Chameleon sick or wanting to lay eggs?

Nothing as far as I'm aware. I left her alone all yesterday. I had a peep in this morning & she was still sat in the bucket.
I had another peep when I got home from work tonight & she's still sat in the bucket. She's now facing a different direction but that's about it.
I haven't misted or been near the viv since Sunday night, she's covered over with a blanket.
How long do I leave it before it's not working & I need to do something?
:(
 
No change - now on the 3rd day & 3rd week of no eating etc

Still no change. She's still sitting in the hole but I never hear her moving about or digging & can see no signs of digging. She does have some soil on her head though so I don't know if she has been doing anything. She's a greeny blue colour.

I've left her now since Sunday night without feeding, misting etc & covered with a blanket. The only thing I've done is turn the lights on & off.

Can someone please tell me how long I leave her before I need to do something!? :confused:

Also what if the soil isn't damp enough now? Obviously as I haven't been misting & the lights have been on it would be gradually drying out.

I'm at a complete loss :(
 
I would definitely mist. Does she look like she's skinnier? She might have laid and be exhausted. Making an appointment with the vet now is probably a good idea.
 
Here is a different opinion; your chameleon doesn't look gravid to me. Those blue spots are an indication of being receptive to mating not actually being gravid and her size isn’t overly large. Maybe slightly overweight but not gravid large. If she isn’t gravid she isn’t going to dig.

However this really jumped out at me:

Fern said:
She then began puffing up the gular area & opening her mouth. It looked like she had bubbles in there. She did this for about 5 minutes & closed her eyes.
Click to expand...

Bubbles usually indicates an advanced respiratory infection and this is perhaps why she is feeling poorly. I’ll also suggest seeing a vet for second opinion.

Good luck! Keep us posted.
 
Thanks again for the replies.

I have been wonering about the lack of digging. I've only seen her dig once which was about 3 weeks ago on the bottom of the viv. I've not noticed any digging in the bucket. Everyone keeps mentioning digging test tunnels etc but she doesn't seem to. Although everyones opinion seems to be egg laying.
Sunday was the first time she'd done that with her throat & mouth but the strange behaviour had begun about 2 weeks before.

I don't have any reptile expert vets anywhere around. The one I took her to before deals with lizards occassionally but isn't an expert. He said he could see nothing wrong.
I don't really know where else to take her :(
There's possibly one vet who deals with reptiles from a local reptile aquatic shop about half an hour from where I live.

I'm very worried about her.
 
Maybe you should contact the other vet. I know a lot of people have used Reptaid to help fight respiratory infections. I think a vet visit is still in order, but it's nice to have something you can try.
 
I would recommend a vet visit with a reptile vet, one that knows chameleons if you can find one. I would request an x ray to see if she has eggs. I've had two different veileds lay eggs when they were both still showing beautiful blues. I would also request a culture and sensitivity test to see if she has an RI and if she does the sensitivity test will tell which drugs will work on the type of infection that she has.
 
There aren't any specific reptile vets around here at all that I know of but there is a vets about half an hour away that deals with a local reptile & aquatic shop & also a couple of local zoos so I think they're my best bet.

Thank you for the info on what I need to be asking for/ seeing them do.

I appreciate the responses.
 
Similar Problems with mine

Fern, I am having similar problems with my Chameleon.
I left her in the laying-bin I provided her for about 7 hours and she dug a few holes but they were on the edges of the container. I am starting to think that my Chameleon is not gravid either..

If she continues to act like this I am going to the vet. If I see you are still having the same problems, I will let you know what he says.
 
Thanks CassieCumberland.
Thanks Trace. The Moreton Hall one is about half an hour from me so not bad!
Thank you for finding me some options. :)

However, I found a vets in Attleborough (about half an hour from me) that deals with the local reprile & aquatic centre where I got my chameleon & also works for a local zoo. I was unable to get an appointment with them as they were full but they put me onto their partner practice in Diss so I went there tonight. I'm hoping they're going to know a bit more about reptiles & exotics & assume as they deal with a reptile centre & zoos they should know they're stuff.

