My vet advised I needed to give my Cham calcium with D3 everyday. I took him in bc his appetite has decreased substantially. I've never heard anyone suggest this before. Just looking for a second opinion on d3 everyday. He said everything else abt my cham looked good. He was adamant abt giving d3 everyday bc he said the uvb lights arent reliable and they can only absorb the calcium with d3.
Calcium with d3
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Sherbertsmysunshine
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hello and welcome!
Calcium with D3 is to be used twice a month, if you have a jacksons chameleon you only need it once a month. If you gave the calcium with D3 every day he would likely be overdosed with proper lighting. What UVB bulb are you using?
Calcium with D3 is to be used twice a month, if you have a jacksons chameleon you only need it once a month. If you gave the calcium with D3 every day he would likely be overdosed with proper lighting. What UVB bulb are you using?
So this is not accurate. Calcium with D3 everyday in a chameleon will cause D3 toxicity. You want calcium without D3 every feeding then a multivitamin like repashy calcium plus LoD that has D3 and A in it to be given 2 times a month say the 1st and 15th.
Now UVB should be on point and that is why T5HO fixtures with 5.0 or 6% bulbs come in. They provide the correct UVI level when you have the proper distance to basking a measured 8-9 inches with the fixture sitting on the cage top then to the branch. If you are using any other form of UVB then it is likely it is not correct providing too little or too much.
Retpisun 5.0 uvb t5 ho 24w
This is what I've been doing so when he told me everday and prescribed a liquid form I needed more guidance bc that didn't sound correct.
Thank you!
May I see some current pics of your chameleon and of the entire cage set up please. There should not be a need for what he recommended if you are providing the correct UVB lighting at the right distance and the correct supplementation.
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Ok so all the fake plants you want to take out of the cage asap. Those are a major impaction risk. Then add your pothos. Also you want to upgrade him to a 2x2x4ft cage. the one he is in is just too small now.
With the UVB if it is a reptisun bulb you want to replace that bulb with a new on every 6-9 months. With the 5.0 bulb you want a distance of 8-9 inches from the fixture sitting on the screen and the branch to put him in the correct 3 UVI level.
He does look to be holding a little more weight than he should be right now. See how his cheek pads are puffy? That is a tell tell sign of being overweight. How much are you feeding him and how often?
Per the basking be cautious about how close he can get to that bulb. Thermal burns become high risk the closer they can get and for males the top of the casque are commonly burnt because of this. He looks ok right now but I would be cautious.
I am not seeing any reason for what the vet told you though. Did they do xrays or anything?
With the UVB if it is a reptisun bulb you want to replace that bulb with a new on every 6-9 months. With the 5.0 bulb you want a distance of 8-9 inches from the fixture sitting on the screen and the branch to put him in the correct 3 UVI level.
He does look to be holding a little more weight than he should be right now. See how his cheek pads are puffy? That is a tell tell sign of being overweight. How much are you feeding him and how often?
Per the basking be cautious about how close he can get to that bulb. Thermal burns become high risk the closer they can get and for males the top of the casque are commonly burnt because of this. He looks ok right now but I would be cautious.
I am not seeing any reason for what the vet told you though. Did they do xrays or anything?
I intend on redoing his enclosure before the new year including only live plants. His basking light is in a 5.5 deep dome lamp to prevent burns. So far so good it's been abt 2 months. I was feeding him abt 10 crickets and 2 hornworms or superworms daily. Based on his age that's what I thought he was supposed to have. No xrays just a scope in his mouth. He saw no issues with how he looked, weight wise or I should say he made no mention of it. Could that be why his appetite has decreased?
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Good I am glad you have the cage. let us know if you want advice on setting up a larger cage. There are ways to anchor your branches and vines better for a big cage.
How old is he now?
I absolutely would love advice on setting it up! His age is a guess, I've had him since Aug 30th and was told he could have been 2 to 3 months before I got him. So maybe 5/6 months
May I see a few pics of him when you first got him? It will help me determine his age.. I am willing to bet he is older then they told you.
You will typically see a curbing down of food intake around the 9 month mark. This is your sign to take them down to every other day feedings, now with your boy I would take him to every other day 5 feeders. Because he is already holding excess weight. At one year for a male veiled your looking at every other day feeding of 3-5 feeders. Note for a cham that is holding more weight and is at the 1 year or older mark this would be further reduced to 2-3 feedings a week of 3 feeders.
Dragon ledges are awesome for attaching branches and pots. See this link. https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/
See this link for my album on my cages using these ledges. https://www.chameleonforums.com/media/albums/my-enclosures.6672/
@MissSkittles can post images of how she uses the plastic laddice in her cages for attaching things.
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Ok so good news is lol they were not too off with age. Those pics are the size of roughly a 3 month old baby. So based on that it would put him at about 7 months old. So what your seeing with the held weight is not very common for a 7 month old. May mean he is slowing in his growth right now. So take him to every other day 5-9 feeders. See if he finishes those off. I am betting he will. At 9 months take him down to 5 every other day. Once he gets to the 12 month mark you want to reduce him to every other day 3 feeders if he is still holding fat in the cheek pads and casque.
Overall he does not look to be unhealthy at all. What was the reason for taking him to the vet?
Overall he does not look to be unhealthy at all. What was the reason for taking him to the vet?
I took him to the vet bc he hasn't been eating as much as he normally does. Usually when I put food in the enclosure he would run to it. Now I put it in there and he will let it sit for days. Maybe have 1 a day of the worms. The criskets I had already decreased to 3 to 4 to try to keep a better count. I thought maybe he was going through a hunger stirke. At this point Idk.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
In a rush, but here ya go. I use fine wire attached to frame. Add a couple of screws to secure to and prevent from sliding down. Edges of lattice can be sharp where cut, so I file until dull.
