Please help, 8month old female veiled chameleon karma!

V

Vince Beadle

New Member
Hi to all......
Plz help im a first time keeper, had karma from a baby with no problems untill about 4wks ago when she lost all intrest in her food, she showd no sign of lookin to lay so have been tryin to vary her diet by offerin wax warms n small locus, she has showed intrest but still not back to normall so inbetween xmas an new year a place a tub of play sand in the viv with her after watchin her eat it and doing research for a couple of days decided to remove it as I felt it was doin more harm then good.(all the research I did seamd to confict with what the previous said) a week or so lata she was havin trouble with her tounge but this only seamd to b a one day thing, she had no control aimin for her food n when she did go for it her tounge would come all the way out n she'd struggle to get it back in.

As she is not eatin alot and I dust her feeder insects (twice a week) I have introduced a night time glow with all the uv benafits and am gut loadin her insects with watet crest which is naturally high in calcium.........

I noticed yesterday she was at the bottom of the viv lookin round so put her sand back in. she slept at the bottom of the viv last nite and only showed signs of bein weak yesterday. When I misted her befor I left for wrk this mornin she was still at the bottom hadn't moved all night, my girlfriend has kept an eye on her all day but she has gradually got worse shes really weak n seams to b draggin her back legs when she moves, she was quite active when I got home from work but she was walkin backwards everywere???? The only way I can describe her behaviour is like a dog draggin its bum along the floor but karma was pushing hers????

Plz help I have phoned local vets but there all un willing to look at her cuz shes not ur every day kind of reptile. My girlfriend contacted are nearest zoo this afternoon bt the reptile specialised isnt in untill tomorrow so someone there took our details and said there try there hardest to phone when they can......... I hate to see her like this so please any advice would be very much appreciated....................
 
Welcome to the forums. I am so sorry to hear that your girl is not well. Where do you live maybe someone here will know of a vet you can take her to. I would keep a laying bin in with her at all times at that age. Please fill out the form below so that we can better help you. I'm also attaching a couple of my blogs for you.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Egg laying and the laying bin. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

General care: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
 
Thanks for the links jann some really helpful stuff there.....
I live in cornwall england so plenty of farm vets but a lack of rptile vets so if anyone knows of one then much appretiated
 
Welcome to the forums. As soon as you can post your responses to the "How To Ask For Help" form that Jann sent you the sooner you will be able to get help for you little one. I understand you don't have any vets where you live, so hopefully an experienced keeper will be able to offer advice.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female veiled chameleon, been in our care for 5 months.
Handling - 3 times a week.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Started on crickets, now on wax worms and locus. What amount? averaging 4-5 crickets a day before she went off her food and since then 2-3 locus every two days(small locus) and the occasional wax worm which we've managed to dust with the calcium supplement. What is the schedule? Late afternoon feeding. How are you gut-loading your feeders? bug grub, oats and watercress
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Chameleon complete calcium and vitamin D3 supplement, dusted twice a week.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Little dripper How often and how long to you mist? 3 times a day, morning afternoon and evening. Do you see your chameleon drinking? occasionally, yes. but not within the last week.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Black/Brown colour with a white/yellow top. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Everything is stated in the question

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Glass, Exo terra rain-forest terrarium medium size. 450x450x600mm.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Exo terra compact top canopy with a repti glow 5.0 uvb 26watt. & night glow moon light 15watt. Daylight 14hours.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Exo terra thermostat at the top front corner which is 70f and dips down the the high 50's at night.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? 60-70percent but can drop to 50 over night. How are you creating and maintaining these levels? misting and the little dripper. What do you use to measure humidity? Exo terra Hydrometer
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? No, all artificial plants as we can't find a garden center which stocks any suitable.
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? Next to a window in a corner of the room. At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? 1400mm from floor to the top of the cage.
Location - Where are you geographically located? Cornwall, England.

Current Problem - Explained in the question.
 
I know you said you have no vet to see her, but IMHO you need to get her to a vet asap. Its possible she is eggbound and may be low on calcium too. I'm not a vet...its just from my own experience/learning after keeping chameleons for over 20 years.

Tongue issues can be the result of an injury, infection, MBD/nutrient imbalance and even dehydration. If the tongue stays out its important to keep it moist and get to a vet right away.


If she is short of calcium its important to get it back in balance asap since it not only affects the bones, but the muscles (including those involved in laying eggs) and other systems in the chameleon. Once its back in balance proper husbandry should keep it there. Eating sand/soil is thought to be done when the chameleon lacks nutrients.

Here's some information I hope will help you with supplementing, etc.....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
 
No change in our little karma today. was fidgety this morning walking forward and then pushing herself back. she's currently under a piece of log just sitting there. We're feeling really helpless and don't know what to do :( we hate seeing our baby like this!!!!
 
finally managed to find a vet that's not to far away and she's booked in tonight, so fingers crossed our baby karma is going to recover :D
 
Our poor little karma's staying in the vets overnight. she's most definitely eggbound. They're giving her a calcium injection and then 2 hours later, giving her an injection to loosing her up so she can pass the eggs. Fingers crossed she'll be okay. Thanks to everyone for your help :)
 
Vince Beadle said:
Our poor little karma's staying in the vets overnight. she's most definitely eggbound. They're giving her a calcium injection and then 2 hours later, giving her an injection to loosing her up so she can pass the eggs. Fingers crossed she'll be okay. Thanks to everyone for your help :)
Click to expand...

I'll keep her in my thoughts and prayers.
 
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