chameleon threw up

skeleptica

New Member
I've had my chameleon for about a month now, she's been doing well and adapting fine, but today I looked into her cage and she was heaving, and at first I had no idea what was going on, and then she threw up a little tiny bit of clear jelly liquid... I've been keeping a close eye on her and she seems to be doing fine now, the only thing I could think of was maybe she was dehydrated Im no doctor but I don't ever really see her drink, how can you tell if they are dehydrated? I used to have a fountain in her cage but I heard they were bad so I took it out, now I just mist her cage on a regular basis and make sure that I soak down all the leaves in her cage and Im pretty sure she just drinks off the leaves though I haven't really seen her do it, I don't really know what else could be wrong, she eats fine, I give her calcium supplements and she gets tons of sunshine... as far as Im concerned she's perfectly healthy? any suggestions as to what could be wrong? and if it is from dehydration, what else can I do if she's not drinking off the leaves? Sorry for the long post but has anyone else ever experienced this? it kind of freaked me out.

thanks.
 
Hey,
I know that some signs of dehydration are loose skin and sunken eyes. If you suspect dehydration you could try a shower. This could help.
 
I noticed you have some plastic plants or rubber plants in your cage. I would check these and see if she has eaten any of them. That is the only thing that would pop into my head. Could be some sort of illness but I really do not know of any that would do that. Possible URI?
 
You said..."she gets tons of sunshine"...how does she get that this time of year when you live in Canada? If the sunshine passes through glass or plastic, then the UVB in it won't do any good.
 
she has a uv light, and it's not going through glass or plastic, I don't think that has anything to do with the problem, I just woke up and noticed that she's doing it again. Her color is normal and she looks fine again. She didn't eat yesterday but I left some crickets in her cage last night and I don't see any of them now... maybe would she have a reaction like this if the crickets that Im feeding her are too big? I don't know what to do...
 
Thanks Jordan, that link was very helpful indeed... Im pretty sure that it has to do with the crickets that Im feeding her, I think that there's a possibility that they are too big, the only thing that gets me is she's been eating this size for about 2 weeks now with no problems until now. I guess the only way to know for sure is to change the size of the crickets and see what happens. Thanks for your help and I'll let you know if this isn't the problem.
 
You said..."she has a uv light, and it's not going through glass or plastic, I don't think that has anything to do with the problem"...I wasn't asking because I thought it had anything to do with the problem....I was asking to find out how you were providing sun in a country that is too cold this time of year to put the chameleon outside in direct sunlight. If the sunlight was through the window pane, then it would have been of concern for her health, but nothing to do with the reason she's throwing up.

Concerning the throwing up...Is she pooping? Could she have ingested any substrate? (There is no picture showing up in your original post, but I thought that I saw a picture there yesterday.)

Are the basking temperatures right?

Is she sticking her tongue out fairly far when she does this throwing up? Does she move her head from side to side as she is throwing up?
 
not to make u freak out but a chameleon of mine would throw up, and about a week later she passed away.. never could figure out what caused it :(
 
You said..."

Is she sticking her tongue out fairly far when she does this throwing up? Does she move her head from side to side as she is throwing up?

Yes she is sticking her tongue out fairly far and she is moving her head from side to side... the first time I seen it it freaked me right out.

Does this give you any idea as to what the prognosis might be?

I still think that maybe the crickets are too big, Im going to buy smaller ones today and see what happens.
 
I'm wondering if something could be stuck in the place where she stores her tongue or in her throat that is irritating her. I think you should take her to a vet and have her checked out.
 
about 3 weeks ago my male jackson 'Burt' was dry heaving, then he hung from his back feet. he thru up solids and liquids. then he got back on his branch and got back to normal. it freaked me out, i though he was dying. i check the solids he thru up and there was roach wingsor cricket wings, that was the only thing i could identify there was other 1/2 digested food but not alot. i figured his body couldn't digest it for some reason. he is doing great now.
drew
 
Well... I've been watching her real closely the past few days... She seems to be doing fine now. I did go to the pet store that I usually go to to get her more crickets but they are waiting for a new shipment of the crickets that we need, so instead we got her some butter worms... she gobbled them down like they were nothing... she's being a little more active today, her colors are still fine, and I seen her drinking... Im pretty sure that it was because the crickets were too big...

I got sick over the weekend too... hehe, I was thinking maybe it was like an ET thing.

Anyway, thanks for all your help.
 
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