Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How reliable is the source of Chameleonjournals.com?I sent them diff pics of my cham, Noelle said my cham looks healthy and no sign of MBD.

I was recommended to ReptileDepot.com by Iso, anyone else use that place to shop. Its prices seem good.

also if i want to report a store how will i go about that?

CHeck this out.
Visit this link

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Joe
- www.chameleonkeepers.com

well, the bowed leg is almost a sure sign of MBD. healthy legs are straight, only with MBD or calcium problems are the soft and flexible enough to allow for such a bend.

Are both his legs bowed like that? How is his grip/ability to hold himself off the ground? What about his jaw, is it hard, or even slightly bendy?

Thx for site thats great pics, I see a little sign of MBD, his front legs both bend a lil like that, he climbs just fine, His lower jaw i dont know he is still a lil small and he usually get hissy when u pick him up so i cant tell

last questions i swear
i bet ur annoyd of me

ok, can chameleons live with a minor case of MBD, i have no vets near me but im pretty sure he has it, if he does please please list some steps i can to get him healthy.

They'll develop soft&fragile bones, as well as tongue and muscle problems when suffering from MBD, when the conditions are made optimal, with proper nutrition, lighting etc, they recover, while bones will strenghten, they will retain their bowed shape. They recover very quickly, ONCE properly cared for. However, if the conditions that led to the MBD are maintained, they will eventually deteriorate & die.

It would be best to read the sites we listed earlier so you understand the problems more thoroughly, but anyway here are the basics you will need to do to keep him from getting worse.

Proper lighting: UVB and UVA emitting bulbs. If you are using a fluorescent tube light such as ReptiSun 5.0 you will need a regular heat basking spot too. Any regular light bulb will do. To determine what wattage you will need measure the temperature of the basking spot branch and adjust the bulb power to maintain the temp you want. If you choose one of the heat and UV emitting incandescent bulbs (PowerSun, Active UVHeat, Dragonlights, mercury vapor, etc) someone else on the list will have to give you opinions...I don't use them. They put out a lot of heat, so placing them over the cage takes more care to avoid burns. He should get exposure to UV light for at least 12 hours every day. Save worry by putting your lights on lamp timers so you won't have to remember to turn them on or off.

When the weather/temp is right get your cham outdoors to bask in "real" sunlight for several hours every week. This will really help and you will notice your cham is more active and generally healthier.

Proper diet: Gutload your insects for 2-3 days before feeding. There are recipes for very complete gutloads on www.adcham.com, but you can also create your own using fresh dark leafy greens and veggies, fresh citrus fruit, vitamin fortified cereal such as Total, bee pollen, etc. Many commercial cricket feeds are very poor. I do not use catfood as it is very high in some complex proteins that are hard for chams to digest. I have mixed in some good quality fish food too, but don't use a lot of it and most general pet shop fish food isn't great.

Dusting: RepCal or Mineral with D3 are used by many of us for calcium for chams kept primarily indoors. You can overdose it and it is only to round out a good insect gutload. Healthy adult chams need it about once a week. Vitamin dust such as Herptivite can be used about 2 times a month.

Your cham may live very well if you correct his problems with good care. That is the most important thing.

As for reporting a poor pet shop it will depend on where you are. Most cities have a specific agency (might be county animal control, agricultural inspectors, or police inspector) who regulates pet shops. Call your city offices and ask who to report a bad shop to. I'd also suggest you print out the correct caresheets from the websites we listed as "proof" that the info the shop gave you was bad. Otherwise it is your word against theirs. You will need to help the agency document that the pet shop was careless or ignorant of proper care for animals they sell. Also, check the health and info they give for other animals for sale. If they are not housed correctly, are dirty or unhealthy it will help make the case for the shop being fined or "punished" in some way. A lot of times they are just as ignorant as the buyers...and will need to be convinced that they have an obligation to provide the RIGHT care info so their animals don't suffer.

I shop at reptile depot for my cham needs, got all my stuff there, get all my feeders, silky's are in hard to get some times.i dont know if you are close to them. i goto the store, there always is someone able to help it seems almost immediatley. Their prices are good. I bought my cham there, im kinda like : though cuz i was assuming i was buying a male. But it would appear by the colors on my cham that is not a male., nonetheless, i know sexing is difficult, but dont let that deter you. I still go there, hope that helps