HELP Sperm plug stuck with swollen hemipene

Rangothecham9

New Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - male veiled Chameleon. I have him since a juvenile and he is probably about 10 months old.
  • Handling - Handle only when needed, if he's gone too far from his enclosure or I need to clean.
  • Feeding - I feed him millworms, hornworms, Dubai roaches, superworms with calcium and vitamin supplements every other week. I gut load with feeding them left overs from my beardies vegetable leftovers.
  • Watering - I mist 4/5 times a day with a spray bottle and I have a humidifier. He has a dripper that I have not seen him been drinking out of the past 3 days
  • Fecal Description - never been tested for parasites and his poop is normal, white 'pee' and brownish black poop small that's medium size
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - all screen cage that is a 16x16x30 that it is always open. Im in the process of building a bigger cage.
  • Lighting - I have two 100 w exotera lights and a 100 w UVB bulb by evergreen pet supplies, that I bought in Aug. the lights go off at 9:15 and turn on at 9:15
  • Temperature - I have a digital thermometer, the laser gun. The basking spot is at 85 F and the inside of the cage sits at 75 F the night gets to about 65F
  • Humidity - Humidity sits at 60% and I have a humidity gauge. I mist. I have a humidifier.
  • Plants - I have two pathos and another plant that I cannot remember the name of but I know for sure it is safe.
  • Placement - The cage is in my art room. I go in there every day and multiple times a day to take care of him. Other than that I'm in there 4 times a week, max. He has clear view of the window with free range of the dorm size room. His cage is inside his new one and it is about 3 feet off the ground. The new cage goes all the way to the ceiling basically and I have some branches In there so he can climb. I have already taken out the glass for his new cage and installed screen.
  • Location - I live in North Carolina.

Current Problem - The poor thing has a really inflamed hemipene, for over 3 days. Hes been to the vet, vet said it was not infected and I needed to give him this inflammation medication and soak him in sugar water and try to get it to retract. I tried that the first two days, then I discovered there is still stuck sperm plugs. I got the first one out on the other side easy peasy and then here comes the mess. The swollen side has half of it stuck, it wont come out no matter how long I soak, massage, and try to ever so carefully pull it out. It keeps coming out in tiny pieces, its like there is no progress after 3 minutes of trying to pull it out and I know it has to hurt. Called the vet again today and he said to keep doing what I'm doing... So now I'm on here asking for help because I don't know what to do. How do I get this out before it dries out. It has been way to long it has been sticking out.
 

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Use plain KY jelly, not Vaseline. Keep it moist, don’t let it dry out. It may go back, if not by tomorrow I would seek a vet. Other will help. I will see if I can find the video on this.
Edit missed part where you went to the vet.
The video may help.
yes have seen this video. I guess maybe I will seek the vet again but its not coming out that easy nor going back in, I think because of the stuck sperm plug. do you think it has tried out?

Appericiate everyone for the speedy replies
 
yes have seen this video. I guess maybe I will seek the vet again but its not coming out that easy nor going back in, I think because of the stuck sperm plug. do you think it has tried out?

Appericiate everyone for the speedy replies

I agree with others in trying to find a better vet. I have never done this, so if it did not happen easy I would seek a better vet. Keep putting the KY on in and try to rub it in very gently. Hopefully if it is dried it will loosen. I wish I had more to offer.
 
