Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

DJ PYGO · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:15 am Post subject: Worried for my chameleon

This is my chameleon, in the last month she's slowed her eating down a lot, she's gone very skinny and stays a lime green colour at all times(she used to change colour all the time!), she also may have a problem with her mouth, she keeps her jaw open slightly at all times(she's not dehydrated or too warm) and she doesn't have a breathing problem although when i take her out she takes a deep breath once.
She's fed brown crickets, waxworms and cabbage and watercress daily sprinkled with her supplement. She used to go mad for waxworms and take them from my hand but now she's no interest. She can be a little bit wobbly from time to time, she just seems a bit weak.

ALL POSSIBLE HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED! Here's a pic also to compare to her boyfriend....

kroakykaren · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:54 am Post subject:

Hi thanks for posting the pictures as that helps alot. Firstly i am no expert but i will do my best to help,looking at the pics she looks like she has MBD to me sorry, if you have her in with the male i would take her out and give her some space on her own so he doesnt stress her out. Then I would pop her to see your vet as soon as possible and see what he says, all i can really tell you is what i would do hun, i am certain Rick will be along and give you his opinion and advice, if she was mine i would take her to the vet asap, hope that helps just a little Smile

Love Karen
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Rickeezee · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:44 am Post subject:

Hello, sorry to state the obvious but she does look very thin indeed. Her upper back has gone light and she in my view is showing signs of dehydration, although her eyes are not sunken.

As Karen said, best to house her on her own to minimise stress issues, a nice strong 10% uv tube zoo-med preferably, a basking spot set to 95f . Down to 75f at cool end. Most importantly a trip to the vets ASAP.

How old is she, have you had her since she was a baby? Has she allways lived with the male or is this a recent thing? Sorry to ask so many questions but it may all be relevant. Also do you know her calcium supplement routine since she was first born?

Hard to diagnose over the net, has she a week grip and are her legs soft and rather bendy?

I hope she does well and wish you all the best. Let us know how you get on. Good luck!

Oh forgot to ask are you using any form of substrate?
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

DJ PYGO · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:05 am Post subject:

Ive had her since she was guessed to be 4 months old, I moved a male in with her 2 months after getting her but he was seriously ill, kept grabbing his head with his hands and grabbing his hind legs with his rear legs and couldn't stay on the branches. I was told nothing could be done for him.. I nursed him til he died. That's about the time She slowed down eating, I got another male for christmas...

He is slightly bigger and I don't think she's happy sharing the tank...
Her calcium in take is a fair sprinkle on the veg each day like what the shop owner said. She definatly does have a fair bit of a grip though for her size..but I would say it could be stronger. There used to be a light bark substrate in the tank up til before xmas til I seen her catch a lump of bark instead of cricket. there is now a vivarium carpet in the tank. Would there still be some of that substrate still in her??! Any idea why her left eye is closed all the time? I can't see any signs of infection and I've tried douse it with semi warm water..but no improvement.... Sad

Rickeezee · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:15 am Post subject:

DJ PYGO · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:26 am Post subject:

She's not poohing often but it's light brown and doesn't look too solid. Going to get hold of my nearest vet asap...
Quite worried about the sound of having an impaction...what does that mean?

Rickeezee · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:48 am Post subject:

Saedcantas · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:25 am Post subject:

Unfortunately, your female chameleon has at least one clearly fractured bone (I've circled it on your pic to make it clear to all) multiple "elbows" in each leg, a deformed jaw and a humped spine combined with the general weakness you mention are all fairly textbook symptoms of advanced metabolic bone disorders.

Having been unlucky enough to have chameleons in an almost identical state brought to me over the years, I honestly believe that she is certainly suffering from metabolic bone disease.

The most important thing is for you to take her to a qualified reptile vet as soon as is possible. They should give her a calcium injection or may want to keep her in and do it for a few days in order to stabilise her calcium levels.
This kind of problem is caused when for whatever reason the animal in question has a calcium deficiency which leads to it's bones being metabolised for calcium in order for it to survive. In the initial stages you may see what look more like curved elbows in veiled chameleons and possibly also tremors (looks like shivering). Eventually the bones become so weakened that the animals' own body weight is enough to cause fracturing in the legs like we can clearly see here.
The damage done by these kinds of disorders is generally irreversible, you may lessen the effects with treatment and possibly slightly improve the extent of the deformation. But in general the bones will stay deformed.

It is essential that we find out how this has happened, by examining your husbandry as a whole and how your vivarium is actually setup. If we investigate now we can prevent your new male from potentially falling victim to the same problem Smile

A few things of importance here are, where your UV light is placed and what type of UV light you are using if any. Also, you mention that you sprinkle the calcium supplement on the greens, does this mean that the calcium is only put on the greens and not on any other foods? You mention that the veg you feed is watercress and cabbage, watercress isn't really a particularly worthwhile food and cabbage in fact contains relatively high levels of Oxalic acids. Oxalic acid in foods for your reptiles in fact inhibit the uptake of calcium into your animals body, so although you are offering supplements, it is possible that your animal is not managing to absorb it anyway.

These are just a few avenues to explore, but either way, there is some form of issue either with your UV lighting and how it is supplied or the calcium supplement and how it is supplied.

Make sure you get her treated soon and let us know the answer to some of these questions. Prevention is the best cure Smile

Good luck!
Lotte***

Saedcantas · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:33 am Post subject:

I apologise as I have no idea about the geography of Ireland (or many places for that matter haha!) So here's a list of all teh qualified reptile vets in Ireland, hope this helps!

Scott W · Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 12:38 pm Post subject:

looks to me like a bad case of MBD, not sure I'd say that's a fracture or just the result of the MBD but either way it's not great.

I doubt very much if it has any form of blockage, I'm guessing that it's just to weak to want to eat, it's jaws may not be strong enough now so it's not able to eat.

Shame, Yemens are a great species, and extremely hardy and easy if given the correct care. I'm guessing you have been given bad advice from the very beginning.

A trip to a reptile experianced vet is needed. Good luck.
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk