royden
New Member
Here's a report for anyone interested:
The vet was great, Dr. Maas in Bothell, WA. He used to breed veileds and at one time kept 150 reptiles in his home. Super nice guy, really informative with really great information.
He doesn't really believe in using the term Metabolic Bone Disease. He says it's like saying your cham has cancer. The question is what kind of cancer? And what specifically caused it?
There are three ways to screen for calcium in the body. One is to check for unbound calcium which gives a percentage of the calcium in the body, but more importantly shows how much is available to the animal. The second type of test shows the full amount of calcium in the body. The third test is a simple x-ray to actually check the density of the bones.
On inspection, the Dr. said Otto was very healthy, checking things like the jaw and the casque, the grip, inside the mouth, he checked breathing, everything. He held him for about 20 minutes while he inspected and explained. He said my husbandry couldn't be better. He said he'd be proud to have Otto as one of his collection.
He said the bent casque could be from a number of things, but it wasn't from lack of density. Possible mild trauma, but it wasn't uncommon. He said the spine was straight and I was just seeing the muscles that cause his spine spikes to pull this way and that.
He emphasized the importance of keeping your cham on healthy light/day schedule. He thought keeping the cham in the closest was perfect to help control lighting at night, and during the mornings or evenings when the keepers hours don't match the animals.
And finally he recommended a once a year feces test to check for parasites.
Other tidbits of info that I thought contradicted a few things I've heard - you cannot over suppliment calcium. Has anyone heard differently?
So that's it! Otto went on his first field trip, really behaved himself on the vet's desk. Even sat still long enough to be weighed in at 137 grams! Never lunged at the vet once, but gave me hell when I got him home.
Thanks to everyone on this board that provide a wealth of info and support raising these fun little creatures.
The vet was great, Dr. Maas in Bothell, WA. He used to breed veileds and at one time kept 150 reptiles in his home. Super nice guy, really informative with really great information.
He doesn't really believe in using the term Metabolic Bone Disease. He says it's like saying your cham has cancer. The question is what kind of cancer? And what specifically caused it?
There are three ways to screen for calcium in the body. One is to check for unbound calcium which gives a percentage of the calcium in the body, but more importantly shows how much is available to the animal. The second type of test shows the full amount of calcium in the body. The third test is a simple x-ray to actually check the density of the bones.
On inspection, the Dr. said Otto was very healthy, checking things like the jaw and the casque, the grip, inside the mouth, he checked breathing, everything. He held him for about 20 minutes while he inspected and explained. He said my husbandry couldn't be better. He said he'd be proud to have Otto as one of his collection.
He said the bent casque could be from a number of things, but it wasn't from lack of density. Possible mild trauma, but it wasn't uncommon. He said the spine was straight and I was just seeing the muscles that cause his spine spikes to pull this way and that.
He emphasized the importance of keeping your cham on healthy light/day schedule. He thought keeping the cham in the closest was perfect to help control lighting at night, and during the mornings or evenings when the keepers hours don't match the animals.
And finally he recommended a once a year feces test to check for parasites.
Other tidbits of info that I thought contradicted a few things I've heard - you cannot over suppliment calcium. Has anyone heard differently?
So that's it! Otto went on his first field trip, really behaved himself on the vet's desk. Even sat still long enough to be weighed in at 137 grams! Never lunged at the vet once, but gave me hell when I got him home.
Thanks to everyone on this board that provide a wealth of info and support raising these fun little creatures.
