Urgently need advice!!!!

Hi, I'm a first time chameleon owner. I have a 6-7 month old veiled chameleon, and I desperately need an experts advice, because he has developed some serious health problems.

His colouration is completely off - he is almost always showing his stress colours, and when he isn't, he is dark brown, (even though his terrarium is at the ideal temperature/humidity) his appetite has completely declined and he has developed greyish - black patches on his legs, and an almost black stomach.

I've taken him to a vet, and he said it could be a) that he is burnt, b) some sort of internal infection and c) MBD (which shows on his casque, but I've made adjustments to how often I use the D3 supplement).
The vet put him on antibiotics as well as painkillers (which are for cats...I'm not sure painkillers are a very good idea, are they? because he's started grabbing onto his stomach/legs instead of branches ever since he went on them.)

If it helps, this is some information about his husbandry:
I give him the calcium without D3 everyday, and the D3 vitamin supplement every two to three weeks(I've upped it from using it monthly since the visit to the vet).
His diet consists of silkworms, king worms, butter worms, wax worms, crickets, and the occasional mealworm or beetle as a treat.
I have a dripper going at all times, I mist one to two times a day depending on how high/low the humidity is that day.
I have a live pothos that he munches on often, and I have rocks along the bottom so he doesn't eat the dirt.
I clean his terrarium every week and I always make sure I take the poop out so the loose insects don't feed on them. His droppings always appear normal - the poop is a dark brownish black and his urates are often a good off white colour.
I've seen him drink frequently, and his eating habits were spectacular.
He is surprisingly social - when i hold my hand near the bottom of his terrarium he would almost always come down to hang out with me, never showing stress colours unless i move too fast with him on my shoulder. He never claws to get out of his terrarium, and his temperament is just as fantastic, never hisses or gapes.

As far as i know, I have been doing everything right, but despite my best efforts his health keeps declining, and I have no one who knows about chameleons or own reptiles themselves to help me out. Could the vet have wrongly assumed what was wrong? and if he keeps getting worse, should I keep trying or give him up to a rescue agency?

Please, please get back to me if you can, as i desperately need input!

And although i posted most info above, here:
Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veiled, 6-7 months old, about 4 months in my care.

Handling - Only when he wants to - but since the vet visit everyday to syringe feed him antibiotics

Feeding - Silk worms, kingworms, crickets, butterworms, wax worms and darkling beetles for occasional treats. for the crickets I use commercial gut-load, I buy the silkworm food with the silkworms, i make the waxworm food, butters are kept refrigerated to force into state of hibernation, and kingworms eat a variety of vitamin dusted fruits and veggies.

Supplements - Exo Terra Calcium without D3 everyday - Exo Terra multivitamin with D3 every two - three weeks.

Watering - Constant dripper, and i mist 1 - 2 times daily depending on the humidity levels that day.

Fecal Description - Dark brown, with off slightly off-white urates. appears healthy - although i haven't gotten is tested for parasites.

History - He's more social than any chameleon I've ever seen, EVER. He rarely used to show his stress colours, and he was generally an active 'lil guy before the black splotches.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - he is currently housed in a 16x16x30 reptibreeze terrarium, and within teh next two or three days he'll move into his new 29x45x18 half screened terrarium I've built (because the fully screened was creating water damage to the wall behind him)

Lighting - 100w basking lamp and UVB coil lamp, both about 8 inches away from his basking spot.

Temperature - Basking spot: 79 - 83 Bottom of cage: 74 Overnight: 68-70. I have a temp gun and one that determines temp and humidity at all times, located in the central area of his terrarium.

Humidity - ranges from 40% - 55% throughout the day. The little dripper, pothos and daily misting are how i keep the humidity up. I use a temp and humidity gauge that is always located in the terrarium.

Plants - one medium sized pothos, with rocks covering the bottom.

Placement - his terrarium is in a corner of my room, diagonal from the window and across from the door. good airflow, and about 2.5 or 3 ft off the floor.

Location - Vancouver, BC, Canada.


Current Problem - as listed in above post.

So far after a quick read first thing I see is the basking temp is pretty low for a veild. That could cause various issues.

