TOO MUCH CALCIUM!?!? NEED URGENT HELP

Djisdunn

Djisdunn

Member
  • Chameleon- 1 year and 4 month old male super blue and yellow bloodline veiled chameleon. Has been with me since he was 1 month old.
  • Handling- Handle him every other day
  • Feeding- Feed him crickets every day, but when I'm low on money every other day. Feed him super worms and waxworms a lot when he was a baby, but now rarely since I had found out its not healthy if you feed waxworks and super worms a lot(pick up waxworms and super worms once every month)
  • Supplements- Use Sticky Tongue Farms calcium with Vitamin d-3. Used this every feeding when he was a baby(up to 6 months), but now every other feeding.
  • Watering- Mist the cage every day when i come back from school. When he was in his old cage(16x16x36) i noticed he would drink a lot, but when i had to move him to his new cage i noticed he wasn't drinking a lot. So i bought a misting system that would spray every 3 hours for 30 seconds. I still didn't see him drink at all in his new cage so I bought the "Chameleon Catina" and finally I noticed he would go up to it and drink.
  • Fecal Description- When he moved into his new cage I noticed his "pee" was becoming yellow and orange but it has been white usually.
Cage Info:
  • Cage type- 2x2x4 feet Zoo Med Reptibreeze cage
  • Lighting- Zoo Med 100 W light bulb. Zoo Med Mini Compact Fluorscent 10 UV bulb 13 watt. Turn on both of the lights at 7:30 am and turn off around 8-9 pm.
  • Temperature- Cage is usually 75-80 degrees. Basking spot is around 90 degrees. Lowest overnight temp is around 60 degrees. Measure the temp using a temp gun.
  • Humidity- Humidity is around 70 percent. Keep the humidity with a dripping system.
  • Plants- No live plants fake plants only.
  • Placement- Cage is by a window, but i have a black curtain that covers the window so the light coming through won't fry my chameleon. Sometimes I open the window and let natural light come in.
  • Location- Located in Los Angeles, California.
History
There are multiply problems that are wrong with my chameleon so I will get to it. I noticed that the crest of chameleons head is really HUGE and didn't have no clue what it was. About 2 months ago I noticed this yellow "pimple" coming from the eye and didn't have know clue what it was. So far it hasn't been a problem, but i can't say the same for the other eye. My chameleons health has been going downhill since last Sunday. I was waking up and I saw him on a ledge of the tree thing that is in my cage and he just fell off. I immediately rush to the cage and noticed he was going in and out of consciousness. His eyes looked like they rolled back into his head and then I would tap on the cage and he would back into consciousness. I went to the my local reptile store and brought my chameleon in and the guy has never seen anything like this before. I knew this was a problem since he has chameleon in the store. I leave him there for a couple of days and when I came back he told me that I was giving him "too much calcium". He told me to not give him calcium with his food for the next 2-3 months. I thought everything would be fine, however that is not the case. When I got home I saw his left eye was cloudy and he couldn't see anything from it. Now for the past couple of days he has been staying at the bottom of the cage and won't eat. He only drinks when I drip water into his mouth and when I put water in his mouth he moves a little at the bottom of the cage. i tried waving a super worm in front of his face and I putting it at his bottom lip but he won't budge. This is my last resort for my little guy. Any info would help and thank you for your time.
 
I put the basking light at the bottom because it has been really cold in my house and that is the only way he would receive heat because he doesn't go to the top of the cage
 

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Well I know why his crest is so huge, it's his fat stores and he's technically what would be considered a chunky chameleon. He's supposed to be getting the calcium dust every third feeding, he is full grown. Now I don't know if he needs a vitamin supplement with his calcium dust. But you really should take him to a vet. There's so much that could be wrong with him and without a vet history and possible tests run we wouldn't even know what advice to give.
 
