Electra’s egg saga.

[MissSkittles]

Aren’t chameleons and especially girl chameleons supposed to be the problem children? Well, for me it’s my bearded dragons. Currently my girl Electra is having a cloaca ‘spa’, aka sugar water vent soak. Let’s go back to the beginning.
I’ve had Electra, my girl beardie for about 3 years or so and she has never laid eggs. I kept prepared for it and over time, became more and more lax, to the point of not even thinking about it. Then about a month ago, she dropped an egg. Yikes! Quickly fixed up her lay bin and stuffed it in her tank. She promptly laid 18 more eggs, for a total of 19. As she was burying them, I checked on her and saw she had proplapsed. Big yikes! Sugar soak! Run to the new Veg ER where she was given a couple of sutures when it didn’t reduce fully from sugar water soaks. Within days we had to return and get the sutures removed so she could pass her giant poo. She’s been great since then. Follow up with the regular vet found and started treatment for pinworms. Further explanation for her crappy appetite and appearance. Then this morning - surprise! 4 lovely little eggs sitting in poo as she was running around frantic. Another run to Veg ER since no regular vet available. X Ray showed (you guessed it!) a bunch of retained eggs. She was given fluids, calcium, meloxicam and started in ceftriaxone and sent home. Refreshed her lay bin (never ever expected her to need it again so soon) and as soon as it was back, she was digging. After lights out, I peeked in. She was out of the bin and had fully covered her eggs…and is prolapsed again. She laid another 18 eggs! Holy poop! Where in her little body has she been storing a total of 40 eggs without me noticing a thing? Cheez its!
So, here I sit in the dark so she can rest while her vent sits on soaking sugar slush. I’m giving her another hour or so to show some decent reduction in size before going back to the Veg ER. My poor girl.

 

[ehdee6]

Yikes indeed, my friend! I hope Electra has a swift recovery, she's a lucky lady to be in your care.

 

[MissSkittles]

We had to go back to the ER clinic. While we were waiting for X rays, her prolapse reduced itself, thank goodness! But…she seems to have more retained eggs. The X ray is going to be read by a radiologist to make sure. Hoping that she got all the eggs out already, or will be able to pass the last one(s) on her own. If not, surgery is needed.Ugh!

 

[MissSkittles]

I haven’t yet received a report from a radiologist, but I did receive the latest x rays from my girl. The vet said she thought she saw a couple of eggs, but I’m just not seeing any. Granted, I’m not even close to educated in how to read bearded dragon X rays, but still…I can identify circles and ovals and I’m not seeing any. Unless the large segmented thing on the left isn’t bowel and is o adult with a few eggs lined up in it…I dunno. Any opinions?
Electra spent her day basking, resting up from her ordeal and looking at her salad as though I was giving her a dish of poop. No hesitation with the bugs though. Not sure if she even looked at her lay bin.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Good luck hatching Bearded Dragon eggs and digits crosses all the eggs pass.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[MissSkittles]

Good luck hatching Bearded Dragon eggs and digits crosses all the eggs pass.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

Thanks! While it would be fun to have baby beardies running around, the eggs are infertile.

 

[LizardLurkin]

Oh my gosh, that's so much to deal with for the both of you
It's good she has someone like you, so observant, fast acting, and willing to help her.

 

[MissSkittles]

While I’m trying to cool down and relax from the long tiring drive to see Dr Alfonso, I might as well update this. So, it’s believed that my girlie was triggered to produce eggs from when she saw my boy, Spike when I changed their tanks locations. He must be quite a handsome beardie man to have such an effect. Dr Alfonso saw no eggs in the recent x ray nor did he feel any in her belly. He said she looks healthy and to keep doing what I’m doing. No spay surgery or anything like that needed. Yay! Of course, I’ll have to make sure she never sees a boy again, but I’ll be keeping her lay bin in her tank anyhow…or maybe just make hers bioactive.
She was such a good sweetheart and sat on my shoulder for the entire drive there and back (total of almost 4 hours!). I didn’t think to get any pics of her with her cute little pink wings on, so here a pic from the other day.

 

[LizardLurkin]

Your reptile family now has another case of forbidden love, huh?

 

[ehdee6]

That's interesting that just the sight of him made for go into reproductive mode. I wonder if there's any studies on this.

 

[MissSkittles]

Your reptile family now has another case of forbidden love, huh?

I guess so.

That's interesting that just the sight of him made for go into reproductive mode. I wonder if there's any studies on this.

I would imagine that there would be as it is known that it occurs. @kinyonga might know of any studies done.
Do you know about my girl Stella and her forbidden lover, Hammlet? She was a bit older than him and their enclosures were side by side. I used coco coir inside her enclosure to block their views of each other. She found a way to peek at him. Later they were across the room from each other and she would always find a way to sneak peeks at him. One day she quickly got on top of her door as soon as I opened it to look over the room barrier at him. (Keep in mind I’m only 5’ tall and the top of the enclosures are wayyy above my head, near the ceiling). Hammlet did the most beautiful dance for her and thankfully I filmed it. Anyhow, every year she laid only once around March. Her last clutch was in 2022. In late winter/early Spring of 2023, Hammlet became sick and was failing quickly. Main suspect was liver cancer. I had to send him over the rainbow bridge in March 2023. Stella has never been receptive nor laid any eggs. I have another male veiled, again just across the room and they have seen each other, but there’s nothing interest from either of them. Also, I had another girl, Grumpy, who was my first chameleon and I got a few months before Stella. She saw Hammlet and he saw her and they had zero interest in each other.
It’s said that lizards/chameleons aren’t capable of feeling love and everything implies that they don’t have loyalty to any particular mate. I believe that they are much more complex in their relationships (and everything else) than we can even suspect. To hijack Electra’s post….



*I have suspicion that it was the Flex Seal I used in his walls that caused the cancer.

 

[ehdee6]

Hammlet's dance never gets old (also the picture of them peeping each other OMG )... I may have checked out your other videos... The Hand: a chameleon thriller, is amazing