I Rehomed this Chameleon Today!

[kirekameleon]

I just got home with my Calyptratus and I have some questions. If you look at the picture you can tell his veil is sunken in and not pointed like the majorities. Also if you look at the ridgeline of his back it appears to be flattened off without the spikes along the spine. Two inches before the tail begins they are present. The young man said he got him as a rescue and believed he may have been in a fight. This to me does not seem to be correct. He believes he is over a year but does not know how much older than a year. Has anyone seen this in a Calyptratus before? He also said he fed him Calcium with D3 every other feeding even though he came with a UVB light (could this possibly be a reason). Even my local Rep store said to feed them Calcium with D3 everyday, I told them I do not think that is right. I have seen 2-3 times a Month and Calcium Without D3 daily. I was wondering if it was genetics, sickness (breaking down of bone structure). Also I fed him crickets and some dubias and to be honest he is a terrible shot (are they normally pretty accurate with their tongue? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

kire

 

[seanUTD]

WITHOUT D3 everyday, WITH D3 twice a month along with a multivitamin twice a month... They should be really accurate with their tongue.. Im no expert but that cham looks very badly riddled with MBD... I would get it to a vet ASAP to see what all could be wrong... He honestly looks very bad to me especially along the back and hind legs look the have signs of MBD everywhere

 

[Jimturner]

Poor little dude! To me it looks like healed burns… maybe a bit of MBD as well, the bad aim is also making me think MBD. Great job re-homing... the little dude deserves a second chance! I would change out the UVB bulb for a new one to be sure he's getting his rays. Cheers!

 

[sdheli420]

looks like a healed fightig injury..(to me looks like a bite was taken from the casque) rare but happens, the rest of the cham looks to be pretty healthy..

 

[CalaMala]

I wonder if his old enclosure had him trapped or rubbing along the roof or edges. Like if it colapsed his veiled and wore off his spikes. Squeezing between or in and out of something....Poor little guy....Thank goodness you have him now..

 

[VeiledChams]

I just got home with my Calyptratus and I have some questions. If you look at the picture you can tell his veil is sunken in and not pointed like the majorities. Also if you look at the ridgeline of his back it appears to be flattened off without the spikes along the spine. Two inches before the tail begins they are present. The young man said he got him as a rescue and believed he may have been in a fight. This to me does not seem to be correct. He believes he is over a year but does not know how much older than a year. Has anyone seen this in a Calyptratus before? He also said he fed him Calcium with D3 every other feeding even though he came with a UVB light (could this possibly be a reason). Even my local Rep store said to feed them Calcium with D3 everyday, I told them I do not think that is right. I have seen 2-3 times a Month and Calcium Without D3 daily. I was wondering if it was genetics, sickness (breaking down of bone structure). Also I fed him crickets and some dubias and to be honest he is a terrible shot (are they normally pretty accurate with their tongue? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

kire

That chameleon is in horrible shape. I believe that it wasnt a fight what caused the missing of the spines on his back. That looks to be more from a burn that has healed up. The casque could also be from a burn and someone took him to the vet. He looks older than a year, just in really bad shape.
I would get this guy to a vet ASAP.
If he is missing his food, than hes probably got some nutrients in his diet. You need to give him calcium without D3 every feeding, with D3 twice a month and multi-vitamins twice a month. give him lots of water and vary his diet from jsut crickets and dubias. Give him worms. Get him some hornworms to help hydrate him. Also, put a plant in your shower and put him on there. Turn the shower on (aimed at a wall so the water bounces off) and leave him in there for 15-20 minutes. Do this once or twice a day for a week to help him rehydrate too.
His back leg looks swollen so he may have MBD. Again, a vet visit is important. If you can get liquid calcium, you should give him. Im not sure how much though.
His face also looks swollen, not a regular "triangle head" but very round. Maybe there is an infection.

Looking at your enclosure, and how he is standing on that stick, I'd put in a live plant (scheffleras work very well) and plenty of branches for him to walk on. Also, what types of light to you have for him?
He need a UVB light (prefereably the reptisun 5.0 LINEAR light) and a spot light for basking (wattage determined by distance and temperature desired. 60-75 watt should work well to get a 95 degree basking spot)
Mist him plenty in his cage and put a dripper so he has to drink.

Again, I would take him to a vet asap

 

[Ace]

that is some major burn scars

the casque wa pretty much burned down alonf with the spine spikes, but looks to be healed

he might have some mbd issues, and most likey very easy to fix with supplementation and agood gutloading of your feeder insects like crickets. just have to be consistent

get a new linear tube uvb light, reptisun 5.0

give him a nice lushy plant like a umbrella plant or ficus

and a basking spot, but make sure the basking spot light is not too close

you need to hand feed him if possible or make it easier for him to eat

with that he should be fine in the moment and give you time to find a vet and see whats up with him


with a vet visit and TLC he can be fine , goodluck

 

[kinyonga]

Nice of you to give that poor chameleon a home and a chance at a better life!

I have to agree with those who said it looked like the damage was caused by a bad burn.

Here's some information that might help you...
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[kirekameleon]

Thank You

The light is a Zilla Tropical 25 UVB Fluorescent 13 Watt Coil Bulb. They said they set the lights right on top of the cage and I do not know how high he was able to perch to it. I have a branch going away from the heat lamp and I used the clamp to keep it up higher. Right now the thermometer is 10 inches away from the lamp and it is registering at 80 degree although the Veiled can perch higher than the temp but away from the source (should I lower the bulb some more to bring up the temp. Actually now I have it to 90 degrees and the Cham perches 2-3 degrees below the thermometer. I have a meal worm colony started but it is far from producing yet (someone told me that meal worms are not good because of the exoskeleton, any truth to that?) He tore up some romaine lettuce earlier. I have ZooMed ReptiCalcium w/o Vit D3 and Rep-Cal w/ Vit D3(this stuff has a grey tint?) I made him a perch outside out of the wind but in the sun, I think he liked it.

I have noticed that his back right leg seems to affect him and he sticks it out to side once. It appears that there is build up like deposits could this be from overusage of calcium or the calcium with D3, could this be metastic calcification?(he said he gave him Calcium W/ D3 every other feeding). His organs might not be that good either. thank so much for the help and I appreciate every bit of it.

I will look into other worms, they also fed him a pinky once a week and said he gets really excited when one is in his presence.

kire

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