Constipated, under the weather or dying?

kiturcotte

Member
Any help is appreciated! Sorry if the below information seems sporadic, I am brand new to the forums and very concerned, and a little out of my comfort zone on this one. This week hasn’t gone too great and this seems to be the icing on the cake unfortunately. I tried to be as thorough as possible, so hopefully this helpful



  • Your Chameleon - Cairo: Veiled Chameleon, Male, ~3 months old, has been in my care for about 1 1/2 months
  • Handling - 3-4 times a week
  • Feeding - Medium/ large crickets (none larger than his head’s width) and about 10 a day. Around 8:30 in the morning, once a week he will get around 5 silkworms. Crickets are fed a gut loaded feed
  • Supplements - Crickets are dusted once a week with Reptivite Reptile Vitamins with D3, the crickets themselves eat Fluker’s High Calcium Cricket Diet and Fluker’s Cricket Quencher (Calcium Fortified)
  • Watering - heavy mist 3 times a day (8:30, 12:00, 16:00 roughly) but I will occasionally mist infront of him outside of these times and if he is thirsty I will continue misting until he is no longer interested
  • Fecal Description - Hasn’t been tested under my care, droppings were consistent and healthy until now. Dropped maybe every other day, white urate and solid brown fecal matter with some clear liquid
  • History - Had been healthy until about 3? days ago. Tolerated being held and would occasionally reach out to climb on my head. Now he runs away and tries to hide if I make a move directly towards him. Had a friend watch him Easter weekend and said that his appetite started to diminish, I thought it was because he was about to shed but it has now seemed to completely disappear and he hasn’t shed. Excessively drinking water, had a very difficult time passing waste this morning on April 19 (urate was white but EXTREMELY liquid and the decks mater was a lighter brown). Would close his eyes for a couple of seconds and then open them. Retained the same energy level and color, until I went to mist him around 12 today. Despite not spraying him he went to the mesh screen and stayed there for a couple of seconds. He then proceeded to start moving his head back and forth with his mouth open, and tried to regurgitate something in his stomach? I saw a mass ( sort of tanish colored? ) come out of his throat but he then swallowed it back down. He then turned extremely dark with light spots, and closed his eyes for two minutes… lowkey traumatized me and I was crying, but after two minutes he returned to normal and acted as if nothing happened. Four hours later he is a normal resting color, still is trying to drink as much water as he can, but no interest in any food source. He is basking but there appear to be tremors all over his body, specifically his hands and lower belly. He is occasionally closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, but then will spend periods of time just looking around and basking. His color is still a neautral green, and he has stayed at the top of the cage and hasn’t gone lower. He will occasionally get spotty like he is about to hunt, and he will look around, but when introduced to food he is not interested in eating.






  • Cage Info:


  • Cage Type - Screen, 16 x 16 x 30
  • Lighting - I have two lamps… Fluker’s Reptaclamp with a 50W UVA and one with a 50W UVB full spectrum. Lights on at 8:30 and lights off around 7:30
  • Temperature - Thermometer broke so I am ordering a new one, but I would think basking temp was around 85° with bottom being low 70s. Lowest temperature is 69° at night
  • Humidity - Waiting on it to be delivered so I honestly, and regrettably as I know it is poor husbandry, am not sure but I believe it is humid enough
  • Plants - No live plants, just silk in the enclosure, except a head of lettuce that is replaced every 4 days (it has a water container so it stays fresh, he usually loves to chomp on it)
  • Placement - on a desk to the left of an air vent but out of the direct airflow’s course. The desk is approximately 3.5 ft tall
  • Location - Athens, Georgia. I am a first year college student




  • Current Problem - Same as listed in the history- I am worried he is either constipated, sick, has a parasite, or is just straight up dying. I have had other reptiles before (bearded dragons, geckos, an iguana) but this is my first chameleon. I am in college, and all of the exotic vets in my area charge a ~$300 emergency vet fee, with the closest appointment I could get being next Monday (I write this on a Tuesday)… if it comes to it I will bring him to the vet because I am so attached to him, and it is my duty as his owner to provide him with the best care. However, I am not made of money. Kind of at a loss for direction, could really use some support and guidance from peers who are much more experienced.

