New Chameleon owner

[ricklila]

Hey guys my wife and I bought a (Edit) Veiled Chameleon on craigslist and needless to say the owner did not take good care of it. When we drove out to pick her up she was out of the cage in a rag on the desk. She was completely black and not moving and had pooped where she was lying. I took her and put her under the basking light for about 15 minutes where she came back to movement. We loaded her up and headed home. That was Sunday afternoon. Since then we removed the 75W bulbs from her Exo Terrarium hood (they were melting it). We added a 5.0 basking light and a 50W sun glow in cans, then for night we added 2 5W moon lights in the Exo Terra hood light. Since we got her she has not moved she just lies around looking stressed out. She did shed her skin, but I just want to know if this is normal when they shed or if she is stressed out? I figured she might try to stay recluse for a while with the shedding, but her not moving concerns me. Any help would be greatly appreciated. As for care we are feeding her crickets only 1 a day by hand and she has been taking water by mist and from a syringe from my wife. If you need more details please ask I just hate to see her suffer. Thanks

I edited the top. I got confused and said Jackson Chameleon.

 

[pssh]

What are your temps? The humidity? You could be over heating her A LOT.

 

[ricklila]

What are your temps? The humidity? You could be over heating her A LOT.

Humidity 58% temp 85 .. Also when we bought her she had no supliments added in her diet. I think she is about 5 months old. We bought some ReptoLite Plus and Rep-Cal calc with Vit D

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Doesn't look good.
It is not a Jackson's chameleon, it is a veiled with a pretty severe case of MBD.
A vet visit is required to determine if anything can be done.

-Brad

 

[fluxlizard]

That's no jacksons in those pics that's a female veiled and she definitely looks like she's got some problems. If you want to try and save her, best chance is get her to a good reptile vet.

 

[ricklila]

Doesn't look good.
It is not a Jackson's chameleon, it is a veiled with a pretty severe case of MBD.
A vet visit is required to determine if anything can be done.

-Brad

Thanks Brad,
I will give a few a call. I wonder if I even have a vet in my area who knows anything about Chameleons. We are in North Texas. Also thanks on the type. That should tell you how new I am

 

[GoFast]

Thanks Brad,
I will give a few a call. I wonder if I even have a vet in my area who knows anything about Chameleons. We are in North Texas. Also thanks on the type. That should tell you how new I am

Here is a link that could help you find a vet near you that may know about Chams...

http://www.herpvetconnection.com

 

[pssh]

Oops, didn't even see the pictures... Check out that link. Call ahead and ask about chameleon experience. Don't go to a vet that has never seen chameleons before.

 

[Chameron]

Thanks Pssh that is one of the most Important things ever for a vet visit

 

[Julirs]

This just makes me sad. Kudos for the rescue and I hope there is something you can do. It has MBD and will need a Vet and calcium booster. I have a few MBD rescues that live just fine with limited mobility and deformities. Make sure you are measuring temps with a digital thermometer so you are not way off on how hot it is. She should be eating far more than one cricket per day.

For any chance at all you need to see a qualified reptile Vet-perferably with chameleon experience-TODAY.

 

[Carlton]

WOW! Poor thing! They should have given her up or tried to get help months ago. The dark coloration around her head and neck is also a worry. I know you already realize she's in trouble so I hate to add to it but chams tend to lose "control" of their skin color over large patches when they are close to death. I hope she can be helped.

 

[shazz]

So Sad

poor little thing, I can't beleive that anyone would let an animal get to this stage, it makes me so cross!!!

Good luck with her, hope she recovers well now she has someone who cares

 

[DJ Richey Rich]

You might want to not use the moon light at night

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."We added a 5.0 basking light and a 50W sun glow in cans, then for night we added 2 5W moon lights in the Exo Terra hood light"...I assume one of these lights provides UVB?? What type of lights (compact, spiral) are they?

You said..."Since we got her she has not moved she just lies around looking stressed out"...its likely very hard for her to move with the MBD weakening her bones.

You said..."we are feeding her crickets only 1 a day by hand and she has been taking water by mist and from a syringe from my wife"...she should be eating several crickets a day...but her appetite may be slow due to the MBD. Have you tried to give her more than one?

You need a vet to correct the calcium/nutrient levels. The quickest way to correct the MBD is to give her injections of calcium and when the blood calcium levels are high enough, a shot of calcitonin which rapidly draws the calcium back into the bone.

In the meantime, you can give her a liquid calcium (sandoz or gluconate) which is more readily absorbed than the powders. You also need to make sure that she has access to UVB light (which, BTW should not pass through glass or plastic). It would likely help to dust a couple of extra times with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder to help her...don't overdo the D3 supplements though, because D3 from supplements will build up in the body.

Once her levels are brought back to normal, you need to keep them there so the MBD won't recur. Calcium, phosphorus, D3 and vitamin A are all important players in bone health and they need to be in balance. You need to look at the supplements, what you feed to the chameleon and what you feed to the insects when you are trying to balance them.

Exposure to UVB either from direct sunlight or from a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 which allows it to use the calcium in its system. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. its important to dust at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to make up for it.

I dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder which ensures that the chameleon gets some D3 without going overboard. I leave them to produce the rest of the D3 through their exposure to the UVB.

I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene (prOformed) sources of vitamin A would cause an overdose like prEformed sources will. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleon can convert the beta carotene...so some people give them a little prEformed vitamin A once in a while. Excess vitamin A may prevent the d3 from doing its job though and push the chameleon towards MBD...so be careful with it.

I gutload/feed my insects a nutritious diet too. I give crickets, roaches, superworms a wide variety of greens (dandelions, kale, escarole, endive, mustard greens, collards, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, zucchini, etc.).

Appropriate temperature also plays a part because it aids in digestion and thus plays an indirect part in nutrient absorption.

I hope that you will be able to get this poor little chameleon back on track. It needs to be done quickly though...she's not in great shape.

One more thing...I would remove the substrate.

 

[gary1621]

The substrate is probably providing some comfort and padding since she isnt moving around and is confined to the floor

I wish you all the luck with this little girl

Please keep us updated

 

[ricklila]

update

Thanks for all of the replies. After weeks of my wife hand feeding Cami she has fully recuperated. She was giving here daily injections of calcium with a syringe. She would lick it right from the end. She even took water through a syringe it was so neat to watch her drinking the water. Only thing now is she can't stand eating crickets. She only wants meal worms. She loves the huge ones too. She will eat 10 a day if you let her. She molted last week in 2 days total. When we got her it took her over a week to molt. I am guessing this is a sign of health. Attached are some pictures with Chami and my son Brayson. Thanks to everyone who replied to us.

Rick and Lila

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Amazing!
Excellent work, and a great example of what can happen with a pet who has dedicated owners.
By big mealworms do you mean super worms (Zophoba morio)?
Those are fine and really easy to gut load ... feed them sweet potato and peppers, dark leafy greens, apples, oranges, cheerios, Total, etc.
In this situation I would almost say anything was fine (even chocolate ice cream ) as long as she's eating!
Again, fantastic work!

-Brad

 

[gpmo]

Wow congrats on your success. Dedication and education seem to be key with these guys. We watch craigslist regularly for herps to rescue, its really sad sometimes.

Gpmo (us)

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Great news. She really looked bad in that first set of pics. Im really amazed you and your wife saved her. Keep up the good work. Oh yeah and its great that she will drink from a syringe that may help so much in future if she needs meds.

 

[Elizadolots]

YAY! What a happy story. I'm so impressed with you and your family for taking this on and making it happen. You're heroes...even if on a reptilian scale!