Please Help! Sick Chameleon! No One knows whats wrong!!!

[camillethechameleon]

Hi my name is Austen. I am not new to chameleons, but I cannot figure out what is wrong with my new veiled. I brought him home from petsmart last week and he seemed ok. Right off the bat however, he wasn't eating. I thought maybe it was because of stress from moving to a new cage and I figured I would wait a few days and see what happens. It's now day 5 and he still hasn't eaten, he has strange bumps all around his midsection, weird black blotches all over, and to top it all off, he won't use his front hands or legs at all and he continuously holds his head like he's covering his ears or something. (right where he's holding is 2 black splotches by where his head meets his neck, but all of the splotches are exactly opposite each other and look like they're supposed to be there). he also sleeps 95% of the day and seems extremely weak.

His cage is an exoterra medium cube (18x18x36) with a screen front and top and glass sides. coconut husk with moss on top for the substrate. I have an exoterra fogger and I use a uvb exoterra light And a 50 watt red light together during the day and at night I turn the uvb off. I feed him crickets and mealworms with calc powder and gutload them with flukkers orange crap lol. The ambient temp in the cage is 75 degrees and his basking spot is about 80-85. The humidity is about 75-80 % all the time and 2-3 times a day I completely spray him.

 

[carol5208]

Oh my goodness. It looks like his front left leg is broke. Did you get him in that condition. He looks to have Metabolic bone disease and his front leg is in bad shape. He looks very very ill I am sorry to say

 

[dom1959]

get him back to the store right away!

 

[camillethechameleon]

oh my! i feel so bad for him yea thats how i got him... petsmart is a horrid place for chameleons.. zero humidity, no misting, water in bowls, no branches or basking spots, and no uvb at all for any reptiles... I'm going to bring him to the animal hospital instead of petsmart b/c i don't trust what they would do with him.. (i.e. put him back in his cage for someone else to buy). i told my girlfriend i thought his leg looked REALLY weird..

do you guys think my setup is ok tho? is there anything better i could be doing?

 

[amandagreeneyez]

Oh my goodness, so sorry! That poor fellow...he looks like he's suffering pretty badly. My heart goes out to you both.

 

[AngieL]

This poor guy needs to see a vet right away but even then he might not have much hope. I agree with carol about the mbd and broken leg. If you put him back to the shop he WILL die. However you shouldn't be paying for a sick chameleon that'll cost you a lot in vet bills. They can live long and happy if the mbd is treated but you can't reverse the effects.

 

[camillethechameleon]

also 1 more quick q, i have had jacksons before but this is my first veiled, what kind of fruit / veggies do they eat?

 

[Lovereps]

This poor guy needs to see a vet right away but even then he might not have much hope. I agree with carol about the mbd and broken leg. If you put him back to the shop he WILL die. However you shouldn't be paying for a sick chameleon that'll cost you a lot in vet bills. They can live long and happy if the mbd is treated but you can't reverse the effects.

I completely agree with all AngieL has said.

Petsmart owes you a full refund and should let you keep him and get him vet care if you choose.
It will be costly and very possibly won't save him.

So sorry.

 

[ReptileLove18]

if you are willing to pay the vet bills to try to save his life, he needs to go to a vet ASAP. if not i would take him back to petsmart because they sold him this way and they need to take responsibility for it.. this guy looks horrible.... i am appauled they even had him out to sell in this condition. if something isnt done he looks like he's gonna die, especially if he isnt eating or drinking..
if you do take him to the vet and he does survive, here's some tiips on your set up:
the red light does not need to be on at night unless your ambient temperature drops below 55 degrees, any kind of light on at night disturbs their sleep. most keepers use normal house bulbs for heat because they are cheaper and give off a natural color so your chameleon will be more likely to bask underneath it.
substrate is not recommended because it can be ingested and cause impaction, so the moss and coconut you may want to scoop out. live plants can really help keep the humidity up
and mealworms arent too good and as a staple food for chams, crickets are but mealworms should be fed less often!
here is a link to a veiled caresheet, lots of good info on it https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
heres one about different feeders for your cham https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
and one on gutloading your feeders https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

please keep us updated on this little guy.. we hope the best for him and my heart goes out to you for trying to help him!!!!

