Unusual casque

[Guardian]

This guy is about 3 1/2 months old. In the past few weeks I noticed his casque starting to look rumpled or dry..not sure what you would call it. Can I get a lil help with this.

Thx
~~G

 

[SSimsswiSS]

How's his legs look? Are they smooth and straight, or bumpy and irregular? His crown could be gentic, or a sign of deficiency.

 

[Guardian]

The rest of his body looks normal. Can this be corrected??
~G

 

[SSimsswiSS]

The rest of his body looks normal. Can this be corrected??
~G

Unlikly. May grow out a bit more, but I would'nt expect it to correct itself. I have a few veils with slighty irregular shark fins, as I call them. It helps me to identify individual females. ( Males on the other hand, all have there own colors and personalities.)

 

[jannb]

What kind of lighting and supplements are you using? Jann

 

[Guardian]

I'm using a 2.0 UVB 18" tube bulb and Rep-Cal Calcium with vit D3. Should I dust for every meal? It has been about 3 weeks since I first noticed slight rumpling of his casque.
I do take him outside 2-3x week for 15-30 minutes with a shade area. I'm lost and worried
~~G

 

[jannb]

You should be using a 5.0 UVB (I use Reptisun from LLLReptiles) you should dust with plain calcium every other day and calcium with D3 twice a month and multivitamin once a month. He might have a bone problem. Could you post some more pictures and get his legs in the pictures. Jann

 

[Guardian]

This was taken on 7-26-08

This 6-29
~G

 

[jannb]

In that one pic his leg looks like he might have bone disease. Do you have a vet?

 

[Guardian]

How do they get MBD?
~G

 

[AncientCritters]

The picture taken on 7-26 looks like MBD in the leg. I beleive they get it by not enough calcium or not being able to absorb the calcium. It wont straighten out but with proper husbandry will not get worse and continue to grow correctly.

 

[dondeb562]

looks MBD to me as well. Leg looks rippled. Lack of calcium in improper lighting will cause this condition.

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

A 2.0 UVB tube just isn't enough for a veiled chameleon. They are a desert species and they get a lot of sun in the wild. Change that 2.0 tube to a 5.0 UVB tube and get on a proper dusting schedule.

 

[bearhart]

take if from somebody that has screwed up royally in the MBD department - you DO NOT want to go there. i can't even explain how gut-wrenchingly awful it is to have to care for a cham with serious MBD.

On the positive side, I also managed to get my cham to recover where many probably would have died. But, no matter how well my little guy is doing I'll always have his deformities to remind me of those awful times.

1) Make sure your UVB is adequate!
2) Make sure the diet contains plenty of calcium - especially for youngsters like the one in your pics. My first cham was the one that got MBD and I never realized how slow he was growing until I got my second one and saw the explosive growth. My experience (which is limited, for sure) is that they need TONS of calcium when they are young.

 

[dodolah]

Guardian, your chameleon has advanced MBD.
From the look of it, he might have broken his back legs too.
He needs a vet fast to get a calcium injection to correct the calcium imbalance in his body.

Without the vet, it will be proven fatal for your chameleon.

 

[jannb]

Do you have a vet? Where do you live? It looks like the others are agreeing with me on the bone issue. You need to get liquid calcuim and the injection quick, from a vet, to stop it from breaking more bones. Jann

 

[bearhart]

Hey - don't write your cham off if you can't get access to a good vet. I can give you a treatment regimen that worked wonders on a cham with advanced MBD and led to a full recovery. if you feel like you need more help, PM me and I can share my experience in more detail.

 

[jannb]

This site can help you find a vet. Jann

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/