Attached is how he looked after the “throw up” incident, his cage, and how he looks at approximately 17:30
 

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You need to get a proper laybin in the cage ASAP...like yesterday....I hope she isn't eggbound already.


Thank you for the reply, and everyone else who is coming together!

You say Cairo is a female? When he… she? came into my care I was informed that Cairo was a male and guaranteed that Cairo had been sexed and identified as a male. I will make a laybin regardless, but could you please tell me what led you to this?
 
As I tend to talk a lot, I’ll be splitting this into 2 parts.
  • Your Chameleon - Cairo: Veiled Chameleon, Male, ~3 months old, has been in my care for about 1 1/2 months Nope. You have a pretty little girl. Besides markings, in the last pic I can clearly see that there is no tarsal spur. I also think she’s much older than 3 months. My guess would be maybe (stress on the maybe) around 5 -6 months old (possibly older).
  • Handling - 3-4 times a week
  • Feeding - Medium/ large crickets (none larger than his head’s width) and about 10 a day. Around 8:30 in the morning, once a week he will get around 5 silkworms. This is where it can get tricky as I can only guess at her age. I’d rather err on the side of caution though so am going to suggest reducing her feedings down to about half. I’ll explain this in more detail later. Variety is key. Both crickets and silkworms (my favorite feeder) are great staples. Crickets are fed a gut loaded feed
  • Supplements - Crickets are dusted once a week with Reptivite Reptile Vitamins with D3, Have you been giving any calcium without D3? You should be lightly dusting every feeding except one every other week with calcium without D3. The Reptivite with D3 is then used that one feeding every other week. the crickets themselves eat Fluker’s High Calcium Cricket Diet and Fluker’s Cricket Quencher (Calcium Fortified) These products will keep your feeders alive, but not able to offer much nutrition for your chameleon. Attaching gutload graphic.
  • Watering - heavy mist 3 times a day (8:30, 12:00, 16:00 roughly) but I will occasionally mist infront of him outside of these times and if he is thirsty I will continue misting until he is no longer interested
  • Fecal Description - Hasn’t been tested under my care, droppings were consistent and healthy until now. Dropped maybe every other day, white urate and solid brown fecal matter with some clear liquid
  • History - Had been healthy until about 3? days ago. Tolerated being held and would occasionally reach out to climb on my head. Now he runs away and tries to hide if I make a move directly towards him. Had a friend watch him Easter weekend and said that his appetite started to diminish, I thought it was because he was about to shed but it has now seemed to completely disappear and he hasn’t shed. Excessively drinking water, had a very difficult time passing waste this morning on April 19 (urate was white but EXTREMELY liquid and the decks mater was a lighter brown). Would close his eyes for a couple of seconds and then open them. Retained the same energy level and color, until I went to mist him around 12 today. Despite not spraying him he went to the mesh screen and stayed there for a couple of seconds. He then proceeded to start moving his head back and forth with his mouth open, and tried to regurgitate something in his stomach? I saw a mass ( sort of tanish colored? ) come out of his throat but he then swallowed it back down. He then turned extremely dark with light spots, and closed his eyes for two minutes… lowkey traumatized me and I was crying, but after two minutes he returned to normal and acted as if nothing happened. Four hours later he is a normal resting color, still is trying to drink as much water as he can, but no interest in any food source. He is basking but there appear to be tremors all over his body, specifically his hands and lower belly. He is occasionally closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, but then will spend periods of time just looking around and basking. His color is still a neautral green, and he has stayed at the top of the cage and hasn’t gone lower. He will occasionally get spotty like he is about to hunt, and he will look around, but when introduced to food he is not interested in eating.
  • As @kinyonga has already pointed out, your girl needs to lay eggs. You need to make her a lay bin asap. I use a plastic bin that is at least 12” long and wide. Pic below of what my girls seem to prefer…available at Walmart. Make some tiny holes in the bottom for excess water drainage. Fill it to around 5-6” deep with play sand that is moistened enough to hold a tunnel without collapsing. You could even go as shallow as 4” right now to make it easier for your girl. Make sure she has a couple of ways in/out of the bin. Once the bin is in her enclosure, take a light sheet and cover at least the lower half of the visible parts of her enclosure. When she has found the bin and started digging, she will need absolute privacy. Do NOT let her see you! She may dig a few tunnels until she’s happy with one, then turn around and lay her eggs. When done she’ll have covered up all of her tunnels and be in her usual basking spot. It can take usually a couple of days. Keep your normal light schedule. If you hand mist, set up a dripper (not over the bin) instead for hydration. This can be as simple as a plastic cup with a hole in the bottom.
    To be continued…
 
