Has anyone seen this before?

[iya78]

My little female chameleon who is about 6 month now is going through another shed, so I have been frequently spraying her. Today a little while after I gave her a little mist I decided to take a nap and when I woke not even a half hour later she was on the bottom of her cage with her back legs stuck to her side. I took her out and tried to get them loose, thinking they were stuck on her shedding skin, but at a closer look, it looks as though she may have hurt herself. But what are the odds of that. I just seen her fine chillin at the top if her branch, and now struggling to even walk. Has anyone ever had a problem like this? I am so worried?

 

[Rosie42892]

My little female chameleon who is about 6 month now is going through another shed, so I have been frequently spraying her. Today a little while after I gave her a little mist I decided to take a nap and when I woke not even a half hour later she was on the bottom of her cage with her back legs stuck to her side. I took her out and tried to get them loose, thinking they were stuck on her shedding skin, but at a closer look, it looks as though she may have hurt herself. But what are the odds of that. I just seen her fine chillin at the top if her branch, and now struggling to even walk. Has anyone ever had a problem like this? I am so worried?

The chameleons have been known to fall. If I were you I would get her to the vet as soon as possible.

 

[kinyonga]

Do you have a UVB light on the cage? Does the light from it pass through glass or plastic? How close can the chameleon sit to the UVB? Does it get any direct sunlight?

What specific supplements do you use and how often for each?

What do you gutload/feed to your insects specifically?

What's the temperature in the cage?

 

[iya78]

Do you have a UVB light on the cage? Does the light from it pass through glass or plastic? How close can the chameleon sit to the UVB? Does it get any direct sunlight?

What specific supplements do you use and how often for each?

What do you gutload/feed to your insects specifically?

What's the temperature in the cage?

The light passes through a wire top. She can sit about 4 inches from the light, and many branches to get further away, but she likes her top branch. She has not had direct sunlight yet.

I use repti calcium with D3, I use it about once a week on three crickets.
I gutload my crickets prior to feeding with carrots.

 

[jamncristian]

fill this out and be VERY specific, like is your UVB bulb compact or linear, 5.0 or 10.0
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[iya78]

The chameleons have been known to fall. If I were you I would get her to the vet as soon as possible.

My husband and son were in the room and they would havenoticed her fall, they notice everything she does. They just seen her struggling. At first he thought that her feet got stuck on the shed.

 

[iya78]

I just got her legs a little straight by guiding her to walk and hold on to her branch, she seems to be holding on better, and she moved a semi normal, she got them to grip and she seems to be exhausted.

 

[iya78]

fill this out and be VERY specific, like is your UVB bulb compact or linear, 5.0 or 10.0
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

I already filled one out not that long ago, do I need to fill one out everytime? Just a general question, not being a smart butt, I promise..
But I can tell you that I was told on this site not to use the light that I was using, which is a Exo Terra Sun Glow 25w uva, but when I went to go talk to my reptile pet store owner, he said that that bulb is fine and that both uva abd uvb provides thing that the reptile needs.

 

[jamncristian]

the reptile store owner just wants you to spend cash on things you dont need by telling you garbage & in your case DANGEROUS garbage. you need that zoomed 5.0 linear bulb because that compact bulb is going to make your cham blind. she probably fell

sorry if i sound like a jerk

 

[iya78]

After having a longer discussion with my husband, he told me that she was headed to the bottom of her cage and then her back legs got stuck on her shed and she then began struggling and having a hard time getting a grip to get her whole body back on the branch. When he noticed that she couldn't get her feet off her sides that is when he woke me. I then tried to straighten out her legs and tried to get rid of all the loose shed that was on her feet and her side. So I feel better with the thought of knowing that she did not fall.

 

[jamncristian]

I am glad she didnt fall but the UV bulb is still an issue that needs to be taken care of before something worse happens

promise me that you will do that for her

 

[iya78]

I am glad she didnt fall but the UV bulb is still an issue that needs to be taken care of before something worse happens

promise me that you will do that for her

I promise, it scares me to think that she can go blind. Thanks for your help and concerns.

