PLEASE HELP_Really concerned about my chameleon

[Duckiejd]

-I have a 1 1/2 yr old female Veiled Chameleon.
-She is not aggressive at all,we handle her about twice a week.
-Her diet consist of crickets, meal worms, and sometimes super worms.
-She eats 2x a day, about 10 crickets 10 worms. (food is switched)
-The crickets are gut loaded with Fluker's (cricket food),carrots & oat meal, worms are gut loaded with oat meal and carrots.
-Crickets are dusted with fluker's calcium phosphorus free( 2x a month), also use ReptiCal multi vitamins(every other day. We also have liquid calcium drops.
-For watering we have a dripper, and we mist her about 4-5 times a day or we give her water manually with a baby med. dropper. But we did substituted the pump mister with a rain system (monsoon rs400).
-Her fecal matter doesn't take place too often currently but before she was going every other day.
-Her enclosure is mesh all over I believe the measurements are 20x20x38 (we had a smaller metal screen enclosure before this one)
_ Her lighting consist of a 10.0 UVB ExoTerra Reptiglo , and a zoomed basking lamp 100wts.
-Temperature is usually kept at 80-90
-As for plants we have both fake and real plants such as the umbrella plant and a zebra plant.
-Her enclosure is placed on a wooden table by a window.
-I am in California.

I have attached several pictures so you guys can get an idea of the supplies I have, now I also attached a picture of an enclosure to give you an example of what mine looks like and how big it is (the one in the picture is not mine). Now there is also pictures of my chameleon before she became ill and after including the picture that shows a hump on her back where the tail starts which really concerns me. She is very weak right now, she struggles a lot to move around and she isn't really eating or drinking water.Please help me, I don't know what is wrong with her. I believe she may have fallen in her inclosure and may have injured herself.

 

[Duckiejd]

Here are some more pics.

 

[deadhd5]

I am sorry to hear you are having trouble with your chameleon.

The pictures of your cham and the enclosure did not come through... Seeing a pic of her will help greatly.

From your information, it could be possible she is egg bound. Has she laid before? Do you have a laying bin set up? The reason I ask is because you are overfeeding her and her temps are too high, two things that greatly increase egg production.

Also, it seems your supplement schedule is reversed from the way it should be. You should be dusting with the plain calcium every day, and vitimins twice a month. Also, there should be a calcium powder with D3 that she gets twice a month as well (possible MBD).

 

[Duckiejd]

This is what the enclosure looks like(only an example, not my enclosure), and there is also a few pictures of her.

 

[deadhd5]

I think there may be the beginnings of MBD in combo with her having eggs.

When was the last time you changed your UVB bulb?

Has she ever laid eggs?

Does she have a laying bin in her cage?

 

[Duckiejd]

What temps do you suggest? and as for the calcium we were dusting them everyday but we were told that too much calcium for them isn't very good this is why we cut down. She actually laid a batch for the first time about 4-5 months ago, and yes I have a bin in her enclosure just in case.(and I actually just realized there is no d3 in the supplements i have....not good)

 

[bradley]

My females I would have a basking spot in the low 80's. I dust lightly everyday. if you only dust lightly everyday is fine.

 

[Duckiejd]

so you think the hump on her back is beginnings of MBD?? because the hump showed up about 2 days ago over night. We actually bought her and new UVB bulb about a month ago, and yes she laid eggs for the 1st time about 4-5 months ago and yes there is a bin in the enclosure.

 

[deadhd5]

Basking should be 83-85 degrees for a female panther.

You should feed her about 5 adult sized crickets (or the equivalent) every other day. Too much food will increase egg production and shorten her life.

Plain calcium (no D3 or phos) should be given everyday to balance out the phos/calcium ratio of the feeder insects. Someone was getting confused with calcium w/ D3, which should be given twice a month. Herptivite also twice a month.

Good to hear she has a laying bin in her enclosure and has laid successfully before.

 

[Duckiejd]

I have a the basking bulb of 100wts because it's located on top of the enclosure and her vines aren't too high up because I don't want her to get burnt,and also because she is near a window.

 

[Duckiejd]

In regards to the MBD, is there anything I can do to get her back to herself? I feel so bad for her because it looks very painful when she tries to move, and it's keeping her from eating or drinking.

 

[deadhd5]

In regards to the MBD, is there anything I can do to get her back to herself? I feel so bad for her because it looks very painful when she tries to move, and it's keeping her from eating or drinking.

Its hard to say for sure if MBD is the cause.. If she does have MBD, it is in the beginning stages and can be stopped with treatment (but not reversed). Her arms and legs do not look too bad. It is also possible that the deformation is related to a big belly full of eggs.

I would advise that you take her into a vet.

 

[Duckiejd]

Yes her arms and legs are fine, however i do think she may have injured her back. For a fact her back has a lot to do with her struggling to get around or so I think,but I will be taking her to the vet today.

 

[deadhd5]

Yes her arms and legs are fine, however i do think she may have injured her back. For a fact her back has a lot to do with her struggling to get around or so I think,but I will be taking her to the vet today.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Duckiejd]

Thank you, and thank you all for the help.

 

[ChameleonMom]

I think getting her to a vet would be very wise! My girl has a hump on her back much like the one your girl has developed but my girl has had it from birth. It doesn't seem to hinder her or cause any problems but if its only recently come up on yours, I'm wondering if she could be eggbound or alternatively have an impaction that is inhibiting her ability to go to the bathroom and perhaps causing a realignment of her spine.

A visit to your vet would be the best medicine for her at this point. Good luck!

 

[Duckiejd]

I took my little one to the vet yesterday, and I was told that it looks like she has a fractured vertebrae. She is also lacking calcium, unfortunately the enclosure I have for her was not allowing in sufficient UVB light. As for the eggs the vet said she didn't feel any eggs however in the xrays it showed that she might have a few eggs. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of reptile vets in my area. The vet gave her a calcium injection and she advised us to supplement her with more calcium as for her back there wasn't much they could do. She said possibly with the calcium she will jump back to how she was, so when I got home we reassembled her smaller enclosure which allows a lot more uvb lighting to hit her so I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will be back to herself soon. Oh and she did start eating again and drinking water on her own again so that's a little progress.