Something is wrong with my Chameleon please HELP

lewis2000 · 04-01-12, 07:57 AM

Something is wrong with my male Yemen/Veild chameleon can anyone HELP im not sure he might have fallen and given himself brain damage he is struggling to control his legs sometimes he is grabbing onto his own body instead of the twigs he is eating/drinking and his colour is good I dust his food with calcium (is there any other way of giving chameleons calcium) but think this could be the cause He looks like skin and bone but the Female seems to be fine They share a Large Flexarium cage and I was told by the person I bought them off that they would live fine together and they do seem to be. I have a 100w heat bulb witch is on 24 7 and a UVB bulb which is on from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. I feed them a mixture of locusts, crickets and mealworms...can anyone please help diagnose what is wrong with him cause my local vets wont have much knowledge due to my location. Can someone please help i love him to pieces and I don’t want him to die.

reptile65 · 04-01-12, 09:39 AM

It doesn't sound good to me. I think you really need to try to get your chameleon to at vet ASAP. Have you tried posting on chameleonforums.com? There are a lot of experienced and knowlegable chameleon keepers there.

Lankyrob · 04-01-12, 10:06 AM

Doesnt sound good, i would second the call to go to a vet and get it checked as soon as possible.

alessia55 · 04-01-12, 10:25 AM

I would get in touch with a qualified reptile vet asap... good luck

BarelyBreathing · 04-01-12, 11:00 AM

Yes, as others suggested, bring him in to a qualified REPTILE vet.

You do need to separate them. Either he is sick and he can make your other chameleon sick, or your other chameleon is stressing him out.

1. What are the exact temperatures?
2. Humidity levels?
3. What are you using to measure temperatures and humidity levels?
4. What type of enclosure are they housed in?
5. What brand, strength, and age is your UV-B light?

lewis2000 · 04-02-12, 06:56 AM

1. 34c
2. Hard to measure with a Flexarium
3. An acurate terrarium heat gauge
4. Flexarium (42 x 76 x 76)
5. Exo Terra Repti Glo 2.0 Compact Lamp (26w) 7 and a half month old

Lankyrob · 04-02-12, 07:53 AM

Not sure about the rest but i know chameleons need a farily humid but airy environment, do you mist them or have a humidifier/mister running?

Also UV bulbs should be changed every 6 months, they start to lose their UV output after this time.

reptile65 · 04-02-12, 08:51 AM

Those compact UV bulbs are not good for chameleons. They can cause eye damage. I would definitely switch to a linear bulb if I were you. Also, 2.0 really isn't enough UVB for a chameleon. I would recommend a 5.0.

BarelyBreathing · 04-02-12, 10:55 AM

I agree, you will need a 5.0 linear UV-B bulb. Your bulb should be replaced every six months. Right now, even though your current UV-B bulb is putting out light, it's UV-B output has severely decresed.

Humidity is one of the most important aspects in chameleon care. You need to find an acturate way to measure it. Pick up a digital hygrometer at your local hardware store. I also recommend switching your analog temperature guage to a digital one.

lewis2000 · 04-03-12, 10:29 AM

I mist them mostly 5 times a day, i also have an atomatic mister but it is getting fixed at the minute. I will order a new UVB bulp right away. What bulb 13W or 26W ?????????

JustBitten · 04-03-12, 10:42 AM

Struggling to control his legs almost sounds like a stroke. If a vet isn't available, unfortunately all you can really do is improve husbandry, quarantine, watch and wait. Hopefully someone on here has seen something similar before...

BarelyBreathing · 04-03-12, 11:05 AM

Struggling to control his legs sounds exactly like metabolic bone disease, something very common in reptiles that aren't kept under the proper conditions.

Please take your animal to a vet.