Help please, Very sick!

kmorehouse

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - I think its a Female, She is Young (About 9grams, but she is sick) Veiled, in my care since October '10
Handling - Only when given medicine, daily BNP Ointment, Calcium
Feeding - Crickets, daily, 5-6
Supplements - Fluker's Calcium dust vitamin d3
Watering - Misting 4-6 times daily
Fecal Description - Hasnt been alot lately, i cleaned the cage recently (24th of last month) and only notice a few brown/white turds.
History - I took her to the Vet on the 24th and he was perscribed .01cc of calcium every 12 hours, weighed about 9grams when she should be around 15 grams. There was also a mass on her vent which i put BNP ointment on every 12 hours, and its healed alot!
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass with screen top. 19" high 12" wide
Lighting - 1030 am -1030pm Basking bulb, 5.0 26W Repti Glow UVB light (Just added a week ago)
Temperature - 75-85 degrees
Humidity - No gage as of now. =(
Plants - None of them are live, fake vines and limbs. is this a horrible thing?
Placement - is located in living room, high traffic every now and then, 3xs a week its heavy traffic. But not everyday.
Location - Midwest, USA
Current Problem - She has been at the bottom alot the past two days, i didnt notice her eating much so i hand fed about 4. 3 of which had been dusted with calcium. She is weak and seems like climbing and eating are too much of a task. i also noticed her digging at the back of the cage, which has "terranium dirt" at the bottom, she was digging at the peak of light that the poster wasnt covering on the back. i dont believe she could be gravid bc she is sooo small still. Ive also noticed a weird color change, stripes of green light/dark. and then some small blue spots.
&&
I had the Calcium Glubonate on the counter and when i got home i found that my dog had gotten ahold of it. It was on the floor with teeth marks all over it!.... so he hasnt had any in about a week. But I did get the UVB light finallly. I thought the one i had the whole time was ok, but i realized not.
 
Supplements - Fluker's Calcium dust vitamin d3
History - I took her to the Vet on the 24th and he was perscribed .01cc of calcium every 12 hours, weighed about 9grams when she should be around 15 grams. There was also a mass on her vent which i put BNP ointment on every 12 hours, and its healed alot!
Lighting - 1030 am -1030pm Basking bulb, 5.0 26W Repti Glow UVB light (Just added a week ago)
Humidity - No gage as of now. =(
Plants - None of them are live, fake vines and limbs. is this a horrible thing?

What do you feed your crickets? You must feed them well so they pass the good nutrition on to your cham. Just dusting them won't make much of a meal as pet shops don't usually feed their crickets much if anything. The lack of UVB light, poor nutrition, and possibly dehydration are probably the main issues.

You must find out what the cage humidity is...how far it ranges from high to low. If your cham is dehydrated much of the time it won't eat and will end up with other complications. Get a decent digital gauge, not the little cheap stick on ones from pet shops. Live potted plants will do wonders for cage humidity.

The link you were given is great guidance.
 
thank you guys!
And she wont eat anymore than about 6 a day. I just put a piece of an orange in the cricket container, do you think thats ok?

And I plan on getting some live plants.
 
Can you post a picture of her on your hand so I can see her size now, etc.?

You said you just changed the light a week ago to a Repti Glow UVB light...is she keeping her eyes open all day now?

She had a mass on her vent...did the vet put her on antibiotics? Did the vet test to see if it was fungal?

You said..."Ive also noticed a weird color change, stripes of green light/dark. and then some small blue spots"....does she have mustard/yellow splotches on her too?
 
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Ive also noticed a weird color change, stripes of green light/dark. and then some small blue spots.

I saw this also, kinyongia does this coloration indicate gravid?
May be carrying infertile eggs? Sounds way too small ????
watching this thread with great interest!........
 
One more thing...you said you use Fluker's Calcium dust vitamin D3...how often? Its recommended to use a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings, a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month and a vitamin powder with a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month.

jojackson...the way the colors were described, I'm not sure if its just upset or if its showing non-receptive/gravid. That's why I asked for the picture. There's a possibility of eggs if she's sexually mature, but I'm also wondering if that mass could be causing problems too. I'm not sure the light would be because I think the chameleon was already shutting its eyes in the daytime before the UVB light was put on the cage.
 
no mustard yellow. this photo was about three weeks ago.
She has been keeping her eyes shut since the new bulb, i shut off her basking bulb for the moment, to see if that helps. her temps are still above 75
 

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Eyes were not shut as often until i put that light in there. i have one lamp with a dial for how intense the light is, Maybe i should swith it to that?