 

[ReptileLove18]

also 1 more quick q, i have had jacksons before but this is my first veiled, what kind of fruit / veggies do they eat?

veileds will sometimes eat kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, cilantro, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, bananas, pears, strawberries, blueberries, apples, and peaches. for the leaves you can attach them to top of tank and let them munch as they please. for hard fruits cut it up small so they they can chew it and not choke

 

[PattyCake]

About the veggies-exactly what reptilelove18 said, but just experiment with each fruit and veggie-see what your chameleon likes. So sorry about your little one-hope it gets better. Stupid Pestmart

 

[ataraxia]

Hi my name is Austen. I am not new to chameleons, but I cannot figure out what is wrong with my new veiled. I brought him home from petsmart last week and he seemed ok. Right off the bat however, he wasn't eating.

I have to ask one question...Did you buy this chameleon with bowed arms, laying with no activity, basically in bad health standings?

There is no way on god's green earth this chameleon is this advanced in the disease in 5 days. This chameleons has gone a very long time without proper care.

Can you PM me the address to the Petsmart that you bought this animal from?

Truly your only option here is to get that chameleon to a vet as soon as you possibly can. IF you did buy this chameleon in this condition. A vets diagnosis should be good enough for a full refund.

 

[squeekz1992]

Oh my goodness...he looks terrible. I agree with what has been said about mbd and possible broken leg...this poor baby. I would take him to the vet asap or take him back to the store...but taking him back to the store has a dreadful looking outcome for the poor thing..

 

[Psychobunny]

I am so sorry this happened.
You NEED to return the animal to the pet store ASAP because I believe it will die very soon.
I would complain to the manager, get a full refund, and NEVER SET FOOT IN THAT STORE EVER AGAIN.

I hate to be harsh, but I don't think that cham is going to make it

 

[AngieL]

Most fruits are just for treats but my veiled lives them! Kale is good for occasional but I would steer clear of things like spinach and broccoli. I feed my girl rocket and romaine and on Sundays she gets a treat of apple, strawberry, blueberry or sonething like that.

Bananas not a great choice (full of phosphorus and potassium) however I gave my girl a bit the other day and she loved it!

 

[ReptileLove18]

Most fruits are just for treats but my veiled lives them! Kale is good for occasional but I would steer clear of things like spinach and broccoli. I feed my girl rocket and romaine and on Sundays she gets a treat of apple, strawberry, blueberry or sonething like that.

Bananas not a great choice (full of phosphorus and potassium) however I gave my girl a bit the other day and she loved it!

quite right sorry guys was so stressed out by that poor little guys condition i forgot to say that the fruits and veggies are for treats, they need to be getting their nutritional needs met by gutloading their feeders and supplements.

 

[camillethechameleon]

Thank you all for your valuable info and support. First thing in the morning I am taking the trip to the closest petsmart with an animal hospital in it so he can get the best care he can. I got some veggies and fruits for easy eating in case catching crickets was to hard for him. I also got him to drink a little by spraying him for about 20 mins straight. I promise you all that I will try my hardest and not give up on my little guy!
Thanks again soooo much!

 

[ReptileLove18]

you can try feeding him bug juice which will be more nutritional for him. gutload the crickets with fruits and veggies(so puree up some fruits and veggies and put it in with the crickets, let the crickets eat this for several hours) then you can take off the crickets legs and mash them up to pretty much a pastey pulp and try to get your cham to eat it, most the time this is done with a syringe with the needle taken off. thats what i remember of the bug juice recipe if anyone has the exact one, i couldnt find it, please post it!!

 

[camillethechameleon]

I have to ask one question...Did you buy this chameleon with bowed arms, laying with no activity, basically in bad health standings?

There is no way on god's green earth this chameleon is this advanced in the disease in 5 days. This chameleons has gone a very long time without proper care.

Can you PM me the address to the Petsmart that you bought this animal from?

Truly your only option here is to get that chameleon to a vet as soon as you possibly can. IF you did buy this chameleon in this condition. A vets diagnosis should be good enough for a full refund.

i PMed u the address and he didn't look as bad as he does now, he wasnt holding his head constantly, he looked kind of ok actually but when i got home he really started to not look so good...

 

[camillethechameleon]

I do agree with all of you guys, his health is atrocious... to be honest i was in a hurry to get home before curfew and really didn't give him a proper look over before purchasing him. I am an avid animal lover and it really saddens me to see him like this. (I almost cried when you guys let me know how bad he really is) I have 4 leopard geckos, a chinchilla, 2 ferrets, a water dragon, a jackson, a veiled, and a ball python. I would NEVER let an animal of mine get this neglected as I hope no one else would.