Broken leg help!!!!!

[MakailiandScal]

Hey guys, so I noticed my little guy was being clumsy the past two days and then today I noticed that he can't walk or put any pressure on his right front leg, so that means he can't climb to get to his basking spot, he can't get to his food, and he looks really dark which isn't normal for him. His leg literally looks like it was popped out of the socket at the shoulder. I have a vet appt for tomorrow evening but was wondering if there is anything I can do to help him. I re did his enclosure in an old cage that I had, and I made it so he can get to food, water, and that he's got some foliage to hide in. He also has his heat lamp at the perfect height. I just am scared for him. He's only a year old.

 

[Reddogzz]

You were right to get a vet appointment. In the meantime make sure he stays hydrated and at the ideal temperature, depending on the situation, the break might be from bone disease MBD caused by a lack of calcium (they are supposed to get reptile calcium supplement with their food). Dark pigment occurs when a chameleon is in discomfort, which given the situation makes sense.

Please go to:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Add the additional requested info as soon as you can, so we can see about making the best of his situation.

Also you can read up on chameleon bone disease here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/what-metabolic-bone-disease-mbd-looks-like-how-happens-how-fix-95071/

 

[MelissaB]

I'm sorry your chameleon is ill.

Do you have a UVB bulb, and what calcium and vitamin powders do you use? His legs looked bowed as well as the one that looks broken. It makes me wonder if he has MBD, metabolic bone disease, which can happen when they haven't had a UVB bulb or calcium supplements.

 

[MakailiandScal]

His normal day heat bulb has UVA in it and he has a 13 watt tropical reptisun UVB that is on all day. He gets zilla calcium supplement food spray on his worms. When I took him to the vet last time they said that just the calcium food spray was okay. But I'm starting to think now that it's not enough, or I'm not giving him enough vitamins.

 

[Reddogzz]

You might want to check on the D3. Depending on the chameleon, you might need to give Calcium with vitamin D3 about once every couple weeks (they don't need D3 every day but they do need it!)

There may be other things too so when you get the chance let us know some more info about his habitat.

 

[MamatoElvis]

The most common supplement schedule
Calcium with no d3 at every feeding
Calcium with d3 2x per month
Multivitamin 2x per month
On the days that you give the multivitamin and calcium with d3 you can skip the plain calcium. All supplement should be given by themselves on any given day. Do not mix them.
Also how old is the UVB bulb? They need to be replaced every 6 months minimum. It loses UVB as soon as you start using it. Some light fixtures come with a plastic cover over the bulb. That needs to be removed. UVB will not pass through it.

 

[MamatoElvis]

Also don't use the spray. Other people have come up with these same issues while using the spray. I don't think it's effective. You want a powder. I use Rep cal.

 

[MakailiandScal]

Hey guys. Thanks for all the advice. The doc said its bone disease and all of his legs have fractures. He gave him a calcium medication that is to be taken once every day, and he said to get the vita-lite. It's a better uv light than any you can buy at the pet store. He also said you don't need to do d3 as long as I can take him outside for 20 minutes every day and he has the uv light, because the uv IS vitamin d!

Again thank you all for your help.

 

[GCash]

Hey guys. Thanks for all the advice. The doc said its bone disease and all of his legs have fractures. He gave him a calcium medication that is to be taken once every day, and he said to get the vita-lite. It's a better uv light than any you can buy at the pet store. He also said you don't need to do d3 as long as I can take him outside for 20 minutes every day and he has the uv light, because the uv IS vitamin d!

Again thank you all for your help.

Wow. This is the first time I've heard vita-lites mentioned in like 15 years. They were the start of the indoor chameleon keeping revolution for sure, but honestly, Reptisun and apparently even more so, Arcadia (I personally haven't used these yet) seem to do just fine. Use linear T5HO if possible and I personally use the higher outputs(10.0 or 12.0 for Arcadia) to compensate UVB reduction from passing through screen and deep enclosures. Just make sure there is plenty of foliage cover to allow the chameleon to retreat to shade if so desired. Good luck with him and don't forget, whatever you use, don't forget to replace the bulbs at the manufacturers suggested intervals. Very important because they lose their UVB output even though they look like they are still working fine.

 

[kinyonga]

Haven't used vita lites for soooooo many years! Didn't even know they still made them!

In addition to the extra calcium and exposure to the UVB you need to make sure the temperatures are right so the chameleon can digest the food properly thus absorb he nutrients, feed / gutload the insects properly and use the supplements needed to make up for its captive diet.

You can feed / gutload the insects with a wide assortment of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.

The feeder insects we use have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous so we recommend that you dust them just before feeding them to the chameleon with a phosphorous - free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for it.

We recommend dusting twice a month with a phosphorous - free calcium / D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to overdoses but D3 from exposure to UVB won't likely build up as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB when it wants to.

We also recommend that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene ( prOformed ) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system and lead to overdoses so this leaves it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed vitamin A or not.


Good luck with its recovery.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I recommend Arcadia lights.

They are by far the best, last the longest and penetrate further from the bulb than any other light. Also, they are manufactured in Europe and not China. I think there is a lot better quality control with European-manufactured products.

It is important for there to be heat for the animal's skin to be able to synthesize calcium, so a basking bulb is very important.