Weak eyesight, swollen foot and falling off brances. Is my Fang okay?

[Fidget321]

Hello all,

I have through the months been noticing behavioral changes in my Flap Neck Chameleon, first things first:

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female Flap Necked Chameleon, has been with us for 4 years. Unknown age.
Handling - Lately a lot, as she keeps falling off branches and just lies there on the ground until I pick her up and put her back.
Feeding - I feed her 5 crickets every second day, gut load our crickets with carrots. This is in a feeder cup located in a pot plant at the bottom of her cage, this pot has all the sticks and branches coming out of it so she can reach it.
Supplements - Not sure what brand, but I know it is calcium without Vit D3.
Watering - We mist her and have a simple dripper rigged up, this is also what concerns me as I never see her drinking. Even when misting, and this is new.
Fecal Description - This seems normal, although the yellow bit has gone to orange, I know that is dehydration.
History - Personal - We picked her up trying to cross a busy street, very gravid with eggs in 2008. She had since laid the eggs. And has been with us ever since.
Medical - She has recently had the right back toe amputated due to an infection. The infection was treated with Benadril but did not seem to work. This amputation happened about 5 - 6 months ago.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - We have a mesh cage.
Lighting - I have a Florescent UVB light set on a timer for 12 hours a day, this is the exo terra Repti Glo 5.0 Tropical Terrarium Lamp (Linear)
Temperature - We are currently in summer so I need cooling rather than heating, as it is 30C outside currently. I am currently trying to regulate the temp with a ceiling fan.
Humidity - 40% - 60%
Plants - I used to house three Ficus Benjamin plants, but my green thumb is non existant, every single plant I have bought over the years have died. So, we opted for some ficus fake leaves bought at our pet shop. We also have a thick fake vine in the cage, with some branches we picked up and cleaned from outside. This is ins various widths.
Placement - The cage is located in the corner of our dining room, the dining room as a ceiling fan to try control the heat. Low traffic.
Location - Cape Town - South Africa.

Current Problem -
Okay, where to start. Over the last couple of months, I have started noticing the following:
Our once lively chameleon, has started to not move around at all with the exception of trying to go eat. What happens when she tries eating, is she literally climbs inside the feeder cup, and tries to bite the crickets. When I hand feed her, to try and engage her tongue, she misses. Her eyesight does not seem good here.

Despite replacing the sticks and veins in her cage a couple of times, she is always falling down when she tries to shift between branches. We have made the branches as sturdy as possible, so it's not the branches giving out, she simply cannot hold onto anything. When she does fall off, she just sits at the bottom of the cage, doesn't even bother trying to climb back up. Although we have made several methods available for her to do so - sticks coming off the ground. Nothing. There is no attempt until I pick her up. And then she starts hissing at me.

She is also not using her tail as a climbing aid like she used to.

Despite these issues, she is still eating, and that last vet visit I was told that she is a healthy weight.

What I have also noticed, is an infection in the front left foot, it is swollen, and I have made a vet appointment for this on Friday. But what is concerning me, is that if they have to amputate yet another part of her, and she already can't climb, how bad is this going to get?

Any advice as to what might be wrong here would be very helpful, I am worrying that she is starting to grow old and frail. As I don't know her age.

Please help!

 

[Carlton]

Feeding - I feed her 5 crickets every second day, gut load our crickets with carrots. .
Supplements - Not sure what brand, but I know it is calcium without Vit D3.
Medical - She has recently had the right back toe amputated due to an infection. The infection was treated with Benadril but did not seem to work. This amputation happened about 5 - 6 months ago.
Lighting - I have a Florescent UVB light set on a timer for 12 hours a day, this is the exo terra Repti Glo 5.0 Tropical Terrarium Lamp (Linear)
Current Problem -
Okay, where to start. Over the last couple of months, I have started noticing the following:
Our once lively chameleon, has started to not move around at all with the exception of trying to go eat. What happens when she tries eating, is she literally climbs inside the feeder cup, and tries to bite the crickets. When I hand feed her, to try and engage her tongue, she misses. Her eyesight does not seem good here.

Despite replacing the sticks and veins in her cage a couple of times, she is always falling down when she tries to shift between branches. We have made the branches as sturdy as possible, so it's not the branches giving out, she simply cannot hold onto anything. When she does fall off, she just sits at the bottom of the cage, doesn't even bother trying to climb back up. Although we have made several methods available for her to do so - sticks coming off the ground. Nothing. There is no attempt until I pick her up. And then she starts hissing at me.

