Not climbing?

LynseyMorgan

New Member
My 4 month old veiled isn't climbing! It's like she has no strength to hold on. She can't even walk. When I hold her and she tries to walk she claws her face. She's barley drinking water, and it doesn't seem like she's eating at all.

What's going on with her?
 
My 4 month old veiled isn't climbing! It's like she has no strength to hold on. She can't even walk. When I hold her and she tries to walk she claws her face. She's barley drinking water, and it doesn't seem like she's eating at all.

What's going on with her?

sounds like possible mbd, are you giving her calcium without d3 everyday? and only d3 twice a month?
 
sounds like possible mbd, are you giving her calcium without d3 everyday? and only d3 twice a month?
I bought calcium powder from petsmart that has d3 in it. It was the only form of calcium powder they had that I could find. But I dust the mealworms with it. I just put 5 in today that didn't have any and she only ate 2.
 
Hi!

I'm sorry you are having problems. I understand that the form is a bit intimidating, but I do think you should complete it (click the link provided, copy the questions, paste them into a reply and add your answers).

Even with that, there will be questions, but the questions will be more focused. At this point you've given symptoms that could be the result of several things. The more information people have, the better they can do in helping you.
 
The Form.

Your Chameleon -Veiled, female, 4-5 months. Have had her for almost 2 months
Handling - 2-3 times a day
Feeding - I feed her small/medium crickets, and mealworms. I always have 10 mealworms in the cage, and about 10 crickets every 2 days. The crickets are already gut-loaded.
Supplements - Its a calcium D3 suppliment. About 3 times a week I dust the mealworms. (She won't eat the crickets I provide her, so I just give her mealworms now)
Watering - I spray the leaves 4 times a day. Plus I also have an automatic dripper. I mist until the leaves are dripping wet. I rarely see her drinking.
Fecal Description - She hasn't really been pooping recently. But they were big and wet? Has not been tested for parasites. (No herp. vet in my town. Nearest one is almost an hour away)
History - . None.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Full screen cage. About a 18x18.
Lighting - I use a UVB bulb. Turn it on before I leave for school, turn it off before I go to bed. (About 14 hours)
Temperature - It stays about 85ish The lowest is about 70ish. I have a Thermometer/Humidity gauge.
Humidity - Humidity is about 40%.
Plants - I have artificial plants
Placement - The cage is in the family room. It's sitting on a high wall table.

Current Problem - The fact she isn't eating, barely drinking. How she has no strength to climb or hold on. When she wabbles on the ground that she claws her face. She can't even lift herself off the ground to walk. She just lays on the bottom of her cage all day. Lays on a warm spot where a warming mat is. And she sometimes sleeps during the day. (I heard that was bad).
 
Thank you!

I'm sure much more expert people than I will come through with observations. I'm just going to offer some of the board standard recommendations and suggest you adjust things to match them because they are proven to be good.

You said you have a UVB bulb, can you tell us the brand/number? It's actually important because there are a whole lot of UVB bulbs and not all are appropriate for a chameleon.

The board recommendation is to dust the feeders daily with a plain calcium (no D3) and use D3 twice a month, a multivitamin twice a month.

I think she needs a basking bulb. I think there should be at least 10 degrees, preferably 15 degrees between the top and bottom of the cage. For a female, 80 to 82 would be a good basking temperature (dropping to 70--or 65-- at the bottom).

What are your night time temperatures? Is she getting a good cool down?

Typically this board recommends only 12 hours of light.

You say the crickets are gutloaded. I'm going to take it that you bring them home from the store and feed them off. That's not optimum. It would be better to buy them a day in advance and then give them 24 hours with some kale, spinach, oranges before feeding them off.
 
The bulb doesn't have a brand, but I'm sure it's a Zoo Med.

I haven't been able to find a store in town that doesn't have D3 mixed with calcium.

The night time temp is 70ish sometimes it drops down to 65.

Would buying the Fluker's Orange Cubes for the crickets be okay to feed them? Or something with calcium be better?
 
Fluckers orange cubes are not good . Better to use oranges, kale etc as listed above. Plain calcium is what you need you may be best to get it on line. Have a look at some products on line and come back to us as to what others use. Im in uk so our brand names may be different. In the meantime stop using the one with d3 for now. Can you get a piece of cuttlefish from your store? They sell it for birds. That will tide you over till you get the proper stuff. It is important you get Her to drink. Some ways are to drip warm water onto her nose, this may stimulate her. Also can you put herin a warm shower. Perhaps on a plant and have warm water bounce off the wall onto plant. 20 mins would be good. Keep us updated on your littleone.
 
Forgot to say grate cuttlefish to a powder and dust whatever she will eat. Could you squish up some crickert into bug juice and syringe feed her? Sound nasty but think of it as a matter of life and death.
 
On the thing i have just read they said liquid calcium is okay go getWHAT YOU WILL NEED:

(1) small bottle of pedialyte ( unflavored )

(1) 3 cc syringe (these can be purchased without the needle at farm supply stores and veterinary offices).

(1) small dixie cup ( kind used for mouthwash) or other small container

(1) small non abrasive hand towel.


I am not a vet but maybe this will help until you can get to a vet i hope she gets better
 
please fill out the form so we can better assist you
My 8 month old veiled chameleon has not eaten in about 4/5 days also she was having a hard time climbing her legs were shaking and we just noticed one of her feet is getting deformed. She has been laying on the bottom of the cage since yesterday, I believe it is because she can’t climb and is scared. What can it be
 
@Debbie54 welcome to the forum!

Please post some photos of her showing all of her from the sides.
How old is she and how long have you had her?

Please tell us what specific UVB light you're using...is it the compact type, long linear tube, brand, etc.

Please tell us what specific supplements YOUNUSE and how often for each
. D3? What form of vitamin A? No phos? Calcium?
 
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