around 2 weeks ago and today i noticed that my panther chameleon was letting a back leg hang when standing on a stick so i looked it up and read about gout, his back ankles are slightly swollen i believe it is from overfeeding or maybe too much protein. when i first saw it it was after like 4 straight feedings of silkworms because the lowest amount you can order is 50 and they grow very quick, he is normally given roaches, crickets, and then wax worms as a treat. what do you guys recommend i feed him and how often
gout
- Thread starter plzhelp
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elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
I don't think silks will give your chams gout? I believe I have heard of a few people that pretty much only feed their chams silks but I could be wrong.
If it is gout I think your little one will need to see a vet to get on medications. I've attached a spreadsheet with recommended exotic vets with chameleon care experience, check it out and see if you can find anyone close to your area.
Can you post pictures of your baby? Focus on the area of concern so we can get a good visual.
@kinyonga @Beman @MissSkittles - Can you help with possible gout?
If it is gout I think your little one will need to see a vet to get on medications. I've attached a spreadsheet with recommended exotic vets with chameleon care experience, check it out and see if you can find anyone close to your area.
Can you post pictures of your baby? Focus on the area of concern so we can get a good visual.
@kinyonga @Beman @MissSkittles - Can you help with possible gout?
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
I’d really like to see some pics of the bad leg/s. I don’t believe silkworms would cause gout. I’ve heard that a prolonged diet of only roaches may cause or contribute heavily to gout, but no other feeder. If anything, the high water content of silkworms would be helping the kidneys and possibly diluting uric acid (is just a guess). It might be an injury or something else.
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
gout is caused by feeding feeders with high uric acid.
Dubia can cause it if you feed them a high protein diet meant for crickets. Other insects can cause it if they are feed pretty much "fish food flakes".
Dubia can cause it if you feed them a high protein diet meant for crickets. Other insects can cause it if they are feed pretty much "fish food flakes".
hello thank you guys very much for helping, so i brought him to the vet around 2 weeks ago for a different reason and i brought up that i questioned if he had gout because i saw him hang one of his legs off a branch, i don’t have a picture of it but it but i found one online. (last slide) she said if the gout is just from over feeding than to give half as many feedings as normal and it likely wouldn’t need any medications but if it gets worse get it checked up again. then she said to test for gout she would need to poke his vein or some line under his butt to get blood out and she kept on saying fingers crossed everything goes okay which made me not want do that just yet as well as my vet bill was already around $800. i really believe it’s from overeating because that week i first noticed it was the week i gave him 4 feedings of silks and he would eat around 6 every feeding as well as he is normally a good eater with a thick tail and thick forehead. he has also been overly pissed off lately he used to never get mad at me but recently he puffs up like crazy and opens his mouth and sometimes shakes cause he’s so angry. the swollen back legs aren’t noticeable when his leg is straight or in a forewords position but when they’re a little bit behind him you can see that they are a little bit swollen. i noticed him hanging a back leg for the first time around 2 weeks ago and saw it again yesterday. if the gout is from overfeeding how often do you guys recommend i feed him and how much? thank you guys for trying to help it means alot if there’s any way to donate back to the server please let me know you guys help a lot. also i would like to add that this vet said she is trained very well for reptiles but she is not a full on exotics vet she just treats the all the reptiles that go in there but she said she has previously owned chameleons and works on reptiles everyday she sounded very knowledgeable but when she told me that it kinda weirded me out and made me definitely not want to do that blood sample and is the reason i am trying to get second thoughts thanks again
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oh okay i don’t feed him excessive discoids for it to be from that it would have to be from something else then thank you for your help
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
That’s a really expensive vet bill for not even having done any labs. For that much of a bill, you could drive to Orlando to see Dr Bogoslavsky and have labs and x rays done. I don’t see much out of the ordinary from your pics. Is he using the leg when he walks and moves around? Does he grip your hand with it when you hold him? Obviously something is going on for him to be dangling a leg, but what that is, I don’t know. Blood work will show if there’s high uric acid levels, which is the best way to determine gout. Btw, it is accepted and is the routine to draw blood from the caudal vein in the tail. Wish I could give you a better answer, but I just don’t have one.
As for giving back to the forum, the best way to do that is to stay active - keep sharing, asking questions and learning. Follow the forum on social media and share some of the posts on your feed. Those are the best ways to give back.
As for giving back to the forum, the best way to do that is to stay active - keep sharing, asking questions and learning. Follow the forum on social media and share some of the posts on your feed. Those are the best ways to give back.
we’ll i took him in to see the vet for early signs of respiratory problems i saw him sticking his nose up in the sky making a weird shape for around 10 seconds after giving water with his eyes closed so i took him in and they did xrays on him and gave me some antibiotics even though she said his lungs looked very clean and she sees nothing but that she wants to send it to another vet who specializes looking at xrays. it was actually a little over $600 because i took off the bloodwork but that is still very expensive i agree. he does still have a good grip and hangs on his back legs whenever he wants but sometimes his grip does look slightly loose with one leg on the stick, he is still pretty active again maybe a little bit less than normal tho and alot of the time watching him walk he carefully uses his back legs placing them on stick and while moving them. i don’t know if you know anything about respiratory problems but i asked the vet if you don’t see anything in his lungs at all but i saw him pointing his nose in the sky is it possible that just that one time of him drinking water it could have like “went down a wrong pipe“ as we say it or just irritated him that one time and it’s not respiratory problems yet and she said that yes that is possible cause i see online that when they do that motion that means there is respiratory problemsThat’s a really expensive vet bill for not even having done any labs. For that much of a bill, you could drive to Orlando to see Dr Bogoslavsky and have labs and x rays done. I don’t see much out of the ordinary from your pics. Is he using the leg when he walks and moves around? Does he grip your hand with it when you hold him? Obviously something is going on for him to be dangling a leg, but what that is, I don’t know. Blood work will show if there’s high uric acid levels, which is the best way to determine gout. Btw, it is accepted and is the routine to draw blood from the caudal vein in the tail. Wish I could give you a better answer, but I just don’t have one.
As for giving back to the forum, the best way to do that is to stay active - keep sharing, asking questions and learning. Follow the forum on social media and share some of the posts on your feed. Those are the best ways to give back.
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thank you very much what do you think would be a good feeder for him low in proteins and uritic acid or is there anything that i can do to help him if it is from over feeding? i remember the vet said if it’s just from overfeeding you can just lower the amount of feedings you give and it can get better in some cases is that true? she wasn’t an exotics vet but works on a lot of exotics that’s why i question some of the stuff she says.
elizaann2
Chameleon Enthusiast
I would just avoid the roaches for now honestly. Maybe give more feeders that have more hydration to them to see if that helps? Keep him well hydrated. Keep an eye on him and continue to gather information. I don’t have any experience with this either but based on the info @MissSkittles and @nightanole thats what I would do. Maybe consider seeing a different vet.
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