what is wrong with him ?

[helpme]

My male veiled chameleon has a sore under his right leg because he keeps picking that leg up really high while climbing and is grabbing his own body and latching on thinking its a branch. His nails are tearing into himself. Is he just stupid or how do I get him to stop ? . It turned black crusty and eventually it came off. But underneath was fresh skin that looks very sore and he is now grabbing at that. ouch. Should I cover it with something ? put Neosporin on it ? I have only had him for 3 months now. I think he is only about 5 months old now. please help me . any advise would be appreciated.
thanks !!

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Fill out the ask for help form (sticky) and pictures really help. I think that grabbing his front feet with the back is a sign of MBD but I could be wrong.

 

[helpme]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - male veiled , about 3 months.
Handling - handled everyday
Feeding - crickets about 6/8 a day dusted with calcium and vitamins. 2 blue horned caterpillars every 2 weeks. crickets are gut loaded with flukers high calcium diet and flukers orange cubes.
Supplements - repti calcium and retivite everyday on all crickets.
Watering - drip system and spray down the cage 2x a day.
Fecal Description - black on one end white on the other. looks normal
. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? - no


Cage Info:
Cage Type - 20 gal aquarium with screen top
Lighting - 75 watt zilla black light heat lamp , on 24 hrs.
the UV light is on 12 , off 12.
repti glow 15w UV fluorescent
basking spot is between 95-100
bottom of cage is about 80.
Plants - only silk vines and plants.
Placement - in a bedroom. about 3 1/2 ft off the ground on a table
Location - northern illinois
Current Problem - his back leg keeps grabbing his skin on under belly causing a sore. he is not grabbing his front legs. he is tearing his skin with the back nails

I cant figure out how to post picture. its saying insert url . where do I get that from ?

 

[helpme]

pic

file:///C:/Users/Tricia/Desktop/030514pascal.JPG

 

[helpme]

picture of boo boo



I think I figured out how to attach the pic.
why is he doing this ? and what should I do ?
any help would be appreciated. thanks

 

[helpme]

here he is full of color and walking tall



he seems healthy except for the sore on his body
should I wrap it with something ?

 

[carol5208]

You can coat it with Neosporin to help heal. It will be hard to bandage being in the location that it is. There are a lot of things in your set up that really need to be addressed. Fish aquariums are not suitable for housing as they are wider than taller and also have no ventilation at the bottom. You should not be leaving a light on all night or any heat. Your cage temps are awfully hot, especially in glass without proper air flow. Your cage range should be in the low to mid 70's with a basking temp around 85 or higher. You should ditch the flukers you are gutloading with and start feeding your feeders good variety of fresh fruits and veggies, along with dark leafy greens. Are you dusting with calcium with d3 or without? If using d3, only use that twice monthly. Use a plain calcium everyday or at most feedings. You do not want to use a multivitamin everyday also, that should be twice monthly.

 

[zsazsa85]

I wrote everything down nicely, and my stupid tablet turned off. Annoying 21. Century. But I suggest the same things carol said. Sandrachameleon has excellent blogs about gutloading. Calcium without d3 every feeding, calcium with d3 and multivitamin with d3 twice a month. Get a reptibreeze or DIY screen cage 2'x2'x4' size. You can even cover two or three sides if humidity is too low. I would use neosporin as well.

 

[helpme]

Cage

Our local pet store recommended the glass aquarium to keep the temp up . We keep it very clean . Nothing in the bottom . And the sides are covered to reduce reflection . I bought the large screened enclosure for our last chameleon. He got very sick and skinny . He told us that he got metabolic bone disease and the screened enclosure was keeping him too cold. We live in Illinois , it's winter and sometimes below zero. The very top of the cage is 95 the bottom is probably in the 70s . I don't think the sore is due to temp . And wouldn't he get burn patches if it was too hot ?

 

[carol5208]

Our local pet store recommended the glass aquarium to keep the temp up . We keep it very clean . Nothing in the bottom . And the sides are covered to reduce reflection . I bought the large screened enclosure for our last chameleon. He got very sick and skinny . He told us that he got metabolic bone disease and the screened enclosure was keeping him too cold. We live in Illinois , it's winter and sometimes below zero. The very top of the cage is 95 the bottom is probably in the 70s . I don't think the sore is due to temp . And wouldn't he get burn patches if it was too hot ?

