veiled male cham. Help please.

lightningmaqueen

New Member
So, he won't eat on his own and he has no balance an falls over when he walks. I have no idea what is wrong with him.. can an experienced cham lover help diagnos what is probably wrong... I want to save him before its to late. Thanks in advance. Jason
 
I think when an animal (any animal) can't walk or eat on it's own the answer is GO TO A VET IMMEDIATELY.

Then fill out the help form here and everyone can help you with any husbandry issues.
 
Are you still there? I know it's your first post. Did you get the cham to a vet. It was late last night and I fell asleep. But, photoprincess is right a vet is probably the best thing. Please fill out the help form too.
 
Sick Cham!! Help! Thanks For the fast responses...

Chameleon Info:
-He's a male veiled that is 9 months old. I have had him for 5 months.
- I handle him about every other day.
Feeding: I breed my own crickets I have about 5000 babies right now. His main Diet consists of Large Crickets. He also eats Super worms once a week, about 3. I found Butter worms at wal-mart and he ate a couple of those although they are not his favorite. And yesterday I feed him a big Cock roach.
- I do gutload the crickets with food like; Cat food, Romaine/iceberg lettuce, Carrots, Brocolli. (Please let me know if I should be feeding the crickets anything else).
-Since he wont eat I have to force feed him 10 crickets every other day. I also use an eye dropper to give him water. He will drink till its pouring out his mouth. in his water i use Zoo Med Reptisafe water conditioner.
-When I powder I use Rep-Cal Phospherous-free Calcium With Vit. D3. Also Exo Terra Multi vitamin supplement Powder. I Use a 1:1 Ratio when powdering. And I powder everytime I feed. So the pwder mix is 50% vit. and 50% Calcium with Vit. D3.
- I have a Zoo Med The Little Dripper watering system hooked up but he doesnt like that as much as waterfalls I make with a pump, So he always can access water. He use to drink it before he went on a strike. I mist once a day but he doesnt drink it since he liked waterfalls better. Its more For humidity.
Fecal Description: Long Dark brown With the white deposit as well. the white is not yellow, so not dehydrated. Consistancy is med/hard. He has not been tested for parasites.
History: He not been eating on his own for about 2 weeks now. He has had horrible balance for about 2 months now.

Cage info:
Zoo Med Reptibreeze X-Large (24" x 24" x 48") all screen cage.
- The Lighting is on a timer for 12 hours a day. 1 - Exo Terra 24" 20 watt Repti Glo Desert Terrarium Lamp 10.0 UVB ( also says 10% UVB and 33% UVA) AND, 1 - Exo Terra 24" 20 Watt Repti Glo Full Spectrum Terrarium Lamp 2.0 UVB ( also says 98 CRI and 6700 K) Ok so there is my UVB/UVA Lighting.
- For Basking I have 1 - Exo Terra 150 Watt Sun Glo Neodymium Daylight Lamp. ( 12 hrs a day) This next one im about to list stays one all the time and its the night time Basking lamp, Its a Exo Terra 75 Watt Night Glo Neodymium Moonlight Lamp.
-Temp is 95 at top basking, Floor is 70 degrees. Lowest over night temp is room temp. which is around 65 degrees. Measure with thermomiter.
-The Humidity level stays around 45/ Goes to 55 When I mist.
-I am using Live Plants Called Golden Pothos.
-The Cage is Located in my Room, not by the window, I know cold drafts are bad, Not near any fans or vents and it not a high traffic area. Cage is on the floor, it stands 4 feet tall, 9 foot ceiling.
-I am Geographically Located in Orem Utah, Also I live in a Basement Apartment.

The Current problem I am Having: is He will not eat or drink, Colors usualy stay Dark brown. He falls over when he walks on the carpet, Left foot goes out, He falls over left side, Right foot goes out , falls over on right side. In his cage on med. sized and Large sized and Small sized Branches he has a hard time with his balance. I Kinda think he has MBD, But his limbs are not swollen he does not have rubber arms and he has one hell of a grip, so its really confusing. One more thing, when he used to try to eat.... His head couldn't hold still when he was targeting the cricket. It would Bob all around. like he couldnt help not holding still.
Any help is Greatly appreciated. I know Im taking him to the vet this week. But any help in the meen time would be awesome. Thanks~ Jason

I also have a Female same age, Different cage, Diferent story. She is gravid about to lay her eggs. They had a successful mate on March 5th. It was sad watching him try as he has been sick But I guess he was finally successful because she turned colors to indicate a successful mate. She stays Dark green with yellow and blue spots. She is a good Drinker, and eater shes not eating much but she looks like a ballon so i dont think anymore food would fit. cause there is two crickets in the cage and she is not interested... anyway like I said Different story.. Thanks For all your time and knowledge, Jason
 
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Cat food is high in protein, has prEformed vitamin A because cats can't convert beta carotene to vitamin A. It likely has D3 in it too....check the label. In addition to this you are giving it D3 every time you dust and you are using a 10UVB rather than a 5.0 like most people use. It could very well be a nutrient imbalance but without having some tests done by the vet you won't know. Also you are keeping its temperatures quite warm which is likely speeding up its metabolism. I'm not a vet so I can't really be sure what is wrong....the preceding comments are just what might be contributing to his issue. There are other things that it could be too....so its a good thing IMHO that you are taking him to the vet.

If you've been keeping the female that way she may lay a huge clutch. How much does the female eat per week? Do you keep her temperatures that high too?
 
I have heard that too much D3 can be just as bad as not enough. I'm pretty sure they should only be getting the calcium with the D3 and the vitamins about twice a month and a calcium powder WITHOUT D3 at every feeding to help with their bones.
 
Husbandry is the way you raise your chameleon and it's environment.

Change what you're feeding the crickets. Cricket crack is some of the best stuff available. Kinyonga posted some good info. I would take her advice. Most people on the forums have a dusting shedule. Calcium without d3 every feeding and vitamins twice a month, plus calcium with d3 twice a month.

Unless the temps drop below the lower 60's your chams don't need any warmth at night. If they do need one because temps are colder a heat emitter would be better. Apparently chams can sense red light.

Get to a vet sooner rather than later and take a fresh fecal sample. You might want to take a fecal sample of your female as well. Hope you can save your little guy.
 
Wow so it sounds Like Im Over duing it on the D3 And Vitamin suppliment. So I wounder if he has to much built up in his system and if he can fully recover from this imbalance...
 
most veilds dont eat 10 crickets a day. I would also cut back on the food. Don't give him more than 4 a day. Force feeding will stress the hell out of him. And if he cant even walk then its gotta be hard for him to bask in the sun and digest all that food. He might have impacted poop that is cutting off circulation to his back legs. I would not do more than 4 crickets a day.

besides that good luck and its nice your taking him to the vet
 
So I took him to the vet tonight.... Supposidly His tongue is red and irratated. Was the vets diagnosis. So She Prescribed Him an anti-inflamitory and an antibiotic for 10 days and she then wants to see him again. She also said that I have been doing fine with Vitamin suppliments and D3. Lightning has very strong leg/arm muscles. No swollen limbs. So its not MBD. WHEW.
 
I'm glad he doesn't have mbd. Did your vet run any tests on him? How did he explain the not being able to walk and the eating?
Have you made any changes to lighting?

Does anyone else have an opinion about this?
 
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