3 myself, but I believe it still should only be used one every two weeks like other D3. And generally is mixed with their Herpivite to provide the vitamins. Calcium without D3 is an everyday dust.

I've not heard of Maputo before, so I am not sure if it is an adequate vitamin substitute. It will also depend on your feeders, some feeders hold gut load better than others.

I would definitely call your vet in the am and confirm your dusting and feeding regiment.

If you fill out the forum sticky posted on the Health clinic, the community can check out your husbandry too. Respiratory issues, commonly can be linked back to cage set up and humidity levels, etc. Ill go fetch it

 

[blue_cham]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

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Please Note:
The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
Photos can be very helpful.

 

[Cham_love]

It’s actually called mazuri auto correct changed it and I just switched to the d3 calcium but I’ll make those changes

 

[Cham_love]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Male-veiled chameleon had him for about 6months

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
2-3 times a week

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Varies from crickets , Dubia, hornworms , super worms, butter worms. And I offer food daily. He will eat about 5-10 except on the hornworms he will eat 1-2 large ones. I gut load with veggies like peppers leaf greens etc or mazuri gut loading diet.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Rep cal phosphorus free with d3

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Misting by hand twice a day for about 1-2 minutes daily I haven’t seen him drink so I’ve been taking him out and having him drink from a spout.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
it was dark and brown and yes he was cleared of parasites
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. He was kept in an enclosure with one othe lizard , it’s was a water dragon


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Medium repti breeze

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Zoo med dual dome I’m using a day white light 75w basking light and a 5.0 uvb I keep the light on for 12 hours

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Temp is about 80-85f overnight temp is 70f digital temp monitor

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? About 40-55 and I maintain this with the mister I use a zoo med hydrometer

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I’m using plastic plants

Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?in my room in the darkest corner is not near any fans or high traffic areas and it’s about 3-4 feet off the floor

Location - Where are you geographically located? Connecticut

 

[Thehippie]

you should be dusting without d3 every feeding and with d3 every other week and multivitamin every other week swelling of the limbs can often be caused by over supplementation which is likely the case here

you should also make sure he's in a minimum 2x2x4 enclosure.

humidity should be at 50-60%

misting should be a minimum of 2 mins three times a day

are you using a linear or compact uvb bulb?

 

[Cham_love]

compact uvb bulb I’ll make does changes with the calcium dusting . I also have one more concern he shed not too long ago and I helped him with some but I missed a small piece in his front paw and I just noticed he has a brown dot where the piece was.should I be concerned about that?

 

[Thehippie]

compact uvb bulb I’ll make does changes with the calcium dusting . I also have one more concern he shed not too long ago and I helped him with some but I missed a small piece in his front paw and I just noticed he has a brown dot where the piece was.should I be concerned about that?

first change to a linear uvb compact doesn't emit enough uvb for a chameleons needs also can you post a picture of the brown part of his foot, did it just turn brown or was it always there

 

[blue_cham]

It’s actually called mazuri auto correct changed it and I just switched to the d3 calcium but I’ll make those changes

Wow didn't realize Mazuri made gut loads. I pulled up their ingredients list and analysis. I'm not super knowledgeable on gut loads, but it has lots of animals protein ingredients and the percentage protein is about twice that of ones like Cricket Crack or Bug Burger. Easy enough test, I'd personally switch to a new one or go with fresh veggies, see if a difference is made.

I second everything Thehippie mentioned as well. In addition, a higher humidity will hopefully help future sheds. Definitely post a picture of the spot, let's take a look also am curious what the swelling looks like.

You mentioned vet ruled out gout, she did a blood test I'm guessing? Uric acid wasn't an issue?

An infection could move into other parts of the body such as limbs, but I would expect it to show in the whole limb, not localized to joints...

 

[Cham_love]

The spot just turned brown he didn’t have it before, vet did blood test and an X-ray and there was no crystals and nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[Thehippie]

it might be stuck shed

 

[Cham_love]

Is that a bad thing? Is there anything I could do to help him with it ?

 

[Thehippie]

try rubbing it off if not take him to a vet because it could be dead tissue

 

[Thehippie]

is it soft or hard

 

[Cham_love]

It’s hard

 

[Thehippie]

It’s hard

does it look like shed has cut the circulation or does it look like just a new colored scale because it could just be a new colored scale

 

[Cham_love]

These are the joints , and it looks like a scab it’s located on the inside of the hand not outside sorry should have specified where it was located

 

[Thehippie]

yea on the hand it could be new colored scale, it could be a scab if he accidentally caught his toe on something and pulled it. or it could just be damaged scales and they should all go back to normal with his next shed