I raised the lamp from the basking spot, which was at 85 - 88 degrees because the vet said he may have burnt himself. Here ares some photos as well

If I was you I would find a diferent vet for a second opinion. From what you say it doesn't really sound like the vet knows whats wrong and is just prescribing antibiotics on the chance it helps. Is the vet he's seen a reptile specialist if not he really needs to see one that specialize in herps. I don't think it's common for vets to prescribe painkillers for reps since pain isn't well understood in reptiles yet.
If he is showing signs of early mbd make sure he gets his d3 every 2 weeks. I think having the multi vit and d3 in seperate forms is better or maybe all multi vit has d3 in it in small amounts I'm not sure. Most cham keepers supplement with plain calcium every feed calcium with d3 every 2 weeks and multi vit every 2 weeks. I wouldn't think that not having d3 supplements this early on would cause mbd maybe look into switching your uv bulb. Perhaps it's an internal problem thats causing the mbd signs.
Do try upping his basking spot I think veileds liek is close to 90 maybe lower for a young animal. Appart from whats been mentioned I don't think there is major issues with you husbandry so I don't think you should give him up. Souns like to me he might have an internal problem and needs a good vet that specialises in herps. I also suggest putting a pic up someone might be able to tell if his colouration is from burns, bruising or just stress colours. Early signs of mbd might be evident in the picture aswel.

His colors don't look very good in the pictures. He looks like he may have been burned before?

It does look like he has a relatively minor case of MBD, what brand, wattage, and model is your CFL UVB?

As for the dark area on his stomach, have you seen him hang upside down on the screen under the light? Is it possibly hot enough there to burn him?

sharp229 said:

It does look like he has a relatively minor case of MBD, what brand, wattage, and model is your CFL UVB?

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???
I'm not seeing obvious MBD from the pics, just skin issues.

Its hard to imagine that much area has been burned, but without sampling from the discolored areas we can't really tell if it could be something else such as an actual skin infection...fungal or bacterial. However, some of the areas are pretty classic sites for thermal burns (along his spines, top of the knees, top of the ribcage), but again your basking temps are pretty low. Possibly because they are low he was sitting directly under the heat for very long periods. Burns result from a combination of accumulated TIME under the heat as well as temperature.

I wonder if it would be worth getting him scanned for fungal infections. Many fungi can be detected using a medical grade black light.

Sorry I must have replied as you were posting your pictures. He does look like he has burn scars along his spine. As for his stomache Im not sure if that is a burn or jsomething else it does seem to be quite spotty and if it was a burn I would think it would be blotchy plus it's seems to lighten from the first to the third pic. I can't see any signs of mbd either but admit I'm not entirely sure what to look for in early cases. Was the bulb leaning on the mesh before it was raised? a 100w is very powerful and I'd imagine temps would be too hot if that were the case. I would try a lower wattage bulb your night time temps sound quite warm so I wouldn't think he needs a 100w. It definetely does seem like he needs a second opinion from a good vet with reptile experience.

You said that your humility is between 40 and 50, and you spray daily. How many times a day do you spray? Just a thought but if you are not spraying several times a day then it is had for them to shed when they need to. (that is my findings dealing with mine) To me he looks like he needs a good shed. When was the last time he shed?

Carlton said:

???
I'm not seeing obvious MBD from the pics, just skin issues.

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I was saying this based mostly on the third picture with the slightly deformed casque and the OP mentioning he was grabbing himself. However, I am no expert on MBD so I would listen to Carlton/others who have more experience and ignore my comment

The vet said the MBD was in his casque, the little groove in it.
I use a 100w reptisun bulb and have reptisun UVB bulb as well.
I'm about 2 days from moving him to his bigger terrarium, and I've made the basking spot closer to the bulb in this one as well as installed a timed mister in, but it has been a while since his last shed (about 4 weeks or more even) and I've been fairly worried. I try to mist about 2 times daily, at most, because I read that spraying too much would cause a fungal infection, and i have a dripper going all the time.
I've arranged to drive down to the states next week and see another vet, and I'm bringing some stool samples with me.

Could I use just a normal black light on him, to see if there is a fungal infection? I have one that's kinda like a flashlight that i use to check if my cats have sprayed.

What exactly is the ideal basking temp for a veiled chameleon?
And is there anything besides misting that would help induce a shed?


thank you all so, so, so much for your input!