Andee said:
Well I know why his crest is so huge, it's his fat stores and he's technically what would be considered a chunky chameleon. He's supposed to be getting the calcium dust every third feeding, he is full grown. Now I don't know if he needs a vitamin supplement with his calcium dust. But you really should take him to a vet. There's so much that could be wrong with him and without a vet history and possible tests run we wouldn't even know what advice to give.
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Thanks it's just so stressful right now with him. I will definitely take him to the vet this weekend
 
I agree that his head looks swollen, underneath his chin and his cheeks/around his eye turrets, I didn't think that would affect his crest though. Anyway, could it be the yellow growth on his eye Lathis? Or possibly inside the eye that clouded over?
 
How many crickets are you feeding him everyday? Also, d3 is suppose to be given twice a month. Is the sticky tongue farm d3 the only supplement you are dusting your feeders with?

--I noticed the red lamp at the bottom of the cage. Are you keeping that on at night as well?
 
Andee said:
I agree that his head looks swollen, underneath his chin and his cheeks/around his eye turrets, I didn't think that would affect his crest though. Anyway, could it be the yellow growth on his eye Lathis? Or possibly inside the eye that clouded over?
Click to expand...

Yeah, very puffy around the cheeks and eyes. I do think the crest looked swollen to, but it could be the photo. I think it might all be related. His whole head just looks overly puffy. Poor little guy needs a vet visit.
 
No the crest looks swollen to me too, and I think the Sticky Tongue Farms with D3 is different than most calciums. If I remember correctly it has a lower d3 amount so you can give it more often, but don't quote me on that. Someone else needs to chime in with more information on the sticky tongue farm calcium. But yes get a vet visit as soon as possible, because he's beyond what normal keepers can do for him now. Find a reptile vet with some chameleon knowledge and hopefully everything can be solved.
 
ChamDE86 said:
How many crickets are you feeding him everyday? Also, d3 is suppose to be given twice a month. Is the sticky tongue farm d3 the only supplement you are dusting your feeders with?

--I noticed the red lamp at the bottom of the cage. Are you keeping that on at night as well?
Click to expand...
I just throw the crickets in the cage and he usually just goes after them I would say about 10. I just kept it on the last two night because it was in the low 50's in my room.
 
Andee said:
I agree that his head looks swollen, underneath his chin and his cheeks/around his eye turrets, I didn't think that would affect his crest though. Anyway, could it be the yellow growth on his eye Lathis? Or possibly inside the eye that clouded over?
Click to expand...
Lathis? It does look like inside the eye is cloudy not the outside
 
That veileds head is swollen from the eyes throat
Creast, he looks like he's in serious distress. Smh. Poor little dude he may if needed a vet 2 months ago, he needs an emergency visit.. Keep us updated please
 
You are only supposed to feed with D3 only once or 2 times a month not every feeding thats the one without D3 that you feed almost every feeding.
 
Andee said:
No the crest looks swollen to me too, and I think the Sticky Tongue Farms with D3 is different than most calciums. If I remember correctly it has a lower d3 amount so you can give it more often, but don't quote me on that. Someone else needs to chime in with more information on the sticky tongue farm calcium. But yes get a vet visit as soon as possible, because he's beyond what normal keepers can do for him now. Find a reptile vet with some chameleon knowledge and hopefully everything can be solved.
Click to expand...

Repashy's Calcium Plus is the only d3 supplement I am aware of that is safe for daily dusting. I'm not too familiar with Sticky Tongue Farms, but on the website it says to use at every third feeding.
 
Alexander1 said:
That veileds head is swollen from the eyes throat
Creast, he looks like he's in serious distress. Smh. Poor little dude he may if needed a vet 2 months ago, he needs an emergency visit.. Keep us updated please
Click to expand...
I will keep you guys updated I'm going to take him to the vet tomorrow morning. I will tell you guys the details
 
Phosphorus-free calcium powder should be used at most feedings to make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects with the phosphorous-free/D3 powder being used only twice a month leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues while D3 from exposure to UVB won't likely build up as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB when it wants to.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A prEformed vitamin A can build up in the system and lead to health issues so doing it this way leaves it up to you to decide if/when the chameleon needs prEformed vitamin A.

I'm not a vet so I'm not sure why the casque and other areas are swollen but a vet should be able to tell you. I don't know if too much D3 would cause that type of swelling or not.

Do you normally have a red light on its cage?
 
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