jackson still born babies

Duma

Duma

Member
i wanted to get as many people's opinions as possible about this. i got a female jacksons chameleon 2 weeks ago today. last night when i went to put her to sleep i noticed two stillborn babies. this morning i looked more and found another dead baby. my husband just got home and called and said he doesnt see any more babies dead or alive. what are the chances she will have more still born babies?
 
I hate to hear that some babies are stillborn, but many live ones may be on the way.

Make sure to get the babies in areas where the humidity is easily maintained. Depending on whether it is a meru, jacksonii or xantholophus, there could be many more babies coming!!
 
Usually, birth happens over several hours. So my guess is that she is done giving birth. It has been my experience that 5-6 babies make up the average litter (though I have heard of having as many as 9) when it comes to Mt. Meru Jackson's. I would take a look around tonight with a flashlight after lights are out and see if you can find any more but I'm thinking you probably found them all. As for the two that are still hanging on, mist them often with very fine, warm water and keep their ambient temp around 73F. Give them the night to rest and gain some strength and hopefully they will perk up tomorrow morning. Be sure to have some ff available tomorrow. Petco usually carries them in my area. If they don't make it do not blame yourself. They had a rough birth experience for whatever reason and even when they breeze into this world these live born montane babies can be a challenge for even the most experienced keepers.
 
jpowell86 said:
I hate to hear that some babies are stillborn, but many live ones may be on the way.

Make sure to get the babies in areas where the humidity is easily maintained. Depending on whether it is a meru, jacksonii or xantholophus, there could be many more babies coming!!
Click to expand...

They are meru.
 
MeruJack said:
They are meru.
Click to expand...

Gotcha.

My jacksonii gave birth over the course of 6 hours and even had another almost 4 hours after her last. My xantholophus have done this in the past as well.

But now that I know it is meru, that seems to be a reasonably sized litter.

I would do as Pamela said though, always check later. They are awesome at hiding. I have found some days later after the birth....even when I had gone through the cage thoroughly.
 
They are still very weak it's as if they're legs don't work. The one that is white is now almost completely brown so I'm thinking that's a positive thing. I keep praying! One stupid question, should I turn the uvb light off overnight. There's guys are so fragile right now. Not sure what's best.
Below is right after I found then and moved them to their tank
The second pic is right now

image.jpeg

Now
image.jpeg
 
I will be honest. I don't see these two making it unfortunately. But I will also say that chameleons can surprise the crap out of you. I have seen chameleons laying completely on their sides, mouth gaped with tongue protruding and an hour later be up and moving about as if they were never not okay. So, cross your fingers, but don't get your hopes up.

You are doing what you can, but they should be active and moving about. I don't want to sound bleak, I'm just being realistic. There is no need to keep the UVB light on over night.

I agree with Pamela too about them being difficult to raise. They are not easy to keep alive for most....especially when the keeper is not expecting their arrival.

Keep us updated!
 
Well they made it through the night. The only .05% improvement I see is that they're back legs are tucked next to them instead of behind them like they are broken. I'm worried about them not drinking. I've been spraying them but haven't seen them open their mouths. I would give them fruit flies but their eyes aren't even open yet.
 
Duma said:
Well they made it through the night. The only .05% improvement I see is that they're back legs are tucked next to them instead of behind them like they are broken. I'm worried about them not drinking. I've been spraying them but haven't seen them open their mouths. I would give them fruit flies but their eyes aren't even open yet.
Click to expand...

It doesn't sound good. Keep the humidity very high.

I agree with @jpowell86 that sometimes they can surprise you and do well when you least expect it. I once hatched out a baby that was really healthy at hatch, but had a huge yolk sac so I put him/her in a separate little container until they could absorb it. I checked on that baby an hour later to find it blanched those awful death colors but still alive. I checked another hour later and found it's tongue hanging out but barely alive. I put the container back in the cooler incubator with the top off and out to run some errands. When I came back three hours later and checked expecting a dead baby, I couldn't find it. It somehow recovered and climbed out of the deli cup in the incubator and managed to climb all over the place and seemed in perfect health. I named it Lazarus and it is alive to this day a couple of months later. I photographed it's markings to be sure I would recognize it at a later date.

Good luck.
 
image.jpeg
Well I thiught they were dead. I went to get them out of the cage and they came to life! They started crawling on my finger! Ones eyes still aren't open and the other only has one eye open. Why would they climb on my finger but the second I put them in the tank they just lay there?
 
Duma said:
View attachment 162555 Well I thiught they were dead. I went to get them out of the cage and they came to life! They started crawling on my finger! Ones eyes still aren't open and the other only has one eye open. Why would they climb on my finger but the second I put them in the tank they just lay there?
Click to expand...
Looks much better then the last pic. You just have to take it an hour at a time.
 
Duma said:
Well I thiught they were dead. I went to get them out of the cage and they came to life! They started crawling on my finger! Ones eyes still aren't open and the other only has one eye open. Why would they climb on my finger but the second I put them in the tank they just lay there?
Click to expand...

It's a response all animals have. Even if they are close to death, if you stimulate them they will open up their eyes and come to life. I think there is a name for that response, but vets are often fooled about the severity of the illness when presented with a stressed animal, especially a reptile.
 
Day 3- they were doing really well last night but this morning I woke up and the one that was the weakest isn't doing too well. The other one still seems weak but somewhat ok. I'm worried they are not drinking. The one that's doing better will watch the fruit flies but hasn't eaten any as far as I know. I have a small dish with a banana in it to keep the flies attracted to that.
I just keep hoping and praying!
I already told my husband if these guys make it, they're never leaving our house!
 
Chachi said:
Water, humidity and remember they are not human, they dont need to be real warm. Also the parents will eat the little ones
Click to expand...
Its warm enough in your house. They usually dont know how to thermoregulate and so you dont want.....wait a minute, message jajeanpierre. She knows a lot about montain species chams. She will help you if she sees you
 
Duma said:
Day 3- they were doing really well last night but this morning I woke up and the one that was the weakest isn't doing too well. The other one still seems weak but somewhat ok. I'm worried they are not drinking. The one that's doing better will watch the fruit flies but hasn't eaten any as far as I know. I have a small dish with a banana in it to keep the flies attracted to that.
I just keep hoping and praying!
I already told my husband if these guys make it, they're never leaving our house!
Click to expand...

I rarely see any of mine drink and if I do, I worry that they are dehydrated. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't happening.

Keep their temps on the cool side of what is normal for the species. Don't worry about a heat bulb, but do make sure they have enough light. If it is too dark or there isn't enough light coming from the UVA spectrum, they will basically shut down and sleep. Light stimulates them to eat and be active. Humidity should be our biggest concern. I like natural plants like asparagus ferns for babies because there are so many surfaces for the water mist to land on to keep the air humid between mistings.

Sometimes they take a few days before they start eating. Have you seen any stool in the cage? That's your best indication they are eating.

Good luck.
 
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