Update on Ophelia

opheliaeatsbugs

opheliaeatsbugs

Avid Member
My last post was excitement on Ophelia finally showing interest in her laying bin. I walked in a caught her digging a little over 2 weeks ago. I thought for sure we were at the finish line! I was wrong. For anyone interested in the dirty details (and I actually mean dirty... my room is a mess from her digging... she throws dirt everywhere), I have kept a calendar log and would be happy to share.

I haven't been on the forum lately because it has been too stressful reading posts about failing chameleons or dying chameleons. And, there hasn't been much to report - how many days can I post "she is digging again... no eggs" before I got the boot for clogging up the threads with my nervous chatter. Every single day I have thought "today is the day I will post the good news", but so far, that day has not arrived.

It began with a bunch of test holes. The very first one uncovered an issue with the laybin (3-4 inches of water at the bottom) which was corrected. Other than that stressful day, she has been covered and undisturbed for most of the time, but kept on pretty much the same schedule for misting and feeding. She has been outside several times, she acts normal, comes to me when I open the door, urates look good. Almost everyday, she is fed 7 or so crickets (dusted) with a few horned worms (she has no interest in wax worms, bsfl's which is unusual, but oh well). A couple days in the beginning, she wasn't fed (she was digging all day and I didn't want to interrupt her) and the last 2 days she wasn't fed (again, always underground). She slept in her hole Friday night, but not Saturday night. She moves around (although a little slow) and she is getting a bit wobbly on the branches. Her belly has definitely increased. Today, she came up for a breather and I threw in black soldier flies and she went nuts for them (usually, she doesn't seem to have the energy to catch them). I had a bag of dusted crickets ready for her and the bearded dragons and I bobbled the bag when she decided the entire bag was for her and she wasn't going to wait. So about 20+ crickets ended up in her enclosure! She was in heaven. I don't normally feed her that much, but they were dusted really well and I know she needs the calcium right now. There are a few stragglers and she is in full hunter-mode tracking them down. It's fun to watch her thinking that this is helping keep her mind active.

These pics/video are from today... she's dirty from digging.

I'm posting today because it's time for an update and I'm including videos and pictures so that you can take a look and give me feedback.









This is the latest urate pic... I have others, they all look pretty good, this one had a little orangey bit at the end, and it's not fresh, it's a couple hours old. The poop part looks great.

20170528_131012.jpg
 
I don't think she needs oxytocin because she is doing everything normally and not acting lethargic from your post. She doesn't sound eggbound. She knows what she's doing. She likely isn't really even ready yet to lay and is just checking to see what place she likes best at the moment. It makes sense to me.
 
Thanks Andee... it's so hard to know as a first time cham keeper.

So it's normal that they might dig and sleep in the hole and not even be really ready? She's been digging a long time...
 
I assume she's tired and since she is sleeping in the hole it sounds like she might be close but she may be a real digger. Some females will dig for ages and be very particular about their holes. Is she acting super lethargic, not drinking well, not eating at all...? I mean in my opinion she may just be exhausting herself as far as the shakiness, but she has a reason for it.
 
For all the digging, she shows what I consider reasonable tiredness. She still eats and behaves normal - moves around, hunts, wants to come out, goes up to bask and down to dig throughout the day. She is covered 90% of the time, so I assume she is drinking. I take pictures of her poop and she seems hydrated. But I didn't want it to be 2 weeks of digging and have you tell me that she is WAY PAST what is normal and reasonable for a laying cham and she should go to the vet asap, ya know?

What should I look for - signs of distress? lethargic, not eating, staying in the hole all day... ?? what else should I look for?
 
