something seems wrong with Zeks arm...

[SammieZ]

I have baby chameleon named Ezekiel that was recently very sick, i began force feeding him and since then it took about 3 weeks for me to start seeing him eat on his own again. While i can tell that since being handle so much he's been grouchy and stressed, today i noticed something that seemed strange about his front arm. it looks like he has a bone or some kind of bump coming out his forearm right below both him elbows. I took him out today to clean his cage and he moved around a lot and didn't seem to avoid putting weight on it but im still very unsure if that normal....can anyone give me an answer on whether thats normal or not and if not what do i do?



1. Veiled chameleon, male, 3 months
2. i handle him about once a week
3. i feed him 10-15 crickets everyday
4. i gut-load the crickets with flickers orange cubes and dust the lightly everyday with calcium without d3
5. i see Zek drink off the leaves lot. i mist his cage 3-4x a time and watch to make sure the humidity stays in good range
6. the irate is a light yellow and the brown part following is chunky - seems normal
7. he lives in a medium-sized metal mesh cage
8. i have two Exo-Terra lightbulbs. The first is a "SUN GLO" 120V, 60Hz, 50W. and the second is a"Reptile Glo 5.0UVB"
9. The average temp is 80 degrees in the basking spot and 55%-70% humidity
10. i use fake plants
11. The cage is on a coffee table in my living room which im always in
12. i live in dallas

 

[kinyonga]

It looks like a break or could be that he has MBD.
Could also be an infection.

Just read your other thread and noticed that you hadn't been using calcium...so that pushes it towards being MBD.
Also just noticed that in this post you still didn't change/improve your gutload.

Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.