Chameleons Canada

Calcium Deficiencies: The “Secret” to Avoid Them

admin — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:35:59 +0000

Calcium Deficiencies: The “Secret” to Avoid Them

by IVAN ALFONSO, DVM on JUNE 17, 2011

Calcium deficiencies are usually grouped under the umbrella term of Metabolic Bone Disease or MBD. The issue is quite common in reptile husbandry but in my opinion it shouldn’t be anymore. As a matter of fact, I feel the issue should be extinct when it comes to reptiles as we really have no excuses to not provide adequate husbandry to our reptiles to allow for proper calcium absorption.
Sorry about the misleading title, as there is really no secret to avoid calcium issues. The information is right in front of us but we don’t seem to grasp it at times. I am hoping this thread helps as many people as possible to avoid the heartaches that come with dealing with calcium deficiencies.

Reptiles need calcium to grow, to produce eggs, and to move around on a daily basis. Calcium is an essential mineral to reptile health but providing our reptiles with a tub of calcium every day doesn’t ensure they will get proper calcium in their system. You see, calcium absorption is a process and there are many important steps needed for this process to go smoothly. Yes, availability of calcium is important but calcium can’t be absorbed in the reptile’s body without vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 is produced naturally in the reptile’s body by exposure to Ultraviolet Light B (UVB). UVB is part of the natural, unfiltered sunlight spectrum. So there is the process in a nutshell: A reptile basks in the sun to warm up and to absorb the UVB rays. These UVB rays will trigger the kidneys to produce vitamin D3 which will go into the bloodstream and allow the cells to absorb calcium. That means a strong, happy reptile that can move around, can grow and can reproduce normally. Simple huh? Then why do we still have issues in this hobby with calcium deficiencies? I don’t know, but I have a few suspicions that I will list below.

1- Improper exposure to natural UVB- Many keepers think that putting the reptile near a glass window will solve the issue of UVB exposure. UVB will be filtered out by most glass and acrylic so putting a glass tank on a open window doesn’t help. Putting a glass tank or a screen cage near a closed window doesn’t help.Putting a screen cage in an open window does help. The sun rays need to be as unfiltered as possible for the UVB to be at its best. UVB is also at better levels in the morning hours until about noon. After noon, the levels diminish and are not as strong, but that doesn’t mean they are no good. If you can have your choice of sunshine exposure for your reptile, use the AM. Otherwise, use the afternoon as it is better than nothing. DO NOT put your reptile in a rubbermaid tub or glass or acrylic enclosure for sunning, it will cause the reptile to get overheated and die if left unattended. Only screen cages or well ventilated cages (bird cages, etc) can be used for this.

2- Improper exposure to artificial UVB- Many keepers can’t take their reptiles outdoors for many reasons and they depend entirely on artifical bulbs for their UVB. Nothing wrong with that as long as the proper bulbs are used and we can make sure proper levels of UVB are being produced. There are many bulbs in the market that only produce UVA but not UVB and keepers buy them thinking that it is a “UV bulb”. Well, it is a UV bulb but not a UVB bulb which makes a huge difference. Different bulbs will produce different levels of UVB for different amounts of time and sometimes keepers buy the right type of bulb but it doesn’t get changed frequently enough thus leading to little to no UVB exposure over time. This is why it is recommended to change the bulbs every 6-12 months depending on the bulb, or buy a UVB meter which will tell you how much UV is being produced by your bulbs. If you measure a drop in UVB production from your bulbs, then it is time to change them.

3- Excessive reliance on Vitamin D3- There is still some train of thought that if you use vitamin D3 daily when supplementing, then you have no need for UVB. The thinking being that by providing D3 you are bypassing the step in the process where UVB triggers the production of D3 in the reptile’s body. It would seem this is a logical step but it fails to show that excessive use of D3 causes severe liver issues and premature death. Reptiles can produce as much D3 naturally as they need with the exposure to UVB but when you provide D3 externally you have no way of determining how much or how little you are actually giving your reptiles. You could be underdosing them thus depriving them of calcium absorption or you could just as well overdose them and cause a whole new set of health issues. Artificial supplementation has it’s place in reptile husbandry, but it should not be used to replace the natural way.

4- Availability of calcium- Not all calciums are made the same and some seem better suited for certain reptiles than others. Calcium carbonate is the standard form of calcium used in the hobby but there are other forms of calcium out there that are more bioavailable for reptiles once ingested. What’s the catch? Some of the products stick better to insects than others, some products are thinner than others, some taste better than others, and some products clump quicker than others. It is a matter of trial and error when you choose your calcium but make sure you choose one that fits your and your reptiles needs. You will likely need a calcium product that sticks well to insects if you are feeding insectivores, like chameleons, that need to hunt their food. If you are feeding herbivores you can use a less sticky product if you are feeding them from a bowl. If you are feeding carnivores, their food is usually on the moist side when you consider the ones that eat dog or cat food as well as frozen rodents, so you need a calcium that can stick to that food without creating too much of a thick paste that could discourage the reptiles from eating it. Not understanding these factors can lead to the use of a good product that doesn’t fit your reptile’s lifestyle thus leading to poor ingestion of the calcium and low availability of this mineral in the body.

