Blood in cage

K

K9Luvn

Established Member
Today I left the house for apx 1 hour to feed a fader puppy. Got back and there was blood pooled on the leaves from the top basking area all the way down to the bottom of the cage. Checked over my cham and I can not find any type of injury. No scrapes on puntures that I can see. Any idea what this could be??? Must admit the amount of blood was quite concerning. He is acting fine... any idea were the blood might have come from???

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/



Please copy and paste with your answers to the questions so that experienced members can better assist you


***Also if you have pictures it can be very helpful***

Chameleon Info:

  1. [*]Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? 6 male month Ambilobe Panther. Been in my care apx 3 months (previously cared for since birth by Suzi)
    [*]Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Daily
    [*]Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Feed every other day. Eats crickets, dubia roaches, occasional hornworm, occasional superworm, (currently waiting for silkworms). I gutload with mustard greens, kale, strawberry, carrots other fresh veg and fruits.
    [*]Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Rapashy Calcium plus at every feeding, ... Herpivite twice a month, Reptical plus D3 twice a month
    [*]Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? long warm shower spray every morning and mist down cage at least 4 times a day. Also has dripper. Yes I see drinking.
    [*]Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. normal brown with white tip. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? yes/ negative
    [*]History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. No health issues known, very energetic

    [*]Cage Info:
    [*]Cage Type     - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? larger corner cage, back 2 corner walls mylar and front 3 sides wire screen. Inside dimensions 4ft H x 2ft W. Large Shcefflera plant and pothos, vines and sticks.
    [*]Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 12 hrs on 12 hours off, 5.0 UVB and incandescent for basking
    [*]Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Basking apx 85 ambient 75 vertical branches and can bask at temp he likes. household mid 60's heat a night. measure with gun and digital guage
 
Well its obvious where it came from, now figure out why. Either vomited blood or he pooped it. Now I am no specialist on why, my guess is he has enternal bleeding, why I dont know.

Maybe someone a bit more seasoned can figure it out or chime in

I am very sorry to hear this, I cant imagine how it feels.
 
Oh Robin, I am so sorry to hear this :( I don't have any experience with this so unfortunately can't offer any words of wisdom. Do you have an appointment for the vet? Has he fallen that your aware of? He is in my prayers.
 
suzi said:
Oh Robin, I am so sorry to hear this :( I don't have any experience with this so unfortunately can't offer any words of wisdom. Do you have an appointment for the vet? Has he fallen that your aware of? He is in my prayers.
Click to expand...

Thanks Suzi. I was just going to call and let you know. He falls sometimes in his cage as he is just so curious. But never hit the ground always grabbing something on the way down. He could have fallen while I was gone... but the blood trail came from the top basking branch dripping down to the bottom of the cage. So I assume he was on top when it happened.

He has already had his normal morning poop. But there was more sperm on the branch but it was clear as usual. He is acting normal playing and colorful right now and has been all morning. Just not sure what happened for the 1 hour I was away. The blood was bright red.
 
Is it possible that an undigested insect part did a bit of scraping? Or that he scratched his hemipenis during the "sperm" event....
 
Elizadolots said:
Is it possible that an undigested insect part did a bit of scraping? Or that he scratched his hemipenis during the "sperm" event....
Click to expand...
I don't know as I can't see any trace of blood on his body. Mouth or vent area... or on any branches... Just on the leaves.

Here is a picture of the paper towels from wiping. Some of it is bright red and other you can see is mixed with the water leaving it a pale red color.
 

Attachments

  • Image.jpg
    Image.jpg
    251 KB · Views: 280
It is prob his hemipenis if he just dropped a plug. But I'd still check his tongue to make sure its ok. Im assuming his turrets & eyes are normal? Hope its just a one time freak thing.....
 
A little bit of blood goes a long way....it might not be more than a few drops, it's just with the addition of water and natural spreading, it seems like more. It's almost impossible for the average person to guestimate how much liquid is in a spill (it's a fun test you can run: Give your child 4 measuring cups of different sizes, tell her to pick one, fill it and pour it out onto the hard floor while you are out of the room...when you come back, see if you guess which one she used).
 
Yeah from the looks of the paper towel I would say not more than a few drops....this coming from someone that deals with blood every day ;)
 
Robin, I am sure sorry to see this. I hope it's nothing. I have no experience of chameleons bleeding except for a little blood passed with the stool. I would examine him again just to make sure you don't see anywhere that it could have came from.
 
clarkrw3 said:
Yeah from the looks of the paper towel I would say not more than a few drops....this coming from someone that deals with blood every day ;)
Click to expand...

It definitely looked more then a few drops because that on the leaves were not very watered down, just maybe a misting... now on the bottom of the cage it was watered down. I know it's hard to estimate. You do work with blood so you are very familiar. I am just going by what I used to deal with in surgery... but that has been several years ago :) Thanks Clark for helping me out there.

I checked his tongue and he is using it as normal.
He's really is acting fine... playing around colors looking great. I have looked over the cage again to make sure nothing could have scraped him....
 
I don't think this relates to the blood Issue but I couldnt help but read u use repashy daily and herptivite and d3 2 times a month.. from my understanding repashy daily is all u would need.. u may he over supplementing a bit.. but Like I said I don't think this relates to the blood issue
 
A few years ago when I was breeding a pair of geckos I came back and found blood splattered across the walls of the tank. I mean, splattered, like at a murder crime scene, across and up the glass wall. I was sure someone had bitten the other, or something, but lo and behold they were both just fine. I was at the vet the next morning and nothing - their vents were fine, their mouths were fine, and nothing else out of the ordinary.

Come to find out from a few experienced breeder friends that they've had that happen with virgin males before. Instead of ejaculating semen they'll squirt blood instead, for reasons poorly understood. He was more than fine, and they ended up laying fertile eggs from the whole ordeal but for whatever reason he had ejaculated blood the first time.

So, I wonder if perhaps it's something like that with him. I'd like to think it was something like that instead of him having actually caught a hemipene on a sharp twig or something, but both are likely. Hopefully it's nothing serious.
 
Thank you all for your input and help. I even looked him over several times with a standing lighted magnifier and still can find anything. He still continued to play and act fine until bedtime.

Olimpia this is kinda of what I was wondering might have happened. But I do not have the experience that you have. Odd as it sounds what you are saying does bring me some comfort. I will continue to monitor him, his poop and all. If I see any changes or what appears to be a problem I will get him the the vet.

Thank you everyone so much. You help and advice are sincerely appreciated!
 
Glad to hear that he is fine, and it is probably a non-harmful event. What a scary thing to come home to! Keep us posted on him, sorry you had to go through that stress!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Z
Dehydration Help
Replies
9
Views
998
jamest0o0
jamest0o0
mbarbie24
Sick chameleon
2
Replies
32
Views
6K
kinyonga
K
M
Husbandry Check?
Replies
11
Views
3K
morganmusick
M
LizardLurkin
Bump in the Corner of Young Chameleon's Eye
2 3
Replies
56
Views
9K
LizardLurkin
LizardLurkin
cherishsgirl
Poor tongue use and wobbly
Replies
17
Views
3K
Nal0114
Nal0114
Back
Top Bottom