baby veiled sickness

[Chameleon]

My baby veiled is very sick, but the closest vet is to far away. Is there anything I can do to help the baby? My adult veiled had MBD and I cured it on my own. I don't want my cham to die since a mother and baby have already.. I need help right away! the baby is very weak someone please help!

 

[Heika]

Hi.. can you tell us what its symptoms are? Does it have MBD also?

Heika

 

[LunaC]

Everyone here would love to help, but you've offered so little information! How old is your baby Veiled? How long have you had him/her? As Heika already asked, what are his/her symptoms? How are you housing your cham?
You indicate you already had a mother and baby die already, correct? We need much more info regarding your basic husbandry, diet, temps etc.

 

[Brad]

Chameleon,

It sounds like you are very worried and the condition is serious. I would highly recommend an emergency visit to an experienced veterinarian. To help us better help you, please visit this link: [THREAD=66]the link[/THREAD].

 

[Chameleon]

The mother veiled layed 28 eggs in her first batch, unfortunately, only three survived. 1 died and 2 are left, both which are now sick. They are very weak, sleep at daytime, are clumsy, cannot purch on plants, and when they try to move their front legs, sometimes their arms get stiff and their paws keep clutching their gular area. They seldom eat, but accept a little water when needed. They often dig holes and sleep on the ground. They are both 2 months, almost 3. My adult male veiled had MBD, and I mixed a little cricket dust with water and let him drink it by pouring little by little onto his mouth. Stupid as it may sound, it saved his life!! His soft, bent leg bones grew strong again, and now his legs are a little curved. This was 1 year ago. (He's still alive.) Thanks though, I really, really appreciate the help. I want to do whatever it takes to let them stay with me.

 

[Heika]

I want to do whatever it takes to let them stay with me.

Hi.. first thing to do is take them to a vet.

Next, you need to look at your husbandry. Do you have UVB lighting? What kind of housing are you providing? Do you feed a variety of insects? How much misting/dripping do they receive? What kind of dusting powder do you use? It would help if you could provide pictures and also if you could give us the name brands of your lights and dusting powders.

Heika

 

[Chameleon]

I sometimes use ExoTerra sun glo, but I don't know the brand of the UV-B light. I gut-load and dust crickets with Zoo Med's Reptivite. The chams just got to the stage where they can eat mealworms. (I didn't try it yet) I can't get a vet because the closest vets are way to far. I love my chams with all my heart but I can't get to the vet. I mist the cages 2-3 times a day and use a drip system. Does it mean the chameleons are better if they are now more alert and climb branches a little more? I just don't want them to die...

 

[Heika]

Hi.. are you supplementing with calcium at all? Is the ZooMed stuff just a vitamin or does it contain calcium and D3 also? The light you have, the exo terra, how old is it? Also, you said that you use the light sometimes. A UVB light needs to be used 10-12 hours a day. Most UVB lights put out only low levels of UVB after about 6 months and need to be replaced. Can you pick up a new UVB light, preferably a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 or 10.0? Is it warm enough there to put them out in the natural sunlight? What you are describing sounds like a variety of things, and definately needs to be addressed quickly. If you have access to any vet at all, you can get a liquid calcium that will help with MBD. UVB and calcium supplements will also. It sounds like you are misting and dripping enough. What kind of enclosure are they in? How long do you mist for? Are they eating crickets or fruit flies? Do you have a basking light and what are the temps in your cage?

Heika

 

[FL Chams]

You can purchase liquid calcium from
http://www.cricketfood.com/product_info.php/cPath/51/products_id/186

You will need to consult a vet for usage especially due to the size of your chameleon. I recommended this to another person and it saved his chameleon. Good luck!
Take Heika's advice. You need to get the right lights Reptisun 5.0 or 10.0 and you need to dust in my opinion at least 3 times a week with Calcium w/D3. I prefer Repcal. I only recommend giving a VITAMIN supplement once a week if you're gutloading your crickets properly.

 

[Chameleon]

The temparature stays at around 80 and humidity 60. The reptivite contains Vitamin A, D-3, E, C, and calcium. I dust the crickets every feeding and use Natural Zone Cricket Total Bites. I just purchased this one to replace the one that just recently burned out. Oh yes, the Reptisun thing is what I have, it just came back to my mind. I don't know if it is 5.0 or 10.0. Should I use Reptisun, SunGlo, or both? I haven't seen them eat in a while, but one is attempting to drink droplets of water. The box for SunGlo says it provides as a basking light. At night I use ceramic heat bulb. I mist for about 5 min. Can the liquid calcium arrive in time to save the babies?

 

[ExoticPetLVT]

re: baby vieled

Your pet really needs to be examined by a vet. My baby chameleon is under the weather for 2 days, eyes won't open, seems lethargic in the cage, and going more toward the cold side. So I have him on Trimethoprim Sulfa liquid twice daily, and Tobramycin Eye drops 2-3 times daily. His eyes aren't sunken in, and he seems hydrated. but I did give him some fluids by injection. He still likes to be held, and is active when being held. But he is not eating on his own, so I am feeding him the Flukers Emergency Aid hand feeding formula. We also have an insectivore powder at work that I can feed him.

WITH REGARDS TO YOUR CHAMELEON:
I think your temps are too low. Chameleons thrive at 90-100 degrees on the hot side of the cage, and a 10 degree difference/drop at the cold side of the tank.
at night, the temps should decrease by 10 degrees on each side. Be sure to have at least 2 thermometers, one on each side, to make sure your temps are right.
UVB should be on 10-14 hours/day. The UVB of the bulb should be 290-320nm. It will not penetrate through plastic or glass, so u need a mesh screen top on the cage. (reptisun 5.0, or Exoterra 5.0 UVB are two brands of bulbs). Change the bulbs every 6 months.
We recommend CALCIUM ONLY powder. Do not use powder that has other ingredients, like other vitamins/minerals, phosphorus, or Vit. D. Sometimes the vet will recommend supplemental Vit D. Dust the insects 3x per week. It is possible to oversupplement these guys/girls.
Use paper substrate on the bottom of the cage. Do not use reptile bark/woodshavings etc, as it causes respiratory problems. And it could be a problem with impaction if ingested.
Use a drip setup for them to drink.
SOAK your reptile 2-3x per week for about 10-15 minutes. Make sure the bottom third of the body is submerged. They can absorb water through their vent. It also helps with hydration, shedding, and can stimulate bowel movements.
Mist the cage daily. Chameleons need more humidity. U can also put sphagnum moss (really wet) in the cage to increase humidity.
Calcium and the UVB lights go hand-in-hand. They need the UVB rays to activate their Vitamin D, so the activated form can absorb the calcium. If there is a problem with this, then the chameleon starts grabbing calcium from the bones, ie MBD occurs.
Baby chameleons should be fed daily. Older chameleons can go every other, or every 2 days, but as long as they are eating, I would feed them every other day, and not make them wait longer.

How far is your vet???