The vet there deals with exotics & owns a bearded dragon.
She checked her over but could find nothing obvious wrong with her other than she seemed too round but said she could be overweight which would need dealing with if & when she starts eating again. She said there was no sign of any eggs or a respiratory infection.
She did say she could do an xray but didn't think there would be much point & it would be expensive so she didn't recommend it.
She said she doesn't look dehydrated & her grip was good. I said she's not using her back legs very well & can't lift herself up onto the branches & she said this could be to do with the lethargy & lack of eating.
She said it could be an some sort of infection or an infection with the lungs as these don't always produce obvious signs. Or possibly fatty liver but just ideas, nothing certain. :confused:

She has given me antibiotics to give her twice a day & also recommended I still give her the diluted liquid calcium. She suggested raising the temperature in her viv as she is on the bottom where it will be cooler.
I am to leave her food & water dishes in there & to continue misting.
I have removed her laying bucket as she can't get in & out of it herself & the vet doesn't seem to think she has eggs. It'll give her a bit more space to move around on the bottom if she wants to.

So it's just a matter of wait & see now. Fingers crossed.

I don't know if any of that helps you CassieCumberland, I'm not sure if your cham has the same symptoms as mine.
 
She did used to drink from the water dish sometimes but she isn't at the moment. She's not really doing anything other than sitting on the floor & occassionally trying to climb a branch. It's as if her back half just won't lift off the ground.
She sits with her back legs out flat either side of her. She has good grip with her back feet but it's as though she can't get herself off the floor.
She's gone more of a brown colour now too. Don't know if this has anything to do with the antibiotics?!

I'm giving her her antibiotics as directed twice a day & also liquid calcium diluted. I'm popping a cricket or two into her mouth if & when she'll open it & eat them. Sometimes she just sits with her mouth open & lets them hop out.

The vet said 5 days with the antibiotics which will be up on Tuesday. No positive change yet apart from there was a piece of greeny yellow faeces in her water dish Thursday night.
 
Well she seems a bit worse with her legs, one back leg looks swollen compared to the other. Her green colour has now changed to brown. I'm so upset seeing her like this & her not being able to climb.
I'm meant to give the antibiotics till Tuesday but may ring the vet again Monday when they're open. I feel terrible for her :(
 
I think antibiotics tend to be pretty hard on them. It's a quandry because you need to give them the antibiotics, but they suffer through the treatment. I think the liquid calcium is going to be key to her recover. Please let us know how she does.
 
I'm startting to suspect metabolic bone disease. Her back legs seem to always be laying out flat in front of her (feet towards her front end) & one back leg looks bigger than the other & the knee seems to bend inwards rather than outwards. She seems very hunched towards her back end too.
Her feet still grip well though & her casque doesn't seem bent.

However I would have thought bone disease would progress slowly & she's been climbing about fine until about 3 weeks ago.

She takes her antibiotics very well & opens her mouth every time. She is now brown pretty much all the time & goes very dark when I get her out.

I'm not sure how much liquid calcium I can give her? :confused:
I've been diluting it as it says on the bottle & giving her about 0.4ml of the diluted solution a day using a syringe which the vet gave me. I've also been popping an occassional calcium & d3 dusted cricket into her mouth but she often leaves her mouth open so they escape.

I'm having trouble getting her viv warm enough though & she feels very cool. Although it's hot at the top near her basking lamp (at least 90 degrees F) at the bottom of the viv is only about 70-80. I've put a hotwater bottle wrapped in a towel in the bottom to give out a bit of extra warmth.

I think I'm going to ring the vet again Monday when she's in. I hate seeing Fern like this. Would an xray show up metabolic bone disease? She said she could do an xray but they're expensive but I need to know what's wrong with her & what can be done to help her.
 
Rang the vet again Monday & I'm taking her back in tomorrow for xrays. She's still no better.
Still giving her antibiotics & calcium & feeding her a couple of dusted crickets a day when I can get them in her mouth & she'll take them.
 
They tend to hide what's wrong for a very long time. X rays should tell you and the vet quite a lot. If its MBD, you have a long haul ahead of you, but the imbalance can be corrected and, while any breaks would still be broken, she can go on to live a good life.
 
Just to let you all know I had Fern put to sleep today.
The xrays showed very brittle bones in her legs & 2 fractures. The vet said they could splint one but not the other & they probably wouldn't heal properly.
She also said it would take months to try & get the bones stronger & she was likely to suffer more fractures in the meantime.
I thought about her quality of life & how unhappy she was & in pain & along with the vets advice & opinion decided it would be the best thing I could do now for her so that she didn't suffer any longer.

I feel absolutely terrible losing her & haven't managed to stop crying yet & I also feel guilty.

I just hope I made the right decision & not letting her suffer further.
 
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