Lenny can't climb! (my fault)

[Lenny]

Hi, I haven't logged on for a very long time, but now I need some help. My 4 year old veiled chameleon is very weak since last Sunday. I found him on the bottom of his cage and when I tried to put him back on a branch he would just fall off. He seemed still very alert so I brought him to the vet the next day.

He suspected that he probably has some neurological weakness from a calcium deficiency. Which made sense because I realized that his UV bulb was probably overdue and I hadn't been dusting as much as I should. So I'm kicking myself for what I had done. The vet said that if I feed him calcium daily, put him close to his UV bulb, and get some sunshine if possible (very cloudy winter) he might recover. So right now I'm trying to feed him once a day and try to get him confortable. He still falls on his side and is too weak to get up. He can't even crawl. The vet also says that the calcium injectables never work (any opinion on that?).

Lenny isn't getting worse. He still seems alert and stills wants to move around. He just can't. Is there anything else I should be doing? Any other threads with similar cases?

 

[Ellron]

Metabolic Bone Disease?

 

[Lenny]

Would the bones be obviously soft for MBD? I thought that his skull would be soft to the touch. Is Calcium carbonate very effective?

 

[jeanjacket812]

My male veiled had MBD and on mine you could clearly see his limbs were deforming, like bowing in. I was like you on my veiled I wasn't really dusting right and figured it wasn't a big deal but it was. My guy eventually passed away and it was a super sad experience I hope your guy pulls through.

 

[jamncristian]

try to feed your guy silk worms and hornworms from greatlakes hornworms (sponsor) they are both naturally high in calcium and if you can get him to eat phoenix worms he will most likely recover faster

good luck

 

[jannb]

How well did your vet know chameleons? I know that calcium injections work well for MBD.

 

[nightcrawler]

How old were the UVB tubes?
What were the old dusting schedules accurately?

 

[kinyonga]

Did the vet run a test to find out the calcium levels?
Are there obvious signs of MBD?

If it is a calcium issue then not only do you have to bring the nutrient levels back into line so that the bones will be strengthened and further damage minimized you will need to make necessary changes in your husbandry (temperatures, supplementing, what you feed to the insects and the chameleon, providing appropriate UVB, etc.) to prevent it from happening again.

"Treatment for chameleons diagnoses with MBD is similar to the protocols used for other lizard species. Your reptile veterinarian will likely recommend the use of parenteral (injectable) calcium and vitamin D3. Additionally, an oral calcium and vitamin D3 supplement, such as calcium glubionate, may be used for longer supplementation. However, the most important part of managing MBD is improving the calcium content of the chameleon’s diet and providing vitamin D3."...
http://www.seavs.com/case_studies/lizards/chameleons.asp

Here's an article for you to read written by a vet I know well who in the past treated chameleons for me...
"Treatment (under a veterinarian's supervision) generally involves administering medications which may include oral or injectable calcium, injectable vitamin D3, and/or calcitonin."...
http://adcham.com/html/veterinary/mbd-fractures-kramer.html

 

[draetish]

Since he is weak, I would think it has more to do with 'vitamins' than calcium. Did you properly gut load your feeders? When you were supplementing what kind and how often?

 

[Elizadolots]

The vet also says that the calcium injectables never work (any opinion on that?).

I think I've read a load of posts by people who's chameleons have been helped by calcium injections. It might be worth seeing if there's another vet with positive experience dealing with MBD in the area.