Thank you for the reply, and everyone else who is coming together!

You say Cairo is a female? When he… she? came into my care I was informed that Cairo was a male and guaranteed that Cairo had been sexed and identified as a male. I will make a laybin regardless, but could you please tell me what led you to this?
She has no tarsal Spurs on her heels, her colors, her shape, the size of her helmet, etc all indicate that she's female. Her colors and pattern and roundness indicate that she is gravid. How long has she shown the colors in the first photo of her?

Can you show me a photo of her left arm and all of the right side of her so I can see her arms and legs too please?
 
Thanks @MissSkittles ...I was waiting to see what you said so I wouldn't repeat everything you said before I made many/any more comments!

@kiturcotte ...the main concern right now is to get her to lay her eggs if she still can. I hope she's not too far along no ont be able too. Please get the laybin in there ASAP...fast as possible....and pray. Don't let her see you watching her while she's digging...if she does.

Then it's important to address all the things that @MissSkittles says in her review of your husbandry...she knows exactly what to tell you!😇

The diet and the UVB are important too.
 
WOW…. What a shock. I feel lied to, and horrible that I was unaware. I will be rushing to the store immediately to make a laybin, I pray I’m not too late and nothing bad happens.

She was only that dark color for 2 minutes, and then went back to green.
 

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You guys are seriously life savers. I’ll be making updates, but hopefully my local petsmart/ animal supply store will have the necessary supplies or else I will be scrambling around town
 
WOW…. What a shock. I feel lied to, and horrible that I was unaware. I will be rushing to the store immediately to make a laybin, I pray I’m not too late and nothing bad happens.

She was only that dark color for 2 minutes, and then went back to green.
I'm sorry you're going through this. Unfortunately it's very common that pet stores don't sex chameleons properly and don't give the right information to take care of them. You came to the right place, have gotten good advice, and are doing what you need to do for your girl!
 
You said..."WOW…. What a shock. I feel lied to, and horrible that I was unaware. I will be rushing to the store immediately to make a laybin, I pray I’m not too late and nothing bad happens"...I'm hoping you are in time too.

You said..."She was only that dark color for 2 minutes, and then went back to green"...so she's never shown those dots and colors before?

Her arm is showing signs of MBD as well....that will need to be addressed too...but correcting the supplements and other husbandry will be a good start. She will need a liquid calcium in addition to the rest of the corrections to get her bone strength, etc corrected.
 
You said..."WOW…. What a shock. I feel lied to, and horrible that I was unaware. I will be rushing to the store immediately to make a laybin, I pray I’m not too late and nothing bad happens"...I'm hoping you are in time too.

You said..."She was only that dark color for 2 minutes, and then went back to green"...so she's never shown those dots and colors before?
The video had another medium, but should I just get the sand and a tubber ware bin?

No, not once! She’s always been the green color except when she’s hunting, then she gets all spotty. But never that dark
 
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