Female veiled - protrusion

[CamillaChameleon]

Hi there,

Our veiled chameleon is protruding for the 3rd time since May and I'm wondering if any of you have any knowledge on the situation.

We bought Camilla in May, roughly 1-2 months old from Petsmart. We brought her home, had her cage ready at the right temperature with the right humidity and lots of stuff for her to climb on. She was happy, social, and eating well. By the end of the week, she went to poop when we noticed her protruding. We left her to do her business and checked on her again and her insides were still hanging out. Took her to the vet immediately and they managed to put it back in and also dewormed her at the same time. Brought her back home and noticed she had no appetite and wasn't her normal self. Took her back to the vet a few days later and they decided to keep her for 2 weeks to monitor her, but all was good and she returned home within 7 days.

Monday, we moved house and tried to make it as stress free for Camilla as possible. Tuesday morning, another protusion. This time, a lot bigger than the last - pictures attached. Took her to the vet that afternoon and the vet managed to push it back in, dewormed her again, and put her on antibiotic medicine to be giving every 24 hours for 14 days. They let me take her home and told me to leave her be for the night.

She now has no appetite, won't come down for crickets and will occasionally eat them if held up to her in her feeding cup. She will eat waxworms but we only give those as treats. Drinking fine and sleeping fine.

Yesterday I noticed her crawling around on the bottom of her tank. We leave a bowl of plantation soil in the tank to keep the humidity up as we have the carpets on the terrarium floor. She walks through it, but isn't digging.

Came home from work today to find her protruding again, a lot smaller this time but lots of dirt on it as she has been on the bottom of her tank again. She had pooped and peed and that is normal (also keeping samples for the vet to run tests on) and ate about 3/4's of her crickets from the morning. I have tried putting it back in but it comes straight back out. I have read that a sugar paste solution will help shrink it? Not sure if thats true. I am keeping it moist as the vet is now closed but I will take her as soon as possible. She is very skinny and I can't feel any eggs in her but im wondering if she is getting ready to lay eggs.

Any help and advice is welcome! Sorry this is so long but we are just worried about her!

Also there is a reptile expo in 2 weeks that I am hoping to go to get some more knowledge on the whole situation.

If anyone can give a more accurate guess on her age that would be appreciated. Petsmart said she was only in the store a couple of weeks before we bought her!

Thanks!

 

[kinyonga]

It's important to keep it moist when it's out like that....k-y jelly is usually recommended for that. Do not use vaseline.
When the vet puts it back in this time perhaps he could put a purse-string suture in to help keep it there. It should be put back in asap.

 

[Alexl]

Most important as said before is to keep the prolapse moist and clean all the time (cold compresses work fine). A little sugar added can help to get the tissue smaller if swollen (it is as seen in your pictures). Which tissue was and up to date is prolapsing? Is it gut, oviduct or cloaca? What did your vet tell you which tissue he put back? Was there anything inverted which couldn't be properly put to the right place? Only pushing back the prolapse or doing a purse-strint suture may not solve the problem itself.

A very important thing is to think about reasons why this happened to avoid prolapse in future. Why was she given antibiotics and which ones? There's no reason to do so as long as the prolapse was looking healthy and had no lesions. Were there any other health issues you didn't tell yet?

Did your vet find parasites which could have caused the prolapse? Was an x-ray done to assure she doesn't carry eggs she's trying to press out? Looking at your pictures, I definitely would advise to take an x-ray as soon as possible. If a chameleon has only few eggs, you will not be able to feel it cause their ribs range from neck to sacrum. There's no soft abdominal wall as in mammals to palpate intestines, ovaries etc. precisely.

Can you show some pictures of her cage and give more informations about lightning, plants, ground...?

 

[CamillaChameleon]

I used the sugar water mix last night and it went back in and has stayed in. She has gone back to her normal self, eating fine, social and is now starting to shed.

The antibiotic is called Trimethoprim Sultra and was prescribed to make sure she hadn't caught any bacterial infections from her protrusion.

The vet has never removed any tissue from her body. Both time, she has just placed it back in and told me if it happens again and doesn't go back in on it's own then she will do x-rays, blood work, stitches and possible surgery if needed. I dropped off her fecel matter today for testing and will hear back next week from them.

Only thing we can think of as to a reason for it happening is stress as both times this has happened is when we have moved her...first home from the store, the second time we had just moved house the night before.

 

[CamillaChameleon]

Sorry, Trimethoprim Sulfa*