5- Improper diets- We are what we eat, and so are our reptiles. If we don’t provide them with a well balanced diet and depend solely on calcium supplements we might never be able to do right by them. The closest we can get to providing our reptiles to a natural diet (what they would eat normally in the wild), the more likely they are to get as much nutrients as they would in the wild. This would limit the need for extra supplementation and would allow us to develop a system where we alter their diets on a minimal basis rather than every day or so. We can never duplicate nature but we should aim to do it anyway.

I am partial to chameleons as they are the reason I became a Veterinarian in the first place. These lizards are about the most delicate species of reptile there is and nutrition is everything to them. Calcium deficiencies are alive and well in chameleons today and they shouldn’t be. As much as we know about them and their needs, we should be able to scratch calcium issues off the book of chameleon ailments for good. I really hope that anyone reading this learns something or can pass it along to someone who can use this info. It might be too ambitious of a goal for me, but I sure hope I can see a reptile hobby where calcium deficiencies are an oddity rather than a routine issue.

Baby Veiled Chameleon with MBD

Note: IMO Dr. Ivan Alfonso is one of the most knowledgable people I’ve met when it comes to chameleons. That is why I asked for his permission to re-publish his articles on this site. I’m posting what I think are the most common questions and challenges chameleon keepers can find. Thanks again Dr. Ivan Alfonso.

Chameleon Diets: Wild Collected Insects

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:16:37 +0000

Chameleon Diets: Wild Collected Insects

by IVAN ALFONSO, DVM on JUNE 17, 2011

I can’t tell you how many emails or phone calls have started with “my chameleon ate a spider and I am freaking out!” or “my chameleon just ate a snail and I think he will get parasites”, etc. Has your chameleon eaten anything that you didn’t intend for him/her to eat? Has something from the great outdoors found its way into your chameleon’s cage and eventually into it’s stomach? Have you seen your chameleon chewing on something that you have no clue what it is? If so, my best advice is to relax and enjoy the sight.

Chameleons are quite fond of a varied menu and in the wild, which is where most chameleons in the hobby still come from, they eat any invertebrate prey they see. They also know which prey to stay away from and they tend to be quite knowledgeable as to which item to eat. In captivity we deal with a new set of rules because our wild insects are not usually the same as the ones in their country of origin, yet at the same time they are still insects and they still bring a good balanced nutrition to the table.

Slugs, snails, flies, moths, spiders, roaches, pill bugs, millipedes, grasshopers, katydids, dragonflies, mantis, stick bugs, etc. are but a few of the wild insects I have seen my chameleons eat while enjoying the weather outdoors. None of them have ever died or gotten sick from this. Of course, any obvious poisonous insects I remove or avoid such as Black Widow spiders or the black and orange grasshoppers we get sometimes here in FL. But in general, wild insects are good and enjoyed by most chameleons. You will find chameleons sometimes go on a hunger strike and refuse crickets and superworms but immediately go for a grasshopper. Why is this? Well, they get bored with the same old food every time so they aim to add variety to the menu.

To add even more variety, some chameleon species enjoy adding a bit of vertebrate prey to their menus and anoles are the preferred candidates. I even had a good friend report her female Veiled Chameleon ate a green tree frog while basking outdoors. I felt terrible for the frog but the chameleon was quite happy with her meal.

What about pesticides? Wild collected insects should always be taken from areas known to be free of pesticides of any sort. If you know your neighbor is using heavy doses of pesticides you are wise to avoid any insects from that area. It seems like common sense but it is always worth mentioning. Insects that come to your yard are usually traveling all over the place so the chance is always there that they could carry some chemical. However, a lethal dose of the chemical would already be affecting the insect so if it looks stunned or odd, leave it alone. If it look quite lively and moving all over the place, you can give it a quick rinse if you want, and into the cage it goes.

But what about parasites? Aren’t they bad? Yes, parasites are a concern and you should aim to keep your chameleons parasite free. But is it worth sacrificing their overall health because of the fear of possible parasites? Parasites are not known to enter the body and kill your chameleon in 48 hours. They take time to cause issues and in many cases, if the chameleon is healthy enough, you don’t even know they are there. If your chameleon enjoys the outdoor snacks, make sure you have their feces examined at least every 6 months, with every 3-4 months being ideal. This way you and your Veterinarian can be on top of any parasites that can show up and treat them quickly.