I should have clarified that the temps and the things I recommended have nothing to do with the sore. MBD is caused by a lack of calcium, uvb or a combination of both, so if your chameleon got it, it had nothing to do with him being cold or being in a screen cage. Pet stores are notorious for giving out the wrong info on care for chameleons. You have only had him three months, the set up you have him in may do him harm down the road. We can only tell you what has been successful for us. We have members in Canada and many other cold places in the world who use screen. Glass is ok, but it really should be vented for optimal air flow and that is why terrariums are recommended over fish tanks. The only way he is going to get burn patches, is if he sits under the basking light for too long. With your basking temp at 95-100 I am going to venture to say that he does not bask under it for hours at a time as he probably warms up pretty quickly. It is your choice to keep your chameleon as you wish.

 

[zsazsa85]

I live in the Yukon, Canada and we have screen cage. We covered 3 sides.

 

[Juliaf3]

I live in Minnesota. I understand those cold temps! But, it really shouldn't affect your Cham unless you are keeping him outside. I'm assuming he is kept inside, where you live. So I'd venture to say your house stays typically warm. In my home there are areas that are cooler then others. Due to hair flows from doors leading outside or windows. If you decidEd to try the reptibreeze screen enclosure, which I highly suggest, just find the warmest corner or room in your home and put the cage there. I have zero problems with my Cham being in a screen cage. His temps are always perfect. Plus, you definitely want your cage temp to drop to 60 at night. They need their metabolism to slow down. Another bonus of the screen aquarium is being able to make a drainage system. This allows you to push more water through the cage. If you did decide to switch cages, you could always use the aquarium to house your crickets! I would ditch flukers for gut load as well. I use bug burger. It serves as an all in one for crickets. I throw greens and things in there from time to time for variety. I feel so bad for your Cham! That looks so painful for him! I wish I had more advice for that specific issue. I'd take him to a vet ASAP.

 

[helpme]

screen vs aquarium



this is a pic of the last setup where our chameleon got sick and we
were told it was MBD. also the pet store owner (which has alot of exotic pets - not a large pet store ) he said that he was too
small to hunt in such a large enclosure. and the UV rays weren't getting thru the mesh of the enclosure enough and that could be why he got the MBD. The plan was to use the aquarium until he got bigger than switch back to the screened enclosure. He said they are more fragile when they are small . Im so confused what to do now. I just put the Neosporin on him to see if that helps. I hope he leaves it alone and lets it heal.

 

[Carlton]

Feeding - crickets about 6/8 a day dusted with calcium and vitamins. 2 blue horned caterpillars every 2 weeks. crickets are gut loaded with flukers high calcium diet and flukers orange cubes.
Supplements - repti calcium and retivite everyday on all crickets.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - 20 gal aquarium with screen top
Lighting - 75 watt zilla black light heat lamp , on 24 hrs.
the UV light is on 12 , off 12.
repti glow 15w UV fluorescent
basking spot is between 95-100
bottom of cage is about 80.
Plants - only silk vines and plants.

Your gutloading and dusting schedule is off which also may be why your previous cham ended up with MBD. Dust with PLAIN calcium (no vit. D3) lightly each day, dust with calcium with D3 every other week, and dust with a reptile vitamin once every two weeks. This along with correct lighting of course. Right now he's getting oversupplemented which can also create symptoms similar to MBD. Your cricket gutload isn't great. The more commonly available insect gutloads aren't good quality at all. There are much better ones available from forum sponsors. Most of his nutrition should come from the insects and their gutloading, not from dusting. Consider dusting as more of a gap-filler, not the primary source of nutrition.

NO heat at night unless the room gets colder than about 50 F at night. How old is your ReptiGlo UV light? If its been in use more than a few months replace it. There are better UV lights out there.

I agree. His cage temps are too high, and that your current tank won't work well over the long term. Too small for one thing.

It could also be that this sore irritates him which leads him to dig or scratch at the spot. If you do put some Polysporin on it maybe it will bother him less and he'll be less likely to keep injuring it.

