Chameleons Northwest
Avid Member
Our gravid Melleri, Megana, topped off at about 725g weight in June. We backed off to feeding her every other day, about 2 large feeders (adult cockroaches or big superworms). She dropped down to 645g, but then stopped eating almost completely for about 10 days, became bony looking, went into final egg development, and her weight and girth ballooned up to 720g (although she looked very bony). She was due on/about June 22nd.
Monday morning we gave her reptile rescue food, water, liquid calcium, and Reptaid. She laid 5 eggs that morning, but then stopped laying. Her color was pale green with pale yellow stripes, which is a stress color for her, but can also be considered the color they display when having contractions. I had a towel draped over the bin with a space exposed I could look in to without her seeing me. Besides, her eyes were closed most of the time.
By Monday afternoon she was not looking well, with closed eyes sunk deep in her head. We gave her more oral fluids and reptile rescue food, liquid calcium, and Reptaid, made an emergency vet appointment, and rushed her off to the vets. They weighed her in at 720g. She got a shot of oxytocin at about 4:15Pm, began laying eggs again on the way home, and ended up laying a total of 25 eggs on Monday. She fell asleep at her normal time Monday evening, even though I had left her light on.
The vet did not inject fluids. These are normally injected into the belly when oxytocin is given. Megana was so full of eggs the vet was concerned an egg would be pierced or other damage done. She had us continue giving food and fluids at home. The vet and I are hoping that the sunken eyes are due to a combination of factors (rather than imminent death)- 1. her not eating, 2. stress, 3. mild dehydration. She was still getting misted, and would even climb up to sit under her automatic misters more than once a day. And I saw her drink every day. But I have seen this before where stressed chameleons need a lot of extra hydration. And her final egg development may have drawn fluids off of her, too.
Also, while at the vet's we had them do a blood draw so we could check vital organs, blood levels, nutrition, etc. More on that in a separate thread later.
For those of you familiar with Meller's chameleons, you know that 25 eggs is probably about 1/3 of her clutch. We knew she had far to go.
Tuesday she was given a day of rest, a nice long shower, and more rescue food and smashed bugs. Her color became more green and she was more alert. Her eyes became more rounded and were open most of the day. She appeared more relaxed. She did not lay any more eggs. But she did cover her (now empty) hole from Monday.
Today, Wednesday, at 0730AM we headed back to the vets for another shot of oxytocin. They weighed her and she had lost about 80g since Monday. When we got home today and put Megana in her laying bin, she dug a hole and has been laying eggs in it since. Yesterday she covered Monday's hole (although I had already collected the eggs out of it when we took Megana out to feed her). We will see if she covers today's hole. We will not be removing her today for feeding.
This, of course, is not the preferred method of clutch laying. But the bloodwork will give us clues about what we've been doing wrong, and what needs to be changed in order for Megana to be in better health should she become gravid again. I think obesity was probably a factor.
When she stopped after laying those 5 eggs on Monday, and didn't lay any more for about 6 hours, I would not have intervened had she not looked so bony, and had her eyes not sunk so deeply into her head. Generally, if a girl is laying her clutch, it's best to leave her alone. But, if I had posted her photo here that day, some of you would have honestly said that you didn't have much hope for her survival, that's how bad she looked.
One thing that encouraged me Monday was that I could see a photo of her on MelleriDiscovery, taken by Mike Monge, while she laid last year's clutch, and her eyes were sunken in, then, too (though not quite as much). So, I really didn't want to believe we were losing her.
The plan is to monitor her today and tomorrow (tomorrow being a day for her to rest and recuperate again), and return to the vets on Friday. She will be examined to see if she still has eggs. The vet said it is safe to give her more oxytocin Friday as long as Megana seems to be improving rather than going downhill. If they cannot determine whether she has laid her last egg, then an X-ray may be taken.
Of the eggs she has laid so far only about 10 look viable. But thank God for those 10. And mostly thank God Megana is still with us, and improving.
PHOTO FROM JULY 3RD. You can see that her gular edema is gone. She doesn't look bad for not having hardly eaten for days, but over the weekend she went downhill very fast.:
Monday morning we gave her reptile rescue food, water, liquid calcium, and Reptaid. She laid 5 eggs that morning, but then stopped laying. Her color was pale green with pale yellow stripes, which is a stress color for her, but can also be considered the color they display when having contractions. I had a towel draped over the bin with a space exposed I could look in to without her seeing me. Besides, her eyes were closed most of the time.
By Monday afternoon she was not looking well, with closed eyes sunk deep in her head. We gave her more oral fluids and reptile rescue food, liquid calcium, and Reptaid, made an emergency vet appointment, and rushed her off to the vets. They weighed her in at 720g. She got a shot of oxytocin at about 4:15Pm, began laying eggs again on the way home, and ended up laying a total of 25 eggs on Monday. She fell asleep at her normal time Monday evening, even though I had left her light on.
The vet did not inject fluids. These are normally injected into the belly when oxytocin is given. Megana was so full of eggs the vet was concerned an egg would be pierced or other damage done. She had us continue giving food and fluids at home. The vet and I are hoping that the sunken eyes are due to a combination of factors (rather than imminent death)- 1. her not eating, 2. stress, 3. mild dehydration. She was still getting misted, and would even climb up to sit under her automatic misters more than once a day. And I saw her drink every day. But I have seen this before where stressed chameleons need a lot of extra hydration. And her final egg development may have drawn fluids off of her, too.
Also, while at the vet's we had them do a blood draw so we could check vital organs, blood levels, nutrition, etc. More on that in a separate thread later.
For those of you familiar with Meller's chameleons, you know that 25 eggs is probably about 1/3 of her clutch. We knew she had far to go.
Tuesday she was given a day of rest, a nice long shower, and more rescue food and smashed bugs. Her color became more green and she was more alert. Her eyes became more rounded and were open most of the day. She appeared more relaxed. She did not lay any more eggs. But she did cover her (now empty) hole from Monday.
Today, Wednesday, at 0730AM we headed back to the vets for another shot of oxytocin. They weighed her and she had lost about 80g since Monday. When we got home today and put Megana in her laying bin, she dug a hole and has been laying eggs in it since. Yesterday she covered Monday's hole (although I had already collected the eggs out of it when we took Megana out to feed her). We will see if she covers today's hole. We will not be removing her today for feeding.
This, of course, is not the preferred method of clutch laying. But the bloodwork will give us clues about what we've been doing wrong, and what needs to be changed in order for Megana to be in better health should she become gravid again. I think obesity was probably a factor.
When she stopped after laying those 5 eggs on Monday, and didn't lay any more for about 6 hours, I would not have intervened had she not looked so bony, and had her eyes not sunk so deeply into her head. Generally, if a girl is laying her clutch, it's best to leave her alone. But, if I had posted her photo here that day, some of you would have honestly said that you didn't have much hope for her survival, that's how bad she looked.
One thing that encouraged me Monday was that I could see a photo of her on MelleriDiscovery, taken by Mike Monge, while she laid last year's clutch, and her eyes were sunken in, then, too (though not quite as much). So, I really didn't want to believe we were losing her.
The plan is to monitor her today and tomorrow (tomorrow being a day for her to rest and recuperate again), and return to the vets on Friday. She will be examined to see if she still has eggs. The vet said it is safe to give her more oxytocin Friday as long as Megana seems to be improving rather than going downhill. If they cannot determine whether she has laid her last egg, then an X-ray may be taken.
Of the eggs she has laid so far only about 10 look viable. But thank God for those 10. And mostly thank God Megana is still with us, and improving.
PHOTO FROM JULY 3RD. You can see that her gular edema is gone. She doesn't look bad for not having hardly eaten for days, but over the weekend she went downhill very fast.: