Help with vet costs.

[ZEROPILOT]

I know you just spent a lot of money at the vet for your chameleon but you might try and find a better vet who has more experience treating MBD in reptiles, and especially chameleons. While your vet did correct procedures such as taking x-rays to confirm the MBD and then administering the liquid calcium to help stop the progression, I believe there might be some steps missing in stopping the progression of the MBD immediately (?) so that it does not get worse in the time being (because you cannot reverse it) and also weighing the chameleon to give you a proper dosage of the liquid calcium (how much per day). You do not want to over supplement your chameleon. I am not well versed on what calcium levels are supposed to look like in a healthy panther chameleon but if your guys' levels are far off and your vet saw this, from what I believe, they should have administered an injection of some type of liquid calcium and then another injection which helps the chameleon bind the calcium to his bones so that the MBD does not get worse but I have never dealt with MBD and hopefully someone with experience chimes in to correct me where I may be wrong.

As you stated, though, proper care while your chameleon adjusts is key. I would try and get him as much natural sunlight as possible throughout this process.

*** Look at Kiyonga's post here https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/topical-calcium-drops-for-mbd.34120/ Post #17

She didn't give the injection because the blood calcium and phosphorus levels were in the normal range already.
We don't know if the Chameleon is already recovering or still declining since there is no baseline.
And the dosage of 0.01 was based on current weight.
I'll be weighing once a week for now

 

[Pickle-cham]

Isn't liquid calcium 0.1ml per 100g of weight? Im getting some from someone who imports it from US it isnt available in uk without a vet. I plan to administer a few doses after egg laying not mbd could be totally different liquid calcium

 

[Pickle-cham]

Isn't liquid calcium 0.1ml per 100g of weight? Im getting some from someone who imports it from US it isnt available in uk without a vet. I plan to administer a few doses after egg laying not mbd could be totally different liquid calcium

Scrap my comment obviously different mols as the liquid calcium im getting is oral administered rather than injection

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

.... I use a solar meter and 14 percent and 12 percent but I free range so the closest horizantal branch is in the 3 UVI... 3 feet away, sometimes they climb closer and chose their time at their level, but for kids and new owners how will they know 3 UVI ?

They won't. A UV meter should be included on all lists as a required piece of equipment—just as much as a proper enclosure, supplements, lighting, etc. Thermometers & hygrometers are required for measuring & monitoring temperature & humidity; a UV meter is required for measuring & monitoring UVB. It's a cost of getting into this "hobby". This is not just my opinion—many others agree.

Like enclosures, feeder cups, drainage systems & other equipment, UV meters can also be DIY for a fraction of the cost.

If they wont pay for a $69 dollar light they are not going to pay for a $250 solarmeter. I take them in when people don't want to pay the vet bills or buy the proper lights and supplements necessary and they are dying! AND THER ARE SO MANY DAILY, IT BREAKS MY HEART, I want to learn FROM YOU how to help them care of their own pets properly when I see them leave their pets. I know we are all here to help these amazing animals. Thank you.

Honestly I wonder how to spread the word on it too. I see it constantly on Instagram from kids using bulb UVB which is poor.

This situation—getting a pet on impulse (cuz it'd be "cool") only to dump it later instead of caring for it properly—isn't confined to chameleons or reptiles; it applies to ALL pets. Consider the baby bunnies & chicks at Easter, the Chihuahua & Dalmatian puppies after movies like Beverly Hills Chihuahua or 101 Dalmatians, and the chameleons after Rango and Tangled. ("Oh, I have to pay [VET*] bills? Well, then nevermind. Get rid of it and make it someone else's problem") Don't get me started on how many animals have suffered and/or been abandoned and/or destroyed due to Disney. It's a perennial problem that's always been around & always will be as long as humans act on emotion & impulse rather than reason & reflection.

Animals are considered property—a commodity—in our culture, and until that attitude changes, the heartbreak will continue.

*Fill in the blank

 

[ZEROPILOT]

If I didn't already own a 6.5r. I'd buy it now

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Interesting
The spot in my yard that I'm letting my MBD afflicted Chameleon hang out in just tested at 2.9 on my UV meter!
That and the fact that it's 79 degrees outside are just perfect.
I've never tested outdoors uvb before.
It's an invaluable tool.