Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have a juvenile vieled whom we rescued from an unfit owner - was incredibly dehydrated, and in the throes of MBD...we knew we may be underequipped to care for him, but were even more aware that he would die in a matter of days if we did not help him.

We have had him for about 3 or 4 weeks now, and have had good days and bad days. His MDB left him with a spine deformation, a flexible jaw, and breaks in limbs. His appetite was nonexistant, and he was confined to the bottom of his cage.

After moving, he did fairly well for a few days, and then relapsed. We have been misting routinely, and dripping, as well as using a syringe to provide a misture of pedialyte and a calcium supplement, alternated with exoterra's Electrodize D3 supplement.

I am beginning to fear that he is a lost cause...he can not climb, he is unable to eat (we are beginning force feeding baby food with a syringe as well), and seems to be declining in health rapidly. Short of euthanasia, any advice? We are fearful that even a trip to move him to a vet would stress him beyond the point of recovery.

Feel free to post here or e-mail me at chefbret at chefbret dot com.

Thanks.

Seeing as I rescued a baby with the same MBD/Bad care problems I can give some advice.

First off I would severely recommend going out and getting a box of powdered Reptiaid. Usually you can find it in local petstores. It will do more miracles than the baby food ever will. Basically it is liquid crickets with lots of vitamins and such, and most chameleons like the taste. And that way they get their moisture as well. You can also mix some of your calcium powder for a little extra boost a couple times a week (but very little!!) Remember to use warm water too!

Keep him warm and in a smaller contained area (10 gallon, UVB bulb, paper towel bottom) so he doesnt try to overexert himself (if he is still moving around alot) The back injury you described worries me a bit, but the arms and legs can heal just fine over time and with some good care. Hopefully it is not too late to turn him around.
It may be a week or so before you begin to see any improvements with the Repti-Aid so be patient.

Good luck! Hope he makes it!!

Erin
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1:1 Veileds (Gene and Alis)
1:0 Sambava Panther (Knoxville)
1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
Various cats and dogs

If you have an experienced herp vet who can offer treatment for MBD (if they have treated it before) it might be worth the trip. If your vet is not up on treating MBD I wouldn't do it. The advice you can get here will help more probably. The vet may be willing to give you meds or supplies without seeing the cham, but I doubt it. If you do make the trip, most chams rest quietly in a warm dark box with something to grip for a couple of hours easily. If the cham can't drink or eat, you may need to do subcutaneous injections of Pedialyte or IV fluids just to keep it metabolizing any food you give. When it was moving around could it walk or climb at all? If the spinal problem kept it from moving around on its own you may decide your little one isn't going to have much quality of life. I think I would consider euthanasia if that's the case. Poor little one! Good luck!