What type of chameleon is this pls?
- Thread starter sassyNjoe
- Start date
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Ch. Calyptratus aka veiled chameleon with a pretty bad case of MBD.
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Look how that chams limbs look bowed. I'd get more pics of that cham before purchasing. From the pics Im looking at her limbs do not look normal. MBd stands for Metabolic Bone Desease. Its often from improper lighting or lack or calcium in the diet or lack of D3 supplementation. Many factors contribute to MBD. Who are you buying this cham from?
Texas Panther Man
New Member
If this is your first chameleon. Run do not walk away from this purchse. You will prob not be able to rescue this animal. Its hard enuff for a newbie to get started with all the necessary husbandry requirements for keeping a chameleon healthy and stress free. Startiing with an animal that will require multiple vet visits and a specially set up cage with a specific supplementation regimen is really not the way for you to start your chameleon keeping hobby. Jmpo. I feel for this animal but its not in the animals or this persons best interest to take on this situation.
Olimpia
Biologist & Ecologist
She is not healthy, and I wouldn't recommend buying her unless you know what to do to get her better. You could easily be looking at a couple hundred bucks in vet costs. Usually an exotic vet visit costs about $35-50, and between one thing and another you will not be paying less than $100 probably. Her bone disease doesn't look as severe in the second photo but does she also look like she has edema? Plus if she's been kept on sand like that... eh, I just have a gut feeling that there might be stuff going on in her digestive tract due to the sand too.
Poor girl, but I wouldn't buy her unless you are ready and willing for the responsibility.
Poor girl, but I wouldn't buy her unless you are ready and willing for the responsibility.
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Her limbs do look better in the second pic but they dont seem straight and muscular in my estimation. Also the sand substrate is a definite no-no so that tells me that this persons husbandry is lacking at best. Do you know if she has access to UVB from a proper fluorescent tube bulb? 5.0 reptisun is generally used by most cham keepers. Is this cham getting supplements currently? If so what and how often? Does the current owner know what gutloading is? If so what do they gutload with? these are all questions I would ask before even looking at pics of the animal. 
You can let her know, but not everyone wants to hear it. If you're looking for your first healthy cham I would suggest our sponsors. They sell them with everything you need in packages to maintain their health.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/index.php?page=sponsors
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Yeah check with FL Chams or Tiki Tiki Reptiles. Either one sells healthy 3 month or older veiled babies. They also sell all the supplies needed to get you started. I think if you search the gen dicussion forum there is a thread for newbies who need a supply checklist. I hated to be the one to tell you about the MBD but I wish I had had someone tell me things like that back when I got my first panther from an unscrupulous seller back in the '90's. Good luck with your search and I hope I saved you from heartbreak.
Thanks again to you all for your help. I have explained that a friend advised she may have MBD and needed to see a vet. I don't think she really knows much about them either and hope she will get her some help. I think I will stick to bearded dragons and snakes, they seem a lot easier to care for x
x
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Sassy, dont let me scare you off. If you start with a healthy cham your chances of having an enjoyable keeping experience are vastly improved. Unfortunately, its the new comers who all too often get stuck with these rescues because you dont know what tell tale signs to look for and you dont know where to go to find healthy chams from respectable breeders. So stay around read and learn. I think you'll like the cham community. And btw I will have a cpl of clutches of captive bred nosy falys for sale in a few months so learn your husbandry and start with a blue faly. lol j/k
PrettyInInk87
New Member
I agree with Texas, I sadly was one of the unlucky people who took in a VERY sick Cham as my first and 3 days later, he passed. I had no idea how to care for a Chameleon or had even seen one in person so had no idea he was sick at all. Now I have a healthy 6 month old Sambava Panther Cham and a 5 month old female Sambava that I very much enjoy caring for. Once you get the supplies and husbandry down, it really isn't all that hard to care for a Cham. A little more nerve wracking than most reptiles but well worth it.
