Sick Veiled Cham

Ethantrombone16

New Member
Hello Chameleon parents, I am posting this in dire need of some more intelligent people. My chameleon has not been acting himself, and is not using two of his legs. Since myself and my girlfriend are both in college, but she is living in an apartment, he has been primarily under her care. Here is the info that I can give to help.

Cham info:

Your Chameleon:
His name is Dvorak, he is a male veiled. He is about 15 months old, purchased in July of 2018.

Handling: 1-2 times per week.

Feeding: Large to extra large Dubia Roaches, 3 every day. Gut-loaded with fresh fruit as much as possible, however my girlfriend has been rather lazy with caring for the roaches. Occasional super-worm or cricket as variety.

Supplement: Every feeding has been calcium with Calcium without D3. Admittedly I believe that my girlfriend has been a little lazy with this aspect as well.

Watering: Dvorak has a repti-rain automatic mister that is set to mist for 45 seconds every 3 hours.

Fecal Description: Fecal and urates look mostly normal, although decreases since he is not eating.

History: My girlfriend and myself decided to get Dvorak as a pet in early July 2018. He has been growing and behaving well for us for all of that time. He recently got a large enclosure upgrade about 3 months ago, which besides switching from crickets to dubias, just a month or so prior, there have been no other changes. My girlfriend and myself recently went off to college, and since I am living in a dorm, she is caring for him about 95% of the time.

Cage info:

Cage type:
Custom built cage by myself, out of wood. It was painted in a mold and mildew resistant paint and left to cure and air for about two weeks before we put him in it. The dimensions are about 3ft by 3ft by 4.5ft. The door is a large screen door, so I believe that ventilation is not a problem.

Lighting: We have been using two 75w heating bulbs and a repti-sun T5HO uvb light.

Temp: Basking spot sits right around 78 degrees F, with the rest of the cage right around 68. We recently went up to a larger 150W single bulb, and another uvb, hopefully to help with bone strength and a hotter basking area.

Humidity: Usually sits right about 35-40% humidity, jumping as high as 80% after misting.

Plants: We currently have three larger pothos plants around the top of the cage, and 3 dwarf umbrella plants around the middle of his cage. He usually loves to hide and snack on these plants, but he hasn't been recently.

Placement: In the corner of bedroom, which receives almost no traffic.

Location: Iowa City, Iowa.

Current Problem: Recently Dvorak has been staying a much darker color than he normally is. He is eating extremely rarely, although we have convinced him to eat a single large dubia, a super-worm, and one cricket in the last week, so we know he is not having issues with his tongue. His teeth, however are turning a brownish tinge. He also is not using his front left leg, nor his back right leg. Neither leg looks broken, however the rear one seems a bit swollen. I have attached images of Dvorak for you to get a visual as well. We are prepared to take him to the emergency vet, however our local vets seem to know less than a desirable amount, so ultimately it would be just to see if the bones were broken.
 

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You don’t mention anything about vitamin supplements aside from calcium with no D. Does he get calcium with D3 twice a month? Does he get a multivitamin twice a month? You might think about dusting with repashy calcium plus LoD at every feeding. Also, I think 3 bug dubias everyday is too much food for a 15 month old veiled.
 
Sorry, I’m adding notes as I read your post: his basking temps are on the low side. For a male veiled, he should have a max basking temp of 85, and an ambient temp of 75. At night, the temp can safely drop to 65-70.
 
Hello, and thank you for your quick response. I had told my girlfriend to alternate between a calcium with D3 and a multivitamin every every week, so he would get one of those every week, but not again until two weeks later. The unfortunate truth is that the two other supplements remain largely untouched by my girlfriend.
 
Sorry, I’m adding notes as I read your post: his basking temps are on the low side. For a male veiled, he should have a max basking temp of 85, and an ambient temp of 75. At night, the temp can safely drop to 65-70.

I agree, which is why we made the change to the more powerful bulb.
 
Your misting regiment is probably a bit on the low side, especially with cooler outside temps and your furnace now drying your inside air. I am told that it can take 2-5 minutes to elicit a drinking response from a Cham, so misting for 45 seconds won’t cut it.
 
Try scrapping your current supplement regime, and just use repashy calcium plus loD at every feeding. It’s an all in one.
 
Do you still have the two chameleons? What has changed since your other thread about the chameleon not eating? Have you moved him from one residence to another?
How long has he had the puffy cheeks and casque?

In the other thread you were told 78F isn't warm enough for a male (or female for that matter) veiled chameleon...but you're still saying that's the basking temperature now. They can't digest their food properly if they can't warm up enough...that might be part of the problem.

In the other thread you were told you needed to dust the insects with calcium at almost every feeding and twice a month with a calcium/D3 powder and twice a month with a vitamin powder...but that's not what you say you're doing now.

In the other thread you also said you were dusting with a vitamin powder with vitamin A ...is the vitamin A prOformed (beta carotene) or prEformed (palmitate, retinol, etc)?

The gutload shouldn't just be fruit...you were given the chart for that in your other thread too.


I hope this helps.
 
A trip to the vet is absolutely needed, and should be done with haste. Being lame in any leg, no less two or more, is vet worthy for sure.
 
The other Cham has been relocated to a new owner, I am unsure of the condition now. We are at the vet as we speak. Thank all and we will be making more changes to our husbandry and feeding regime.
 
Yes, we have an emergency vet less than 15 minutes away, which was one reason why we were comfortable making the choice to get a Cham. We are wrapping up with the vet. After some xrays we have some lower bone density, so we are going on a liquid calcium and some carnivore care for a couple weeks, along with a checkup. Those things combined with even better husbandry will get him on a road to recovery. Question though, our vet said he was worried that he was underweight and that he should be intaking more calories. This goes against what I think as well as what you all seem to think. Suggestions?
 
Yes, we have an emergency vet less than 15 minutes away, which was one reason why we were comfortable making the choice to get a Cham. We are wrapping up with the vet. After some xrays we have some lower bone density, so we are going on a liquid calcium and some carnivore care for a couple weeks, along with a checkup. Those things combined with even better husbandry will get him on a road to recovery. Question though, our vet said he was worried that he was underweight and that he should be intaking more calories. This goes against what I think as well as what you all seem to think. Suggestions?
Hi :) how about ordering some black spider fly larvae for both calcium and weight gain! My cham loves them and he can shot three at once ( just discovered today ) and some outdoor sun if the weather is allowed should be good for him :)
Wishing your cham a speedy recovery
 
Question though, our vet said he was worried that he was underweight and that he should be intaking more calories. This goes against what I think as well as what you all seem to think. Suggestions?
If the vet said that guy is under weight just get up and walk out now. Lol

He is extremely obese. Chams are not built to carry a lot of body fat, unfortunately most keepers over feed their chams causing the obesity. One sign of obesity-triggerd problems is loss of motor control in different areas of the body due to the excess fat squeezing Neural pathways resulting in loss of motor control.
 
That’s what I thought. What kind of diet should I go to, to get him to lose weight? I’m ordering some black soldier fly larvae, but for now I’m thinking 2 large roaches every other day, with appropriate supplement.
 
That’s what I thought. What kind of diet should I go to, to get him to lose weight? I’m ordering some black soldier fly larvae, but for now I’m thinking 2 large roaches every other day, with appropriate supplement.
Put a light dusting of this on every feeder given to him, discontinue all other supplements.

Give him 2-3 large, dusted, we’ll-gutloaded feeders every 3-4 days.

Repashy Calcium Plus LoD 3 Oz JAR https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DLJRMV2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_frMTDb57TMSGD
 
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