Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had posted a health problem 3 weeks ago (page2, "lothargic veiled). She is still lothargic, decreased eating but still drinking. In the last few days her front legs are getting patches of grey splotches. She is still laying on her side on occasion, more often recently, but sleeps upright on the bottom of the cage. She is still a healthy bright green color. I bought a vitamin spray today with d3 and electrolytes. Any ideas what the grey patches may be?

I went back and reread your last thread and although I am not a terribly experienced keeper I do know that you should not try to breed at such a young age (if they were 1 1/2" long in June you are talking about some pretty young chams. Anyway, I am not here to "yell" at you so please don't take it that way.

In your last thread Ed suggested Dystocia (egg binding) which is VERY serious and can certainly be life threatening. Even if she did not mate she will still develop eggs. I learned a lot about it when I a=was afraid that Luna may have been eggbound (she was not).

Have you provided a laying site for her? Are your crickets well gutloaded so she is/was getting proper nutrients? granted, the "gray patches may be the beggining of a shed, but I am sure you have witnessed this several times by now.

I recommend you get her to a vet ASAP. it has been 10 days since your original post and if she has been suffering this long...well, I would really hate to see something happen that could have been helped. i don;t mean to sound like an alarmist here - but I Luna would have been whisked off to the vet days ago. Please get her checked.

lele
dystocia in reptiles

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

lele,
Thank you for your advice. I did place a container of sand in her cage a couple of weeks ago, just in case there were eggs. I did read the link you sent about dystocia. I am going to gently remove her temporarily from her cage and replace the present substrate (fine orchid bark) with sand, if she is egg bound, perhaps this will entice her to lay. I will be calling the reptile specialist at the zoo tomorrow again and giving an update and asking for a reptile vet recomendation. It was advised to me that an ill Veiled going to the vet may be enough stress to cause more harm than good. If the sand doesn't help, I am willing to take the chance. I am interested if you have any experience of taking a Veiled to the vet? I don't want to stress her out too much, but I will do what I have to do. Again, thanks for your help.

glad you will be seeking help again Has she given any signs of digging? From what I understand with Dystocia they will get to a point where the best setup in the world is not going help if she is too far along. You may consider getting x-rays done to see if eggs are present. Is the reptile vet familiar with chameleons?

As for transporting to vet. yes, I understand the stress factor concern. I live in NH and had to bring Luna to the vet a couple months ago on a bitterly cold day and it is about a 45 minute drive each way. I warmed up the car, wrapped her in a warm cloth (no terry-towels b./c the claws can easily get stuck) and put her in a box. Oh, I had a stick for her to cling on to. She was not happy about it but I was really concerned about her. She managed fine. I handle her almost daily and she tolerates me so I think that may have helped some.

Please let me know how you make out. Btw...does she look like she has eggs? Dos she have the "hour-glass" shape to her body?

here are some pix and links of gravid chams

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

BTW, that spray is worthless...take it back. It won't do anything for your cham.