Slightly curved casque - Veiled Chameleon.

[GeorgiaT]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male veiled chameleon aged 5-6 months, had since 3 months.
Handling - Quite often, he doesn't seem to mind it.
Feeding - 10 Locust calcium dusted daily with pro-rep calcium dust.
Supplements - Calcium dusted each feed without D3, D3 calcium used once a week.
Watering - Misted 2-3 times a day using an exo-terra mister, each misting lasts about 30 seconds to a minute.
Fecal Description - Not been parasite tested but has normal white/brown poo.
History - No previous history.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass exo-terra terrarium.
Lighting - Exo-terra Repti Glo 2*5.0
Temperature - 76F cage temp, 82/3F basking spot with a drop to 67/8F overnight measured using a Habistat.
Humidity - 65-70% humidity, kept at this level using a few daily mistings.
Plants - No live plants.
Placement - Kept in a bedroom about 2-3' from the floor.
Location - UK

Current Problem - My chameleon has a slightly curved casque and I'm wondering whether that is due to him sitting so close to the top of his cage all the time or some other issue.

EDIT- A bit of extra info; He's only started to have this bend in the last few weeks as far as I can recall.

Album of photo's showing the casque and a couple of his legs - Rango.


Any help would be great,

Thanks.

 

[Hoj]

Curved casques are often a sign of MBD, You may have a sligh issue with is as I see you are only using calcium with d3 once a week, and a 2.0 uvb
You should be using plain calcium no d3 at most feedings and calcium w/d3 about twice a month. also a multivitamin twice a month.
The uvb should be a 5.0 or higher and replaced every 6m as they do wear out.
Without the having the cacium at most feedings your cham may not have waht is required to maintain strong bones.
And with the low uvb buld what calcium he does have cannot be absorbed properly.

edit
Ok I just re read your info and see you are using calcium at most feeding so the main thing I see is the 2.0
You might also bring up the basking temp if he is trying to get closer to the heat, I try to keep veileds of that age arounf 90 in the hot spot.

 

[GeorgiaT]

Curved casques are often a sign of MBD, You may have a sligh issue with is as I see you are only using calcium with d3 once a week, and a 2.0 uvb
You should be using plain calcium no d3 at most feedings and calcium w/d3 about twice a month. also a multivitamin twice a month.
The uvb should be a 5.0 or higher and replaced every 6m as they do wear out.
Without the having the cacium at most feedings your cham may not have waht is required to maintain strong bones.
And with the low uvb buld what calcium he does have cannot be absorbed properly.

edit
Ok I just re read your info and see you are using calcium at most feeding so the main thing I see is the 2.0
You might also bring up the basking temp if he is trying to get closer to the heat, I try to keep veileds of that age arounf 90 in the hot spot.

Thanks for the quick reply! I just realised I put 2.0 when they're actually 5.0! Are 5.0's ok?

 

[Elizadolots]

5.0 are fine. Normally this board only recommends one UVB bulb unless the enclosure is very large. Too much artificial UVB can be a problem.

 

[GeorgiaT]

5.0 are fine. Normally this board only recommends one UVB bulb unless the enclosure is very large. Too much artificial UVB can be a problem.

Could that be what's causing his casque to curve slightly?

 

[pssh]

A curved casque and be a sign if MBD, injury, or sometimes they just grow in a little curved. Can you post pictures?

 

[Elizadolots]

Could that be what's causing his casque to curve slightly?

I wouldn't think so. I'm just tossing that out there for your consideration.

A curved casque and be a sign if MBD, injury, or sometimes they just grow in a little curved. Can you post pictures?

I agree, pictures would be most helpful. Not just of the animal, but of the enclosure.

 

[GeorgiaT]

A curved casque and be a sign if MBD, injury, or sometimes they just grow in a little curved. Can you post pictures?

I have an album in the first post, you just have to click "Rango"

Here's some further photo's too - Rango 2

 

[pssh]

Are those recent? If they are, he doesn't appear to have MBD. He could be one of the oddballs that has the casque grow in a little curved. Can you get a picture so we can see the curve as well?

Mine was one of the curved guys. As it got taller it just curved a tiny bit to the side. There was also a breeder here who had a baby grow a casque that was really, really curved. It was almost a 90 degree curve in the casque, but it just grew in that way.

 

[GeorgiaT]

Are those recent? If they are, he doesn't appear to have MBD. He could be one of the oddballs that has the casque grow in a little curved. Can you get a picture so we can see the curve as well?

Mine was one of the curved guys. As it got taller it just curved a tiny bit to the side. There was also a breeder here who had a baby grow a casque that was really, really curved. It was almost a 90 degree curve in the casque, but it just grew in that way.

The pictures from my opening post are the best I can get unfortunately, he's a bit of a sprinter when the camera comes out and hates to face it. He's a bit camera shy

Most of those album are recent, I included some of him younger so you could see the change and of his environment too.

 

[Elizadolots]

He looks great! I suspect pssh is right, he's just naturally a bit curvy....

 

[Hoj]

If you are using the cfl type bulbs I would think that using the two 5.0 is fine.