Dehydration?

[Bio123]

My cham Crix is doing great. He's puffing up when he want's to be alone. He eats like a pig, and his coloration changes gracefully. Yesterday, I noticed that his casque was bent. It's the slightest bend I have ever seen, but it's still existent. Is this due to dehydration, and will his casque straighten? I do give him supplements as suggested by many members, and my own requirements. I give him RepCal D3 once a week, Herptavite twice a week, and RepCal calcium every day. Here are the specs:

Cage Info: Recommended setup
Cage Type - Screen 24x24x48
Lighting - 60 watt Repti Sun incandescent heat bulb, Repti Sun 5.0 UVB light
Temperature - 95 degrees F basking temp, 80 degrees F normal temp, night down to 77 degrees F- analog & digital meter
Humidity - 65-70- analog & digital meter
Plants - Pothos, ginger, and umbrella. All live and healthy (He loves to eat em)
Placement - Across the room from a large window. Texas climate is very similar to Yemen, so I leave the window open sometimes.
Location - Houston, TX

Chameleon Info: FL Chams premium bloodlines, father is Newton.
Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon- Male, 3 1/2- 4 in.
Handling - once a week, just to check up on him
Feeding - crickets and ocasionally mealworms (though they are all beetles right now)
Supplements - RepCal Calcium w/o D3 or Phosphorous, RepCal Calcium w/ D3, Herptivite multivitamin.
Watering - Zoo Med Little Dripper, Pump spray mister (like the big apple mega mister)
Fecal Description - brown and white w/ slight yellow (so he seems to be hydrated, but i'm not sure)
History - Father:Newton, Age: 4 months old
Current Problem - as listed above

I honestly don't know what the problem is. I know that he has no parasites, or diseases (had a regular vet check his latest feces). They didn't know anything either. Help anyone?

 

[Bio123]

Haha, sorry about my Chams name. I wasn't paying attention. His name is Crypx.

 

[graydon]

is the cham's eyes sunken in?

 

[Bio123]

Nope. He seems just fine. Really active too. I'm just worried about his bent casque.

 

[Bio123]

Help? Anyone?

 

[jannb]

Here's an older thread about bent casque:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/bent-casque-24004/

 

[Bio123]

I just read through the post. I have the same exact problem. Is it a natural occurrence, because nobody directly answered the question in that post.

 

[Bio123]

Anyone have suggestions? I'm really concerned. I like every one else want my cham to look amazing. Please help!

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Could be anything from light intensity, over supplementation, or parasites.

My male basilisk has a 'curved' casque on his head and I have no idea why, he's never had any health problems and is much nicer than any other basilisk I've ever seen so I don't know.

As said in the other thread, maybe it's a normal abnormality lol.

 

[jojackson]

I dont think it has anything to do with your lizards state of hydration (which from your description, sounds fine)
I think its more likely to be a combination of overfeeding [He eats like a pig] causing rapid growth, and reliance on artificial uv and suppliments [Repti Sun 5.0 UVB light]
[RepCal Calcium w/o D3 or Phosphorous, RepCal Calcium w/ D3, Herptivite multivitamin.
] and lack of variety in the diet [crickets and ocasionally mealworms (though they are all beetles right now)]

This suggests to me your lizards growth and d3 uptake (suppliments/uv light) are not in balance. Your lizard may be growing faster than the developement of its bones (insufficient calcium). In order to use the calcium in food/suppliments, your lizard must get enough UV light (makes D3) to convert it in the body.

Ensure your artificial UV source is fresh (no older than 6 months) and that you still dont rely on it alone. Nothing beats natural light (no matter manufactures claims). Try to get your lizard outside as often as possible (buy a zip up screen cage if nessesary for this purpouse).

Vary its diet (different insects) as much as possible, and feed the insects fresh vegetables. (mealworms are better for birds imo.)
I dont think your lizards casque will straighten, but with sufficient diet/natural Uv it wont worsen.

 

[Bio123]

Thanks. I'll try that. From a close point of view, The casque is bent on the top most point. Only the front ridge is bent. the two side ridges are very straight. His newly developing casque is still very soft, so if I beef up his calcium and UVB, is there a chance for it to recover and become straight?

 

[jojackson]

Perhaps, but I wouldnt count on it. Sounds like a very minor thing anyway, not enough to spoil his looks. Best wishes

P.s Its not so much a matter of increasing the calcium (especially suppliments) ,so much as increasing the natural UV so he can convert it toward bone developement.
A more varied diet will increase calcium, but its no good to him if he cant use it.
Beware the suppliments, too much is just as unhealthy as too little, especially those that contain D3.

 

[Bio123]

I just went to check up on him now, and his casque is straight! It's a miracle! You can only see a microscopic curve, that is highly unnoticeable now. I keep looking at him, checking to see if my eyes are blurry or something, but they're not. Even if it was a slight bend, it doesn't look abnormal at all, now. Now i'm really curious as to why it was bent in the first place. Nevertheless, i'll still go with jojackson's plan.