Kerbie
New Member
Hello Everyone! This is my first post and my first chameleon. I am a veterinary technician and I took on a little guy with severe MBD when the previous owners were going to put him down. I named him Gumby because of his condition.
The vet I work with knows a lot about reptiles in general and has had a veiled chameleon himself so we have covered all of the basics as far as husbandry and feeding. We took an x-ray and he has multiple pathologic fractures of his long bones so I made little splints for his arms and legs out of a reusable plastic straw.
He is unable to eat on his own as he has lost function of his tongue due to MBD so I have been syringe feeding repta-boost 2-3 times a day. He weighs 63g, up from 55g five days ago. He is also getting calcionate syrup and I have ordered phoenix worms for him, they are on their way. He has 2 UVB 5.0 lamps and a heat lamp and I put him outside on the patio, not in direct sunlight, as much as possible, so far 3 of the 5 days he has been with me.
Overall he is doing so much better than when he came home with me, he is walking and climbing and has developed an attitude, which is always a good sign in other species. That being said he has started to spit his repta-boost out when I feed him and he hates the calcionate and drools all over the place when I give it to him. I am using the chart in the box for his weight but he is getting harder and harder to feed.
I guess I was hoping to get some advice from those of you that have been through this before, as it is all new to me. Is there anything else that I could be doing to help him?
The vet I work with knows a lot about reptiles in general and has had a veiled chameleon himself so we have covered all of the basics as far as husbandry and feeding. We took an x-ray and he has multiple pathologic fractures of his long bones so I made little splints for his arms and legs out of a reusable plastic straw.
He is unable to eat on his own as he has lost function of his tongue due to MBD so I have been syringe feeding repta-boost 2-3 times a day. He weighs 63g, up from 55g five days ago. He is also getting calcionate syrup and I have ordered phoenix worms for him, they are on their way. He has 2 UVB 5.0 lamps and a heat lamp and I put him outside on the patio, not in direct sunlight, as much as possible, so far 3 of the 5 days he has been with me.
Overall he is doing so much better than when he came home with me, he is walking and climbing and has developed an attitude, which is always a good sign in other species. That being said he has started to spit his repta-boost out when I feed him and he hates the calcionate and drools all over the place when I give it to him. I am using the chart in the box for his weight but he is getting harder and harder to feed.
I guess I was hoping to get some advice from those of you that have been through this before, as it is all new to me. Is there anything else that I could be doing to help him?