curved casque help

[jrod010]

Hello,
New to the forum, I have a veiled and have had him about a month and a half, was about 5 weeks old when I got him.

A week or so ago he was basking under the UVB light and I noticed a bump and then a curve in his casque. I am well educated about MBD, crickets are gutloaded with fruits and veggies, dusted with 2:1 calcium dust and vitamin dust. The vitamin dust I did use for about a week on its own because it had calcium, come to find out less than a 3rd of the 2:1, so now back to a combination of the two. He usually gets the crickets about 3 a day and 3 dusted mealworms. The bulbs run about 12 hours a day, some times more, sometimes less, haven't grabbed a timer yet. He doesn't show the limb disfigurement of advanced MBD, he doesn't lay down, or close his eyes during the day, he is active, chases down the crickets, has a nice non-mood color. Has shed twice in the time I have had him.

Now, I know sometimes curves can happen in the casque from hereditary factors. I know sometimes the curve can straighten as it grows (or get worse). However, I have never seen a picture of a curve not attributed to MBD so I have some pics to see if this is acceptable curving (as in not because of MBD) or is this considered drastic or somewhere inbetween. Also, it should be noted his casque is firm, not rubbery like advanced MBD.

Lastly, the bump on the casque has me curious, is it bone showing from the curve? Is it the muscle to his jaw showing? and, is it a health issue.

Sorry if it is picture overload

 

[Brad Ramsey]

My male veiled has a bit of a curve to his casque....does not have MBD.
The only thing I have to say about your post is that vitamin supps and calcium supps should not be mixed in the same feeding.
Absorbtion of calcium can be inhibited by doing this.
I supplement with a vitamin (herptivite) twice a month on it's own day and
calcium w/ D3 every 7 to 10 days
Calcium w/out D3 2 to 4 times a week
but never mix any of them.
I'm not sure you should be too worried about the bend....but I'm not a vet.
You should find a reptile vet anyway (if you don't already have one) and start to develop a relationship with a basic wellness check....at which time you can ask about his casque.

-Brad

 

[jrod010]

Thanks, for feed back, I actually haven't mixed the vitamins and calcium yet, although I had wondered if it was a good idea or not, now I know.

 

[quikksilver8]

Why is mixing the vitamins bad?

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Could very well be a minor symptom of a minor case of MBD. It's extremely common with them.

In my experience, it usually occurs shortly after the purchase, shows up (sometimes resulting in a tiny minor deformity, sometimes nothign is to show).

Some breeders of calyptratus provide food on a consistent basis - it never runs out. There are some that extend daylight to over 12 hours, intentionally. It results in faster growth.

Faster growth means they're bigger, sooner. The faster they're of sellable age, the greater the profit. Also, wouldnt' you THINK a bigger baby is healthier??

Opinions differ, especially with other species, but with calyptratus, accelerated growth can result from feeding large quantities of food. This results in a much higher rate of MBD.

I have purchased many veileds that manifested MBD, despite being given care that has been proven over nearly 15 years. Symptoms ranged from somethign like what you picture above, to severe, fatal MBD - and the one that died was given SUNLIGHT!

So, IF it is a sign on mbd, odds are you had nothing to do with it. Flex the casque - is it rigid? If it's solid bone, and not flexible, like the cartilidge of your nose, then it's already ossified.

 

[Fate X]

what do you mean ossified?

 

[kinyonga]

Ossified means hardened....changed from cartiledge to bone basically.

 

[kinyonga]

jrod010...is that little bump growing? Hard or soft?

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Animals with mild MBD will have soft casques - you can bend them slightly to the side and back (BE CAREFUL!!!!). Animals that do not have MBD, or have recovered (they usually do after their growth spurt slows down), have a very hard casque,a nd you should not be able to EVER move it. In my opinion, the best way to tell if somethign has MBD or not, as the bones of the casque will be soft long before the legs bow. And you sure as heck shouldn't be trying to bend their legs.

 

[jrod010]

It is the same size as when I first saw it. It also seems to be hard, the tip of my finger is as big as his head so its hard to really isolate touching that small bump though. To my un-PhD eyes it looks like the end of a bone with skin wrapped around it. So I have been trying to find vet journals about the casque to see if the crests or edges of the casque is also where the bone is located, or is the bone actually located a little ways in from edges.

I wish there was a specialist vet where I lived. Cham seems to still be fine, active, eating, healthy color, growing, moving, and his casque is firm, with a little pressure (being careful) his casque doesn't bend and the only way to move it is if the pressure causes him to turn his head so i don't push any harder.

 

[KimJoy]

I've got the same issue. My sister and I, after loads of research, bought a male veiled about 7 months of age (guessing). We bought it from a store who kept him in a 10 gallon glass tank with a very small UVB light. He looked VERY stressed even in the cage, let alone when the man took him out. We bought him for about 130$ and he was fine when we got him. I was getting worried about breathing problems because i read if kept in a glass aquarium for too long they can develop them, but i see no signs. Anyway, his casque is curve aswell, we use repto-cal on every cricket and he has a power sun 5.0 UVB bulb on 10-12 hours a day. He is fairly big and I was curious too if it would eventually straighten.