Rescue veiled - need some opinions

[unravel]

Good afternoon,

im new to chameleons myself but have reptile experience. My only cham is a baby panther but now i just went and rescued this veiled. Seller assured me he was healthy and i extended some basic human trust. We met in the middle of nowhere and i got the cham, which i gave a quick glance to and somehow missed quite a bit of red flags.. it was early and i didnt have my coffee yet.. and again i trusted the seller.

Long story short, seller has cut communication and basically got away with my money. Regardless, this guy is gorgeous, but now i need to put some serious work and possibly money into him.

Here's the set-up i re-created for him with existing tools and my plant.. the cage only 18x18x36 and i will get him a 24x24x48 within the month

Now the bad parts.. he has either gout or some sort of a deposit on his foot.. i know this is usually very serious

his head is a little.. well MBD looking? Unless this is normal for veileds id love your opinion on this

On top of his head its some fleshy.. almost fungal looking growth?

and here he is overall

Sigh what an impulse rescue, really shouldn't have gotten myself involved but it is what it is and would love any input you guys have.

 

[camimom]

I think, its time for a vet visit. His casque looks a bit weird, but his legs are straight, that wrist doesnt look good, could be gout?
and hes kinda skinny.

 

[unravel]

He is very dehydrated, the poop that was on the bottom, well the urate part, was very orange and for multiple poops. =( Increasing his misting schedule

 

[camimom]

He is very dehydrated, the poop that was on the bottom, well the urate part, was very orange and for multiple poops. =( Increasing his misting schedule

Warm shower would help too.

 

[unravel]

just putting the cage in the warm shower right, no direct contact with water?

 

[camimom]

just putting the cage in the warm shower right, no direct contact with water?

Get a plant, put it and him in the showerl aim the shower head towards the wall, and let the mist that bounces off the wall to land on him. do this for about 15 to 20 min,

 

[unravel]

perfect, he does puff up and display and all but ill do my best to transport him

 

[gerhartrx]

He definatley looks dehydrated - Try some pedia lite with a dropper. Warm shower but see how he will respond to this as well. Looks like he has some skin to shed yet so the shower will help to get this off. He is skinny so you will want to feed as much as he will eat and dust with the appropriate supplements. Try taking him outside too. That works wonders.

Vet is a must to see about the bump on his foot, get his poo tested and also point out the skin imperfections.

How is his grip? does he seem wobbily (sp?)? I am no pro but it does not look like MBD could just be mal nutrition?

Good luck and hopefully he wont cost you too much more. Good for you to rescue him otherwise he would have not had a good life. This other person did not get the responsibilities involved with owning a cham.

 

[gerhartrx]

perfect, he does puff up and display and all but ill do my best to transport him

Veileds do that. He will be one that you watch from a far and not too much contact. Not very friendly.

Looks like he is missing some toe nails too? He might have been pulled off of branches which might be another reason he does not like human contact.

 

[gerhartrx]

Oh yeah and by the way WELCOME!!! You will love this forum. Many pros out there to give some suggestions and help when you need it.

 

[unravel]

thank you guys! all great advice, i will do all, im gonna monitor him for a couple of days before the vet.. selfish reason.. i am BROKE just had a vet test the crap out of my green tree monitor for it all to come back negative and him recover spontaneously (from what appeared to be a tongue injury), needless to say i am BROKE. No excuse, i will still try to get him to the vet.

Anyhow, yea, funny thing is the guy was telling me as i was leaving how hes gonna go buy a panther.. SIGH... i gave him a mouthful through voicemails and text messages as he is ignoring me at this point. im gonna go find a branch for him to chill on so i can take him outside and after the shower haha. As far as his movement, it is adequate, but i will observe closer.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Good feeders to help with hydration are silkworms or hornworms. Both are full of moisture and help skinny chams put on the weight.

 

[JohnnyD]

I recently picked up a couple of veileds that needed some work too. Simply getting them on a the proper diet, hydration, and feeding schedule does wonders for them, sometimes much faster than you might expect. There's nothing like real sunshine to perk them up also.

 

[Carlton]

A couple of ideas to ponder:

The odd looking area on top of his casque could be a partly healed thermal burn or an old injury (bad caging may have caused him to rub his head raw trying to climb out).

Don't know about the swollen ankle, but I wonder if his other ankles would be swollen too if it was gout (a systemic problem). It looks like the missing claws are on that same foot so wonder if the swelling might actually be the result of an ongoing infection? Gout is painful. If he's not favoring that foot it might not be gout or infection.

The overall shape of his casque is odd, but they do vary a lot in shape. Possibly he was not getting great nutrition as a hatchling or juvenile during his most rapid growth, and the casque is the result. He doesn't give an overall appearance of MBD however.

 

[kinyonga]

I have to agree with Carlton that it might be an infection in the ankle rather than gout. If so, it needs to be cleaned out, a culture and sensitivity test done and an appropriate antibiotic started.

As for the tip of the casque...maybe its a burn that's healing?

 

[Hupla]

poor thing ): hes not in the best shape but what a beautifull little guy!!