Okay so this morning I walk in to my spare bedroom, look at my 7 month old Panther Cham and he is gnawing on a rock from the plant pot that's in his cage. I freak out and reach in there only to have him swallow the thing right down. It looked to be about 3/8 inch rock. I am stupid for leaving the smaller rocks in there!! When he was a baby there was no issue. There are rocks in there ranging from 3/8 inch to 3/4. Well I just got out the shop vacuum and sucked every last one of those rocks out of there and replaced them with rocks that are large and well over 1 inch. My main question is WHAT DO I DO?! Will he pass that rock? Should I hold off feeding him today or feed him as usual? Please help!!
Helpppp!!! My Cham Swallowed a rock!
- Thread starter lojack13
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Alexl
Avid Member
Might be a little too big for a seven month old panther chameleon to get it through his small intestines. I would recommend you to visit a reptile vet and have an x-ray. Your vet will evaluate whether the stone's able to pass the gut in size/shape or not. If it's small and round, he might give your chameleon some fluids to help the stone slide through. I would not feed the chameleon before vet visit. It's no problem for a chameleon to have a day or more without any food and an empty stomach would be nice in case of surgery. I hope the best for your chameleon.
About the cage: I don't understand this "cover the soil with large rocks"-thing... why not just using organic soil? No little stones, no bark pieces, no big amounts of sand a chameleon could swallow and get an impaction. Keeps humidity high, offers a nice ground for the plants etc. And it works fine... you'll find a nice discussion about this topic in this thread.
About the cage: I don't understand this "cover the soil with large rocks"-thing... why not just using organic soil? No little stones, no bark pieces, no big amounts of sand a chameleon could swallow and get an impaction. Keeps humidity high, offers a nice ground for the plants etc. And it works fine... you'll find a nice discussion about this topic in this thread.
Thanks for the reply. Well the rock is definitely small and round so I am hoping he can pass it pretty easily. I hate so bad to take him to a vet because all of the Herp vets in my area seem completely stupid when it comes to Chameleons. The last vet I went to did not even know what species my baby Panther was. In fact the last 2 Chams I took to my so called Herp vets ended up dead within 48 hours of returning home, so you can see my pessimism. I just need to find a reputable Herp vet around here but it seems to be a losing battle.
As far as the rocks go, my pot does have organic soil but I had several seasoned Cham keepers suggest putting rocks in to keep my free ranging crickets from burrowing into the soil. My plan was to move to the bigger rocks before he got big enough to swallow any of them but now its too late. The bigger rocks are now in there. Probably will never use those smaller rocks EVER in any circumstance.
I've seen chameleons get impactions from eating a lot of dirt too. So organic soil is still a potential risk, and in my case was one worth addressing because my panther would snack on the soil of my potted plant. The naked soil approach works for some (my carpet never messed with it), but not for others. And I've seen dirt impactions so 'better safe than sorry' is my philosophy! The benefits of soil helping humidity is still there. Another approach is to cover the soil with screen cut in the shape of the pot.
Alexl gave you excellent advice about what to do from here.
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Thanks for the help, both of you. I might try to get him in sometime this week. I guess I will call the only herp doc I "somewhat" trust for this. At least I know he has dealt with impactions and rock swallowing in Beardies and turtles. The rock was pretty small ( 3/8 of an inch was probably a stretch on the size ) so I am hoping he can just pass it with no complications. I have seen this little booger pass turds that would make my dog yelp
Again, the rocks have been replaced with big rocks that he could never possibly eat ever in his lifetime.
I'm just curious if either one of you know what causes this behavior? My female has never once had any interest in her rocks that are in her plant pot. Even after changing the rocks out, I keep coming in the room and catching him hovering around the new rocks like a shark, almost like he is craving rocks!! I know he can't be hungry! Is this a boredom thing? Curiosity? He is driving me nuts!! I'm going to get an ulcer form worrying, I swear.
Again, the rocks have been replaced with big rocks that he could never possibly eat ever in his lifetime. I'm just curious if either one of you know what causes this behavior? My female has never once had any interest in her rocks that are in her plant pot. Even after changing the rocks out, I keep coming in the room and catching him hovering around the new rocks like a shark, almost like he is craving rocks!! I know he can't be hungry! Is this a boredom thing? Curiosity? He is driving me nuts!! I'm going to get an ulcer form worrying, I swear.
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