A little chin rub
- Thread starter Weebo
- Start date
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
@Weebo When did the vet look at her? What did the vet say about the severe limb deviations?
Was this a vet that has any experience with reptiles?
You need a vet to monitor the progression/resolution of MBD. If your vet can't even recognize grossly deformed legs, I would not trust them to treat MBD.
You can stop the heart with an overdose of calcium and the kind of liquid calcium you will get from the vet is very easily absorbed so you absolutely need a vet to monitor the amount you are giving.
MBD has many causes, not just unsufficient calcium or Vitamin D. It is a complex disease process and life threatening for a female veiled.
CharlieCharmingo
Avid Member
You need a vet to prescribe it because it is not something you can just go pick up. The vet should also give you oral syringes and instructions on the proper amount your chameleon needs per day etc.
Correct me if I'm wrong but oral calcium is not an item you need a prescription for. You can get it at any pharmacy. I have oral syringes from when she had parasites medicine and the dosage for liquid calcium is accessible online. Don't remember off top of my head but it's based on weight of the reptile.
cass737
Member
As jajeanpierre said earlier, calcium is a medication that if given at too high of a dose or too quickly can cause the heart to stop, which is why several people are recommending that a vet prescribes it to you and gives you not only the proper dose but also the proper concentration. That would be my suggestion to you as well, just to be on the safe side.
Just curious, are you using a red night light? It looks like it in the last 2 pics. If you are using them at night it is not needed and will do more harm than good.
Cool. I generally just use a regular household incandescent bulb for basking.
For me a 60 watt will provide the right basking temp, but depending on the distance some may need a 75 or more. I like the spectrum of light that is provided also. I feel the red doesn't add any value to the chameleon's lighting needs. Just my opinion though.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
The disease process is very complicated.
"Metabolic Bone Disease is not a single disease entity, but rather a term used to describe a collection of medical disorders that affect the integrity and function of bones." (Mader, Reptile Medicine and Surgery, Second Edition)
MBD can be nutritional (Nutritional Secondary Hyperparathyroidism) or renal in nature. You need to know if just increasing UVB, Vitamin D and calcium will solve the problem or if it is caused by kidney failure (Renal Secondary Hyperparathyroidism).
Regardless, you really need a vet to help this animal with Vitamin D shots and possibly calcium shots.
The leg bones are bent because the bones are not strong enough to support the animal and they are collapsing and crushing. You cannot tell the damage just by looking on the outside. Sometimes their spines also collapse and crush. Bone is not static--it is constantly being replaced. When the break down of bones is faster than the new bone being laid down, you end up with MBD. You need a vet to tease out why this is happening and you need extra support from a knowledgeable vet.
Added to the mix is that you have a female who will lay eggs. The actual process of egg laying--the muscles forcing eggs out of the body--consumes a tremendous amount of calcium. Producing eggs uses up a lot of calcium. She is already in a state of depleting her skeleton of calcium just to function. It will only get worse.
You need a vet.
Ok. Yea when I first got her I wasn't dusting her food I was only gut loading. I didn't learn until after I needed to dust everyday. Now I obviously dust daily with calcium without D3. Then the calcium with D3 and the multivitamin twice a month. So I'm guessing this is from a calcium deficiency
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
Technically if you have a good and varied gutload and daily diet for your feeders, and a wide range of different types of feeders, along with a good uvb source, there is a good possibility a healthy chameleon would never need to be supplemented (though with females I would likely still supplement during the laying season). However I never ever suggest doing this with veileds bought from Petco stores or if you know nothing about their line. Panthers I would be more lenient toward and almost all montanes fall into the category of possibly going without supplementation if the situations are correct. Veileds from pet stores or unreputable breeders I automatically assume are unhealthy, because if their mother wasn't taken care of they are born unhealthy pretty much.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
What are you doing for UVB? How old is the bulb?
Similar threads
