Please help. Rescued Chameleon with MBD :(

[Psychotic4mb3r]

I got a rescue just about an hour ago(I usually rescue Leopard Geckos, this is the first cham). He was suppose to be healthy but his legs do not look like my other chams(they look like the post about MBD that has pics).. I am 99% sure he has MBD. What can you do to help this? Is it necessary to take him to a vet? At the moment he is in a 29 gallon tank untill I can get him a screen cage.(if anyone can help me get a screen cage any faster then by friday please let me know!)
I have never delt with a cham with MBD so and suggestions will help. Thanks!!

 

[Psychotic4mb3r]

Oh yea, I forgot to add that it seems that his front legs are a little weak. He mainly uses his back legs unless hes trying to climb . Poor guy..

 

[jamncristian]

try taking him outside to get natural sunlight if the temps are good enough

place an order on phoenix worm, silk worms, butter worms, & hornworms so he can start building up on calcium to the bones

gutload your crickets with veggies high in calcium like turnip greens

 

[Syn]

Your best bet would be to take him to a qualified herp vet as soon as possible.

 

[Psychotic4mb3r]

Your best bet would be to take him to a qualified herp vet as soon as possible.

Thats the only bad thing.. We dont have one around us...

 

[Syn]

Can you take some pictures, then?

 

[Psychotic4mb3r]

Here a pic of him

 

[Chase]

Definitely MBD. Do you know how old he is? I don't know the website that shows all of the Herp Vets in your state is, hopefully someone who knows it will chime in. But, he needs to get to a vet.

 

[Psychotic4mb3r]

Definitely MBD. Do you know how old he is? I don't know the website that shows all of the Herp Vets in your state is, hopefully someone who knows it will chime in. But, he needs to get to a vet.

I have no idea how old he is.. The guy said he got him from a pet store..

 

[kinyonga]

To give it the best chance of recovery you should take it to a vet so it could be given injections of calcium. When its blood calcium levels are high enough it can be given an injection of calcitonin to draw the calcium rapidly back into the bones. I don't think the vet would have to have much experience to give it the calcium injections...but the vet would have to know when the blood calcium levels were high enough to give it the calcitonin.

In the meantime, you can buy some liquid calcium sandoz or liquid calcium gluconate at a pharmacy and give it to the chameleon. Please be very careful with it because its syrupy and they have difficulty swallowing it...and you definitely don't want to get it into the lungs. Make sure that it gets enough exposure to UVB. It might also be good to give it a little extra D3 for a while. D3 from supplements builds up in the system and can cause calcium issues if overdone....so be very careful about this.

Make sure that the basking temperatures are good so that digestion is good.
Lack of calcium not only affects the bones, it affects other systems in the chameleon...muscles, etc. so its important to get the calcium corrected soon.

 

[Psychotic4mb3r]

To give it the best chance of recovery you should take it to a vet so it could be given injections of calcium. When its blood calcium levels are high enough it can be given an injection of calcitonin to draw the calcium rapidly back into the bones. I don't think the vet would have to have much experience to give it the calcium injections...but the vet would have to know when the blood calcium levels were high enough to give it the calcitonin.

In the meantime, you can buy some liquid calcium sandoz or liquid calcium gluconate at a pharmacy and give it to the chameleon. Please be very careful with it because its syrupy and they have difficulty swallowing it...and you definitely don't want to get it into the lungs. Make sure that it gets enough exposure to UVB. It might also be good to give it a little extra D3 for a while. D3 from supplements builds up in the system and can cause calcium issues if overdone....so be very careful about this.

Make sure that the basking temperatures are good so that digestion is good.
Lack of calcium not only affects the bones, it affects other systems in the chameleon...muscles, etc. so its important to get the calcium corrected soon.

Alright, I have the calcium with d3 ill go ahead and dust the crickets tonight. Tomorrow ill get the liquid calcuim and then look around for a vet. Thank you guys for the advice!

 

[spadefish]

Calcium gluconate

This can be diluted with water to cut the syrupy-ness and it is easier to administer that way. I wouldn't dilute it too much, but a little bit helps in my experience.

 

[BocaJan]

You need to dust the food just before feeding. The crickets do not ingest the calcium powder, just carry it on their body.