Ostulent Chameleon

[Sweetpea70]

I have a Ost chameleon and have had for a few months now. I picked him up at a swap meet in town for $150. He is the largest chameleon I have ever had. He is very gentle, but not very agile. I had him in a 4' tall cage (hes about 1' long) and all he ever seemed to do was fall. So, to remedy this I put him in a smaller cage.

Anyways, my immediate concern about him is I noticed that his tongue doesn't seem to extend like Veiled, Jacksons, or other breeds I have handled in the past. It almost looks like his tongue is folded up over on itself. Is this typical for this species or should I get him to a vet to have his tongue fixed/looked at ? He's a good eater but he has to get down and personal with his food rather than tag it from a safe range.

I had a small colony of Dubais for a little while to feed him but once the wife found them and screamed ROACHES!@?! I had to go back to a more costly feeder cricket setup from the local pet stores. Is there another alternative I can give him that I can keep without my wife panicing ? I tried superworms with my veiled and from my experience the chameleons grew seed like nodules under their skin. I had 1 treated and died shortly after and the other had some of these seed looking calcium deposits ( I guess, after the vet showed me) both of which died. So, superworms for me is out of the question. I would like something I can keep in a southern Indiana climate (through the winter season if possible in the garage or shed) . As I stated before the Dubais were perfect but the wife wigged out once she found them.

If you need any Ostulent pics I would be willing to throw some up.

Thanks for any help/advice

 

[brownie64]

Might be a good idea to show some pics. He might have MBD. If he is a foot long a four foot cage would be minimal.

 

[nick barta]

The falling may be Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD), and the tongue not striking normally often is a vitamin A deficiency, or a sprained tongue.

Super worms do not cause calcium deposits, in fact no feeder other than Soldier Fly larvae have enough calcium to meet the requirements for calcium in a chameleon.

You should be dusting your feeders with a vitamin dust containing PRE-formed vitamin A and calcium WITH D3 about every 2 weeks and the rest of the feedings dust with a calcium supplement WITHOUT D3 supplement.

Basking temperatures must be high enough for the chameleon to correctly digest the food, and you need the correct UVB linear tube-style light for the chameleon to absorb the calcium for bone development.

Use the SEARCH feature and look up any of the terms, and you will find multiple threads on every word. SEARCH is in the top right of the home page on the Chameleon Forum.

Regarding feeders, in the summer, grasshoppers are a great free feeder. If all roaches are out, you could look at collecting light-attracted moths at night for feeders, and buying/raising horn worms, silk worms, meal worms, super worms, wax worms, and blue bottle flies.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[Sweetpea70]

He strikes but it looks like its a folded over tongue. I dust all of my food that I give him. 3 different supplements, cal with d3, multi, and cal with no d3.

 

[Sweetpea70]

I hope these pics are helpful.

 

[Craigwyatt]

How often do you use each supplement. Break down your exact schedual for us. And are you saying that you dust every single feeding with no breaks ever.

 

[Carlton]

I have a Ost chameleon and have had for a few months now. I picked him up at a swap meet in town for $150. He is the largest chameleon I have ever had. He is very gentle, but not very agile. I had him in a 4' tall cage (hes about 1' long) and all he ever seemed to do was fall. So, to remedy this I put him in a smaller cage.

Anyways, my immediate concern about him is I noticed that his tongue doesn't seem to extend like Veiled, Jacksons, or other breeds I have handled in the past. It almost looks like his tongue is folded up over on itself. Is this typical for this species or should I get him to a vet to have his tongue fixed/looked at ?

He shouldn't be falling like that. Are his claws worn down or missing? The tongue issue is not normal. The cause can very well be nutritional. Too much calcium with added vit D3 and overuse of other multivitamins can cause symptoms similar to MBD, and this can affect the tongue.

I agree that this cage for an Oustaleti is too small. If you want to protect him from falls you can provide a good network of branches and bushy plants in a larger cage so he can catch himself if he does lose his grip. Unless his bones are very fragile he won't damage himself badly falling from the top of a typical indoor cham cage.