 

[Carlton]

View attachment 93832

this is a pic of the last setup where our chameleon got sick and we
were told it was MBD. also the pet store owner (which has alot of exotic pets - not a large pet store ) he said that he was too
small to hunt in such a large enclosure. and the UV rays weren't getting thru the mesh of the enclosure enough and that could be why he got the MBD. The plan was to use the aquarium until he got bigger than switch back to the screened enclosure. He said they are more fragile when they are small . Im so confused what to do now. I just put the Neosporin on him to see if that helps. I hope he leaves it alone and lets it heal.

More likely that your cham spent most of its time too far from the UV bulb to get the full benefit of it. They need to be within 12" of the light for some time every day. The thick mesh may have blocked some of the UV too.

 

[Kath44]

The UVB can get through the mesh. Sometimes real small chams have trouble catching food in a big enclosure, mine has no problems. And he's smaller than yours and in a 4ft tall reptibreeze.
He's just getting used to cup feeding too, which you could try.
Your Cham doesn't seem that small and would be better off in the bigger mesh home.
As for the wound, try the neosporin, keep it clean and hopefully it will heal. I'd see about a vet visit, incase he needs antibiotics.
Kath.

 

[helpme]

thanks

thanks for all the info. I put Neosporin on the wound and we will take it
day to day to see if it improves. I didn't specify , but the calcium we were giving did not have the D3 and the reptivite did have the D3. So we will reduce that to only every month. and the calcium continue to do everyday.
I will also look into another gut loading product for the crickets. any recommendations ? ? as for the screen enclosure, I will change back to that. He is much more active and better at hunting than the last one so Im hoping he will be okay. Should the uv and heat light be inside or outside the screen enclosure. should I try to rig it inside the cage to make sure he gets the proper UV ? its 4 months old the strip UV fluorescent bulb.
I was told to replace every 6 months. Correct ?

 

[Juliaf3]

thanks for all the info. I put Neosporin on the wound and we will take it
day to day to see if it improves. I didn't specify , but the calcium we were giving did not have the D3 and the reptivite did have the D3. So we will reduce that to only every month. and the calcium continue to do everyday.
I will also look into another gut loading product for the crickets. any recommendations ? ? as for the screen enclosure, I will change back to that. He is much more active and better at hunting than the last one so Im hoping he will be okay. Should the uv and heat light be inside or outside the screen enclosure. should I try to rig it inside the cage to make sure he gets the proper UV ? its 4 months old the strip UV fluorescent bulb.
I was told to replace every 6 months. Correct ?

DO NOT put any lights inside the cage! He will get burned. Bad. Try to find a way to bring the bottom of the cage up to make it smaller. You could buy someway and cut it to the correct size of the bottom of the cage and use it to make the cage temporarily small. I'd use it to lower the top of the cage actually. Bring thing bottom up May be harder. Yes you are correct about replacing bulb every 6 months. I'd turn the UVB light vertically instead of horizontally like you have it. If you feel he's not getting enough, you could always buy a bigger light. Like longer.

As for a gut load- I use bug burger - adding greens and thing from time to time.

Hope this helps!

 

[Carlton]

thanks for all the info. I put Neosporin on the wound and we will take it
day to day to see if it improves. I didn't specify , but the calcium we were giving did not have the D3 and the reptivite did have the D3. So we will reduce that to only every month. and the calcium continue to do everyday.
I will also look into another gut loading product for the crickets. any recommendations ? ? as for the screen enclosure, I will change back to that. He is much more active and better at hunting than the last one so Im hoping he will be okay. Should the uv and heat light be inside or outside the screen enclosure. should I try to rig it inside the cage to make sure he gets the proper UV ? its 4 months old the strip UV fluorescent bulb.
I was told to replace every 6 months. Correct ?

Maybe it would be easier to cluster all the climbing branches and perches up closer to the lighting to keep him within range of the UV. If the basking spot area gets too warm you can move that light farther from the top of the cage.

 

[helpme]

open wound

I put Neosporin on it and he now dug into it again and there is a stream of
blood down a vine and it looks really bad. so I tried to cover it with non stick pad and surgical tape, he already pulled that off and is gouging himself again . I don't know what to do. vets are closed and im afraid he is going to bleed to death.