Blind With MBD ! - Help.

[Kryinix]

Hello,

I've recently took care of a Little Yemen Female, who has a severe case of MBD due to her being a rescue due to previous owner's not having correct UVB, she is also blind.

This is a big deal for me, as i am new to chameleon's, but no to reptiles as a have several beardies and pythons.

Any suggestions on what i should do to help her recover , or is she too far gone ?

She drinks now and again from droplet's which i treat with Calcium Liquid, but she does not seem to be coping with eating, maybe the odd locust, ive only managed to feed her twice. The Vet's have had her eyes blasted and treated but to no use, even though i still think she can see partially she struggles. I try to dampen her eyes to keep her eye caps from drying out. Her balance seems good and she keeps on fighting , but my worry is will she ever recover if she cannot gut load.

Thank you !

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums, sorry to hear of the chameleon's problems. You will have to feed him. When I have someone old or sick I mash up worms and feed them out of a big syringe with no needle. I have also used Repti Boost. Keep giving him the liquid calcium daily and UVB. Nice warm showers a couple times a day might help with the eyes. I'm on my phone now but will take a better look at your pictures when I get home. I believe you have a male. Please fill out the Ask For Help Form linked below so we can make sure you have everything needed for this little mans recovery.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Here's some good info about MBD: https://www.chameleonforums.com/wha...ase-mbd-looks-like-how-happens-how-fix-95071/

 

[JosieJobo]

That is one skinny chameleon! It needs force feeding asap silkworms, hornworms and wax worms it needs bulking up to get its strenth back poor chameleon xx good luck well done

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

She doesn't have the typical crooked arms and legs that MBD is characteristic of. It seems to me she might be more starving rather than having severe calcium issues. It won't hurt her to have a little extra (liquid) calcium though IMHO.

Severe mbd....
https://www.chameleonforums.com/wha...ase-mbd-looks-like-how-happens-how-fix-95071/.

Will she eat an insect if you put it in between her teeth? (don't just put it in her mouth....you want to make sure she bites it/chews it.) if not you can make "bug juice". You can find the recipe in this thread...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/mel-not-doing-well-34904/index2.html

Hope she will recover.

 

[carol5208]

She does not look like she has MBD to me. She looks super dehydrated and thin. Just to give you a little hope here. A member on here from quite awhile ago, had a female Veild that they thought was blind as her eyes were sunken and shut all the time. It took about 3 weeks of tlc, watering, vitamins, calcium, force feeding and lots of outdoor sunshine and she finally opened here eyes and could see! As a matter of fact, once she could see, she started biting! lol How did they determine she is blind? Because she cannot open her eyes????

 

[ridgebax1]

I agree that she does not look like a typical MBD but just extremely malnourished and dehydrated. Silks and hornworms are good to help hydrate her and phoenix and butter worms will help her put on some weight. And she may just surprise you with her eyes once she in better fed.

 

[Bush baby]

Get her outside for as much natural sunlight as you can manage!

Keep her hydrated.

Feed her wax worms, horn, butter and silk worms dusted with Calcium. Since she's a veiled, you could also try several fruits to give her an energy boast like Stawberries, blueberries, etc. Try slicing them up and putting them in her mouth. The sweet taste may arouse her senses and stimulate appetite…….

 

[Traceyd]

Poor wee thing!

 

[Kryinix]

Thank you all for your advice, i have just crushed some mixture up in a syringe for her, any tips on how to get her to open up for me ?

 

[Kryinix]

Ignore that ! I managed to give her two syringes full of a mixture of waxworms and calcium supplement with water, she started lapping it down bless her, once i managed to turn her lip up a bit she licked the liquid of it ! Anybody reccomend how much i should give her daily ?

 

[Trace]

I agree with the others, I don’t think that is classic MBD. While she is very thin I also don’t think she is grossly emaciated either.

What is standing out to me are her hips and they are normally not that pronounced on a healthy chameleon. While the force feeding is certainly beneficial, I would take her back to the vet for a check-up and an x-ray. There might be an infection or something else going on in that area and this would be causing her to be anorexic. If that problem is not fixed then any amount of force feeding and extra calories will not help.

If you let us know your location, one of our members might be able to recommend a reptile vet close by to you.

Here is a Veiled Chameleon skeleton. Notice the small hip bones:
http://shawnheflick.com/images/shawn-heflick_veiled-chameleon-skeleton.jpg

 

[Kryinix]

She seem's to be acting a lot more active, exploring her environment after the shot of calcium supplement, i hope that she hasn't got anything more wrong with her, i don't really seem to see her in pain, she has been fighting it for a while i was told.

 

[Bush baby]

Ignore that ! I managed to give her two syringes full of a mixture of waxworms and calcium supplement with water, she started lapping it down bless her, once i managed to turn her lip up a bit she licked the liquid of it ! Anybody reccomend how much i should give her daily ?

I would say, give her as much as she wants..that is, until she starts feeding by herself again.

 

[carol5208]

I agree with the others, I don’t think that is classic MBD. While she is very thin I also don’t think she is grossly emaciated either.

What is standing out to me are her hips and they are normally not that pronounced on a healthy chameleon. While the force feeding is certainly beneficial, I would take her back to the vet for a check-up and an x-ray. There might be an infection or something else going on in that area and this would be causing her to be anorexic. If that problem is not fixed then any amount of force feeding and extra calories will not help.

If you let us know your location, one of our members might be able to recommend a reptile vet close by to you.

Here is a Veiled Chameleon skeleton. Notice the small hip bones:
http://shawnheflick.com/images/shawn-heflick_veiled-chameleon-skeleton.jpg

I was wondering about the hip bones too as I have seen chameleons that have been thinner than her, but their bones were not protruding like that.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Different animals will store and lose fat differently. If there were any developmental problems from nutrient deficiency it can alter the shape of the bones some too. They do look very symmetrical. The hip bones definitely are protruding but if the hind legs are functioning well and she's defecating normally then I wouldn't be too worried for now. Fatten her up - with healthy nutrition, not just fatty feeders - and see what her hips look like then.

 

[sharp229]

Looks like a female to me. Did the vet give her any vitamins? In addition to the mistings and getting her hydrated, lack of vitamins, particularly vitamin A, can prevent her from opening her eyes. If she came from a place like Petco there is a good chance she is lacking vitamin A.

 

[Kryinix]

Thanks for the information on her hind legs, and im from the UK and the pet store i work at didnt know much information about her / him, so i took it on myself to get her back up to her full health as they said she didnt have long left but i knew there was a chance to help her.

At the time being ive only managed to crush up wax worms, locusts and mix it with Zolcal - D to give her in a syringe, any other things i should use, i dont have strawberries but i was thinking is jam ok if its diluted with water.

 

[kinyonga]

Jam has sugar in it which isn't a good option. You could try apricot baby food, baby food sweet potatoes, squash, etc since it's a veiled. Just be careful not to squirting it into her mouth or give her too much at once. You want to EASE it in and give her time to swallow. There is a bug juice created by Susan James and Dr. Ken Lopez that would be good to use too....you'll find it in this thread...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/mel-not-doing-well-34904/index2.html

If you have cooked squash or sweet potatoes in your house you could make your own puree.