Do you deprive your dog from a walk in the park because of fear of fleas, ticks, hookworms or heartworms? I don’t think so. You take precautions but let him/her enjoy life. The same applies for chameleons, let them enjoy their variety in their menu as they will be happier and stronger. Regardless of how long we keep them in captivity, chameleons are wild reptiles, and they benefit from diets similar to the ones they would get in the wild. Keep your staple food insects on hand but don’t be shy or afraid to use wild collected insects to spice up your chameleon’s life.

Raising baby chameleons

admin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 19:37:19 +0000

I would like to start this article by saying this is based on my own experience, there most be other ways to raise baby panther chamelelons, however and after trying some other methods, this have proved to be the best for me. After using it for two years in a raw, I haven’t lost one single baby (so far and keeping fingers crossed).

I keep my bay chams in glass , hold on, I know what you have read about it, but read on to find more. I use the exoterra and zoomeds all glass terrariums. By NO means I would recommend fish tanks for this. Fish tanks are for fish! Let’s just go by that rule when it comes to chameleons.

The exoterra terrariums are different from a fish tank in many ways, they keep humidity high, they provide great air flow from the vent at the lower bottom of the cage and the all screen mesh on the top.

I used to keep my babies on plastic tubes, with plastic plants and a uv light on top. I was also feeding mainly fruit flies. You’ll see this setup used by many on the hobby, so that’s why I gave it a try. Also you’ll find people recommend to start up babies with fruitflies and then switch to pinheads.

Well I have to say that after week 4 of following these method, disaster was always there, babies would start just dying like flies with no apparent reason, losing up to 30-40% of the clutch. Amazingly after chatting the issue with other breeders, they would see this as normal.

It was then when I read a great article by Dave Weldon about using the exoterras for chameleons, so I decided to give it a try.

Basically what he suggests is to make a mini eco-system. So, from the glass bottom of the exoterra, divide it in 3 layers of substrate. First layer is for hydroballs, put some window screen on top to separate the balls from the next layer. Second layer is coconout fiber and the third with organic soil.

Add some natural plants, branches and of course a UV light and a basking light. Some people think babies don’t bask, mine do and they seem to like it a lot.

Spraying water for 2 minutes (I hand spray so what I do is I count 120 “sprays”) seem to give them enough water and humidity for the whole day. Some times I give them a second spray around 5:30pm just to put some water drops on the plants for them drink.

Another very important change I did was food. I was lucky to find a reliable cricket supplier and I feed them now 1/8″ crix starting on the second day after hatching. They grow steadily and some of them quite fast. Fruit flies are now a snack around 5:30pm to add some variety to the meals.

This 2011, I have 3 clutches hatch so far, first one hatched May and 0 loses lets hope they keep it that way.

I hope this post will help, since is one of those things I haven’t find find online and many breeders are very jelously keeping their raising practices. Me I go by the old say “the more the marrier” let me know your thoughts on this article, I’m always willing to learn from others cham enthisiasts.

DIY Feeding Cups

admin — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:54:58 +0000

This is one of the best tips I can give you. Cup feeding will make your live easier. Let’s be honest sometimes you might not have enough time to wait for your cham to eat from your hand, and leave insect loose inside the cage can get things messy pretty quick. The advantages of cup feeding are, your chameleon will know when is feeding time, it’s fun to see them actually “siting” infront of the cup when they are hungry. You can control the amount they eat and keep track of it. No risks of crickets biting your chameleons during night.

So here we go, I recommend you to look for this particular brand of juice (Bolthouse farms, you acn find it at Walmart, Loblaws, Sobey’s; it’s about $5.00). The shape of the bottle is perfect for a feeding bowl. It is wider at the top, so in makes an “umbrella” to the bottom of the cup. (I have an automatic misting system, so this helps to avoid the cup to fill with water).

Also it has a preformed shape in front that can be used as a guide for cutting, giving the bottle a nice shape. Also the size is very convenient, it will not take much space if left permanently inside the cage.

So here we go:

1. Cut the bottle using scissors, follow the shape of the plastic and leave at least 2 inches from the bottom, so insects can’t climb out.

2. Poke holes all around the bottom of the bottle, to help drain if needed.

3. Sand the back wall of the bottle so insects like crickets can climb easily. This will help your chameleon to see them and get attracted to them. Don’t sand the sides, doing so could help the insects to climb to the edge and scape.

4. You can poke a couple of holes at the top of the back and insert something to hang the bottle inside the cage. I use small plastic fasteners.

And that’s it, you have now a great cup feeder made from recycling.

I hope you find this helpful.

Wholesale

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:18:23 +0000

Looking for wholesale dealers in USA and Europe!

Interested in bringing high quality Nosy Falys to your country? Let’s talk! Please get in touch with us, we are interested in selling our chameleons internationally.

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Shipping, Terms & Conditions

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:16:00 +0000

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