Reptile & Amphibian Forums

HI all. I posted a topic earlier about having a Shakey 4 month old male Veiled Chameleon,and have come to the conclusion, that eventhough i dusted his crickets once a week,and had a UV-A UV-B light on him, he has infact got MBD. Hes got his bowlegs. MOstly in the front but the backs are starting to show it a little. His mouth and casque and spine are all fine,i think its still in the early stages. But I want this to be the extent of it. How do I get it to stop here? I seperated him from the other 2, but now he seems all bothered,and doesnt want to eat. So if i have to put him back for his own sake,I will. Anyways, anyone have any experience with MBD that can help me? There are no herp vets in my area. So I will have to do this on my own. PLease,give me any advice you can. BTW-the two female Chams aren't showing any signs of it yet, theyre looking good so far.

Hi Spydergirl,

Sorry to hear about your little fella and the MBD.
Don't feel guilt... if your husbandry was decent, you dusted and watered, etc - used UVB lights, etc - it was all you could do.

Some veiled are genetically predestined to be weaker... it is nature's way, and they become part of the food chain (sad but true).

If you don't have herp vets in your area, I don't know if you can get this - but try. It is liquid calcium gluconate (10 ml). The bottle is less than $10 and you can give it orally - not injected. The vet would supply a syringe with it - to measure - but just drip into the chams mouth.

We go by body weight - but I would imagine that .05 ml every day will be a good start. I would suggest that amount for 10 days, then the same amount 3 times a week. If you administer the calcium, it can help - but no guarantees. We have seen some get better, and some not. But we always try.

If you want more specifics, drop me an email.
Good luck with your little guy.
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With WHAT were you dusting your crickets with? Most cricket dusts are not balanced, and will result inn problems.
Also, the amount you use and the frequency also matters.

Thanks so much. i think I will go to my dog's vet and ask him if maybe he could order that for me. ill write it all down in a minute. Here was the stuff I was using to dust crix with: Sticky Tongue Farm's Miner-All. The Analysis on the back says this:
Calcium Min.34% Max.36%
Vitamin D3 4,400.00 I.U.
There are other things on the back too, but I'm sure those are the two big ones. We also used the Calcium Gelly stuff for the crickets to drink, and the ingredients say its that gelly stuff(the term is too long to memorize) and Calcium.

We dusted the crickets once every week or ten days. It really isnt bad at all. He just has a little trouble grabbing onto the branches. His legs arent too bent,just look a little swollen. But you can tell they are bowed. I felt his casque and its nice and stiff, his jaw is also(i felt while he gaped earlier) so all looks okay for now,i just want to prevent it from getting any worse.

I forgot to mention we do have a UV-A UV-B bulb on them 12 hours a day. Not sur eof the brand,but it was expensive. Also,that they eat and drink like champs. The breeder had them drinking from a bowl,and they still do,so I'm not going to hook up a dripper if theres somethign that convenient for both of us going on. And they eat about 2 dozen a day between the three of them. sometimes we offer waxworms from our hands,which has helped to calm down their agressive attitudes towards our hands. Im looking into silkworms now,it looks like they are more nutritious. Thanks for your help and understanding,everyone.

My veiled has the same problem, however, it seems to come and go. For instance, early this morning he was running around the cage like normal, exploring some vines. Then I put some crickets in his cage which he ignored but started to kinda be shaky and really slow. I also dust normally and have all the correct lights and everything so who knows what this problem could be.

I just got the veiled a couple of days ago from the store whom are very professional herps. Anyway, I'm going to discuss this with them later today and I'll let you know.