matter of life and death...someone please help!

[dindy]

basically i got 1.1 veild chameleons off someone from a classified site and when i went to go get them they were both in pretty bad shape but i took em anyways cause i felt really bad for them....the female looks kinda weird to me they said they mated her but they didnt think it worked and dint really explain.....they probably had no clue what they were doing.....im not sure if shes gravid....just weird coloration....and her eyes are kinda sunk to i misted her for a bit and im gonna keep up with it......the male is really messed up.....they said that the guy at the petstore said its some sorrt of eye infection and gave them some stuff to sprinkle on the food once every 2 days for a few weeks....when i saw him his eyes were like sunken like i have never seen and closed...he seems to have trouble opening them i tried to help him wash them out....i force watered him and fed him a few horn worms...he stiull has eyes closed...i dusted with some beta carontine as well.....theres no good reptile vets in my city so im hoping someone can help save his life...heres few pics of the eyes....as well as a few of the female....i just felt so bad for them ......im hoping that mauybe after a few days of help he may bounce back....hes got a grip tho....any help would be greatly appreciated!!!....one eye is considerable worse...he almost looks mutilated....sick bastards

female

male

 

[kenya]

I can't tell you much other than try to find a vet or at least call a herp savvy one and get advice.

herpvetconnection.com

Your male's bad eye seems to have an infection. I think some Terramycin is in order but I could be wrong so wait for another experienced member's advice on this.

Give them extra mistings with warm water and also shower them. They are in separate screen enclosures, correct?

 

[dodolah]

seemed like your veiled has MBD as well.
The front legs are bowed.
Is there really no qualified vet around your area?
I think other members who reside in Canada can direct you to a good vet around your area.

 

[dindy]

i noticed the one arm was a little bowed...what has caused this and what medication can fix this, there is one vet in the area that said they knew about chameleons and i got into a fight with her last time i was there....she didnt know anything...if i know what i need to get for him than i can just ask for it from another vet or somthing....of course there seperate.....i honestly tought he was just very dehydrated and thats why hes sunken eyes.....he opens them from time to time but looks a buit weak...ate another crick and i gave him more water from a dropper....im hoping i can resolve this withoiut having to go to the vet...i have 12 other chams and have had to go and the lady doesnt know what shes doing at all.....kinda sucks

 

[jannb]

I would find another vet, even if you have to drive a ways ( I drive 2 hours to my vet) The male looks pretty bad and needs treatment. For MBD they give liquid calcium and a shot to draw the calcium to the bones. That eye needs treatment too. As Kenya said the Terramycin might work but why take a chance on it getting worse.

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

im hoping i can resolve this withoiut having to go to the vet...

Sorry, but that isn't going to happen. He needs a professionals help. If you weren't intending on taking it to the vet, you shouldn't have taken on the responsibility, knowing it was sick.

Get him to a vet.

 

[sandrachameleon]

There ARE vets in the Toronto and London Ontario areas. It is very likely your chameleons need a vets help. ANY adopted pet ought to have a doctor checkup, so that you know what is and is not okay.

 

[cowchick]

I can suggest a fairly decent herpvet that I went to. They take on exotics, just outside Brantford area.

http://www.repticzone.com/articles/vets/Canada.html

I took mine to Windrush Vets, Dr. Crombie, they are really great. Good luck.

 

[summoner12]

I am thinking the eyes might have issues do to the lighting he was under. do you have the lights and cages they were living in? This looks just like what happened to my Panther when I had a compact over him. If you don't know what kind of lighting he had because they kept it, contact them and find out what it was. If it was a ZooMed compact (screw in type lamp) then don't use it (if you have it still). If the lighting is the cause then hand feeding and watering him will help him get through the recovery. The issue with my panther was that I blinded him with the light enough that he couldn't eat. The blindness is usually reversible because the eye clouds over and feels like its burning, this is a natural defense so the eye stop looking at whatever harmful light it is seeing. Sorta like why you can't just look up at the sun without a lot of pain, its bad and your body and it knows it. If it was bad lighting try not to use any UV lighting on him for a week and see if he starts to open his eyes. Dust his food with vid D calcium dust three times that week. I turned off my Panther's UVB lamp asap and i saw him opening his eyes within a few days. But the damage was done.... He hadn't eaten in so long and wouldn't take food when forced that he passed on.

If he does have MBD then it wouldn't make sense that his lighting hurt his eyes, but the MBD could have been before the bad lighting. How do his bones feel? try bending them very lightly to see if they deflecteasily, DON"T break them. If they feel mushy then yes, MBD.

I am sure more can give help. Good luck!

