Feeding problem

[kris]

my senegal chameleon was chasing a cricket and in his attempts he missed and got a piece of bark substrate. i expected him just to drop it but he swallowed it in one go and carried on chasing the cricket.

he caught and ate it with no problems but afterwards he went a very dark green almost grey colour. this lasted for about 5 minutes whilst he kept opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out slightly (a bit like we do when we are thirsty) he has returned to his ususal pale green colour and stopped the thing with his mouth.

am i being over concerned???? do chameleons often swallow bits of wood?

 

[Kbullock]

Sorry to hear that I hope he is okay. I dont have experience with that issue however when I first got my chameleon I was told by the breeder that its not good to put any type of bark on the bottom of the cage for that very reason.

 

[Psi]

am i being over concerned????

No, it's possible that the wood could cause an impaction which could be fatal.

do chameleons often swallow bits of wood?

They shouldn't.

 

[PedroANDAshley]

You should go ahead and moniter him and look for poops.
But if it wasnt a HUGE piece of wood he should be fine.

In the mean time take that bark out of the enclosure and you can either leave the bottom bare or put some newspaper down.

I just leave mine bare because debris seems to find its way under the newspaper any ways and so do crickets

 

[kris]

You should go ahead and moniter him and look for poops.
But if it wasnt a HUGE piece of wood he should be fine.

In the mean time take that bark out of the enclosure and you can either leave the bottom bare or put some newspaper down.

I just leave mine bare because debris seems to find its way under the newspaper any ways and so do crickets

thanks for the quick responses everyone - i will remove the bark (i was recommended it by the reptile specialist who sold me the chameleon - infact she had it in all of her houses) are there any benefits to the bark??????

The piece of bark was from my recall was about half the size of his head although it was gone very quickly.

should i see a vet? or simply monitor him - he is moving quite freely now and has pooped

 

[gaxmode]

Hopefully he is ok.. remove the substrate asap, go to home depot and buy a few pieces of linoleum flooring, $1 a square foot! Easy to clean. and dont have to worry about changing out wet paper every day.

 

[PedroANDAshley]

thanks for the quick responses everyone - i will remove the bark (i was recommended it by the reptile specialist who sold me the chameleon - infact she had it in all of her houses) are there any benefits to the bark??????

The piece of bark was from my recall was about half the size of his head although it was gone very quickly.

should i see a vet? or simply monitor him - he is moving quite freely now and has pooped

Just monitor for now
If he doesnt poop in the next couple days
there are alot of things you can do to help him poop before you need to take him to a vet.

If he doesnt poop in the next couple days feed him things with alot of moisture like silk worms or horn worms.
you could alot put I think its flax seed oil (another member should confirm this is the right kind of oil) onto his crickets to help him pass a poop.
you can give him a warm shower if hes not to small by putting him on a plant and placing the shower head towards a wall and have the mist from the wall misting him.
you could soak him in warm water to by putting him in a sink (if hes not too small) and having just his tummy in the water.
also you could take him out side in the sunshine ive heard that sunshine and out doors encourages poop.

after you do all those things and still haven't seen a poop you should deff take him to a vet. You can tell tho when their super impacted cuz they wont eat and they will look really bloated.

 

[Psi]

(i was recommended it by the reptile specialist who sold me the chameleon - infact she had it in all of her houses)

Did she sell you it as well?
Regardless, definitely not a "specialist".

 

[joeandsoph]

One of the main reasons not to use substrate. Take it out! Use puppy training matts (stops the smell) or newspaper.