Hi ya, I,ve had my 5 monthish male veiled for 8 days now. I posted on here about breathing/squeeking while in the shower. He still does that some in the shower but not much, and not at all out of the shower. My question about becoming properly hydrated again. How long does it take? Should I be doing more or does it take longer? I have been expecting to see a healthy cham since I have been doing the showers but he still looks dehydrated to me. I did have a breakthrough yesterday( I think) because normally when he sees me or hears me he turns very dark brown. Yesterday when I picked him up from showering he looked at me and stayed green. He even stayed on my hand when I tried to put him back in his enclosure. That was exciting!
How long to recover from dehydration?
- Thread starter darla
- Start date
CleanLineChameleons
Avid Member
Darla,
Well from your pictures on your last thread he doesn't look too dehydrated, yes the urates was yellow but his eyes looked healthy. I would say a week and he will be fine. One thing I did want to say is that I would be very concerned with the noise he is making and the gestures you described. It sounds to me like he has a URI and one of the last things you want to do is give a chameleon with a URI a shower. I know everyone was all about the dehydration but a URI is a much higher priority to take care of. Watch him carefully and if he makes those noises and looks like he is breathing in very heavily then get him to a vet as ask for Fortaz (yes you can use Baytril but it is much harder on the chameleon).
Could you take a few more pics of your cham just to make sure he isn't showing strong signs of dehydration?
-chris
Well from your pictures on your last thread he doesn't look too dehydrated, yes the urates was yellow but his eyes looked healthy. I would say a week and he will be fine. One thing I did want to say is that I would be very concerned with the noise he is making and the gestures you described. It sounds to me like he has a URI and one of the last things you want to do is give a chameleon with a URI a shower. I know everyone was all about the dehydration but a URI is a much higher priority to take care of. Watch him carefully and if he makes those noises and looks like he is breathing in very heavily then get him to a vet as ask for Fortaz (yes you can use Baytril but it is much harder on the chameleon).
Could you take a few more pics of your cham just to make sure he isn't showing strong signs of dehydration?
-chris
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
It sounds more like aspiration to me (getting water in his lungs from the shower)
I do not shower chameleons, and I would suggest you stop showering him.
There are much better ways for him to get hydrated.
Is there a dripper in his enclosure?
Have you tried silkworms?
Keep him out of the shower and I'm guessing the squeaking will go away.
It could be a URI ... look for mucus in his mouth/throat.
If he did get some water in his lungs (like I suspect he did) that could cause a URI as well.
Good advice to keep a close eye on him.
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
-Brad
I do not shower chameleons, and I would suggest you stop showering him.
There are much better ways for him to get hydrated.
Is there a dripper in his enclosure?
Have you tried silkworms?
Keep him out of the shower and I'm guessing the squeaking will go away.
It could be a URI ... look for mucus in his mouth/throat.
If he did get some water in his lungs (like I suspect he did) that could cause a URI as well.
Good advice to keep a close eye on him.
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
-Brad
CleanLineChameleons
Avid Member
Brad is correct, it could just be aspiration. If you want, take a Q-tip and swab the back of your chams throat, if there is a lot of mucous then it probably has a URI.
p.s. I don't shower my chams either, just heaving mistings, silkies, and supers for dehydrated chams.
-chris
p.s. I don't shower my chams either, just heaving mistings, silkies, and supers for dehydrated chams.
-chris
I took pix of him but I'm having problems with photo bucket right now. I do have a dripper going all day long. I just keep dumping out a covered cup I have to catch the water. I'm taking my son to a special thing today so I will be gone till this eve. Thanks for the help. I read what you guys said and I will stop showers, he seems to love it though. As far as mucus, no I don't see any. He is new to me so I'm not sure about putting a qtip in his mouth. Won't it stress him very much? He's very small too and I would probably crush him trying to get his mouth open. I don't know, kinda scary to me. I have not tried silkies yet. My bearded dragon won't eat them so I haven't ordered any in a while. The cham won't eat the dubia but he will eat the tiny super worms I give him. He will also eat a cricket once in a while. See you later.
darla
darla
CleanLineChameleons
Avid Member
Yea looks like he has a bit of MBD. Look at his front left leg, make sure you change your UVB bulb every 6 months and supplement with calcium with (2 times a month) and without D3 (two times a week).
