Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I cannot get to the vet for another 2 days after when I was scheduled because I cannot make the appointment. I have been getting him out in the sun more, his health seems to be maintaining, but the thing is that he is in the sun for 8 hours a day and when I get home and check on him he is usually in the shade, when I put him in his cage, he is usually on the other side of the cage, away from the light, but where he can still feel the heat. Do you think that he could have a combination of MBD (already obvious) and something else?? The thing is, if I know that all I want is a blood test to check his D3/Calcium levels, I could drop him off a couple of days earlier before I go to school and pick him up when I get out and am on my way to work. I just think I should be there because I am the only one that really knows my cham well enough to talk w/ the doctor about symptoms and such. What other tests can they do besides a fecal and blood test? If parasites are ruled out, so is the fecal. Do you think I should just bring him in for the blood test?

I don't see any benifit right now for a fecal test. In over ten years, I have never seen anyone have parasites in a CB veild that young. So unless he is SHOWING symptoms of a parasite overload, it is not something I waould have done right now for a few reasons. (I'ts good to have reasons, so the vet understands, besides, money ITSELF is not a good enough reason)
IF he is eating, maintaining weight, and has normal, firm stool, he could STILL have parasites. They would be possibly harmfu;l, but are being delbt with, and are not causing him significant harm at ther moment. Generally, it's a good idea to GET a fecal done once a year--just in case. I do it myself for all my animals, hell, I enjoy it, it's interesting...especially with WC animals, cause they have all kinds of fun things crawling around in'em.....

But, if he DOES have a problem, THAT needs to be fixed. Any parasites he MIGHT have, are not as important as the MBD, and treatment for them can slow recovery from the ACTUAL problem.

Here's where the money comes in...I paid my way through College, paying off $12000 in credit card debt, paying rent, utilities, then a mortgage, ring, wedding, etc...When I had to take my animals to the vet, I had THE PROBLEM treated. Not simply because I could barely afford to treat what was aCTUALLY making the animal sick, but if I spent money on something as a precaution, I wouldn't be able to pay for any additional treatments. The money you'd pay for a fecal can go towards any medication he'll need, or a followup blood test in a month or two, to make sure he's recovering. THAT is money much more well spent than the fecal. Chameleons in the wild have parasites, and they usually only become a problem only when the animal is stressed. The evolved with the chameleons and vice versa, they can deal withthem to an extent. IF he does have parasites, they are only likely to cause problems if the MBD goes untreated, and he's weakened. If you go ahead and treat him for parasites, you might stress him out enough, he doesn't recover from MBD, or develops another problem.

Here's what I'd do. Wait a few more days, it's important you're there so you can learn. Tell the vet what's wrong, he'll help you out. There's things he wonyt know if you're not there, vice versa.

Wait a few months, and then get a fecal done, if you want to be sure, but I seriously doubt they are a problem unless you see signs of it. If a chameleon has a problem caused by parasites, they will FIRST show signs of weight loss(despite a good appetite) and will have loose stool. Note: some veilds will almost always appear emaciated while growing, despite constant eating. My veild looked very skinny at the base of his tail, b ut he grew like a weed...not he's a fat pig and gets no waxworms for a while...the slob...

Oh, if you veild is in the shade, he is trying to cool off. Make sure that he can GET OUT of the sun while he's outside!!
He'll overheat and die...although that's kind of hard for a veild to do.