Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wondering how it is going with your little rescue? ;/
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Chameleon Help & Resource Info

It was a pretty pointless trip actually, I got there and was explaining what I wanted, and he just blew aside all I was saying, getting a "holier than thou" attitude and wanting to know how I knew all this stuff about chameleons, MBD etc. Explained my background with chams, and the forum etc. He said "well you must be a pretty smart lil' girl to go to all that trouble" (oh stop, im blushing! *coughSARCASMcough*) But OBVIOUSLY he knows more seeing as he's seen 2 chameleons ever (both mine) I dunno, just irked me... Didnt give her a calcium shot either because she OBVIOUSLY wasnt calcium deficient or something (which is why she could only lay in my hands and not stand up...) but gave me a bottle of repcal and thats all he charged me for, for the visit.
Although he sealed his fate of me never going back to him EVER though with a couple things. First off he was treating her very rough, turning her over and flipping and tossing her about in his hands, which did NOT last long seeing as I basically snatched her out of his hands. Then he was bad mouthing the good herp vet I had gone to before, saying he was too young in the field, etc. Didnt appreciate that either. Basically though a waste of time.

She seems to be getting slowly better though! Her grip is stronger on all legs, especially her back busted leg. She has been hauling herself up into the pothos vines around her cage, although she still cant stand up, just kind of commando crawls around the cage. She is eating some crickets from a feeding cup, and I have been doing the daily reptiaid (with a touch of calcium) sessions. Still no weight gain though.

Can there be such a thing as too much reptiaid? I have been following the weight chart (and can only get her to eat so much) im on the "normal" column chart right now. Not sure though I can get that much into her or should even try. Oh well. I think I might be smuggling her back to campus with me for the week. The RA has treefrogs, dont see why I cant have her for a bit. I'll call it a project for my major! :-D

Thanks for checkin up though Lele! and sorry for the long post, needed to rant a bit :-P
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1:0 Veiled (Gene)
1:0 Sambava Panther (Knoxville)
1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
Various cats and dogs

Well that stinks! Did he weigh her in order to give you the proper dose of the NCG (it is neo calglucon, aka Calcium Glubionate - right?)and give you the tiny syringe to show you how much? Her dose for this will be so tiny if she is only 12g it should be .012ml. Why was he convinced she did not have MBD or calcium problem? Sounds like his head is up his ass.

I asked the same question aboiut the repta-aid and frankly don't recall the answer ;-/ but I just watered it down a lot and offered it to her a few times a day. With your girl I would try and stick to the dose but would go with the "severe" dosage amount around 0.7cc (same as ml) breaking it into twice a day (if you can). Int he directions it suggest the 50% for 4 days then up it to 100%

I am glad you are going to take her with you. If your RA has frogs I am sure s/he will understand. Just keep her as warm as you can and bring everything with you Is there a good herp vet near school?? You know I will want daily updates so blow off homework so you can come post on the forum! LOL! (kidding)

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Chameleon Help & Resource Info

What a jerk! Here she is with an obvious fracture and no ability to support herself, and he doubts MBD without even testing for it? I bet an xray would barely show a skeleton. Despite him, with your good knowledgeable care and supplementation, she will improve quite a bit. Hard to say how much, but probably enough to have a decent life!

Too bad things went so poorly for you at the vet's. Glad he
didn't break any more bones flipping and tossing her
about in his hands.

I have had a couple of chameleons in this type of condition
come to me. The legs were not set. (It was too late with
each of them...by the time I got them the leg was already healed
incorrectly...so it would have meant breaking them again and
re-setting them.) Once the husbandry and the imbalance of the
supplements, etc. was fixed, they continued to live with me for
the usual average life span. I did always make a bit
of adjustment for them though....I kept them in longer shorter
cages so that they could get around easier and have less danger
of falling in there "crooked" state.

I don't know how much you know about chameleons...so here's
an article written by a vet on MBD with some very graphic
pictures. It will let you see that your little one isn't nearly
as bad as some.
http://ADCHAM.com/html/veterinary/mbd-fractures-kramer.html

And two more articles that might help...
http://www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html

Here's another article that talks about using
calcitonin. My vet used calcitonin on a (non-chameleon)lizard
and it worked wonderfully. He couldn't even raise himself up
but simply scurried around on his belly...and after the treatment,
except for the deformities, he was terrific. Calcitonin won't
take away the deformities. I know of nothing that will do that.
It is recommended for use in the more severe cases of MBD so
yours may get away without it. Please read it carefully....if
calcitonin "is given without first pre-treating with
calcium for several days (or until the blood calcium level has
normalized), it can result in seizures, collapse or death".
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/dvms/mbd.html

I hope that this little chameleon can recover and will live a
long time for you! She is in caring hands!