Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know they look big. they are about the size of a dime. I am very well read in the care of these critters. I am not the type of person to just jump into something. They have appeared rather slowly. I do not have a reptile vet in my area and that is why I am openning up to you. In all that I have read I am wondering about calcium deposits but can't find much on this. They do not appear to be hindering his strength or his movements but I would like to correct it before this happens.

If you fill out the questionaire that Lele linked to you in her response, it will help us to collectively put our heads together and see if we can come up with a possible solution/idea about these bumps.
Lele's comment about 'someone who knows chameleons' was in reference to a vet, meaning a vet who specializes in exotics, specifically chameleons. No reflection or commentary on your own personal knowledge of chameleons.
At any rate, good luck with Charlie!
>>I know they look big. they are about the size of a dime. I am very well read in the care of these critters. I am not the type of person to just jump into something. They have appeared rather slowly. I do not have a reptile vet in my area and that is why I am openning up to you. In all that I have read I am wondering about calcium deposits but can't find much on this. They do not appear to be hindering his strength or his movements but I would like to correct it before this happens.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com

I did reply to lele's thread to the best of my ability. I am stuck at work right now so I do not have access the the type of gut load that I use or calcium dust. I am sorry I took offense to the reply. As for a vet, I do not have access to one who is familiar with Chams in a four hour travel time area.

Hey no worries!
In a written forum, it's sometimes difficult to understand what others' intentions are. We don't get to see the subtle 'body English' or hear voice intonations that help us understand each others true meanings behind the words.
At any rate, my first knee-jerk assumption when I saw the pictures was 'OVERSUPPLEMENTATION'. After reading how much and how often you are dusting your crickets, I'm inclined more so to lean towards this.
Of course, this is just my opinion based on superficial examination of the photos, and supplementation schedule. I think you'd need a more informed opinion to diagnose.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Thanks you Victor for straightening all of that out

I agree with the supplementation concern. Far from being an expert, but dusting every other day is a bit much and butterworms are very high in calcium as well as being very fatty which may be part of this problem. Are you using a multivitamin as well?

As for gutload, they really need a variety of fruits and veggies as well. Many of the pet store dry gutload have a lot of filler and are also broken down (nutritionally) when exposed to light, which is constant on pet store shelves. Check out the websites on the same link (below) for gutload info. You can get a good recipe from adcham.com, and cricketfood.com sells a quality product. adcham's wet gutload will give you a basis for foods to give the crickets and www.beautifuldragons.com has a very comprehensive food chart on calcium/phosphorus ratio. You might want to give him a better variety of foods and substitute the butterworms for silkworms which are also high in calcium but much lower in fat.

I would also suggest keeping the light on more like 10-12 hours. You said temps are 80-85...does his basking spot get hotter? Does he have a place to get cool? For the most part things sound OK other than what I and Victor have mentioned and they are crucial to your cham's care.

As for the vet issue...I hope that you can locate one because sooner or later you will need one (and maybe now) and a 4 hour drive is a bit far in an emergency. The link has state vet listings as well and maybe you are closer to one than you know.

lele
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

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1.0 Beardie - Darwin
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