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JustJay

JustJay

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So after all the research I've been doing I'm thinking about returning my (petsmart bought) lil veiled cham. It's my first chameleon and I don't know but he doesn't seem too well. He eats and I think he drinks but I haven't actually seen him drink. But that's not my concern. I feel like I hear some sort of sneeze type sound every now and then and he's not very active for his age (3-4 months). Could be ill? Should I return him and go to a reptile specific store instead? Please help
 
Here's what his habitat looks like
1493059683179-942247398.jpg
 
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?Male veiled and I've had him for about 2 weeks now
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?I've handled him twice since I've got him and he didn't seem to like it so I decided I wouldn't handle him
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?I'm feeding him 1/4 crickets that I gutload with carrots
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I dust them every feed with repti calcium without d3
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I spray his cage 3 times a day and I mist for about a minute or 2 and I've never really seen him drinking
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? His droppings are brown with white urates and I haven't tested for parasites
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Petsmart bought

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?screen 2×2×3 I think
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I have a 5.0 uvb bulb and a blue daylight basking bulb
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? The hottest his basking spot gets is like 85 Fahrenheit and the lowest spot is like 70 -75.
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? I haven't purchased a gauge yet
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I have a live ficus tree , live spanish moss and another plant idk what it is
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? I have him in my room by my closet that I never use and he's about eye level. Not too close to any windows but can still get a lil breeze if needed
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? I live in california

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. I feel like I hear him sneeze or something every now and then and he doesn't seem as active as I seen other chameleons his age be.
 
Can you get a picture of his profile coming at his side? I need to see his legs better. As far as the spanish moss, I would remove it. Also the other plant you don't know looks like a poisonous type of schefflera but I am not sure. Do you have a calcium with D3 or any sort of multivitamin? He sounds like he's been drinking, chameleons are relatively shy drinkers, if you don't see him drink but his urates are white you likely don't have to worry. You need a better gutload for sure. Carrots are fine and all, but they should be fed a HUGE amount of different fruits and veggies. Looking into different feeders can happen later since you just got him. His back ankles look rather swollen which makes me believe (with the way they are swollen) that he has mild MBD. Since you live in CA, I would recommend getting natural UVB for him at least a couple times a week for an hour. It will help extremely, and he will do much better with it. Just gotta get him out of the cage.

As far as sneezing, does he breathe with his mouth open? When he opens his mouth is there a popping sound at all or excessive thick or discolored saliva?
 
No he doesn't breathe with his mouth open at least I haven't seen that I've seen him like yawn a couple times but thats it and as for the rest I'm not too exactly sure because I'm super new to this. I don't think his saliva is thick or discolored like it doesn't string on the corners of his mouth. Maybe I'm just over concerned since it's my 1st cham
 
It seems like you're not off to a bad start. I'd recommend misting 5-10 minutes 3x a day though. Just keep spraying... i usually do 10 in the morning and then 2 more heavy 5-10 minute mists with a couple light mists between. I have a panther though so may be different?

As for the sneezing... are you sure it's not just him *puffing* at you, mine does this when i'm annoying him. Sounds like a little sneeze.
 
I've thought of that as well and it might be that I'm just super concerned cuz I don't want him to get any type of illness whatsoever.
 
What about the activeness? Are all chameleons super active at this age or are there a few lazy ones? He doesn't sleep during the day but he doesn't really go anywhere or do anything.
 
The sneezing sounds normal. It's ways of showing frustration etc, but also expel excessive salts etc. The activeness could be completely normal but he looks like he has the beginnings of MBD. But he will never be illness free, chameleons are just like any other animal (except they are much more complicated and more short lived than most) and get illnesses just like any other. Especially around 5+ years as they become seniors.
 
He shows some classic signs, lack of activity (which without the other signs wouldn't point to MBD), the way all 4 feet are open (usually just one or two at the time is normal but all four is odd), the swelling in his back ankles, and the fact that he came from petsmart isn't actually surprising that he has it.
 
Will it get worse? I think the opened feet is probably cuz I got too close he was starting to wanna move when I took that close up pic.
 
Andee said:
He shows some classic signs, lack of activity (which without the other signs wouldn't point to MBD), the way all 4 feet are open (usually just one or two at the time is normal but all four is odd), the swelling in his back ankles, and the fact that he came from petsmart isn't actually surprising that he has it.
Click to expand...

Hey andee not disagreeing with you at all, i'm just curious. What do you mean by 4 open feet? Do you mean like his toes or? Also from that picture how can you tell the swelling in the ankles, i see most chams seem to have larger back legs/ankles than the front, i'm not seeing the picture clearly enough in this. I totally believe you just trying to learn something here myself.
 
Larger back ankles are normal, (this is an adult male veiled with normal larger back ankles http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/simca357/media/IMG_0603_zpstslvudfp.jpg.html) look at the first picture of OP chameleon's back ankles, there is a lot of swelling and slight buckling in the back part of the ankle facing us. Then is you look at the last one you see it follows into the front of the foot slightly. My panther has this (at a slightly worse amount) I have seen many veileds and other chameleons with this who were later diagnosed with MBD. The slight swelling is usually a sign of the beginnings of MBD.

As far as the 4 open feet, it's usually a resting position for the feet if one or just two are not gripping the branch while they are sitting on them. However all four not gripping when he is obviously uncomfortable is not normal in my opinion especially with the slight swelling and small bend in his ankle (i guess it would be his toes). Because this is not a normal thing for something that uses gripping to walk, it actually can cause pressure sores. If the OP did some close ups of the back feet I wouldn't be surprised to see swelling and bending.
 
As far as MBD getting worse, yes it absolutely will if not addressed with liquid calcium provided by a vet and a good diet.
 
And I know this sounds mean but should I just return him to petsmart and get one from a more experienced reptile store?
 
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