Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well returned home this weekend from the first week in college to find my male veiled half dead and my female possibly carrying eggs...

My parents left wed for canada and my brother was here. He left thursday and didnt come home till this afternoon around same time I did. I have no idea when they were fed/watered last. I went upstairs to find the lights all askew and barely shining in the males cage ( how long the had been like that I dont know) and my baby wandering around the bottom. He is so skinny now I can see his tail bones etc. I gave him food immediately and adjusted the lights as well, I also held the dripper out to him and he drank a ton as well. After the feeding and watering he wandered up to his basking light and stayed there. Hopefully he will be ok, hes a tough little lizard, ( survived having both arms broken by a cat as an infant, MBD and my unknowledgeable first-time-cham care taking)

One thing I want to know is, after he would drink for a bit, he would stop and sit on his back legs swallowing alot and then his stomach would squeeze flat horizontaly. Why was he doing that? was it the stress or does it help chams swallow easier? Or is it a sign of something else wrong?

Also as to my female, I tried introducing them together before I left, nothing happened that I could see and they were only together for like 15 mins. She wasn't too impressed with him and resisted him a little. The male climbed on her a couple times but no show. She is showing no gravid colors but after being put through the no food/water thing as above, she is still nice and fat and not skinny and grumpy. I noticed her abdomen lookes rounder and KINDA slightly lumpy, it's only been 10 days since I introduced them though.

Could being with the male have triggered the egg carrying process even though no mating took place? Or could it be something else like a blockage?

Anyway sorry for the long post but really depressed now about chams conditions and kinda at a loss...

~Erin

Hi Erin,

I will say that, yes, leaving them at home is a sure death sentence from what you describe. Every weekend that you come home, they will be closer to it Can you keep them in the dorms?? or are you housed off campus? Another option might be to find another herper that would be willing to care for them (at their house) while you are away. You may be able to find a "sitter" thru your local (herp) vet.

Didn’t you mention earlier that your brother wouldn’t handle the crix? Sounds like your folks aren't either. Maybe you can sit down with them and create a daily check list for them, but if they go away frequently that will be useless. Good Luck with it all and keep us posted.

lele

>>Well returned home this weekend from the first week in college to find my male veiled half dead and my female possibly carrying eggs...
>>
>>My parents left wed for canada and my brother was here. He left thursday and didnt come home till this afternoon around same time I did. I have no idea when they were fed/watered last. I went upstairs to find the lights all askew and barely shining in the males cage ( how long the had been like that I dont know) and my baby wandering around the bottom. He is so skinny now I can see his tail bones etc. I gave him food immediately and adjusted the lights as well, I also held the dripper out to him and he drank a ton as well. After the feeding and watering he wandered up to his basking light and stayed there. Hopefully he will be ok, hes a tough little lizard, ( survived having both arms broken by a cat as an infant, MBD and my unknowledgeable first-time-cham care taking)
>>
>>One thing I want to know is, after he would drink for a bit, he would stop and sit on his back legs swallowing alot and then his stomach would squeeze flat horizontaly. Why was he doing that? was it the stress or does it help chams swallow easier? Or is it a sign of something else wrong?
>>
>>Also as to my female, I tried introducing them together before I left, nothing happened that I could see and they were only together for like 15 mins. She wasn't too impressed with him and resisted him a little. The male climbed on her a couple times but no show. She is showing no gravid colors but after being put through the no food/water thing as above, she is still nice and fat and not skinny and grumpy. I noticed her abdomen lookes rounder and KINDA slightly lumpy, it's only been 10 days since I introduced them though.
>>
>>Could being with the male have triggered the egg carrying process even though no mating took place? Or could it be something else like a blockage?
>>
>>Anyway sorry for the long post but really depressed now about chams conditions and kinda at a loss...
>>
>>~Erin

No, I wish I could keep them with me but the only animals that can live in the dorms have to live under water. ( I have an albino clawed frog at the moment), I think my roomate too would go into a seizure if I brought them back. And I dont know anyone at all around here who could take care of them. Plus, no offense, I honestly dont know about giving them away to someone I dont know at all, even if he/she is qualified and all.
My parents do know how to take care of them its just they are out of town for the week, mom called and I talked to her, she said she had fed and watered them really well before she left tuesday night.
I dragged my brother up there last night and screamed at him for awhile, and he was pretty upset, ( all the family likes the chams alot) and its not the handling the crix parts he hates it trying to give them to Gene ( who is a LITTLE over exciteable about his food ^_^) But he swore he would check on them etc. I think I might be moving the cages downstairs somewhere so everyone will see them more/ remember to feed them more.

All in all though I think he's gonna be fine. I woke up this morning and checked on him and he literaly came runing up the the door and practically leaped out when I opened it to give him a cricket. Hes back =)
Still dont know on my female though, I cannot tell if she is carrying or not...
Thanks for the concern lele!
~Erin

If he hates handling the crix, you should get a little fishnet from the petstore. He can scoop them out and give em to your cham with no fingers in the way, lol.

Erin, You could always drop out of school! JUST KIDDING!!!! (I'm 48 y.o and on my second degree - all for education!) Hey, but if you tell your parents that maybe it will have an impact – care for my chams or I will have to drop out of college! LOL!

I understand not wanting to trust a stranger, but they are usually bonded and stuff. But making them more visible at home should make a big difference. If they see them all the time they will be reminded how much they like them and that they are living, breathing creatures with basic biological needs.

As for your brother/crix issue what about just cup feeding? Then he can just dump them in the cup. I don't know how you have your crix setup but by using empty paper towel rolls you can just pick up the roll, dump the crix in a cup, dust (as needed), then put into the feeding cup. When I have to dust them I dump them into a plastic cup with dust, get them covered then put an appropriate size strainer over the cup, sift out the dust then put crix into cup – never touch them.

As I think we all know, in a pinch they can go w/o food for a few days but not w/o water. Watering/misting them heavily and hoping it will last a few days just isn’t going to happen.

Anyway, try the move. Here’s another idea – call your folks each evening just to check in – they will beat you to the punch by getting in the habit of having them fed and watered before you call, then lessen your calling frequency – you will have trained your parents and brother!