New owner to a veil chamelion who might be sick

[Reptilemom123]

• Your Chameleon - veiled, male, I know for a fact he’s juvenile because he’s small How long has it been in your care? About 3 days
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? The least I can because I know they aren’t very hands on and he’s not used to be yet
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? He hasn’t eaten for 2 days but crickets and mealworms. What amount? 4 crickets in the cage and 3 meal worms. What is the schedule? I feed all my lizards 2-3 times a day. How are you gut-loading your feeders? Collard greens, salad, and live insects mentioned above
• Supplements - d3 for chameleons from petsmart.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? We have a mister machine set to every 4 hours and it missy for 2 minutes each time. Do you see your chameleon drinking? I haven’t physically seen him drink from the dripper.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? White and dark brown poops
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. His old handler was never home and his parents took care of him so he wasn’t handled at all and he just kinda fed him and left him alone.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? 3 feet tall and 2 wide the top is screen the sides and bottom glass.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? We use a UVB but it’s a t5 light and a red light
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? His basking temp is about 89 and we turn the lights off at night.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? 60-70 during the day and 70-75 at night How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? A humidity dial and a heat dial
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? No but I’m getting some asap
• 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? On a end table in my living room.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Washington

Current Problem - he won’t eat he doesn’t move much and he falls when he climbs. His legs look bowed and they get stuck behind his head sometimes. I thought it’s cause he’s young but I read too much about MBD and now I’m worried. Should i force feed him? I am scared to hurt him so I barely touch him as Is.

 

[Jpeff]

Post some pics to help

 

[Reptilemom123]

Post some pics to help

 

[Jpeff]

Pretty sure you have a female does it have a spur on back of foot. Pic of back foot.
For your supplements got a pic of it. For anything g with d3 is only 2 times a month
You don't want to use any red lights

 

[Reptilemom123]

Pretty sure you have a female does it have a spur on back of foot. Pic of back foot.
For your supplements got a pic of it. For anything g with d3 is only 2 times a month
You don't want to use any red lights

What is the ideal setup for his tank. Is there any links you have that might help because his old owner had bark in his tank but I want to get some real plants instead. I’m struggling with the way she or he was already raised at his old place now I’m trying to figure out where the guy who owned him went wrong because he doesn’t seem to be THRIVING like I want him or her to. I’ll take pics as soon as I can of the back feet and the D3 I was given.

 

[kinyonga]

I can't even see the heel clearly enough to see if there's a spur or not.

Looks like your chameleon has MBD and it needs to be corrected. More in a few minutes.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."He hasn’t eaten for 2 days but crickets and mealworms. What amount? 4 crickets in the cage and 3 meal worms. What is the schedule? I feed all my lizards 2-3 times a day"...crickets area good feeder but there are better choices than mealworms...silkworms, BSFL, roaches, locusts, once in a while wax worms, superworms, hornworms.

You said you are gutloading the feeder insects with Collard greens, salad"...dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, etc are good thing for gutloading.

You said for supplements you use..."d3 for chameleons from petsmart"...its recommended that you use a phos free calcium powder lightly at all feedings but two a month...on those two feedings use reptivite with D3 and preformed vitamin A....lightly.

You said..."His old handler was never home and his parents took care of him so he wasn’t handled at all and he just kinda fed him and left him alone"...sad.

You said..."We use a UVB but it’s a t5 light and a red light"...what is the UVB bulb you use? Most recommended reptisun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% long linear bulb. Red lights are not recommended. A regular household incandescent bulb is good for basking.

You said..."His basking temp is about 89 and we turn the lights off at night". ..basking temp could be lower...80 to 82F would be good.

You said..."60-70 during the day and 70-75 at night"...could be a bit lower during the day and higher at night.

You said..." he won’t eat he doesn’t move much and he falls when he climbs. His legs look bowed and they get stuck behind his head sometimes. I thought it’s cause he’s young but I read too much about MBD and now I’m worried. Should i force feed him? I am scared to hurt him so I barely touch him as Is"... Bowed legs, getting his legs stuck are signs of MBD. Force feeding should be a last resort.

More to follow.

 

[kinyonga]

Regarding not eating...MBD slows the movement of the food though the digestive system because it affects the muscles as well as the bones....and also affects othey systems in the chameleon too.

To correct the MBD, you will need a vet to test for calcium levels and put the chameleon on a liquid calcium until the bones are stronger. This calcium should be given in addition to the regular supplements recommended. Once the bones etc have regained their strength, the liquid calcium can be dropped. The rest of the husbandry has to be spot on while treating the MBD also...and of course, forever after.


If the chameleon won't eat you can use Susan James' bug juice...
https://www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/bug-juice.html

 

[Beman]

looks like a female with extreme mbd... This is going to be a hard road since female lay infertile eggs... Reach out to this person... https://www.facebook.com/sweetpeathecham

She has experience rehabbing a cham with severe MBD.

 

[kinyonga]

The egglaying can be controlled by diet and temperatures. Keeping the basking temperature at 80 should slow the metabolism a bit so she's not so hungry..and decreasing how much she's fed to 4 or 5 crickets (or equal value of other insects) two or three times a week as she all aches maturity...so soon. The aim is to keep the number of eggs around 20 per clutch. Usually they can be put into this position or even made to lay even less, or no eggs.