Charlie is sick... Help

[camimom]

Ok. Put Charlie out in the sun for about 2 hours. He is still laying on the dirt and there does not seem to be a big change. I will keep him in the sunlight regularly until I can pick up a better light. The one I had before this light (which I just got 1 week ago) was one of thos infrared ones and I am thinking maybe since then he has not had proper UVB. Thanks for all the help.

Any tips on getting hm to eat? I cannot give him calcium if he is not eating. help!!!

You arent going to see a change in him immediately, or even tomorrow. it takes time.
as for eating, take him out, try touching him between his eyes, see if he opens his mouth, if he does, put a feeder in ( i figured out this gets my cham to open his mouth for me, but might not wokr for you)
if not, put a feeder near him, and hope he goes for it.
its very hard to get chams to eat when they are sick.

 

[ShortStack]

Ok. Put Charlie out in the sun for about 2 hours. He is still laying on the dirt and there does not seem to be a big change. I will keep him in the sunlight regularly until I can pick up a better light. The one I had before this light (which I just got 1 week ago) was one of thos infrared ones and I am thinking maybe since then he has not had proper UVB. Thanks for all the help.

Any tips on getting hm to eat? I cannot give him calcium if he is not eating. help!!!

Change is not going to happen over night. It may take MONTHS... he may just stop developing worse symptoms.

Were you not given a chameleon care sheet?

HE should have a infrared light - at all..

 

[kinyonga]

You need to get your chameleon's husbandry right and at the same time correct the imbalances so that the MBD won't progress. Calcium imbalances not only affect the bones but other systems too.

The quickest way to deal with it is for a vet to give it calcium injections until the blood calcium levels are high enough to give it a shot of calcitonin which quickly draws the calcium back into the bones.

Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.


Good luck!

 

[Thezillaman21]

we need to make this more well known to the world. no cham should be sold to anyone who does not have the info they need to have success. this is sad and crule no offense to stratoboy or anyone else who has unknowingly got a cham im just trying to say they are not easy pets and EVERYONE SELLING THEM NEEDS TO GET THE FACTS OUT SO THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE GANNA TRY TO RAISE A HEALTHY ANIMAL GET THERE FACTS STRAIGHT!
as for strato boy alot of damage has bn done get him on a plant and keep him in the sun as long as you can. also try to get sowbugs breeding they are high in calcium and (my theory) will help reverse this if it can be reversed. get him to a vet ASAP.

 

[Elizadolots]

stratoboy, I want to say something.

You've been told your chameleon cannot recover from this and that is true. The damage is done. However, there have been many inspirational stories on this board of animals who developed severe MBD but, when given the proper nutrition and husbandry, went on to live for years and do quite well. He will always be a disabled chameleon, but he can be a good pet for you.

Please do not despair. Take the advice you've been given and make things right for your chameleon. They are remarkable animals and one of the most remarkable things is their ability to rebound from bad situations.

 

[stratoboy]

Just a quick note to update everyone on Charlie. He is doing better. We nursed him over the long weekend until the vets for reptiles came back to work on Tuesday. We took him in and they give him calcium shots and fed him with a tube. He came back home and had so much more energy. We got him a real UVB light which he loves and continue to have the basking light on as well. I have been taking him out into the sun as well. He is goign to make it and is doing much better. He is still weak and I have to hand feed him crickets and give him his calcium medicine each day. But we are seeing progress for sure. So thank you all for your help. I will try to update again in a month or so as he will hopefully be using his legs a bit more and climbing. Right now he still stays low and lays on the ground a lot.

 

[okiroo]

Just a quick note to update everyone on Charlie. He is doing better. We nursed him over the long weekend until the vets for reptiles came back to work on Tuesday. We took him in and they give him calcium shots and fed him with a tube. He came back home and had so much more energy. We got him a real UVB light which he loves and continue to have the basking light on as well. I have been taking him out into the sun as well. He is goign to make it and is doing much better. He is still weak and I have to hand feed him crickets and give him his calcium medicine each day. But we are seeing progress for sure. So thank you all for your help. I will try to update again in a month or so as he will hopefully be using his legs a bit more and climbing. Right now he still stays low and lays on the ground a lot.

thats so wonderful that your doing that for your cham. best of luck.

 

[suzi]

thats so wonderful that your doing that for your cham. best of luck.

I second that, please keep us posted!!!

 

[SonTigerPantherCham]

A couple of soft towels on the bottom of his cage will help if he falls.
I want to add that this is my experience with mbd...you are going to think he is doing better and maybe miss a day here and there with his meds, perfectly normal. But in cases of mbd, you Must remain diligent for a pretty long time to continue his progress. But he will progress, I promise

 

[kinyonga]

The floor of the cage is the safest place for him...but just make sure the UVB can reach him. Some people put them in long low cages while they recover.

 

[Elizadolots]

That's great to hear, stratoboy!

 

[Dawniegirl]

YAYYY!!! I was reading your thread when you first posted and rooting for Charlie. I'm so glad to hear he's improving .. keep up the good work. I know it can be hard to do (I'm going through a rough time too w/ my lil guy) but so worth it. Keep posting his updates!

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."I cannot give him calcium if he is not eating. help!!! "...why can't you get liquid calcium into him when he's not eating? What is in the liquid calcium you are using on him?

 

[stratoboy]

I got some from the Doc. Straight calcium. When I pick him up he opens his mouth probably because he is mad but I just put it in there. I have been doing the same with feeders cause he will still not eat them on his own yet. He is looking good but healing on his back legs. They look pretty bad so it will take some time.