Read this site: UVGuide UK

 

[dindy]

well he was very dehydrated so he drank like a fish and ate a bit....seems that it could of been from light they only owned him for a short while and did not use the cfl type uvb, i dont drinv and brantford is hours away.....not possible but thanks for your input...im going to administer him some liquid calcium with d3 maybe a .3 2 days apart and see if that helps a bit to get him stronger....hios bones dont feel very mushy....ive seen mbd before and this doesnt look like it....my other veild has a crooked head because of lack of calcium.he was in real bad shape when i got him...he still cant properly aim at food....kinda runs up on cricks.......i also have some sorrt of reptile ointment that igot for my other chams at one point....im going to find it to see if its the cream you guys mentioned.......if i didnt take him he would of died there for sure....i can at least try and help him any way i can.....

 

[kinyonga]

What are you dusting the insects with and how often?

You said..."i noticed the one arm was a little bowed...what has caused this and what medication can fix this"...it could be MBD...if the chameleon hasn't been getting the right balance of calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A. If you take them to a vet they can tell you what's wrong and how to fix it. If its MBD (calcium imbalance) then the quickest way to fix it is for the vet to give shots of calcium until the blood levels are high enough to give it a shot of calcitonin.

I would put an opaque container of washed moistened playsand in the female's cage so she has a place to lay eggs. (Minimum size...big enough that she fits into it when its empty with a couple of inches on all sides including above and below her.)

The eyes are concerning me quite a bit. It might be dehydration but it could also be the lighting or illness that is causing it. The weakness bothers me too.

 

[dindy]

they were not dusting probably, i have beta carontene and d3 as well as calcium dust and i also have liquid calcium that i use for inducing females if there having trouble laying, im going to give him a few shots of .3 ml and see what happened i noticed that his eyes looked a bit better after giving him the equivelant of 2 tablespoons of water last night....he was thirsty and he ate a bit.....im using a uvb tube...not cfl....and i just got him so its hard to tell how they cared for him and i think they were juts tring to get money so they lied about a few things...i dusted cricks he ate with beta carontene and the horn worms too....he ate them right up and i dont think his bones are like weak.....i looked at my other male and my other chams and nothing noticibly different...ill just have to see how the next few days go and just hand water and feed him and everything.....i seen one eye open earlier but looks like he could just be blind...the eye ball looks kinda lost in one of the eyes....like googly.....

 

[kinyonga]

Let's try it this way.....
When the chameleon is healthy, I dust at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phos. in many of the feeder insects.

I dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that the chameleon doesn't lack D3 since mine only get UVB from linear UVB lights (no direct sunlight). D3 from supplements can build up in the system though so don't overdo it.

I also dust with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A twice a month. Beta carotene won't build up in the system like preformed vitamin A will. There is controversy as to whether chameleons can convert the beta carotene though so some people use a little preformed once in a while. Excess preformed vit. A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD so don't overdo it if you give it some.

To correct MBD the calcium needs to be brought back into balance in addition to using the above supplementation schedule.

I still think that the two of them should be checked out by a vet ASAP.

 

[summoner12]

well he was very dehydrated so he drank like a fish and ate a bit....seems that it could of been from light they only owned him for a short while and did not use the cfl type uvb, i dont drinv and brantford is hours away.....not possible but thanks for your input...im going to administer him some liquid calcium with d3 maybe a .3 2 days apart and see if that helps a bit to get him stronger....hios bones dont feel very mushy....ive seen mbd before and this doesnt look like it....my other veild has a crooked head because of lack of calcium.he was in real bad shape when i got him...he still cant properly aim at food....kinda runs up on cricks.......i also have some sorrt of reptile ointment that igot for my other chams at one point....im going to find it to see if its the cream you guys mentioned.......if i didnt take him he would of died there for sure....i can at least try and help him any way i can.....

Did you ask them what kind of UV lamp they used?

 

[dindy]

his eyes are looking better and he had em both open today, thats exactly how i dust my crickets...the people before werent dusting like that in a schedule...the lights were linear because they gave me them too but i dont believe they were the only owners i dont think they had em for long....if he doesnt get better in a few days ill figuer somthing out....he ate like 6 silkies today and i dusted them in phos free d3 and yesterday i gave him the beta carontene...im making him drink and his eyes are getting a bit poofier....i guess ill just have to take it day by day.....

 

[summoner12]

Give him some showers... and lots of water.... he should come around soon. How old are the lamps they used? If they are older than 6-8 months... time for some new lamps.

 

[cowchick]

I'm glad he's coming around, hopefully they both recover well. Your profile said Toronto & London, and each are only an hour away (Brantford is halfway between the two), so I was only going by your location, and there are other vets on that link that are closer should you ever need one.

 

[Rocky]

i feel that anytime you think it is a matter of life or death situation your pet should definitely goto the vet. MBD is something a vet really needs to treat with calcium injections etc.

Good luck with these 2 and i hope they get better