MBD pain relief.

savvy_schieck

New Member
Hello! I am a chameleon owner of currently three Veilds. One of them, an 11 month old male, has never been quite "right". He was unusually small and struggled from birth. We managed to keep him as healthy as possible. Recently we have been noticing many symptoms of MBD... we asked a professional and was diagnosed. Unfortunately, we cannot afford any of the medical treatments and the case is fairly severe. We do not know how much longer he might have to live and we are very heartbroken. Because we cannot afford any treatment other than extra doses of calcium, we want to make sure he is as comfortable as he can be as he is living. If there is anything we can do to ease the pain of the MBD please let me know. If there is anything else I need to know please tell me. Thank you so much. :(
 
I am sorry to hear your cham was diagnosed with MBD :(

Was this professional a vet with chameleon experience?
Can you post a photo of your cham, along with any treatment that you are providing?

Also, can you post a photo of the entire cage/ husbandry setup, and tell us what supplements you are using?

In most cases, MBD is caused by husbandry errors, although I do understand that you have multiple chams and you explained that this little guy has had a rough go at life.
 
I am sorry to hear your cham was diagnosed with MBD :(

Was this professional a vet with chameleon experience?
Can you post a photo of your cham, along with any treatment that you are providing?

Also, can you post a photo of the entire cage/ husbandry setup, and tell us what supplements you are using?

In most cases, MBD is caused by husbandry errors, although I do understand that you have multiple chams and you explained that this little guy has had a rough go at life.
Yes, this was a professional vet specializing in reptiles. From my understanding MBD is caused by issues with diets, and husbandry errors as they are growing. We think there could have been a faulty UVB bulb or simply waited too long to change the bulb... here are some pictures. The ones of my actual Cham are not very good. He just was not having it today... :/

Also we are using a general Calcium powder with Vitamin D3 to sprinkle on his food. We also were given Calcium drops.
 

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What treatment other than the calcium is it you can't afford?
Please post some recent photos of him.
The treatment options we were given were Calcium injections and UVB light therapy.
This was the only decent photo I was able to get. He was not having it today...
 

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So basically there is a treatment where you take your Chameleon in and they perform therapy using a specific UV light tool. The therapy can last for weeks. I also cannot afford calcium injections that the vet will periodically inject into the Chameleon.
 
So basically there is a treatment where you take your Chameleon in and they perform therapy using a specific UV light tool. The therapy can last for weeks. I also cannot afford calcium injections that the vet will periodically inject into the Chameleon.
Did the vet not tell you that the coil UVB bulbs are inadequate for Chameleons? I see them in your photos in the double dome... This is the most common reason chams develop MBD. Improper uvb lighting, supplements, husbandry.

All of your chameleons should have T5HO fixtures and 5.0 or 6% UVB bulbs with basking at 8-9 inches below this fixture to be exposed to the correct UVI level. This is what prevents the MBD.
 
Did the vet not tell you that the coil UVB bulbs are inadequate for Chameleons? I see them in your photos in the double dome... This is the most common reason chams develop MBD. Improper uvb lighting, supplements, husbandry.

All of your chameleons should have T5HO fixtures and 5.0 or 6% UVB bulbs with basking at 8-9 inches below this fixture to be exposed to the correct UVI level. This is what prevents the MBD.
No... the vet explained that the UVB light could have been faulty or we could have forgotten to change it for a while. Thank you so much. I was not aware that the bulbs were inadequate. Is there any chance the disease can be temporarily treated if we get the correct light?
 
No... the vet explained that the UVB light could have been faulty or we could have forgotten to change it for a while. Thank you so much. I was not aware that the bulbs were inadequate. Is there any chance the disease can be temporarily treated if we get the correct light?

So UVB lighting is responsible for D3 production in chameleons. When MBD sets it it is the body sucking the calcium from the bones. That is bare basics of understanding it.

Proper UVB lighting will help. But proper supplementation is important as well. You can never reverse the damage to the bone formation. That is permanent however you can improve their quality of life by providing the right things to stop the progression. The sooner you make the changes especially if he is still able to use his limbs the easier it will be for him.
 
Thank you so much! Your information was extremely helpful. I was fortunately able to find a high quality oral, liquid calcium supplement that I can afford. I will do my best to fix the lighting.
One more question, my chameleon has gotten to the point where he is losing control of his limbs. He has a hard time walking, and he is very weak. Do you think it is too late to try and fix this or should I just try my best to make him comfortable.
 
Thank you so much! Your information was extremely helpful. I was fortunately able to find a high quality oral, liquid calcium supplement that I can afford. I will do my best to fix the lighting.
One more question, my chameleon has gotten to the point where he is losing control of his limbs. He has a hard time walking, and he is very weak. Do you think it is too late to try and fix this or should I just try my best to make him comfortable.
Look up a chameleon named Sweet pea on facebook. This is a cham that had very advanced mbd. She was taken in by her owner and rehabilitated.

If you do nothing it will be a long painful death for him. And if you do not get the right lighting and supplements for the other two they will follow the same path. :(

You can go to this link https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-academy-podcast/
In the player search function type mbd...

additionally if you read through everything in this husbandry program you will find areas that should be improved upon and changes you would want to make for all your chams https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
 
Thank you so so much! You are a life saver... I am not sure what the vet was telling me. Have a great rest of your day! I appreciate your help and will do my very best to improve on my setup and husbandry areas for all of my chams. :)
 
Thank you so so much! You are a life saver... I am not sure what the vet was telling me. Have a great rest of your day! I appreciate your help and will do my very best to improve on my setup and husbandry areas for all of my chams. :)
good luck. :)
 
For the chameleon to have healthy bones, it's necessary that the chameleon has enough (but not too much D3) either from supplements or from exposure to UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and actually cause bone issues and more so we try to limit it. By giving it some but not as much as it really needs we lessen the amount it needs from direct exposure to the UVB....but we leave it to produce some from the UVB. UVB from lights or sunshine won't build up in the system as long as the chameleon can move in and out at will. Doing things his way, we hope that between both sources of D3, the levels will be correct....and the bones strong. D3 is needed to absorb the calcium the bones need. There is one more player in this...vitamin A. It needs to be in balance with the vitamin D3.

There are two sources of vitamin A ...prOformed and prEformed. PrOformed comes from carotenoids such as beta carotene and these sources won't build up in the system. However it's not known whether all or any chameleons can convert this form into the prEformed. PrEformed sources (look for words like retinol, retinyl, retinal, etc) are already formed ans can build up in the system....so we have to be careful with these. Vitamin A and vitamin D3 are antagonistic to each other so they need to be in balance as does the D3 and calcium.

When a chameleon has MBD, any damage already done to the legs, etc won't likely be corrected by treatment...but the bones can be made strong again and the chameleon can still usually have a good life. To bring things back into balance, liquid calcium can speed up the process. You still have to make sure the chameleon gets enough D3 and a balanced amount of vitamin A....and once the bones, etc are back to normal, the D3, calcium, phos, and vitamin A all have to stay in balance so it won't return. Appropriate temperatures, well fed healthy insects, nutrient balance are all important too.

Hope this helps!

Here are some articles that might help...
https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-medical-metabolic-bone-disease/
https://www.adcham.com/html/veterinary/mbd-fractures-kramer.html
 
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