biochemnerd808
New Member
Hi all,
I just joined this forum, but have read quite a few posts on here in the past weeks.
We are currently fostering Leonard, a fully-grown male veiled chameleon (age unknown) that has some pretty major health problems. Slowly but surely we are addressing each one, and he is already doing SO much better but:
-Leonard doesn't hunt or shoot out his tongue. We hand-feed him crickets, wax worms, meal worms and silk worms each day. We gut-load the feeders, and dust w/ calcium
-when Leonard first came to us, he just weakly sat at the bottom of his cage. We were told that he didn't feed himself, and right away started feeding him by hand. His behavior (lack of energy, lethargy, and not shooting his tongue) are consistent with mineral/calcium deficiency, so we have been giving him extra calcium suspended in papaya juice via an eyedropper. After nearly 6 weeks in our care, Leonard climbs around his cage and basks on the top branch. He shows no interest in hunting food.
-Leonard has an abscess on his nose ridge that also inhibits partial eye movement on one side. This abscess is being removed by the vet on Wednesday. I have been giving Leonard antibiotic injections every 72 hrs for the past week, as instructed by the vet.
-Leonard had no heat lamps or UV when we got him. We bought a heat/UVB basking lamp, as well as a separate UVB bulb.
-we mist 2x daily with warm water
-feces and urates look normal
-cage is wire mesh, with branches and braided vines
Interestingly, Leonard's bones seem to be straight and strong, so at some point he must have been well-fed and healthy. His last owner before he came to the reptile rescue (for whom we are fostering) was a 2nd grade girl who had NO idea what she was doing. I suspect Leonard had another owner before this, he was with the girl for a year.
Anyway, please wish Leonard luck, he'll be anesthetized to have the abscess removed... I hope that once he is healed, with continued calcium and proper lighting that he might once again hunt... (although it is kinda fun to pop those bugs into his mouth! he is so tame!)
I couldn't figure out how to attach images, so here is a link to a blog post that has some pics of Leonard. If you scroll to the bottom you can see a good pic of the abscess on his nose ridge...
http://www.bradleybabyboy.blogspot.com/2012/09/new-foster-pet.html
Cheers,
Katie
Proud owner of 2 healthy Russian torts, foster Momma to 1 male veiled cham
I just joined this forum, but have read quite a few posts on here in the past weeks.
We are currently fostering Leonard, a fully-grown male veiled chameleon (age unknown) that has some pretty major health problems. Slowly but surely we are addressing each one, and he is already doing SO much better but:
-Leonard doesn't hunt or shoot out his tongue. We hand-feed him crickets, wax worms, meal worms and silk worms each day. We gut-load the feeders, and dust w/ calcium
-when Leonard first came to us, he just weakly sat at the bottom of his cage. We were told that he didn't feed himself, and right away started feeding him by hand. His behavior (lack of energy, lethargy, and not shooting his tongue) are consistent with mineral/calcium deficiency, so we have been giving him extra calcium suspended in papaya juice via an eyedropper. After nearly 6 weeks in our care, Leonard climbs around his cage and basks on the top branch. He shows no interest in hunting food.
-Leonard has an abscess on his nose ridge that also inhibits partial eye movement on one side. This abscess is being removed by the vet on Wednesday. I have been giving Leonard antibiotic injections every 72 hrs for the past week, as instructed by the vet.
-Leonard had no heat lamps or UV when we got him. We bought a heat/UVB basking lamp, as well as a separate UVB bulb.
-we mist 2x daily with warm water
-feces and urates look normal
-cage is wire mesh, with branches and braided vines
Interestingly, Leonard's bones seem to be straight and strong, so at some point he must have been well-fed and healthy. His last owner before he came to the reptile rescue (for whom we are fostering) was a 2nd grade girl who had NO idea what she was doing. I suspect Leonard had another owner before this, he was with the girl for a year.
Anyway, please wish Leonard luck, he'll be anesthetized to have the abscess removed... I hope that once he is healed, with continued calcium and proper lighting that he might once again hunt... (although it is kinda fun to pop those bugs into his mouth! he is so tame!)
I couldn't figure out how to attach images, so here is a link to a blog post that has some pics of Leonard. If you scroll to the bottom you can see a good pic of the abscess on his nose ridge...
http://www.bradleybabyboy.blogspot.com/2012/09/new-foster-pet.html
Cheers,
Katie
Proud owner of 2 healthy Russian torts, foster Momma to 1 male veiled cham
