Posted by:
lele
at Mon Dec 20 17:50:01 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by lele ]
Hi all,
This is a bit long but I think is important especially with the many new “faces” on the forum and what seems like a surge of gravid chams.
For those of you who know me I think most would consider me an attentive and caring Mom to Luna - even if I do occasionally freak out, but I think a 5 month clutch development (last year) warranted it! She has been with me since Sept. 2003 and has been a healthy, albeit small, little sweetie.
Well, I have had a rather distressing few days with her and wanted to share it with you. She has eaten little for the past several weeks and I figured she was developing eggs again (never been bred) and as her ribs/belly became distended I was sure. I gave her Neo-Calglucon (liquid calcium) that I had purchased online for her last clutch in late July (the vet had none in stock) to insure plenty of calcium in her system.
She had become very thirsty, which I figured was the drier air (NH) even though her dripper runs almost all day, I also hand water her with a bottle and of course misting and humidifier. (I work from home (and she is in my office) so I cater to her and all my critters needs – they have me well trained 
About a week ago, I noticed her casque was a bit crooked. On Saturday, it appeared “shrunken” and she seemed dehydrated. I added showering her twice a day (she loved it) but she just didn’t seem to be responding to the increased moisture. I was concerned about the casque issue and put her on the ground to see her walk and noticed a problem with her back left leg – it was bent at an odd angle at the ankle joint. I called my vet, who was gone for the day, and made an appt. for this morning with the main objective being fluids. I wrapped her up, warmed up the car and fortunately had a heat pack on hand – it has been snowing all day – and drove the 45 minutes in a slippery, snowy, holiday-shopping mess. (This vet is down the road from a Mall!)
Her grip is still quite strong (he could barely get her to release the branch I had her on for transport) so I was surprised at his diagnosis – the beginnings of MBD. He gave her subcutaneous fluids, and me a bottle of NCg, agreed she was developing eggs and will see us in a week.
So how did all of this happen? I am not entirely sure but I had been suspicious about the NCg I had gotten last summer. The look, smell and even the taste was not the same as what I gotten from the vet for her clutch last year. I had ordered it online from a company who I had never done business with (nor even heard of) but they were the only ones who had it on hand and would send me a small enough amount. They were rude and it took over a week to get here. I brought the bottle with me today to the vet and he agreed that it appeared to be not much more than sugar water. I do not know this for sure so I am not blaming them (though I do hope to have it tested and will surely let you know) but with her previous clutches this has never happened and she goes on a serious hunger strike and often takes in nothing but water and NCg for weeks. She also had lost 10g in 2 weeks – I am thinking this may have been due to bone loss from the calcium being drawn in order to form her eggs. The dehydration? Maybe I just didn’t up her humidity and misting soon enough, maybe the NCg is perfectly good and I didn’t give her enough…I am totally thrown by all of this and of course worried for her. I am always taking photos of her so I have a “record” of her health and in just 2 weeks, the difference is pretty incredible.
Well, I guess the point in all of this is that even the best efforts can sometimes not be enough and that this is a perfect example of how well they hide their symptoms until problems are far along. I also want to point out the importance of having ready access to a qualified vet – you just never know how quickly you may need one – and that when it comes to our animals we cannot fall short on their care and the sometimes-necessary expense.
OK, enough said. I hope that sharing this experience might make a difference to another cham at some point in the future. Keep her in your thoughts that she will be able to lay this clutch without any complications and that she will get back on track.
lele 
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
?.? Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula (no name yet)
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 Not-so-good news about Luna - a lesson for all - lele, Mon Dec 20 17:50:01 2004
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