broken leg help

[titchonw]

hi, i have a veiled chameleon called comma, she laid eggs last week (48) her first time, she spent 3 days digging, when she finished i noticed that she wasnt using her leg, so i took her to the vets who told me the top of her arm was broken, apparently the worst place, i have also now found out that the pet shop where i got her has given me the wrong calcium suppliment, they basicaly gave me vitamin dust for her, i cant get the one that seems to be sold only in america, the vet has now given me a good calcium suppliment for her, bit too late, now i know she has probably never had calcium in her whole life, i feel terrible, any way, she hasnt got too good a balance with her leg broken, and the vet sais there is nothing that they can do like splinting it as it is high up on her arm, i have tried putting her lower in her enclosure, but shes not happy there, so i am spending most of my day watching her, so when she dangles of her branches i pop her back up, the vet said it will take 8 weeks to mend, is this right, poor thing, is there any thing i can do, can i splint it and how, i feel do sorry for her, she is eating well, i am using a few silk worms and horn worms to get her strenth back up from laying and hopefully helping her calcium back up, thanks jo

 

[jannb]

Put her in a smaller cage. What kind of UVB light are you using? She probably has MBD.

 

[titchonw]

hi, she is in quite a small cage now,45w x 45l x 60cm high, i am in the uk and using the glass kind with the mesh top, i did try to move her about 6 weeks ago to a large mesh cage but she was very stressed and looked like a gone off bananna, so i put her back in her old cage after 2 weeks of trying with her new one and straight away she was her old self, i changed the lights last time i was on as i was also told by the pet shop she needed a infared lamp, which was too warm, and she has a light unit as well with uv lights and a day light bulb, i have put her mid way up her tank on a towel at the moment, to give her a break from hanging on, i wouldent bee too suprised if she has a small break in the other arm as she doesnt seem to be using that as well, although the vet diddnt say she had, im just getting the feeling, i do suspect as well as the vet that she as mbd due to the lack of calcium, i only got her in january and she was 4 months old then, the pet shop diddnt say much as to her up keep, just throw in a few bugs and a water bowl, yes they had her drinking from a water bown, no misting calcium, veg gut loading, nothing, all i have learned was from this site.

 

[kinyonga]

Did the vet give her any calcium injections? If she is given calcium injections followed by a shot of calcitonin when the blood calcium levels are high enough the calcium will be quickly drawn back into the bones.

Another (slower) option is giving liquid calcium gluconate or calcium sandoz...talk to the vet about this. Just regular calcium supplementing as normally recommended to sustain a chameleon's levels won't be enough until her levels are back to normal. Make sure that the chameleon gets good UVB and appropriate temperatures, etc. at the same time.

Good luck with her!

 

[WelshOneEmma]

I am in the UK and use Calypso dust as my main calcium dusting powder, and nutrobal for d3 and vitamins. They are easy enough to find.