Staying in the hole all day could be normal and could not be. It depends on whether it's because she is too weak to get out of the hole or is just digging and sleeping there because she doesn't want it to collapse. A lot of females do that instinctually. I would worry if she started to look more dull in color (black is a huge indicator something has gone wrong especially on the lower half of her body), lethargy is a huge symptom of early egg bound issues and something you should be aware of, not eating can be realtively normal, especially when she gets closer to laying. I would be worried if she suddenly goes to the bathroom and her urates are dried and chalky but show obvious signs of dehydration. Her urates above are beautiful. I wouldn't worry about the orange end, it just means she had started absorbing more water from that side. Any signs of pain should definitely be treated with need to see a vet. If you take her to a vet and get a shot of oxytocin definitely bring a prepared lay bin with you if possible. I have heard sometimes females start digging or even laying immediately. But I wouldn't worry about a vet visit yet.
 
Do you have an experience vet? I think she needs the oxytocin. If you wait to long they get past the point where it might work for them. Let's get Kinyonga's opinion. She been raising veileds for 25+ years.
 
I've been thinking about this post for over an hour now...it's been bothering me that she's been digging for so long.
I'm worried that she might be heading for eggbinding.Oxytocin will usually only working there chameleon is at the right point but there is no way for those of us in the forum to determine when that is. The problem is that if you leave her until she shows definite signs of eggbinding it's sometimes too late to save her. I thin I would go to the vet now.
 
Ok. I will take her in asap.

I've called my vet (Dr. Greek) and they are closed today and Monday. Of course, this would happen on a holiday weekend. @kinyonga if you feel she needs to be seen before Tuesday 8am, I will find an emergency vet..
 
If the other two say it, then do it ^^ I don't at the moment see why not to. Doing it now would probably be good time because she is still healthy enough so that the oxytocin won't hit her too hard. Just be prepared to pamper a few days after for sure because oxytocin can be hard on their systems
 
Andee said:
If the other two say it, then do it ^^ I don't at the moment see why not to. Doing it now would probably be good time because she is still healthy enough so that the oxytocin won't hit her too hard. Just be prepared to pamper a few days after for sure because oxytocin can be hard on their systems
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Do i need to find an emergency vet today?
 
kinyonga said:
I think it will be okay to wait a couple of days...but if she suddenly shows signs of decline (sleeping during the day, lethargy, sitting low in the cage, etc) I would get her there sooner.
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100% agree here. I think she is ok enough to wait a few days as well. But keep on the look out for a sickly chameleon
 
I was wondering how she's been since you're usually eager to post about her but i haven't seen anything for awhile. I've also been busy and haven't been on too much so I thought maybe I missed a post.

You have some good feedback from some very knowledgeable folks. I hope everything goes well with Ophelia.
 
bobbydigital said:
I was wondering how she's been since you're usually eager to post about her but i haven't seen anything for awhile. I've also been busy and haven't been on too much so I thought maybe I missed a post.

You have some good feedback from some very knowledgeable folks. I hope everything goes well with Ophelia.
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I just haven't had much to report lol but @LucyLoo checked up on me and I thought maybe it was time for an update. I love my girl and I hope that everything turns out. I've tried my very best. I have always rec'd the best advice from everyone here so we'll go back to Dr. Greek on Tuesday and see what's up. I thought that might be the next thing to do.

If she hadn't been digging for so long, there wouldn't be any reason to worry. She's good in all other areas (that i can tell) but better be safe than heartbroken.
 
I agree, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Especially since you are so concerned, honestly you are the one who sees her every day, and even though us Chameleon Keepers are notoriously paranoid, we still have to sometimes trust our gut instincts more than makes sense. *hugs* I will be thinking about you two, sending good vibes your way ^^
 
Andee said:
I agree, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Especially since you are so concerned, honestly you are the one who sees her every day, and even though us Chameleon Keepers are notoriously paranoid, we still have to sometimes trust our gut instincts more than makes sense. *hugs* I will be thinking about you two, sending good vibes your way ^^
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Thank u :love:
 
I haven't been on much lately but thanks for tagging me in this post. I enjoy following Ophelia. My original though was the same as Andee and that it wasn't time to rush out for an injection of oxytocin because she wasn't overtly acting out of the ordinary but if Jann and Kinyonga feel that it's warranted, I'd follow their recommendation. I do think she'll be ok until he opens again tomorrow.
 
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