Sick panther chameleon please help

psingletongolf

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon: Panther chameleon. 8 months old female
Handling:Rarely. Much more recently due to problems
Feeding:Crickets & superworms. Apx 20 crickets and 5 worms a week. She doesn't eat a lot normally
Supplements:Calcium dust w d3 biweekly.
Watering:Mist with misting system every 2 hours for 90 seconds Apx
Fecal Description: The brown with the white; Not often
History: nothing applicable

Cage Info:
Cage Type: 36x18x18 screen cage
Lighting: 100 w heat lamp. Reptisun fluorescent bulb
Poop Schedule:He also does not poop as often as he used to, and I think
Temperature:What temp range have you created:95 -97 basking spot 72
Humidity:unknown How are you creating and maintaining these levels: misting system What do you use to measure humidity:n/a
Plants: Are you using live plants: Yes
Placement: Where is your cage located: basement of house, used to be in living room with all the other reptiles. Due to high traffic she was moved into my bedroom today. Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas: was not now. At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor: 5.5feet off of the ground in a 8 foot room
Location:Where are you geographically located: Barrie,on

Current Problem
Meleo is having trouble balancing. She took a fall about a week ago and since then was been very off balance. Doesn't move much. She is now at the lowest part of her tank and when she tries to climb seems to almost fall and I have to help her back to the vine or plants. She has always liked the lower half of the tank as it has much more plant cover however I added a hibiscus this weekend that is much taller.
Eating Schedule:She used to eat a worm or two in a shot as well as 10 medium crickets daily to every other day. In the last week I have not seen her eat even though food has been offered daily to her. She may have ate crickets but has not taken any worms. I dust every other or every third week due to only having calcium with d3. I understand I need to get calcium without d3. Just haven't had a chance.
Drinking Schedule: I am not home during the hours her tank is home. However she does not seem to drink often. when I am home and able to watch her.
Shedding: last shed was approx 6 weeks ago

Please help.
 
Please post a recent photo of her.

She should be supplemented with a phos. free calcium powder dusted on the insects at most feedings, a phos. free calcium/D3 powder dusted on them twice a month and a vitamin powder with a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month. Its possible she is developing MBD.

Does she have a place in her cage to dig in case she needs to lay eggs?
 
Hi psingletongolf.

I had/still have the EXACT same issue with my little guy. How did she fall, how high? how did you find her? Do you see any bruising ? Has she been to a vet yet, i would recommend getting a x-ray done. As per my vet, its possible that your cham might have a concussion.

Regarding water, my cham recognizes his water bottle and drinks from it, i only realized this after i had to forcefully give him water via a syringe. If she doesnt eat or drink, use a syringe. Dont forget to mix a tiny bit of Calcium powder with the food/cricket blend/squashed cricket/blendered crickets.

Ensure that if she goes to the vet, that they don't give her cortisone as it suppresses their immune system. As for meds, they gave me Baytril which i had to dilute with water.

For the enclosure, try and keep her at the bottom, dont allow her to climb higher incase she looses balance and falls again. Put some soft packaging foam at the bottom of the enclosure will help cushion falls.
 
Based on what I've read I think it mbd. If anyone could help me on how to start fixing that it would be great. The fall was from about 2 feet found her just laying on the ground. Again this am I woke up to her on the ground. And no eggs are out of the question she's far to snall
 
Based on what I've read I think it mbd. If anyone could help me on how to start fixing that it would be great. The fall was from about 2 feet found her just laying on the ground. Again this am I woke up to her on the ground. And no eggs are out of the question she's far to snall
Start supplementing her food with either phos. free calcium every feeding and multivitamin 2x a month or Repashy Calcium Plus every feeding. What you are describing does sound like MBD, and it is usally brought on by a lack of calcium/vit. D3. However, I would also reccomend a vet visit just to be safe.
 
Please post some pics of her. Dusting once every two weeks with calcium is not enough, and is probably where your problem is stemming from. If she has MBD we can tell you from the pics. If she is in the early stages and it has not effected her physical appearance yet, she is probably in the early stages and you will have a much better shot of correcting it. Once their limbs become curvy, you cannot really make them straight again, but you can improve their quality of life with their mobility with calcium and proper uvb exposure. Taking her out in the sun would be helpful as well. You did not mention how long you have had her? If your UVB Reptisun is over 6 months you will need to change that out. Just because it is shining does not mean it is putting out uvb anymore.
 
How do I add pictures. Based on the pics I have seen of mbd it looks to be that aswell. She is currently not eating. Is there a way to force feed her? If so steps would be helpful. The uvb buoy is 6 months old exactly. However based on the bulbs instructions it is good for a year. Natural sunlight would be great but I will need a warm day in Canada to bring her out and with nothing over 20 in the forecast for the next 2 weeks it will be hard.

I have read that putting them in a smaller enclosure also helps, could I put her in a small 10 gallon with a towel on the bottom and a few sticks ect to climb on so she can't take a large fall? Any and all suggestion are welcome

Ps no vets are avalible in my area for reptiles.
 
When a chameleon has MBD (and we don't know yours does yet) the way to correct it is to give it some liquid calcium Sandoz or calcium gluconate until the bones are strong again and at the same time make sure that your supplements are done properly, the temperatures are correct, there is a good UVB light being used and that you gutload/feed the insects well.

BTW 8 months is not too young to lay eggs.
 
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