She is also not using her tail as a climbing aid like she used to.

Despite these issues, she is still eating, and that last vet visit I was told that she is a healthy weight.

What I have also noticed, is an infection in the front left foot, it is swollen, and I have made a vet appointment for this on Friday. But what is concerning me, is that if they have to amputate yet another part of her, and she already can't climb, how bad is this going to get?

Any advice as to what might be wrong here would be very helpful, I am worrying that she is starting to grow old and frail. As I don't know her age.

Please help!

A couple of ideas for you to consider:

Your feeder gutload isn't great. Carrots just can't provide the broad spectrum of nutrients that benefit the cham that eats them. You should add dark leafy greens (not spinach or broccoli as they bind calcium), other fresh fruits, and some sort of whole grain. Bee pollen is an excellent additive too.

How old is your UVB light? If you have used it for more than 6 months replace it or get your cham outdoors in "real" sunlight. The amount of useable UV these bulbs produce drops off quite a lot after 6 months of daily use.

In addition to the calcium dust without D3, you need to dust periodically with a calcium dust that DOES contain D3 (every two weeks), and a herp vitamin dust about once a month. Your gutload is the most important source of nutrition, but the dusts help fill any gaps.

Your cham is getting old, so she may not absorb nutrients from her food as efficiently. Also, if she's showing signs of dehydration she is less able to metabolize nutrients. She could also be heading toward kidney or other organ failure due to dehydration.

The ongoing foot infection is probably painful so she's reluctant to move around or cling to branches.

 

[Fidget321]

A couple of ideas for you to consider:

Your feeder gutload isn't great. Carrots just can't provide the broad spectrum of nutrients that benefit the cham that eats them. You should add dark leafy greens (not spinach or broccoli as they bind calcium), other fresh fruits, and some sort of whole grain. Bee pollen is an excellent additive too.

I will try this, add some variety to their diets. What is a problem here in Cape Town is that the variety of food is restricted to crickets and meal worms. So I will try and make the crickets a bit fatter.

How old is your UVB light? If you have used it for more than 6 months replace it or get your cham outdoors in "real" sunlight. The amount of useable UV these bulbs produce drops off quite a lot after 6 months of daily use.

- I bought this light in June/July this year. I do replace this light every 6 - 8 months. But I will try natural sunlight as well. As she is not getting any of that at the moment. We live in an apartment complex with tons of cats around, I'm always reluctant to take her outside and show them what is on offer for lunch. I usually sit with her when she is outside because of the cats. But this also restricts her time outside though.

In addition to the calcium dust without D3, you need to dust periodically with a calcium dust that DOES contain D3 (every two weeks), and a herp vitamin dust about once a month. Your gutload is the most important source of nutrition, but the dusts help fill any gaps.

I do have some of this calcium, is it possible to add this to her crickets this week, then next week, and then start every two weeks. I just want to give her an initial boost?

Your cham is getting old, so she may not absorb nutrients from her food as efficiently. Also, if she's showing signs of dehydration she is less able to metabolize nutrients. She could also be heading toward kidney or other organ failure due to dehydration.

This is my main concern. I am very worried that she is in fact not drinking water, and this is a new thing. I used to start spraying the leaves until she started licking her lips, and then I sprayed it in a stream into her mouth, she didn't seem to mind drinking this way. But not anymore. I do have a dripper going, but I fear this is going unattended, and she now gets annoyed when I spray the cage (Not even on her). I have to think of alternatives here but I am out of options. I will also raise this with the vet when she goes tomorrow.

The ongoing foot infection is probably painful so she's reluctant to move around or cling to branches.

What is worrying me also is the fact that she does not use her tail at all anymore. She has got grip in her feet, because when I have to pick her up, she pinches my fingers quite hard, I was under the impression that the vines and sticks in her cage could be too thick etc. So I have replaced them with all widths, didn't seem to help though.

 

[kkey1066]

Is the flap neck type a egg layer? Maybe she has eggs and needs to lay them. I have a damp sand bucket in my cresteds cage in case she grows some eggs and needs to lay them A cham can become eggbound if she has no place to deposit her eggs. I lost a female veiled a few months back to what I think now was eggbound condition. She looked weak and would pass out.

 

[Fidget321]

Yes, she is an egg layer, but she does currently have a pot of sand at the bottom of her cage for this purpose. What I also occasionally do while I have her in my hands, is just feel if I can in fact feel any eggs. So I don't think this might be the problem But thanks anyway!