A Word Of Warning!

chickenleg77

New Member
Hi,
i thought i would post a bit of advice to the inexperienced and the experienced chameleon owners out there.

my chameleon is coming up to 9 months old and has just tried to lay her first clutch of eggs. unfortunatly she was unable to lay the eggs due to the eggs being stuck in the ovaries. another member Kinyonga gave a great full detailed description below of what can happen.

kinyonga
Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 8,438

Follicular stasis happens when the follicles won't/don't ovulate...which is what he is saying is wrong with your chameleon and to the best of my knowledge there has been no way to make the follicles ovulate and that means that the only "solution" is spaying...so I don't know why he didn't make that perfectly clear. Follicles are round and resemble bunches of grapes in the way they sit inside the chameleon.

When the eggs ovulate but the female won't/can't lay them its called dystocia. Here the eggs become oval and should line up in two lines. If the female has just passed the prime time to lay the eggs, oxytocin will often work. If the female can't lay the eggs because there are deformities, fusing of the eggs or the eggs have grown too large from the delay of not laying them, it can cause more trouble than good. The biggest causes of dystocia other than this include but are not limited to, not providing a suitable place to lay the eggs, watching the female when she's digging, improper nutrition/husbandry including overfeeding
Good luck with her tomorrow


my point is with x-rays blood tests and now the operation to remover her ovaries i am looking at a vet bill of £700. while i will gladly pay this to have my chameleon healthy and happy again it is still a lot of money to pay out in one go. i wish i had the forward thinking to insure her when i first got her. im not sure how vet bills work in the US but in the UK unless your on benefits you dont really get any help paying the bills. My chameleon is now insured and it costs from under £10 a month. not all pet insurance companies insure repitiles but one i found was http://www.exoticdirect.co.uk/

also for you people out there that are thinking thats ok when my chameleon is starting to look ill i will insure them then 99% of insurance company wont take a claim within 2 weeks of starting the policy which could be to late then.

Like i mention earlier this post really only applies to the UK as i am not sure how things work in the US.

Please learn from my mistake.
 
How's your female? Kinyonga always gives out some awesome advice. I think we do have pet insurance here in the US for reptiles. I don't presently have it but intend to check it out.
 
Thanks for sharing. I wish your female a speedy recovery. I work for an Exotic Vet so if I have any issues all I have to do is call him and he would meet me at the clinic or even if it is in the middle of the night he would still help me if it was an emergency. I am lucky in that respect but this will be my first time owning a Reptile of any sort. I am a Parrot person but now have fallen inlove with these Chameleons :)
 
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