Bone Disease?

Pookie · 06-17-03, 02:16 PM

About a month ago, my 5 month old Cham was acting a bit odd. He seemed weak and was wondering along the bottom of the cage more. The breeder i got him from said it might be metabolic bone disease..or something like that. So i increased the calcium in his diet and hot a mercury vapor light. He seems to be doing a lot better and he's climbing the branches now. Do you think i did everything that i should or is there more i should be doing?

Collide · 06-17-03, 03:46 PM

IF your seeing an improvmint in behavior and health keep it up there are more things you might do but most of those things include vets and I hate those people. It is very hard to find one who knows what they are talking about. Any way keep up the calcium Veilds are a really hardy species.

Zoe · 06-17-03, 04:11 PM

If he has MBD, he should definitely be getting calcium injections. Did he have access to UVA/B light before? How much calcium was he getting?

Zoe

Trace · 06-17-03, 04:25 PM

Without seeing the chameleon in question, it's hard for me to give a proper answer for you. Weakness in chameleons can mean a lot of things, although MBD does come to mind first. Did he have muscle tremors or swelling of the limbs when he was younger?

What kind of mercury vapor light are you using? There are some owners now that are questioning whether or not there is enough UV being produced by those bulbs. I'm using the "PowerSun" bulbs on some of my chameleon cages and I think they are wonderful. I think it's some of the cheaper M/V bulbs that are causing the concern.

If it was MBD, it was correct of the breeder to tell you to increase the amount of calcium in his diet, but it is more effective to have had calcium injections done at the time.

What kind of chameleon do you have? Once I know this, I can point you in the direction of some good care sheets and you can then double check to make sure your husbandry is correct for your little guy.

Cheers!

Trace

Pookie · 06-18-03, 06:02 AM

It's a veiled cham. And last month when i was having this problem he joints were a bit swollen and he was extra shakey. I've put the "Capture the sun" mercury vapor bulb in from the big apple herp website. And i gutload my crickets with the flukers cricket quencher along with using the liquid calcium drops on the meal worms. I only know of one good vet in my area. In Massachusetts it's illegal to sell chams so i'm not sure if he would have a strong knowledge about them as far as the calcium injections go. Thanks for your help everyone!

Trace · 06-18-03, 07:17 AM

That's great! He sounds like he's on the road to recovery.

It does sound like MBD and you caught the disease in it's early stages and were able to bring him around. It does take a long time for chameleons to heal from that though, so be patient.

Personally I wouldn't use the cricket quencher for proper gutloading of bugs because it's filled with nasty chemicals. I use a more natural form of gutload, like carrots, collard greens, fish food, oatmeal, and nutritous "real" foods along those lines for my bugs. Click here for a few really good gutload recipes.

I also don't find mealworms to be that nutritious either. They have a thick exoskeleton that sometimes is hard for chameleons to digest. I do use superworms as part of my feeding regime here but they aren't the primary food source. You can also gutload the worms with the above ideas as well! Do you have access to silkworms in your area? I think they are better for chameleons.

Click here for a good caresheet on Veiled Chameleons.

Again it sounds like he's getting better. Keep up the good work and keep me posted on his progress.

Cheers!

Trace

Pookie · 06-18-03, 07:23 AM

Thanks Trace! I think the superworms are a bit too big for my little guy...he's only about 4/5 months old. But i'll def. take your advice on the gutloading w/ natural foods. I'll try to capture a picture of him tonight and post it so you can tell me what you think! You seem like you're very knowledgeable on the subject which is excellent!

Very helpful!

Trace · 06-18-03, 07:33 AM

You're right! Superworms are a bit big for your chameleon at this point! You did mention that he is only about 5 months old, I guess I'm just used to my big fellows around here. My bad. Do use the mealies for him, as a varied diet is good for any chameleons.

PLEASE! I would love to see a pic of your little guy. They are so cute when they are that small.

Cheers!

Trace

Pookie · 06-20-03, 06:57 AM

How do you think he looks? He's not too pleased about being brought out of his home but i figured it was for his own good!

Trace · 06-21-03, 09:11 AM

LOL! No, he doesn't look happy! But when are Veiled's ever happy?

My first question though... are you sure you have a boy? The casque looks like a female, but again he's only 5 months old so that will grow taller.

Otherwise he looks pretty good! Nice bulgey eyes. Limbs look straight. No weird bumps or anything. He may be a bit on the skinny side, but he might have just been acting that way because you were holding him. Some of mine will take on a skinny appearance when they are held, or when they see something that scares them. I also probably overfeed my chameleons anyways.

Keep up the good work with him! Mist him like crazy every day. Make sure you dust all of his bugs with a good calcium/vitamin supplement daily while he's growing. You can drop the dustings down to a few times a week as he gets bigger and then dust once a week when he's an adult. I've given you some good gutload recipes so the bugs will be healthy when you feed them.

It looks like you've got a reptarium there... those are nice and lightweight. Put that outside in the shade on warm days and he'll love you for it. Nothing better than real sunlight and UV for proper chameleon health.

Sorry it's taken me sssoo long to reply. If you have any other questions, don't be shy!

Cheers!

Trace

Charm_Paradise · 06-22-03, 11:08 PM

Hi-

I would agree with what Trac had to say. Have you used silkworms in his/her diet? They are the best staple food item you can feed, check out www.mulberryfarms.com and www.ebay.com

Collide · 06-23-03, 01:39 AM

If it is a male he will have bumps on the back of his back feet like dew claws, I thought it was a female when i first saw it too. Cutie though. And he looks happy compaired to my males lol.

geckoguy157 · 06-23-03, 01:47 AM

id have to say thats a female to look on its back feet like collide said another reason it looks female is because by then a male should have developed vertical bands on his side which are usualy white and the head makes me think its a female to a male should have a bigger thing on the top by 5 months so id say female but look on the back of its feet to be sure

Trace · 06-23-03, 05:08 AM

LOL! Seems I've got everybody curious as to whether your chameleon is a male or not!

Click here for a some sexing pics of the Veiled chameleon. The males have the tarsal spur on their back feet and the females do not.

How is your little guy (or gal) doing?

Trace

Pookie · 06-23-03, 06:08 AM

Thanks everyone! He's doing much better and eating like a pig!

I'll go home tonight and check on his back feet! I told the breeder i wanted a male so he picked one out for me but they were all about 3 months old at the time so i'm sure it was tough to really tell. Oh well, i'll love her/him either way! But now i need a new name for it if it turns out to be femal...borris won't work anymore! ....any suggestions? I