Sick Veiled Chameleon

Andickey

New Member
Hi,
We have had our chameleon, Waffles, for about 3 months now. Easter Sunday we were cleaning her cage and for the first time took her out to do it. It was being out of the cage that we noticed she was having trouble moving like she did. Before that Sunday she always seemed a very active chameleon eating about 8 crickets a day, usually about 4 in the morning and 4 in the evening. We thought her leg may have been broken, so i brought her to a vet the next day and we learned she had MBD. Since then it's been a heavy push to save her and get her healthy again. We just aren't sure if we are doing what we should be, so any advice would be appreciated. The vet put her on liquid calcium, so we are giving her that daily and I heard it can be sticky so we make sure she can still open her mouth by either giving her some water or trying to get her to eat. She hasn't used her tongue since Easter, but she will eat strawberries. We heard that's like junk food for them though, so we are trying strawberry kabobs now, where I skewer a tiny piece of strawberry and a small cricket. She did eat that two days in a row. A few days back she had a very healthy poop, which honestly really shocked us and she just went through her second shedding with us this week. We know that it's going to take a long time to get her healthy again, but if anyone has any suggestions please let us know. I've included some pictures of what she looked like healthy (though from what the vet said she could have had this for awhile) and what she looks like now. the two from March are before Easter and the two from April are the most recent ones where we knew she was sick. One of the things we did learn from the vet was that her brand new UVB light wasn't giving off UVB per his UV monitor. Do any of you have a monitor for the lights or can suggest one so we can keep on top of the lights working correctly. The one I've bought doesn't seem to be picking up any UVB but i'm also not sure if that's working correctly. That has me worried since we thought we would replace them every 6 months. Now she has two lights the vet tested and one I bought in the store, plus a heat light. I work from home most days so I can move one UVB light around to follow her as she moves. Her cage is about 85 degrees during the day and we turn it all off around 9 and the temp usually drops to around 70 We did take out all the vines and sticks she had going through the cage to limit her climbing and put a stick and fake vine like thing on the bottom for now so she can elevate a little but not really fall. Thank you so much for all your help! We have been going through this site for days on end.
 

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Poor baby...looks like she must be really struggling right now. Keep her on the calcium, since it can be sticky try diluting it with water and providing more of it daily. Strawberries really aren't good for her, so try and supply her with safe, real plants instead (Mine love jade plants, which also provide great hydration). Try and hand feed crickets, and make sure you keep in touch with the vet. I'll be back at around 1:20 to provide you with some more info, there's a lot to know about this condition and veiled chameleons. But please tell me, is she your first cham?
 
Poor baby...looks like she must be really struggling right now. Keep her on the calcium, since it can be sticky try diluting it with water and providing more of it daily. Strawberries really aren't good for her, so try and supply her with safe, real plants instead (Mine love jade plants, which also provide great hydration). Try and hand feed crickets, and make sure you keep in touch with the vet. I'll be back at around 1:20 to provide you with some more info, there's a lot to know about this condition and veiled chameleons. But please tell me, is she your first cham?

Hi, yes, she is our first. We just got back from running out and she is currently trying to climb. She also just popped again and peed, and still surprised that it looks healthy from what we have seen healthy stuff should look like. I'll try hand feeding the crickets. We were also thinking worms may be easier to hand feed if you have suggestions for what type of worm. We heard Phoenix worms may be good. Real plants would be great, I'll look for jade. And thank you!!! We thought we had everything planned according to what we read with lighting, gut loading, feeding etc so this took us by surprise and we are trying whatever we can to get her back to a comfortable living again.
 
did she look healthy when you picked her up from the store?

Yes, very, and up until recently. We got her March 2nd, we noticed the problems with her legs April 16th and she was at the vet April 17th. So, doing the math we have actually had her about 2 months. I'm with her daily and constantly checking on her, so it must have felt longer. She did seem healthy- always had a good appetite and put on weight nicely, changed colors/patterns in a way we could recognize- like we picked up she turned that purple leopard pattern when she was annoyed (us moving her stuff around to clean around her etc). It really seemed to happen overnight, but the vet said that's also what it would seem like. She could have been sick for awhile and will take some time to get better. Unless he was trying to make me feel better. This was a new vet to me, our dogs and cats go somewhere else but our normal vet isn't versed in lizards.
 
yea maybe petco haf something to do with it. (MAYBE)

It's possible, and i'm sure the UVB light not working like we thought it was didn't help. And we probably made some mistakes. I don't know if it could be pointed to one thing. The chameleon is upsetting if she was sick when we got her, but the light is infuriating to me because it's something we rely on working correctly. Once we have her more comfortable and stable I may inform them of what we are hearing from the vet, but since I can't say one thing is the cause of this I want to just get her better.
 
It's possible, and i'm sure the UVB light not working like we thought it was didn't help. And we probably made some mistakes. I don't know if it could be pointed to one thing. The chameleon is upsetting if she was sick when we got her, but the light is infuriating to me because it's something we rely on working correctly. Once we have her more comfortable and stable I may inform them of what we are hearing from the vet, but since I can't say one thing is the cause of this I want to just get her better.
yea that doesnt sound too good
 
@Andickey Sorry to hear your girl isn't doing so well. I have a Solarmeter to measure. Since your vet has one, I suggest you might just take your bulbs there on a regular basis. They aren't cheap--I can't remember how much I paid for mine--over $200 anyway.

Make sure your basking temps are correct. The skin needs to warm up to convert UVB on the skin to D3.

Since you are home I recommend you take her outside for real sunlight. Be careful of the temps, of course. It is easy for them to overheat. Natural sunlight is far, far superior to any lightbulb.

Nutritional causes (not enough calcium and access to UVB) are not the only reason MBD develops. Kidney failure is also a cause of MBD. Kidney failure can be caused by chronic low levels of dehydration.

I don't suggest you feed her any fruit or veggies as they really can't digest them. Feed the feeder insects the plants and let the bugs start to digest it. Then your chameleon can utilize it. She needs a good diet, but you will want to keep her on the very lean side. Fat chameleons produce a lot of eggs. Eggs deplete their body of calcium. A chamleon who is depleted of calcium can't lay as their muscles need calcium to function. A female veiled with MBD is a really big challenge and I don't envy you right now.

One of the problems with commercially raised veileds is that they are very cheap. They wholesale for about $8 apiece. That's not enough to be able to properly feed the mother and the babies. Mothers are nutrient deficient and unable to put in enough vitamins and calcium into the egg yolk for the baby so babies hatch with MBD. Many commercial breeders dispatch their females after the first clutch because they are so depleted. It's an ugly business and a good reason never to buy a veiled unless produced by a serious breeder. Few breeders who would do a good job with them will bother since they can't recover their costs.

Good luck with your female.
 
She hasn't used her tongue to eat anything in a week and a half. She use to all the time, but hasn't been eating well with everything going on with her.

That could be a calcium deficiency. I've had females not be able to use their tongue after laying eggs but be back to normal in a few hours after I got some calcium into them. (Laying uses a LOT of calcium and really depletes their blood calcium levels.)
 
That could be a calcium deficiency. I've had females not be able to use their tongue after laying eggs but be back to normal in a few hours after I got some calcium into them. (Laying uses a LOT of calcium and really depletes their blood calcium levels.)


Okay, that's what I kinda thought was going on. So maybe we are on the right track. Eggs are definitely a concern of mine too. I don't want her to have another thing to go through while we get her healthy. That's good to know if that happens it will deplete calcium too. Thank you.
 
Okay, that's what I kinda thought was going on. So maybe we are on the right track. Eggs are definitely a concern of mine too. I don't want her to have another thing to go through while we get her healthy. That's good to know if that happens it will deplete calcium too. Thank you.

Eggs are a double whammy for a MBD female: forming them depletes calcium reserves (bone) and the physical act of laying them depletes the blood serum calcium level. If the calcium level in the blood is too low while laying the muscles cannot work so you now have an egg bound female.

The healthier, well nourished they are, the more eggs they form.... That was why I mentioned to you to keep her well nourished but on a very low caloric diet in the hope you can delay eggs or at least reduce the number.
 
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