My poor baby...

[kaylie]

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Male, veiled, about 3 months old, mine for maybe a little over 2 weeks.
* Handling - Maybe once or twice a day when I need to mess around in the cage, but not for long so as not to stress him.
* Feeding - 6 or 7 crickets a day, gutload with thirst quencher, commercial gutload, and carrot shavings.
* Supplements - Not sure about this, will explain further down...
* Watering - Drip system and hand misting a few times a day. Have not seen him drink but sometimes I walk in and it looks like he may have been.
* Fecal Description -Brown w/ a little white. Not tested.
* History - none


Cage Info:

* Cage Type -Mesh 12"x12"x20"
* Lighting - UVB light "Sunshine for your pet", and a basking heat light. On timers for 12 hrs a day
* Temperature -Still need thermometer
* Humidity - hygrometer stays between 40 and 60. Higher when just misted obviously
* Plants - Only live plant is Pothos
* Placement - On top of small book shelf in my room, away from vent.
* Location - Tampa Bay area, FL


Current Problem - I think I have encountered a calcium deficiency. I noticed yesterday that Basil had a broken leg, and I have no idea how it happened, so I'm guessing his bones are just not strong and it broke easily. Today I took him to the vet and now he has a splint/bandage on his leg.
I feed his crickets Fluker's gutload and thirst quencher, both have calcium, along with carrot shavings. I asked before if additional calcium would over-supplement him, but sort of got some indirect answers.
So, I'm thinking to ditch the Fluker's cricket stuff and go for home made gutload and follow a calcium/vitamin dusting schedule (for while his bone is healing, and for after. I know he needs more right now).
Any help would be great!

 

[carol5208]

Start gutloading your crickets with fresh fruits a veggies! DUST your crickets daily with calcium without d3, calcium with d3 twice and month and use a multivitamin twice a month also! Not sure, what "Sunshine for your pet" is as a UVB. We all use the Reptisun 5.0 tube. I would get yourself one of those ASAP! We all have great success with our chams with that light. You have only had him for 2 weeks so you nip alot of things in the bud now. Most likely if his bones were brittle it did not happen in two weeks, but you need to get on a better gutload and dusting schedule right away to prevent further problems! I see you live in Tampa, so you have the luxury of year round sunshine! Get you cham out in the sun for some natural UVB. It is very good for him. Just make sure to not leave him unattended as he could take off or become food for a hawk or some other predator!

 

[justjumpit621]

Good advice carol. I want to just interject, a lot of us follow the calcium w/o d3 every feeding(every other day), calcium w/ d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin once a month instead of twice so they don't get an overdose. Also the linear reptisun 5.0 tube light with a linear light fixture is highly recommended and is the only one proven to work sufficiently. You will also want to use a basking lamp with a regular frosted bulb, probably a 75 watt would be warm enough. You will want to add more covering and folliage, go to your local home depot/lowes/walmart or any gardening center and get a schefflera, pothos, rubber plant, or hibiscus or other safe, nontoxic plant. It will also keep the humidity up.

 

[kinyonga]

Did your vet not give you any advice on what to do? Did the vet say it was a calcium deficiency?

If its is a calcium issue, you not only need to correct your husbandry so that it will be getting the right amounts of nutrients...you need to correct the imbalance in the chameleon as well to bring things back in line.

 

[kaylie]

She said that it is usually from a deficiency, and to make sure I keep dusting the crickets since I have not really been dusting because I was unsure.
I can't use a tube light, I have a double deep dome lamp, and cannot afford to completely change my lighting, especially after the vet visit. I'm a student so I don't make much money. Also, it's hard to find a good hood lamp that is only 12" and holds two lights.
Finally, what are good fruits and vegetables are good? I know that there are some I'm supposed to avoid...

 

[carol5208]

Dark, green, leafy veggies such as Kale, collard greens, mustard greens, (avoid spinach and broccoli) apples, carrots, squash, melons, oranges. The oranges are good for hydration. As far as the lighting the compact bulbs have caused some eye issues in the past for some members. Others have used them and had no problems, but be aware that you may have problems down the line. I was just trying to tell you that all of us who use the Reptisun 5.0 tube have ZERO issues. So that is the chance you will have to take, but if you notice your chameleon have some eye problems, then you know what might be the cause of it. Good luck!

 

[kaylie]

Thank you so much.
What I will probably do is keep using the lights I have for the 6 months that they will be effective, and when I get my next college refund buy the new light set-up and sell my double dome on ebay or something. I might even try to build my own cage, I've gotten pretty good since I built one for my sulcata tortoise and one for my mom's iguana haha. That way I won't have to be size restricted and just get a standard size.

 

[carol5208]

Does your chameleon have little spurs on the back of his feet? Just wondering. Are you positive your cham is a male?

 

[kaylie]

Yes, he has the spurs.
And about more plants in the cage, he takes forever to eat every cricket on his own because if he doesn't see them, he doesn't look for them, so I usually stay through the feeding to grab crickets and throw them back in his direction. This takes 20-25 min for me. I read a post somewhere saying enough crickets is how many he will eat in a couple minutes. Well on his own that could be only one to three.
I feel like more plants would increase the problem, because the crickets have more hiding places and would be more difficult for him to spot...?
Or would I just simply take out the extra plants at feeding time?

 

[carol5208]

you could go that route or try cup feeding. Cut a cup down so it is not too deep and make sure that it is not too see through, cause your cham may keep shooting at them from the outside of the cup. Hang it from a branch kind of on an angle. Unfortunately you might have to pull off the back legs of the cricks so they don't jump out, which I never could do. If you have no problem with that, then you could try that instead of removing the plants everytime. Also, you should be fine with the basking light now. I was reading one of resident experts on here with Veilds and she said when they are really young she did not even use a basking light but now at 4 months you should start.

 

[kinyonga]

As I said before you need to correct the imbalance and then keep it in balance...so just normal dusting won't likely do much. Your vet should have explained how to correct it. Normally the chameleon is given injections of calcium and then when the blood calcium levels are high enough, it can be given a shot of calcitonin to rapidly draw the calcium back into the bones.

You can buy a liquid calcium sandoz or gluconate at the pharmacy...just make sure its only calcium. It supposed to be more easily absorbed than the powders.

 

[kaylie]

As I said before you need to correct the imbalance and then keep it in balance...so just normal dusting won't likely do much. Your vet should have explained how to correct it. Normally the chameleon is given injections of calcium and then when the blood calcium levels are high enough, it can be given a shot of calcitonin to rapidly draw the calcium back into the bones.

You can buy a liquid calcium sandoz or gluconate at the pharmacy...just make sure its only calcium. It supposed to be more easily absorbed than the powders.

How often and for how long should I give him the liquid calcium? Until his splint comes off?

 

[Carlton]

Thank you so much.
What I will probably do is keep using the lights I have for the 6 months that they will be effective, and when I get my next college refund buy the new light set-up and sell my double dome on ebay or something. I might even try to build my own cage, I've gotten pretty good since I built one for my sulcata tortoise and one for my mom's iguana haha. That way I won't have to be size restricted and just get a standard size.

You should still try to get your cham out into unfiltered sun as often as possible until you can get the ReptiSun. I've never heard of the "Sunshine for your pet" bulb but can probably say it doesn't produce the right type or amount of UVB. You don't really have a choice with this one...unless you are going to be extremely specific with supplements and vitamins your diet won't make up for lack of the correct light. The best diet can't be metabolized properly without exposure to UVB.