Leg broken/dislocated!?!

[bartholomew101]

He's had issues with this leg before he "sprained" his ankle joint.(months ago) today I noticed he was putting weight on it but it doesn't support his body. So everytime he takes a step with that foot his bottom drops. He doesn't have mbd he was just checked for it maybe a week or two ago. Also, for the past few days he's been really sluggish and eating maybe half his normal amount but he was shedding. Right now he is climbing a vine and hardly even using the leg. It's not swollen or misshaped I don't know what to do for him until I can get him into the vet. Please help

 

[Lovereps]

How was he checked for MBD?
FWIW, I know that he recently had an eye problem and now with the limb problem--well, those 2 things can be caused by MBD.

I don't think that there's anything you can do, besides a vet visit to help him.
Poor Bart.
Hope all goes well at the vet.

 

[bartholomew101]

I don't understand how he keeps getting these strange illnesses! I try so hard to provide the best care I can to him and I fear that I'm just not a good enough chameleon owner I don't know what I could possibly be doing wrong. I give him calcium everyday, his temps are correct, humidity is correct, and he has so much space. I don't handle him often except for when he crawls on me and when I had to administer eye drops. I don't know I might just have to sell my baby maybe I'm just not fit to care for him...

 

[Lovereps]

Don't give up hope.
Maybe he just has a higher than normal need for calcium or a parasite causing him to become deficient in nutrients or something else fixable.

Why not cut and paste the https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ questions and add your answers to them.
Maybe there is something amiss that someone can spot , so you can correct it and get him to stay healthy.

Most of us have learned some lessons the hard way and others from helpful people on the forum.

 

[bartholomew101]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon – Veiled, Male, 6 months-ish, Been in my care for 5 months (oct.16,2012)
Handling – Before the eye infection only if he climbed on me while I was doing something in his cage. With the eye infection I had to handle him every day to administer eye drops
Feeding – mealworms, crickets. He typically eats between12-17 crickets daily. A local pet store sells them “gut loaded” and I feed them the “cricket food” orange cube things
Supplements – Faulkner’s calcium without D3. And I give him calcium with D3 once every other week on Saturdays.
Watering – I have a dripper going 24/7 . I mist him 3-5 times/ day for 6-7 mins at a time with purified or filtered water. He drinks all the time.
Fecal Description- Its brown with a white tip. Ha I don’t know it just looks like poop to me. And yes he has been tested and it came back negative.
History – he’s had small issues most of them people on here know about.

Cage Info:
Cage Type – it is a homemade screen cage, his living space is 24in x 24in x 38.5in roughly.
Lighting – I don’t know the brands but I have basking/heat and UVB lighting. 730am-730pm
Temperature – at the bottom it is 81-2ish and towards the top 86-8ish. His basking is 93(is this to high?) my house stays between 71-73 year around so his night temps reflect that. I have a thermometer at the top and bottom
Humidity – I try to keep it around 50%. Misting. The humidity measuring thing.
Plants – No live plants at the moment. I have all sanitized artificial plants.
Placement – In my bed room in the corner. No vents or fans near him. High-traffic? Haha no I live in the spare room above the house so no traffic at all. The top of the cage is 5 feet from the floor.
Location – Good Ole’ Central Arkansas

Current Problem – The problem has been i shouldn't say solved the problem has been discovered but I thought I’d fill this out and see if I could improve in anyway

 

[NavyCham]

i know veileds prefer higher temps but that sounds a little hot even for them. also is your UVB a 5.0? again i dont know about veileds but your humidity is pretty low.

 

[bartholomew101]

I believe it is a 5.0. and How would I lower the temps? and when i first got him i did a whole lot of research and i was under the impression that the 50's were a good range for a veiled chameleon. if the humidity is low what should it be?

 

[lovepicasso]

Don't give up, it sounds as though you are doing everything right and this baby needs you because you care....you will get him straightened out, sometimes it takes more time, just don't give up on him or yourself.

 

[NavyCham]

maybe try keeping the basking light a little further from the cage. like i said idk veiled specific but i was always told to keep humidity up to at least 60

 

[Lovereps]

I'm glad to see that you're feeling a bit more optimisitic.
We all understand how upsetting it can be when our favorite little critters have any problems.

Most of your care is the way it should be but there are just a few things that could be changed to improve his health.

The forum moderators, who are longterm chamkeepers and at least one chamkeeping veterinarian, recently added some caresheets and they contain a great deal of valuable information.
Most importantly, they outline the differences in care for chams of different ages.
Here is the Veiled caresheet:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

For a 5 month old Veiled, the basking area should be a bit cooler--about 85 degrees.
The easiest way to do this is to use a lower wattage regular household bulb--you don't need an expensive "special" basking bulb that petstores sell.

I would suggest that you gutload the feeders with fresh veggies and fruits to know that your cham is really getting good nutrients from his food.
Commercial gutloads can be pretty poor nutritionwise.
This page, also done by the moderators, offers ideas for an easy to make gutload:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/

In the wild chams eat dozens of different kinds of insects --a menu that varies by the day and by the season.
Different insects contain more of or less of different vitamins, minerals, etc and it is the fact that they eat different kinds which keeps them healthy.
For this reason, the more varieties of feeders you can give your cham, the better it is for him.
Silkworms,hornworms, Phoenixworms,Dubias, Blue Bottle flies, Isopods are all good additions to the diet and even superworms or waxworms can be used once in a while as treat.

I didn't see any multivitamin powder in your supplements.
Lightly dusting feeders 2x a month can help to ensure that he doesn't develop any deficiencies.
FWIW, I use Reptivite without D3. A few of the forum sponsors carry it, as well as Amazon and local stores.

Lastly, you can add a cham safe live plant to help keep the humidity up, but 50% is within the range of what is needed.

On days that are warm enough, you can bring him outside for some supervised outdoor time.

I hope your cham is well soon and that you've found this to be helpful.
We're all rooting for you and your cham!