swollen front hands

MarqueeLynn

New Member
Hi, I've had my female veiled chameleon for about two months. She eats healthy, drinks often but her two front legs are swollen. She still climbs around just much slower than normal. I know there's questions I need to answer about how I care for her but I can't seem to find the sheet? Also here is a pic of her cage setup and one of her arms
 

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From the pictures she appears to be suffering from MBD.

What type of UVB light doi you provide?

What supplements do use? Schedule?
 
I have a exo terra 10.0 uvb light and I calcium dust with a repto calcium + d3 about 2 to 3 times a week. Although I did just move across country and she went about 3 weeks without calcium dusting ): I had completely forgot to dust her crickets.
 
Yes, Please fill out the forms. Somethings in your husbandry will definitely need to be changed. Her elbows look pretty bad. She may need to see a vet for calcium injections.

You should only be using calcium with D3 twice a month.

You should be using calcium without D3 almost every feeding.
 
Your Chameleon - I've had Paisley 2 months, she is a female veiled chameleon, unsure of her age.
Handling - The only time I handle her is when she's having problems grabbing onto a vine. I try not to handle her.
Feeding - I put about 4-7 crickets in her cage, gut loaded with an orange crickets complete diet. I calcium dust them about twice a week (calcium has d3, will change to calcium with out d3 daily and d3 twice a month) she also gets about 2-4 super worms a week.
Watering - I do have a dripper set up but she doesn't drink from it. She drinks standing water (which they said she wouldn't) so I have two small kidney bowls with water and I do see her drink from them.
Fecal Description - her fecies looks normal, urates too.
History - we did just move to texas from Wyoming
Cage Info:
Cage Type - I have an open air mesh 16x16×32 cage
Lighting - I have an exo terra 10.0 uvb light, a halogen light for basking, and a timer set up for 12 hours on 12 hours off.
Temperature - temps in basking spot are usually 80. Lowest over night temp is 65.
Humidity - I mist twice daily til the humidity gets to 50-60% but there is usually a 10% humidity.
Plants - need recommendations on live plants. I currently only have artificial.
Placement - the cage is located in its own room, we do have a juvenile iguana but they are not I'm sight of each other. There is a ceiling fan in the room.
Location - I just moved from Wyoming to Texas. She did good with the move

Current Problem - she has swollen front legs and her casque seems smaller compared to others I have seen
 
Were her elbows bowed like that when you got her?

You are going to need to up your humidity. 10% is not enough. I would suggest putting plastic from shower curtains over three of the mesh sides. Live plants also up the humidity. My favorites are ficus, shefflera or pothos.
 
I would also change your gutload for your crickets. Repashy bug burger or cricket crack is the best commercial gutloads out there, and you can supplement that with fresh fruits and veggies. The orange cricket diet is absolutely terrible.
 
Also I kept a higher humidity with my last chameleon and it caused him to get sick. What is the humidity you would recommend then?
 
Having her for two months won't show signs of MBD that bad that quickly, it sounds like she's had it before you got her and it's getting worse. Is the UVB bulb used? What brand of UVB bulb is it?
 
I have a vet appointment Monday and it's Saturday here, is there anything I can do to help her until then? I have gotten calcium without d3 it's also exo terra. Also, what should I expect at the vet?
 
The best thing to do is get a reptisun 5.0 tube bulb and fixture. That is a good basic UVB bulb that is recommended on the forums. Get her as much natural sunlight as you can. I would also try to find some feeders that are high in calcium like silk worms.

Is she eating and drinking ok?

Do you have a bin for her to lay eggs in in her cage?

I have never owned a cham with mbd, but I would suspect they will take an x ray to see the extent of the bone deterioration and then give some calcium injections.

MBD cause the bones to weaken and then break, as seen in your chams elbows. There are prob several breaks in the bone. With proper care, she won't get better immediately, it will take time and patience.
 
I took paisley to the vet today, She was lacking vitamins so the vet gave her a vitamin shot. We will go back in three days for another one and the vet recommend dusting with vitamins and calcium, especially vitamin A daily. She said her legs are not broken which is the news I wanted to hear
 
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