S - I just got in and emailed you back. I had to get Luna home then rush off to MY Dr.'s appt and then food shop – getting low on critter food! lol!.



OK, here's the scoop, well, half the scoop. Unfortunately, my vet had already left when I went back to pick her up (grrr…) so I have to call him tomorrow. The other vet, who did not seem well versed in herp care, was who I spoke with. There was no discernable fluid in her abdomen, but she had actually lost weight since Monday. On 4/9 she was 110g, 4/13 126g, 4/18 132g, 4/20 126g and today 120g! She has been peeing so fluid was going in and out. I will see what his thoughts on the fluid retention are tomorrow. They DID see follicles so she is developing eggs, they did not see any enlarged or noticeably unhealthy organs.



The blood test results had a high Ca (21) so they gave her calcitonin (sp?) to lower it. My thinking on that is that when he gave her the Ca shot on 9th, he should have checked blood first. I also wonder if he should have given her the fluids that day. He was going by what I had said (that she was probably gravid) but wouldn’t it have been prudent for him to suggest checking her Ca level first? I had suggested the sub-q fluids b/c of her excessive thirst, but maybe it was not a good ide – hey, I’m not the vet. Could that $180 visit been part of this trouble?



I am thinking of maybe having her Ca checked 3 or 4x over the next year just to see what it is doing – is that a good (or bad) idea? I certainly will not give her any NCg or have him inject without one. I also am wondering if the joint stuff is hypercalcemia! Her grip is great but she has lost a lot of use of her back legs. She cannot hold her back end up, thus the branch hugging and then the hanging to get comfortable. I am hoping she will recover from it.

Luna has always had rather full limbs and when I went through the first 5-month gravidity in 2003/2004, I am thinking that the distended abdomen was fluid retention long before actual egg development and I think this is the case this time as well. Since I now KNOW this, I will be able to determine things much better in the future. When I look at pics of “normal” chameleons, I am always surprised how skinny their legs are. She is definitely not an ordinary cham



She is still very thirsty but I will just let her drink. I am also going to go back to normal feeding (no Ca dust for a little while) and see what she does. She will be tow in a few weeks so I feel I have gone through all her possible cycles (sure hope so!!) and that the vet visits will be less frequent and her “symptoms” will make sense.





Ummm…I am sure I left stuff out but that’s it for now. Any thoughts on hypercalcemia or water retention (or anything else) openly accepted!



I really do appreciate you all being here, once again, for Luna & lele’s drama: E
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0.1 Veiled - Luna

1.0 Beardie - For now his name is Beardie Boy

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

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