serenitystarlite
Established Member
After battling for months with a temporal gland infection, Pepper finally got over it and had been doing well for awhile. Now he seems to have fallen and hurt his back.
Chameleon Info:
* Your Chameleon - Male Jackson's chameleon. He is a year and half old, I've had him since he was 4 months old.
* Handling - Not very often, maybe once or twice a week
* Feeding - He eats crickets, butterworms, superworms, and dubia. He eats 5-6 feeders almost everyday. I gutload with kale, carrots, and oranges.
* Supplements - I use Zoomed calcium without D3 a few times a week, Rep-cal with D3 once a month, and Herpivite once a month.
* Watering - I have a Mist King and use a dripper. I see him drinking often.
* Fecal Description - Fecal is normal. He was tested for parasites last year and had none.
* History - He had a temporal lobe infection and was on 2 courses of antibiotics before it finally went away. It started back in September and finally drained on it's own after he went on a 2nd course of antibiotics.
Cage Info:
* Cage Type - Screen cage. 16in x 16in x 30in.
* Lighting - 15in 5.0 repti-sun linear bulb and 25 watt household bulb for basking. The lights come on at 8am and go off at 8pm on a timer.
* Temperature - I have a digital thermometer. Bottom of the cage is usually low to mid 70s, basking stop is low 80s. Overnight it goes down into the upper 60s.
* Humidity - Humidity stays around 65-75%. I have a humidifier and digital hygrometer.
* Plants - He has a live Dragon Tree and and a live pothos along with some fake vines
* Placement - Cage is in my bedroom which is low traffic. It's not near any vents or windows and is 3ft up off the floor, so top of the cage is 5 1/2ft
* Location - Where are you geographically located? Pittsburgh, PA
Current Problem - I think he fell sometime in the past couple days. He won't move and when I touch his back, he arches it like it's really painful. He can move all of his limbs and he has a strong grip. He is still eating on his own and drinking and is awake and alert. I put a towel down on top of one of his plants and he has just been laying there.
I have a vet visit scheduled for tomorrow evening with a different vet at the place I took him to before. Not sure how much experience this person has. The 2 vets that have already seen him have no clue about chameleons. I got the name of another vet that supposedly see chameleons, but he isn't in the office until Thursday evening and I can't get anyone to answer simple questions over the phone like "is there anything they can do for a chameleon with an injured back" or "does this vet know how to test for and treat metabolic bone disease?" The last time someone over the phone said the vet had chameleon experience, she came into the room and said "Oh it's been such a long time since I've seen a chameleon!" Ya kind of not reassuring lol.
So anyway, his left arm is deformed. 2 vets said it wasn't MBD and that it was a break that has grown a callous. Now his other arm is looking bent and he won't hold himself up at all. At first I thought maybe the right arm just grew weird because of the way he would hold with the "broken" arm because his back legs seemed straight and normal but now I'm scared that he does have MBD. I have no idea what to do. I've seen my panther chameleon fall much farther and he's fine. Pepper's cage is much smaller, so he wouldn't have fallen far. If he did fall and hurt his back whether it's broken or not, what can the vet do for him? I'm more interested in figuring out if it's MBD or not but I don't have hundreds of dollars to give to vets that don't know what they're doing.
So please, I'm not looking for the usual cry of "take him to the vet" or people arguing with me to find a better vet because I am working on it, I just want to know if anyone has any ideas on what to tell a vet or what I can do for the poor guy in the meantime. I don't want him to suffer
Edit - I attached some pictures
Chameleon Info:
* Your Chameleon - Male Jackson's chameleon. He is a year and half old, I've had him since he was 4 months old.
* Handling - Not very often, maybe once or twice a week
* Feeding - He eats crickets, butterworms, superworms, and dubia. He eats 5-6 feeders almost everyday. I gutload with kale, carrots, and oranges.
* Supplements - I use Zoomed calcium without D3 a few times a week, Rep-cal with D3 once a month, and Herpivite once a month.
* Watering - I have a Mist King and use a dripper. I see him drinking often.
* Fecal Description - Fecal is normal. He was tested for parasites last year and had none.
* History - He had a temporal lobe infection and was on 2 courses of antibiotics before it finally went away. It started back in September and finally drained on it's own after he went on a 2nd course of antibiotics.
Cage Info:
* Cage Type - Screen cage. 16in x 16in x 30in.
* Lighting - 15in 5.0 repti-sun linear bulb and 25 watt household bulb for basking. The lights come on at 8am and go off at 8pm on a timer.
* Temperature - I have a digital thermometer. Bottom of the cage is usually low to mid 70s, basking stop is low 80s. Overnight it goes down into the upper 60s.
* Humidity - Humidity stays around 65-75%. I have a humidifier and digital hygrometer.
* Plants - He has a live Dragon Tree and and a live pothos along with some fake vines
* Placement - Cage is in my bedroom which is low traffic. It's not near any vents or windows and is 3ft up off the floor, so top of the cage is 5 1/2ft
* Location - Where are you geographically located? Pittsburgh, PA
Current Problem - I think he fell sometime in the past couple days. He won't move and when I touch his back, he arches it like it's really painful. He can move all of his limbs and he has a strong grip. He is still eating on his own and drinking and is awake and alert. I put a towel down on top of one of his plants and he has just been laying there.
I have a vet visit scheduled for tomorrow evening with a different vet at the place I took him to before. Not sure how much experience this person has. The 2 vets that have already seen him have no clue about chameleons. I got the name of another vet that supposedly see chameleons, but he isn't in the office until Thursday evening and I can't get anyone to answer simple questions over the phone like "is there anything they can do for a chameleon with an injured back" or "does this vet know how to test for and treat metabolic bone disease?" The last time someone over the phone said the vet had chameleon experience, she came into the room and said "Oh it's been such a long time since I've seen a chameleon!" Ya kind of not reassuring lol.
So anyway, his left arm is deformed. 2 vets said it wasn't MBD and that it was a break that has grown a callous. Now his other arm is looking bent and he won't hold himself up at all. At first I thought maybe the right arm just grew weird because of the way he would hold with the "broken" arm because his back legs seemed straight and normal but now I'm scared that he does have MBD. I have no idea what to do. I've seen my panther chameleon fall much farther and he's fine. Pepper's cage is much smaller, so he wouldn't have fallen far. If he did fall and hurt his back whether it's broken or not, what can the vet do for him? I'm more interested in figuring out if it's MBD or not but I don't have hundreds of dollars to give to vets that don't know what they're doing.
So please, I'm not looking for the usual cry of "take him to the vet" or people arguing with me to find a better vet because I am working on it, I just want to know if anyone has any ideas on what to tell a vet or what I can do for the poor guy in the meantime. I don't want him to suffer
Edit - I attached some pictures
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