Chameleon constipation or eggs?

[FactualAnthrax]

Your Chameleon - I have a veiled chameleon, female, about 6 months old. been in my care since 2 weeks of its birth i believe
Handling - Very rarely
Feeding - i feed her 5-7 dusted crickets every day that have been gut loaded with Tetramin fish flakes. for some reason, the crickets dont respond to vegetables.
Supplements - Currently using T-rex chameleon dust icb...not much info on the cover
Watering - i mist the cage twice a day for about 30 seconds each interval, i make sure everything is covered with droplets and i do see her drink.
Fecal Description - she has not pooped in about 4 days(?) and she has not been tested for parasites
History - Im not sure if its egg laying time if that helps

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Using a glass cage...18'x18'x24', being tall
Lighting - i honestly cant remember what brand of bulb it is but it is a UVB light that i bought when i got her, i try to get her 12 hours of light but sometimes i have to settle for less due to her sleeping
Temperature - since its been cold lately its hard to get a constant temperature going, now it is about 75 on the bottom and 80? on the top
Humidity - usually about 50% between mistings
Plants - no live plants
Placement - the cage is not near high traffic, about 55' from the top of the cage to the floor
Location - central texas

I have not seen her poop in about 4 days, and she looks bloated. im not sure if eggs are on the way or she just has an impaction and cant poop, lately shes been resting on the ground because she cant pull herself up that high...could it be mbd?

 

[farrahsc]

Is she scratching around at the bottom of the cage or just sitting there? Do you have photos you can post? I may be wrong but I thought I read fish food is not a good gut load for crickets. I'm sure someone else will chim in that knows more then me.

 

[FactualAnthrax]

no shes just sitting there mostly, she still eats and ddrinks though, but no poop

 

[farrahsc]

Do you see any bulges in her belly like she is full of eggs? Is she sleeping during the day?

 

[FactualAnthrax]

nope no bulges, just bloated, and shes awake during the day, sleeps at night on the ground, though tries to get up higher

 

[farrahsc]

I think I would get her to the vet for some x-rays. It could be several different things.

 

[Syn]

Sometimes you can feel eggs, sometimes you can't. Has she laid eggs before? Do you have a lay box in for her?

Sorry if you answered those Q's already, I skimmed.

 

[FactualAnthrax]

she has not laid eggs before and i do have a box for her ready, though im not really sure when veileds begin the egg laying process

 

[Syn]

Some veileds can lay very early if they are overfed, it depends on circumstances.

 

[FactualAnthrax]

so would 6 months be an ideal time?

 

[PedroANDAshley]

One sign is that they start to get their big girl colors. Which is blotchy mustard yellow and robin egg blue spots

 

[FactualAnthrax]

yea she doesnt even have that. the only colors i ever see are green and white, sometimes black stripes when shes mad

 

[PedroANDAshley]

Well its not always like that, normal it is though. If your super worried I'd try giving her a warm shower c: do you know how to do that?

 

[FactualAnthrax]

ive heard about it....though i never tried it and not too sure on the details how

 

[kinyonga]

IMHO you could improve your gutloading/feeding of the insects. For crickets, locusts, roaches, superworms you can use a wide variety of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endives, escarole, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Tetramin fish flakes...contains prEformed vitamin A, vitamin D and a number of other things that I don't use in my gutload/food for my insects....
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2217833/product_review_tetramin_flake_fish_pg2.html?cat=53

You said..."i do have a box for her ready"...is there a place in her cage for her to dig?

Can you post a picture of her please?

 

[FactualAnthrax]

ill post a picture soon, and as for the box, its outside her cage, its too big to be put inside but ive placed her inside for a while, she just tries to get out

 

[stevie]

if your box is outside her cage how is she gonna ley her infertile ! eggs ??? she's not gonna ley on your command !!! put the box inside the cage and if its to big take a smaller one , if she 's eggbound she dies!!

 

[kinyonga]

IMHO you should not be moving her back and forth...youcan move her into the bigger one when she starts digging...but it should be a container that she can't get out of. When she starts digging, you should not let her see you watching her because it will make her abandon the hole. If she abandons it often enough she could become eggbound.

Stevie is right about having a place inside the cage. It should be at least 12" deep x 12" x 8"...filled with moistened washed playsand.

She may dig several test holes...but should chose one and dig it until she is satisfied with it...turn around butt down and lay the eggs...bury them and tamp the sand down and return to the branches. If she does not do this or shows signs of decline then you need to get her to a vet.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

I think your problems are related to husbandry and nutritional defiency not infertile eggs, or egg binding. If she was retaining a clutch of eggs you would most likely see a lumpy abdomen and she'd be crusing around the cage constantly in search of a suitable laying place. At the last stages she'd go off feed and then start digging until she finally laid.

By what your describing, she's eatting but yet she's still too weak to pull herself up to the higher branches in her cage. That is very troubling. I would first stop feeding any crix that have been eatting fish flakes. I would purchase some new crix and a cpl of other feeders also. (ex: hornworms, silkworms, superworms, dubia roaches) I wouldnt give her any supplements at all for a while and just feed gutloaded insects. Then slowly after I saw improvement I would start giving her dusted insects with plain calcium only. Once a month I would give her the calcium w/d3. But no multi vits or anything else supp wise for a while.

I feed my dubias and my crickets cricket crack. I also gutload with: oranges, apples, carrots, squash, zuchini, romaine & mustard greens. Start doing these things and taking better care of your feeders. You will see and improvement in your cham. She is what you feed her. If you want healthy cham you need to provide her with healthy feeders. by feeding your feeders fish flakes, you are most likely oversupplementing her with vit a and other things she cannot process effeciently. Oversupplmenting is just as deadly as not giving any supplements to these guys.

 

[FactualAnthrax]

thanks for your imput, ill try that method with the next crickets but how do i get her to poop? isnt there something like cod liver oil that works like a laxative for chams?