I don't think she's impacted.
Just be patient she will poop.
Really give her a lot of calcium (with no D3) dust on her feeders, and keep feeding her a decent amount for a couple more days.

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad

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Thanks Brad! That's reassuring. I didn't think she had an impaction as she is not in any discomfort and is still eating heaps!

What's with no D3 though? The Bug Grub for gut loading the insects is a protein, calcium and D3 supplement, the only other calcium we have is a liquid supplement (that we were giving her when she wasn't eating) called Zolcal-D but it has D3 in it as well. The only other dusting supplement we have is Repton, which also looks like it has quite a bit of D3 in it. What is the effect of D3 and would I be better of not dusting than using the stuff with D3 in it?

Thank you everyone for your other suggestions - if she hasn't pooped by tomorrow I'm going to try the warm bath option.

Angie

For being inexperienced you are doing very well! Congratulations for getting her through a difficult time!

88 eggs is way to many for a veiled to lay IMHO. I would feed her well for a couple of days and then cut back on the amount of food to prevent her from laying such a big clutch again. Once she is working on the next clutch she can be fed more again...but not all she wants!

See Brad's blog on raising kitty...
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Here's the short course on supplements/nutrition...Exposure to UVB either from direct sunlight or from exposure to a UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 which in turn allows it to use the calcium in its system. (The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic.)

D3 from supplements builds up in the chameleon's system and can cause problems. IMHO the chameleon should get most of its D3 as a result of exposure to UVB. The D3 from supplements should be kept to a minimum to prevent an overdose. I dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder...lightly.

Most of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous so dusting at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder helps to make up for this.

I dust with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene will not build up in the system but preformed vitamin A will. Now, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene...so a little bit of preformed can be given once in a while. Excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD.

In addition to supplementing...appropriate basking temperatures allow for good digestion and thus play a part in nutrient absorption.

Gutloading gets things into the insect that we want it to have and feeding the insects nutritious diets also helps.

Also, is your UVB a compact/spiral type light or a long linear tube? The compacts have been causing eye problems in chameleons and other lizards.

summoner12...said..."People have tried a small dab of cooking oil on a cricket. A small amount will help the cham pass the food. I think I have heard this from kinyonga"...I don't think I ever said that. It might have been Will who said it. I have said to use pear though.

Hopefully the chameleon will pass some feces soon!

dusting with D3 all the time is not a good idea. D3 is made when the cham is sitting in the sun. The body can make as much as it needs as long as it has the resources. If the animal is fed premade D3 the body can't stop absorbing it because it isn't in control. The cham can't 'turn off' the D3 absorption. You need to find a calcium powder that is phosphorus free and does not have D3.

Here is a link to some supplements that are good to have on hand.

Without D3

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Thanks for the replies.... I will look into those supplements.

The UV light above her tank is a tube style.

I have attached a couple of photos showing her, one of her the night before she laid when she was just stretched out on the tree trying to get comfortable - look how big she is!! - one of the tank where we had hot water bottles & wheat packs up against the glass to try and get the temperature up (plus a desk lamp before we were able to buy the proper heat lamp), one when she was digging (I helped make a sturdy tunnel using a plastic plant pot because the first 2 tunnels collapsed on her!) and a photo of the eggs. I couldn't believe it when I counted them, I have heard of chameleon's dying from stress after laying 20 or so!!

This has definitely been an experience looking after her!

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Well it certainly seems like you've done your research. There are many people that are trying to keep chameleons that aren't as knowledgeable. GREAT JOB !!

While I'm not very experienced with the POOPING issue there are a couple of other concerns that I'm rather surprised nobody else has mentioned. It's generally not advisable to keep a chameleon in a tank or glass enclosure. The tank can heat up very quickly and is not ventilated well with all glass sides which can result in the cham overheating. An all or partial mesh enclosure is generally recommended. While I understand that you're just watching the chameleon for friends you may want to suggest that they get a larger mesh enclosure when they return and just keep an eye on the temps in the tank for now.

And if the eggs are fertile they will not likely do well in the container you have them in. Of course if you believe them not to be fertile then you don't have to worry about it. However if you would like to incubate the eggs check out this thread ... Veiled Chameleon not laying eggs.. Check partway down and you will see the setup used for the eggs. There are also likely many other useful and more experienced threads on the forum about this. There is also a thread with the babies that hatched from these eggs here ... Babies Hatched.

Please excuse me if I've missed something earlier in the thread that perhaps addresses these issues as I just quickly skimmed through some of the posts.

So keep up the good work and keep us posted. You can come look after my chameleons any time!! LOLOL

Dyesub Dave.

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1.1.0 Honduran Milk Snakes,0.1.0 Snow Corn Snake, 7 - Fish Tanks and 1 AWESOME boy!!

I am boggled by the amount of work and research you have done while simply "looking after" a friends chameleon. The expense of the vet trip etc suggests you are more responsible then the true owner. (are you going to ask for it when they return?)
How long are they away anyway?

Without you contacting this forum, and acting on the advice given, I'm afraid this creature's future was grim.

Congrats on a job well done ... now get dusting with that calcium, and try to talk the owner into a screen cage! (no ventilation can also lead to bacterial infections)

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How long did your friends have this female? I'd almost swear the eggs look fertile.

Thanks everyone!!

The tank does have a mesh top, so it's not completely glass. Is one mesh side enough or would you still recommend completely mesh? How do you control the temperature with mesh sides? At the moment, we have just been able to get the temperature up to 30, and that is with wheat packs/hot water bottles and a 100w desk lamp shining in the side. Now we have the 60w EuroRep light, the temp gets to around 26-28. We've attached the thermometer to the glass in the middle of the tank, on the opposite side to the lamp, I hope we are still getting accurate readings?

I'm (almost) positive the eggs aren't fertile. The owners have had her since May, and she was quite small then, she can't have been very old? Attached are photos of when they first got her (not sure where they got her from though) and she has been isolated ever since. As I said though, they were told she was a male and only found out she was female about 2 weeks before they left her with us (we've had her a month now).

And the owners are back this week, so I'm glad we were able to get her through this difficult time, but no we're not going to ask for money as we took on the responsibility, and we weren't forced to take her to the vet, we just needed to ease our minds and know why she wasn't eating! Besides, these guys are very good friends, and I'm sure over the course of our friendship the favour has already, or will be returned.... karma chameleon!!

Thing is, we've actually really enjoyed looking after her, and are considering getting our own! I saw someone post in this forum "and so the addiction begins..." SO TRUE!!! I think we'll get a male though

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Euro set ups are different compared to most american set ups. You'll have to talk to an experienced Euro keeper on here. But I can tell you that your cham should be in something taller.

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