Worried about MBD with my new Chameleon

cwarfield

Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, suspected female, around 4 months old, in my care for about a month.
  • Handling - I handle him daily for at least 5 minutes, most times longer. Though it is always a struggle to get him onto my hand as he tries to run and hide.
  • Feeding - I am feeding him free range crickets (about 5 a day), and 3 super worms in a feeder bowl. I gut load the crickets with "Flucker's Cricket Quencher" and dust them with "Zoo Med Repti Calciujm" without D3. I dust the super worms the same as the crickets. I usually put all feeders into his enclosure in the morning around 9:30am.
  • Supplements - See above
  • Watering - I have an "ExoTerra Monsoon" auto mister set to mist for 2 minutes every 2 hours. I also manually mist the enclosure twice a day with a spray bottle for about 2 minutes. I have seen my chameleon drinking.
  • Fecal Description - His recent droppings have varied from being white and dark brown cylindrical chunks. The dark brown chunks are more common though. I have not had him tested for parasites.
  • History - I bought him from PetCo about a month ago, he seemed to be the healthiest of the selection they had. Open, active eyes; bright green color, and strong-looking limbs.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Mesh cage, 16" x 16" x 30"
  • Lighting - Basking light is a 100-watt "Zoo Med Daylight Blue Reptile Bulb." UVB is a linear "Zilla Slimline Desert 50 UVB T8 Fluorescent Fixture." Lighting schedule is both on from 6:30am - 9:00pm.
  • Temperature - The basking spot hovers around 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit, and the floor around 75 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Lowest temp overnight is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. These temps are measured with two Zoo Med digital thermometers.
  • Humidity - Humidity ranges from 75 - 80 percent, maintained by a daily misting schedule. I use a Zoo Med humidity gauge (non digital) to measure humidity.
  • Plants - I don't have any live plants as of yet.
  • Placement - The cage is located in my bedroom on the top floor of a townhouse. I have my ceiling fan on at all times, as well as a Dyson air purifier/fan. My bedroom is very low traffic, just me sitting on my bed. The top of the cage is about 5 feet above the floor. I also want to note that my chameleons cage is located about 5 feet to the left of my adult bearded dragon. The bearded dragon cage is much lower to the floor than the chameleon cage.
  • Location - I am in the Mid-Atlantic, in Maryland.

Current Problem - I am concerned about my chameleon having MBD. He does not have any bowed limbs or other signs of MBD, but when he walks he does so with a kind of stutter step. Is this normal behavior?
 
Suspected female? Post a picture of the rear of her back feet.
IMG_0992.jpg
 
And what about the supplement question I asked you?
Honestly I thought I had all of the necessary supplements. Clearly I do not. So I will switch to Cricket Crack, continue dusting with calcium without D3. But what am I missing?

Thanks so much for your help by the way, its greatly appreciated.
 
Why do you have two threads going? This is going to confuse people trying to help you. I already stated you have a female in the other post
 
It scares me that you don’t know what that walk is. That’s like chameleons 101. They walk that way because chams are aborieal anamals, meaning they live in trees. They walk that way to mimic the movement of branches/leaves blowing in the wind. It both helps them hide from predators and helps them sneak up on prey.
 
Your supplements and gutloading practices need an overhaul:

Gutload-
you said you will switch to cricket crack, good move.You can get it for $25 a pound on amazon, should last you at least a year. Add some water to the crack until it is a little thinner than peanut butter and serve to feeders. No other water source required.

Calcium/Vitamins-
should be getting calcium dust without D3 at every feeding. Also should be dusting with calcium with D3 twice a month. also needs a multivitamin twice a month.
 
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