Shaky Veiled

littlefoot3

New Member
Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - 3mo male veiled, I've had him 3 days (Aug 20.)
Handling - I would say moderately, I carry him to and from his enclosure to the ficus in my living room so he can get used to the whole area.
Feeding - The first two days, only superworms. Today, 12 crickets and 1 superworm (I had ordered crickets, but the shipment was delayed so instead of them arriving the day I got him, they arrived last night in the afternoon. Ran and picked up superworms locally so he'd have something to eat in the meantime.) Crickets gutloaded with fresh carrots, flax seed, and bug burger. Superworms with flax seed and bug burger as well.
Supplements - So far just dusting with calciums w/o D3. Have other supplements but haven't used them yet. (cal w/ D3 and multi)
Watering - I've seen him drink twice since I've had him, yesterday and today. I mist fairly heavily, though only a couple of times a day. It's quite humid here, with the plant in his enclosure it stays around 60 with no misting.
Fecal Description - Just found a nice healthy poop about an hour ago, brown, white, and full.
History - I noticed a little shakiness yesterday, but it wasn't bad.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - 24x24x48 screen, he only has access to about 2 1/2-3ft. He'll be able to access more as he grows.
Lighting - 60watt house bulb, Reptisun 5.0
Temperature - basking stays around 85, maybe a tad higher. Lower cage stays around 75-80.
Humidity - Without misting, humidity stays fairly well. It'll go up closer to 70 when I mist.
Plants - pothos
Placement - Bedroom, not high traffic, pretty much always above eye level when he's in it.
Location - Louisiana. It's hot and humid ya'll.


On to the problem. I've only had Derp Guevara for a couple of days, and for the most part he's been an angel. The first day he was bright green and very social right out of the box, but I think towards the end nerves set in when he realized he still wasn't at the home we was used to. Yesterday he was darker and less willing to be out and around people (namely my roommate). I noticed his little hands would shake a bit when moving. He has progressively taken slower and slower movements. I chalked it up to nerves. Today his color was still a little dark, but not bad. He ate just fine, he's only been hand fed thus far. He's been mostly hanging out at the top of the enclosure, or the top of the ficus in my living room. I caught him at the bottom of the plant pot once yesterday, but chalked it up to exploring. He slept towards the top and continued to hang out there.

When I went to check on him earlier I noticed him climbing the saucer at the bottom of the pot. I ran to grab my phone to video the shakiness so I could send it to my breeder to ask about it. By the time I was able to get back and start recording, he fell! :( I brought him into the living room with me to set him on the ficus so I can keep an eye on him. He seems to like the ficus better? I've got the lamp next to it with a bulb close to the tree where he can keep warm without burning himself.

I've contacted my breeder (quite wonderful and helpful) and after going over everything we chalked it up to nerves since his color has been mostly fine and he's been eating and drinking regularly. I'm keeping an eye on him to see if it happens again.


I'm curious if something like this has happened to any of you before?

This is the link to the video.

The first picture was almost immediately post-fall. He did get a little browner, but not much. The next is him now, he's completely green (doesn't show real well in the light). The last one was him earlier this morning in his enclosure.
 

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Here's a better picture of his green coloring now.
 

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It could just be me, but his hands/limbs look alittle swollen. Combined with the dropping, he might have early MBD. Keep his dusting going, make sure hes getting d3 calcium once a week, from either the multvitamin or calcium+d3 combo. Also make sure he can get 6" away from that reptisun 5.0 so he can uv bask if he wants too. If you can id also take him outside in the sun for an hour 2x a week.

Veiled's grow like crazy the first 6-8 months (doubling in weight each month) so its a race to get them dialed down.

Even with 20 years of experience i dont breath till im at the one year mark. I still will get the normal; tongue/dehydration/shed while they are growing, but i normaly can correct it in a few weeks.
 
I believe shaking (tremors) are a sign of MBD also. Best not to jump to that though...maybe someone more experienced can better add. It may be a supplementation problem?
 
My plan of action at the moment is just to make sure he stays supplemented and give him until the end of next week. Extra sunlight outside probably isn't a bad idea. If this time next week he hasn't improved any, to the vet we will go. If it is indeed MBD I want to get it confirmed with tests, but we'll see how he does for now. He doesn't seem to have any breaks or fractures in his extremities. Looking over his ribs I don't see anything that would indicate anything broken there.

Should I look into setting up any kind of safety net? So if he falls from higher up it won't be as far or as hard? I'm going to be so paranoid about this when I go to work now.



Also any vets out there, feel free to chime in! The vet I'm taking him to is the vet I take my bird to, he does see exotic pets. I'm not sure of his experience with chameleons specifically.
 
on a side note,
my veiled climbs down his trees all the time,
make sure you give him avenues to climb back up.
i would reccomend getting some calcium glubonate.
 
I take my plan of action back. I've had too much time to get extra paranoid. I'll probably call my vet in the morning and see when the soonest I can get in is...
 
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