From Other Thread- Grabbing Feet/Tail a Concern?

[KatelinLovesCommah]

Your Chameleon - 10 Month old Vield, Male.
Handling - About every other day- not forced.
Feeding - Crickets (1/2 inch) 10-20 a day. Dubia Roaches (1/4-1/2 inch) 2 a day. Hormworms (Med) 1 a day every other day. Mealworms/Superworms 1 a month for snack. Silkworms or Calci worms when I can get them (usally about 1ce a month- maybe every other month) usually 1-3 a day when I have them.
Supplements- Calicum without D3 Every feeding, Calcium with D3 two times a month, Herpitive two times a month.
Water: Misting 2-3 times for about 30 seconds each time. Ice melting over cage all day (dripping down plant_.
Fecal- normal on a daily basis. done when I first got him, all clear.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Reptibreeze 24x24x48
Lighting - 1 UVA/UVB bulb on for 12 hours a day.
Temperature - at the bottom its around 72- goes up to around 80 through cage. Right at basking, its around 92.
Humidity - kept between 50-80. Spikes while misting, never drops below 48.
Plants - pathos, others are artifical.
Placement - in warm bedroom, room humidified with warm mist; heater on for bearded dragon too.
Location - New York, USA.

Current Problem: Sometimes Commah grabs his own feet with his tail. He doesn't do it normally, or when he's under normal circumstances, but sometimes when he is nervous or moving fast, or unsteady on his leaf/plant, he panicks and wraps his tail around his own foot (for stabbility I assumed..?) I answered a question on another thread and some poeple said it could be a MBD def. Please let me know

 

[KatelinLovesCommah]

Oh, P.S.- I feed all of my feeders with oranges, kale, other fruits and veggies, bug burger (with crushed cat food made with the mix), also they have unlimited supply of water crystals.

 

[sandrachameleon]

couple suggestions: take cat food out of your gutload mix. dont use kale too often (moderate oaxlic acid and goitrogenic). mist more (3-5 minutes per session) and replace ice cubes with a dripper

if he's only wrapping his tail around his feet on rare occassion (once every couple months) then its no big deal. If he grabs one foot with another and quickly realizes his error and repositions its no big deal. However if he is frequently grabbing one foot with another (usually a hind leg will grab a foreleg) or frequently catching himself with his tail, you may have a problem.

Some info on gutloading:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/659-green-leafy-goodness-gutloading.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/443-superworm-substrate-gutload-one.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...just-crickets-roaches-gutload-everything.html

 

[KatelinLovesCommah]

couple suggestions: take cat food out of your gutload mix. dont use kale too often (moderate oaxlic acid and goitrogenic). mist more (3-5 minutes per session) and replace ice cubes with a dripper

if he's only wrapping his tail around his feet on rare occassion (once every couple months) then its no big deal. If he grabs one foot with another and quickly realizes his error and repositions its no big deal. However if he is frequently grabbing one foot with another (usually a hind leg will grab a foreleg) or frequently catching himself with his tail, you may have a problem.

Thanks for your reply. We only use a tablespoon or two of cat food- and that's my fiance's decision because her Dubias love it. haha. I'll try to get her to eliminate it We never use kale unless her BD refuses to eat it, either. Thanks for all the links about gutloading.

We've bought a couple drippers and they never seem to work very well... but their is an upcoming expo so maybe I will see what they have there.Yeah we minimally mist him 3-4 times a day... usually he gets much more often. Thats just when the "timer" goes off to do it. We try to do it by hand every time we past his cage.

I just got worried about everyone pointing fingers at MBD. He only does it when hes scared. He NEVER grabs his own feet. Just his feet with his tail. It seems like he's looking for stability.

Oh well- we will make some minor changes and see whats up with him.