Help chameleon noob, im EXTREMELY worried

[Scott85]

She does need a trip to the vet. Even in the pic of when you first got her, the back leg looks all wonky. The vet will be able to tell the state of her bones. They do this by gentle squeezing the back of their head. Gently is the key word when they are suspected of MBD. Their skull should feel as firm as your kuckle, if its bendy thats really bad. The vet can give a shot of calcium, D3 and fluids. Then another shot to draw the calcium into the bones. Everything that is bent will stay that way but it will harden up and be less prone to breaking.

The MBD and low calcium levels alone could account for the sunken eyes. Or it could be a slew of other things. General dehydration for one. That however will also lead to impaction, constipation, which will also cause the sunken look. Also if she happened to ingest one of the wood chips, that would cause her impaction. Have you seen any fecals from her lately?

As far as your humidity issue, as already mentioned its kind of secondary atm. However I know what you mean about the heat and humidity battle. Live plants help a TON. If you just have a black thumb then the next best thing in my experience is silk plants combined with the plastic, and lots of them. The silk tends to soak up the water and release it a little slower. Another point to mention is that she should really be in a screen enclosure to allow for more air circulation. That presents even more problems when it comes to keeping in humidity in cold climates. Ultrasonic humidifiers work great on the screen cages, but they will fog out an exoterra in no time flat.

 

[mariovr4]

Thank you very much for asnwering.. to all. Does she look gravid to you? i have this fish tank that im guessing wont do but i thought ill ask its 24*12*12height. I put her here while i clean the cage. Ill get a bigger bin/trashcan.

 

[carol5208]

One thing I notice is that you have one of those cruddy analog thermometers-I guarantee you that it is not giving you the right temps-so you could be overheating her and dehydrating her even more. You need to get a digital thermometer with a probe tomorrow and get a good idea of temps. How cold is it in the room where the cham is? I imagine even if the room is cool, a 60 watt lightbulb will heat up that 12X12X18 (which is far too small for a Veiled of either sex) quite nicely. Take the saran wrap off the top or you are causing a damp stagnant environment and will cause even more issues. She needs some airflow in there. The big problem is that you cannot put a laying bin in there-the cage is just too small. So-you either need a bigger cage or you need to get something like a 13+ gallon or larger garbage can and fill it about 12" deep with organic soil, or a mix of playsand and organic soil or playsand and coconut fiber, and put her in it to see if she will dig and lay if she needs to. You will need to keep the bin warm-meaning in the low to mid 70's-you could do that by clamping a light to the edge and shining it down. BUT-the big problem is we don't know exactly what is wrong with her, be it that she is getting eggbound and going downhill, or is she is suffering from advanced MBD-which not only causes bone issues but orgain failure. AND-the more you mess with her the more stressed and ill she will become. Your best bet is to get into a Vet that knows about chameleons to find out exactly what you need to do. You absolutley need to get a UVB light and start supplementing her correctly. Too much D3 or vitamins will also do harm.

thanks Julirs! I think though in the first post she said her cage was 2 X 2 X 3?

 

[Scott85]

The best position to take a pic for us to judge if she is gravid would be looking down at her back. Focused in just on her. But it is getting late and she should be sleeping. If you are going to goto the vet tomorrow, and its one experienced with exotics, they will know right away.

 

[carol5208]

you don't want any lights on in the cage at night!!! They cannot sleep with the lights on!!!

 

[Julirs]

thanks Julirs! I think though in the first post she said her cage was 2 X 2 X 3?

In the picture it certainly is not 2 feet wide. Looks like an 12X12X18 tall Exo to me.

 

[carol5208]

In the picture it certainly is not 2 feet wide. Looks like an 12X12X18 tall Exo to me.

you are probably right, I was just saying that is what she posted! You would know better than me that is for sure!

 

[mariovr4]

Its 12x12x18 is my mistake.

 

[Julirs]

you are probably right, I was just saying that is what she posted! You would know better than me that is for sure!

LOL-it is sometimes hard to tell from pics-but I am sitting next to a 12X12X18 Exo right now with a gecko staring at me!

 

[carol5208]

LOL-it is sometimes hard to tell from pics-but I am sitting next to a 12X12X18 Exo right now with a gecko staring at me!

See I told you, you would know better than me...and you were right!!! lol!!! G

 

[mariovr4]

Yeah last time there was dark(poop) was about 3 days ago but she hasnt eaten in maybe even 8 days (except for two worm i put in her mouth when she had it open she ate them by her self 3 days ago and today)

 

[Elizadolots]

This is possibly minor next to the other concerns, but if the birds are within eye sight of the chameleon, you might want to change that. Cover the side of the cage or something. While your birds are small, they could still be viewed as predators and so contribute to the stress level.

 

[mariovr4]

she didnt seemed stressed, they werent directly in her field of vision but the ocasional(once every two days) flight that they do around the whole house being annoying and loud lol. For the most part they sing quietly and they go all around the house. I dont think they could be that stressfull. Beause they sit at a far end of the room and just eat their wooden stuff away eat food or sleep... I love my budgies too =P wrong forum but budgies are tons of fun when they human friendly

 

[mariovr4]

Sometimes the cham would want to roam around my bed and didn't seem to even notice my birds even when they flew over(5 feet above) her. I presented the cham to the birds as well and the birds just slightly moved away the cham just sat there look at them then kept looking around not even caring about them. She really liked sitting or my hair sometimes for some reason. I really want her to get better =[

 

[kinyonga]

She definitely has MBD...indicated by the crooked bones in the arms, etc. She isn't showing gravid colors, but maybe because she's not doing well, she won't....so I would treat her like she was until we know.

I would put an opaque container of washed sand in the cage as big as you can fit in there (at least 9" x9" x9")...and take the substrate out.

Until you get to the vet (which IMHO is very important to do asap), you could get some calcium sandoz or calcium gluconate at the pharmacy and give her some with a syringe (that has no needle) or an eye dropper. Its easier for her system to absorb this type of calcium. Be sure to ease it into her mouth slowly because these are syrupy and hard for them to swallow...and you don't want to get it into her lungs. If you drip water on her nose to get her drinking you can slip it in a little at a time as her mouth opens and shuts to drink. She needs to be able to sit in range of the UVB too.

Did you read the long post I already provided in this thread?

I'm posting this now and will continue in another post in a few minutes.

 

[kinyonga]

I just looked and the size of the cage with the blue towel on it might be okay to put her in if she starts to dig....it needs more branches and would need the UVB light to be over top of it.

Did you say you have a UVB light now? (I don't want to read through all those pages again to see that.) If so, what brand and type (compact, spiral, long linear, etc.)

 

[mariovr4]

Compact 5.0 uv i bought it like 4 days ago. before that a normal curly fry bulb (this was all given to me i assumed he knew what he was doing then i read about a bunch of stuff and slowly started changing it) She might be dehydrated from a while ago because she rarely ever drinks still water so i started giving her water like 3 weeks ago she drinks alot but only every other day. is it okay if i feel that to lets say 7 inhes of dirt/sand/water mix(solid blend soft to dig) and only give her 6 inches of the rest??
\

and yes i did

 

[farrahsc]

Your only misting her enclosure every other day?

 

[mariovr4]

no i mist her 3 -4 times its very dry here. She only drinks every other day

 

[kinyonga]

The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts can cause eye issues and other health issues...so that might have something to do with her shutting her eyes. If that's the UVB light on the side of the cage with the blue towel on it, the UVB will do her no good...it shouldn't pass through glass or plastic.

(BTW...take the towel off the top of the cage if you are leaving her in it...I would also take out the substrate and give her a few more branches.