-chris
-chris
FOREVER ENDEAVOR
New Member
yes...his leg does look a lil bendy...he looks hydrated though...
I just got him 8 days ago. I have a new 5.0 reptisun tube and have been using reptical calcium with vit D phos free. I have only dusted 4 feedings so far. and I have dusted 1 feeding with Herptivite so far. As far as him being brown he is always brown. The first time I saw him green was in the shower and that is the only time he greens up. I figured he was stressed from the new home and new people. The poop is everywhere and all dry by now, will try for tomorrow.
FOREVER ENDEAVOR
New Member
make sure you dust....
cal w/d3 2x a month
cal without d3 2x a week
and vit 1x a month
cal w/d3 2x a month
cal without d3 2x a week
and vit 1x a month
FOREVER ENDEAVOR
New Member
yes.. you can get it all at lllreptile.com fo a good price..
FOREVER ENDEAVOR
New Member
fa sho......
This did not occur in the 8 days that you had him...you should speak to whoever you got him from about selling/giving you a chameleon that already had problems.
You need to correct the calcium imbalance ASAP to prevent further damage.
Ensure that the basking temperatures are in the right range (high 80'sF) to aid in digestion.
Exposure to UVB (not from a compact light) from a UVB tube/linear light or from direct sunlight allows the chameleon to produce vitmain D3 so that it can use the calcium in its diet.
I would dust the insects with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings to help make up for the poor ratio of calcium to phos. in most of the insects used as feeders.
I would dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder (unless he is outside in the sunlight often) and twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene won't build up in the system like preformed vitamin A will, but there is controversy as to whether all/some/any chameleons can convert is so some people give a little preformed vitamin A once in a while to ensure that they have enough vitamin A. Excess preformed vit. A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD...so be careful not to overdo it. D3 from supplements can also build up in the system.
I will finish this post in a bit...I have to sign off for now.
You need to correct the calcium imbalance ASAP to prevent further damage.
Ensure that the basking temperatures are in the right range (high 80'sF) to aid in digestion.
Exposure to UVB (not from a compact light) from a UVB tube/linear light or from direct sunlight allows the chameleon to produce vitmain D3 so that it can use the calcium in its diet.
I would dust the insects with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings to help make up for the poor ratio of calcium to phos. in most of the insects used as feeders.
I would dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder (unless he is outside in the sunlight often) and twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene won't build up in the system like preformed vitamin A will, but there is controversy as to whether all/some/any chameleons can convert is so some people give a little preformed vitamin A once in a while to ensure that they have enough vitamin A. Excess preformed vit. A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD...so be careful not to overdo it. D3 from supplements can also build up in the system.
I will finish this post in a bit...I have to sign off for now.
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What I posted in the last post is what to do to keep a chameleon normally. You should do this even while he's recovering from the calcium imbalance. Since yours has signs of MBD you need to bring the calcium back into line of course.
If you take the chameleon to a vet he/she can test to find out the calcium levels and give the chameleon injections of calcium over a period of time until the blood calcium levels are high enough to give the chameleon a shot of calcitonin which draws the calcium back into the bones quickly.
You can also buy a liquid calcium (calcium sandoz or calcium gluconate) to give to him. Its supposed to be more easily absorbed than the powders.
If the problem is corrected, then he can likely live an almost normal life.
Preformed vitamin A is from an animal source. You can buy capsules at the store....but be VERY VERY CAREFUL using it. Its VERY EASY to overdose. Do a search for other threads about how to use it. (I have not used preformed vitamin A for my veileds for many years...and they live good long healthy lives.)
If you take the chameleon to a vet he/she can test to find out the calcium levels and give the chameleon injections of calcium over a period of time until the blood calcium levels are high enough to give the chameleon a shot of calcitonin which draws the calcium back into the bones quickly.
You can also buy a liquid calcium (calcium sandoz or calcium gluconate) to give to him. Its supposed to be more easily absorbed than the powders.
If the problem is corrected, then he can likely live an almost normal life.
Preformed vitamin A is from an animal source. You can buy capsules at the store....but be VERY VERY CAREFUL using it. Its VERY EASY to overdose. Do a search for other threads about how to use it. (I have not used preformed vitamin A for my veileds for many years...and they live good long healthy lives.)
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