MeggyT
New Member
Please, help me help Dusty... (MBD?)
Hello all, I've been around in this forum for some time, but only passively, observing and learning. I've got an ~7 month old female veiled cham, Dusty. Unfortunately I think she's developed MBD, and I realise that the fault is completely mine because I did not give her enough calcium and vitamins, I guess, and I feel awful about that... Please, please, please, help me fix her, or at least make it better for her because she seems unhappy...
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, female, about 7 months old (they told me that she was 4 months old when I got her, but I can't be sure). I've had her since June, so three months...
Handling - Every other day before I realised she's got MBD (she enjoyed exploring and standing on my head ^^)
Feeding -I am feeding her mainly with crickets because in Bulgaria (that's where I'm from) this is the most common insect that you can find in a pet shop. Sometimes I give her green locusts. I feed her 4-5 large crickets every day. I am gutfeeding them with tomatoes, fruit, salad, etc.
Supplements - Vitamin jelly from time to time. Reptile complex (vitamins and minerals with D3) once a week. (That's what I didn't do right ;(( )
Watering - I mist 2-3-4 times a day, it depends. The first misting is when I wake up.
Fecal Description -Dusty hasn't been tested for parasites, her fecals are darkish brown with a little white at the end.
History - Dusty is my first pet ever, she was a present from my friends for my 18th birhtday, and they consulted the guy at the pet shop about the size of the cage and everything, so I think that he may have misinformed them. This summer I was away for some time, so my parents and my little brother took care of Dusty.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - My cage is ExoTerra, all-glass, and soon I'm going to order a larger and better one. The dimentions are 30/20/20 cm (I realize now that this might be too small)
Lighting - To tell you the truth, I have no idea about the brand, but it's UVA and UVB both, and I turn on the lamp when I wake up, and I switch it off around 9 o'clock in the evening.
Temperature - I haven't checked, if it is really important, I will measure the temp later.
Humidity - Same as temp.
Plants - I am not using live plants in the cage, but sometimes I let her climb the live ones we have in our living room.
Placement - The cage is about a meter from the floor, and I have an air conditioner in my room, but I am careful with it because of my cham.
Location - Sofia, Bulgaria (That's Eastern Europe)
Current Problem - Well, after having read quite a lot in this forum, I came to the conclusion that Dustyl has MBD (I feel like a terrible owner...). Her hind left leg is really bad, I mean, she can move it, but it is somehow twisted (I'm going to attach some photos). A week ago she lost her apetite, and I noticed that she had some difficulty chasing the crickets (I let her hunt on the balcony), as well as shooting her tongue (not very accurate, not fast enough, and not far enough). Then I also noticed that she does not drink a lot of water (she hates it when I mist, but then usually starts drinking), she simply ignores it most of the time. A while ago she was shedding her skin and started laying at the bottom of the cage more often. I didn't think that there was something wrong, I thought that maybe the temperature was too high and so I started turning the lamp off for about 30 mins whenever I saw her like that and this seemed to solve the problem. Now I know that my assumption was wrong... I am going to take her to the vet this week, on Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest. Today I am going to buy various supplements (Calcium, multivitamins, jelly, etc.) and I hope that maybe if I give her what she needs regularly, and with the help of a vet, I might be able to fix her.
Please share your thoughts, I am open to criticizm, advice, anything... I am really attached to Dusty, and I'll do anything to make it better for her.
Hello all, I've been around in this forum for some time, but only passively, observing and learning. I've got an ~7 month old female veiled cham, Dusty. Unfortunately I think she's developed MBD, and I realise that the fault is completely mine because I did not give her enough calcium and vitamins, I guess, and I feel awful about that... Please, please, please, help me fix her, or at least make it better for her because she seems unhappy...
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, female, about 7 months old (they told me that she was 4 months old when I got her, but I can't be sure). I've had her since June, so three months...
Handling - Every other day before I realised she's got MBD (she enjoyed exploring and standing on my head ^^)
Feeding -I am feeding her mainly with crickets because in Bulgaria (that's where I'm from) this is the most common insect that you can find in a pet shop. Sometimes I give her green locusts. I feed her 4-5 large crickets every day. I am gutfeeding them with tomatoes, fruit, salad, etc.
Supplements - Vitamin jelly from time to time. Reptile complex (vitamins and minerals with D3) once a week. (That's what I didn't do right ;(( )
Watering - I mist 2-3-4 times a day, it depends. The first misting is when I wake up.
Fecal Description -Dusty hasn't been tested for parasites, her fecals are darkish brown with a little white at the end.
History - Dusty is my first pet ever, she was a present from my friends for my 18th birhtday, and they consulted the guy at the pet shop about the size of the cage and everything, so I think that he may have misinformed them. This summer I was away for some time, so my parents and my little brother took care of Dusty.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - My cage is ExoTerra, all-glass, and soon I'm going to order a larger and better one. The dimentions are 30/20/20 cm (I realize now that this might be too small)
Lighting - To tell you the truth, I have no idea about the brand, but it's UVA and UVB both, and I turn on the lamp when I wake up, and I switch it off around 9 o'clock in the evening.
Temperature - I haven't checked, if it is really important, I will measure the temp later.
Humidity - Same as temp.
Plants - I am not using live plants in the cage, but sometimes I let her climb the live ones we have in our living room.
Placement - The cage is about a meter from the floor, and I have an air conditioner in my room, but I am careful with it because of my cham.
Location - Sofia, Bulgaria (That's Eastern Europe)
Current Problem - Well, after having read quite a lot in this forum, I came to the conclusion that Dustyl has MBD (I feel like a terrible owner...). Her hind left leg is really bad, I mean, she can move it, but it is somehow twisted (I'm going to attach some photos). A week ago she lost her apetite, and I noticed that she had some difficulty chasing the crickets (I let her hunt on the balcony), as well as shooting her tongue (not very accurate, not fast enough, and not far enough). Then I also noticed that she does not drink a lot of water (she hates it when I mist, but then usually starts drinking), she simply ignores it most of the time. A while ago she was shedding her skin and started laying at the bottom of the cage more often. I didn't think that there was something wrong, I thought that maybe the temperature was too high and so I started turning the lamp off for about 30 mins whenever I saw her like that and this seemed to solve the problem. Now I know that my assumption was wrong... I am going to take her to the vet this week, on Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest. Today I am going to buy various supplements (Calcium, multivitamins, jelly, etc.) and I hope that maybe if I give her what she needs regularly, and with the help of a vet, I might be able to fix her.
Please share your thoughts, I am open to criticizm, advice, anything... I am really attached to Dusty, and I'll do anything to make it better for her.