And the doctor didnt want to take a sample of the mass, bc she is so small, but the mass has gotten much smaller,shes had it about a month.
I've been noticing this change in her since the new light.
I read up on the baby's through the link above and i'd been using the d3 dust about once a week until i noticed her sick the first time, when i got the ointment, and liquid calcium. then i started to try every other feeding. but that was just two weeks ago and now shes not eating right. i hand fed her 3 dusted crickets last night! still just as sick as yesterday. i tried to do the same today and she just keeps her eyes closed. and wont hiss or even try to open.
 
Some of the UVB lights can cause health issues and eye problems. You can read about it here....
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

There are some fungal infections that can't just be treated by putting something on them (like Nannissiopsis vriesii, for instance)...they need to be given oral anti-fungal meds like itraconazole or ketaconazole as well. It might be too late to test to see if that's what it is or not....but your chameleon is sick and I think it may still need a vet...if its not the light that is the problem.
 
I called the vet tonight, they said to call the office in the morning so i think we'll be going tomorrrow.

Thank you ALL very much
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - I think its a Female, She is Young (About 9grams, but she is sick) Veiled, in my care since October '10
Handling - Only when given medicine, daily BNP Ointment, Calcium
Feeding - Crickets, daily, 5-6Need more variety silkworms, hornworms, dubai roaches, superworms, mealworms, green leaf lettuce
Supplements - Fluker's Calcium dust vitamin d3repcal calcium w/o d3 every feeding, repcal calcium w/d3 twice a month, repcal herptivite twice a month
Watering - Misting 4-6 times daily good
Fecal Description - Hasnt been alot lately, i cleaned the cage recently (24th of last month) and only notice a few brown/white turds.
History - I took her to the Vet on the 24th and he was perscribed .01cc of calcium every 12 hours, weighed about 9grams when she should be around 15 grams. There was also a mass on her vent which i put BNP ointment on every 12 hours, and its healed alot!
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass with screen top. 19" high 12" widecage needs to be bigger. could be a possible reason for digging.
Lighting - 1030 am -1030pm Basking bulb, 5.0 26W Repti Glow UVB light (Just added a week ago) proper times on and off. im not a fan of the coil bulbs. i have used them on my bearded dragons and everytime i get that same result. there eyes are shut all day long. you will need to spend some money on a linear tube set up.
Temperature - 75-85 degrees
Humidity - No gage as of now. =(
Plants - None of them are live, fake vines and limbs. is this a horrible thing?no as long as she has enough foliage to feel safe.
Placement - is located in living room, high traffic every now and then, 3xs a week its heavy traffic. But not everyday.make sure the cage is high up in the room.
Location - Midwest, USA


personally some things need to change for you gale to even try and make a recovery. change you bulbs for the eyes and hydrate . she looks very skinny to me and she also looks dehydrated. dont know how old she is but she is probably digging for two reasons. she needs a laying bin for eggs or unhappy with cage. just an assumption. if you are spraying 4-6 times a day how long are you spraying for? sorry if i offend you but this chameleon honestly looks neglected. here is a basic care sheet.

Cage:24x24x48' SCREEN cage lots of rope, vines and live plants if you can. live plants will help with the humidity. make sure you cover the soil with screen. put cage as high up in the room as you can. not near any vents, fans or windows. No substrate..If you are one that has to have soemthing i the bottom of the cage put paper towel down.

Lighting: 5.0 reptisun or reptiglo linear tube (length depends on cage size)/house hold bulb for basking. the house bulb watt will depend on how far your nearest branch is from the light and your ambient room temps.
***change bulbs every 6 months.

Temps: basking temp around 85*/ ambient temps 72* measure by digital guages.

Hydration: manual spray 2-5 minutes/2-3 times a day. provide a dripper.

Feeders: gutload (24 hours before feeding) with fresh veggies and fruits and once a week with sticky tongues gutload. Crickets, mealworms, superworms, silkworms, hornworms, dubai roaches, reptiworms, BB flies.

Supplements: repcal calcium w/o d3 every feeding, repcal calcium w/d3 twice a month, repcal herptivite twice a month
 
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