 

[mrniceveiled]

Not every coil bulb causes blindness and you don't absolutely need to have that kind of bulb, just make sure the bulb you are using is safe!

 

[jamncristian]

Not every coil bulb causes blindness and you don't absolutely need to have that kind of bulb, just make sure the bulb you are using is safe!

these studies may have been made a while back, but over & over people come on the forums wondering why their cham is sleeping during the day and usually ends up being because they have a CFL (compact flourescent light) to provide UVB

the new zoomed compact bulbs might be safe but they have not been out long enough to determine they are safe

zoomed 5.0 is a trusted brand and is recommended by many people on the forums

better safe with a linear flourescent bulbthan sorry with a CFL

 

[kinyonga]

In a previous post I mentioned "You said you used a sun-glo bulb...I don't think it has any UVB...it says its broad spectrum (not full spectrum). If you have not been providing any UVB for your chameleon its quite likely that this combined with gutloading and supplements your chameleon has developed MBD. You need to take it to a vet to be sure.

In a previous post I told you what I gutload my insects with...you are gutloading them only with carrots, so you are likely missing a lot of nutrients that your chameleon should be getting through healthy gutloaded insects being fed to the chameleon.

In that same post I told you how I dusted /supplemented the insects...you have chosen to dust with "repti calcium with D3, I use it about once a week on three crickets".

Can you post some pictures of the chameleon please?

 

[Elizadolots]

iya, is this the bulb you have?

If so, it has no UVB.

It's possible she just injured herself (maybe even just a strain) when she got tangled up in her shed. The only way to really know is going to be to take her to a vet.

You know, if you wake up tomorrow and she's just fine, then maybe you don't need to do that, but if she's still struggling tomorrow, I'd see how quickly I could get her into the vet's office.

 

[xanthoman]

learn how to care for it "before" you get it

missed that, sorry/ the original poster would be well advised to seek vet care immediately, and read the following threads; http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/ https://www.chameleonforums.com/what-mbd-looks-like-38000/https://www.chameleonforums.com/updated-info-cf-uvb-lamps-29318/https://www.chameleonforums.com/basic-husbandry-38769/

 

[kinyonga]

Xanthoman...if you read post #15 in this thread you will see that I already told iya78 about gutloading, needing UVB and about supplements. I asked those questions to see if things had changed from the previous thread.

 

[Cham101]

Mbd

Without proper UVB they will easily develop Metabolic Bone Disease without that light. They will leach all the calcium out of their bones and can break really easily. I would take it to an exotic pet vetrinarian immediatly as it sounds like it is really not well.

 

[iya78]

Well just to let every one know, my little girl is doing better. She is still struggling to walk a little, but I got her to drink her medicine and she gathered her strength to eat, her color is now from a green and grey to a pretty bright green. She can stay perch on her branch. And almost all her shed is off.
Those of your who predicted metobolic bone disease, you were right. She now has to drink and be sprayed with a medicine that gives her electrolytes and vitamines, all sorts of things that is used to reverse this. And she is really much better. I also have to get her calcitonin, and of course get her the right light, which I was going to do this morning, but my local pet store was closed today, so I will be making that trip in the morning.
It is such a relief that she is doing better. It could have been prevented, I know, but when I went to purchase the light, I asked the pet store owner what size to use, and when I went to petsmart and purchased the light the package said 25 watts and did not say uva or uvb on the front, I guess I should have read the fine print. But when I was told through this forum, that my light was wrong, I went to my local pet store owner, and he told me they both provide the things that she needs, and that she will be okay. I honestly never heard of this before, I did research the health of a cham before I bought one, to make sure I can handle the demands and needs of one, I never heard of this. The pet store owner said that it is happening more and more in the chams lately. I am just happy that I caught it soon, I heard that her spine and mouth would have swelled, and would have suffered much much more, not saying that my poor little woman did not go through any drama, actually I am saying that I am sorry that she did.
So thank you all for all you concerns, and I hope you understand that I am trying to what is best, and all that is possible to make sure she is healthy and happy again....On the road to progress...