Weakness

[Marelize Evans]

Hi guys please help, we are concerned about our 2 year old veiled cham. He appears weak and is continously resting on his chin not sitting up straight when basking. This morning his walking was very slow across the carpet he seems lethargic (his body temp was a bit cold). He has also not been eating very well over the last couple of weeks.

The attached pics were taken today and I was hoping for some advice on maybe MBD or slight dehydration?

 

[BocaJan]

I don't see any signs of MBD or dehydration. Please answer all these questions to help our senior members answer your question. If you continue to be concerned, take your beautiful veiled to a vet who knows reptiles for a check up. Be sure to take a fresh poop.

How to ask for help

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Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage construction (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and type of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

 

[spencer k]

he doesnt appear to show any mbd signs. from what you are describing, i have seen chameleons act this way due to over supplementation. let us know what supplements you are using and how often.

 

[opihiman]

what is his suplementation schedule like? does he have exposure to UVB?

His arms and legs look really swollen those pics.

What does he faeces look like?

OPI

 

[Marelize Evans]

Our chameleon's details

First of all I would like to say thanks to all your replies. I have to mention that our chameleon's ankles and wrists have been that large ever since he became an adult. Only recently have we read that the bone decease appears as swollen joints. Looking back at photographs, it does not seem that he changed at all over a year.
He has had good and bad days for the past two months now. Just yesterday, he seemed fine and had a good meal. Today, again, he did not touch lunch and seems a bit weary again.
We have decided to take him to the vet anyway on Saturday for a good check-up. You have asked for some information and here it is (you may want to sit down for this ).

Cage Type – There is no cage. We have a small fruit tree in the living room by the window where his been living all his life. The tree has been upgraded once.
Lighting – There is no UV lighting. He has a 100W basking light on a timer and artificial branches on the window sill. He basks in the sun whenever it is not too overcast.
Temperature – It’s been a while since we measured this, so I can’t remember the basking temperature. The minimum temperature may be at night when the basking light is off, but we attempt to control the flat’s temperature at about 18 degrees Celsius.
Humidity – I am positively sure that we fall short on this issue. He’s got a water feature built into the tree – though I’m pretty sure that he does not drink from this – which may provide some humidity. We mist him heavily with a spray bottle about 4 times per week.
Plants – The tree.
Location – There is minimal airflow in the living room. We have a flat on level 4 and his basking spot is about two meters from the floor.

Your Chameleon – We had this Veiled male since he was a baby for just over two years now.
Handling – We handle him about every second day. Very tame – only agitated when he wakes up in the mornings
Feeding – We try to balance his diet with lettuce, crickets, meal worms and wax worms, which he enjoys from a bowl. Lately, he does not want to touch the crickets. He used to eat daily (which is not the case anymore). We do not gut-load the feed.
Supplements - We sprinkle Sera diet supplements on the feed about once or twice a week.
Watering – We mist the chameleon very often nowadays as he always seems very thirsty. We eventually came to the conclusion that the water feature does not work.
Fecal Description – It changes every other day from white to dark brown.
History – No problems in the past.
Current Problem – He seems very fatigued (he’ll sometimes lie flat on his chin and does not move about as much as always), and has a loss of appetite (has moments of appetite recovery, but is does not seem to last).

Thanks for reading all this and your kind replies.

 

[jannb]

You need a UVB light over his tree. UVB can not come through the glass window. He should be misted 2 to 3 times a day. His feeders should be gutloaded. I am so glad that you are taking him to the vet. Does this vet practice on chameleons? Please keeps us posted on how the vet visit goes.