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - male veiled Chameleon. I have him since a juvenile and he is probably about 10 months old.
  • Handling - Handle only when needed, if he's gone too far from his enclosure or I need to clean.
  • Feeding - I feed him millworms, hornworms, Dubai roaches, superworms with calcium and vitamin supplements every other week. I gut load with feeding them left overs from my beardies vegetable leftovers.
  • Watering - I mist 4/5 times a day with a spray bottle and I have a humidifier. He has a dripper that I have not seen him been drinking out of the past 3 days
  • Fecal Description - never been tested for parasites and his poop is normal, white 'pee' and brownish black poop small that's medium size
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - all screen cage that is a 16x16x30 that it is always open. Im in the process of building a bigger cage.
  • Lighting - I have two 100 w exotera lights and a 100 w UVB bulb by evergreen pet supplies, that I bought in Aug. the lights go off at 9:15 and turn on at 9:15
  • Temperature - I have a digital thermometer, the laser gun. The basking spot is at 85 F and the inside of the cage sits at 75 F the night gets to about 65F
  • Humidity - Humidity sits at 60% and I have a humidity gauge. I mist. I have a humidifier.
  • Plants - I have two pathos and another plant that I cannot remember the name of but I know for sure it is safe.
  • Placement - The cage is in my art room. I go in there every day and multiple times a day to take care of him. Other than that I'm in there 4 times a week, max. He has clear view of the window with free range of the dorm size room. His cage is inside his new one and it is about 3 feet off the ground. The new cage goes all the way to the ceiling basically and I have some branches In there so he can climb. I have already taken out the glass for his new cage and installed screen.
  • Location - I live in North Carolina.

Current Problem - The poor thing has a really inflamed hemipene, for over 3 days. Hes been to the vet, vet said it was not infected and I needed to give him this inflammation medication and soak him in sugar water and try to get it to retract. I tried that the first two days, then I discovered there is still stuck sperm plugs. I got the first one out on the other side easy peasy and then here comes the mess. The swollen side has half of it stuck, it wont come out no matter how long I soak, massage, and try to ever so carefully pull it out. It keeps coming out in tiny pieces, its like there is no progress after 3 minutes of trying to pull it out and I know it has to hurt. Called the vet again today and he said to keep doing what I'm doing... So now I'm on here asking for help because I don't know what to do. How do I get this out before it dries out. It has been way to long it has been sticking out.
I have nothing to add that others have not already stated... With the exception that you really need to make husbandry corrections. Your cage and lighting is incorrect. 2 in 1 UVB bulbs are dangerous they either cause overexposure or underexposure. We do not recommend them here without use of a solarmeter.

Your enclosure is not set up correctly for him. Typically we see issues with sperm plugs like this when the husbandry is off and they are not able to shed them as they naturally would. Start reading through this husbandry program it will help you make needed corrections for the new cage your doing. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

You also say that he is in your art room... They have very sensitive lungs. So if you are working with anything that has fumes like paint thinner this is extremely dangerous and can kill them.
 
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I’d recommend a different vet. One with allot of chameleon experience. Where do you live? I might be able to recommend a good vet. NC has a few really good vets if you will let me know what area of NC you are in.
I live in Charlotte the zip code is 28277. I've been calling around today, would really appreciate the help.
 
Appreciate your concern but hes not exposed to any chemicals, I don't work with anything that really has a sent or chemicals in it. I understand how sensitive their lungs are. Also, I never said I have a 2 in one bulb, I'm not sure where you got that from. I said I have 2, 100-watt bulbs, for heat. As I also said he's being built a new cage. Which will be bioactive so I have to wait some time and make sure everything is ready. I have had issues with humidity and trying to keep it at the right range, thanks for the program.
If you are only using 2 heat bulbs and nothing else then that means your not providing UVB which leads to Metabolic Bone Disease. 2 in 1 bulbs are bulbs that provide UVB and Heat. You said you were using a 100watt UVB bulb this implies a MV bulb which is a 2 in 1. These produce dangerous levels of UVB and are not recommended for use with chameleons without the use of a solarmeter 6.5. There are multiple types of 2 in 1 bulbs. Those that do not produce enough UVB that are the coil screw in bulbs and those that look like a regular bulb that are MV bulbs and produce way too much.

The link will go through what should should provide. But a T5HO fixture with a 5.0 or 6% arcadia bulb on top of the screen with a full 8-9 inch drop to the basking branch gives the correct UVI for Veileds.
 
Just wanted to let everyone know that Rango is all good now, I have gotten the sperm plug out with the help from Dilworth Animal Hospital. They were just amazing and removed the plug for me. Then we decided it was best to go ahead and amputate it because some of the tissue looked like it would possibly fall off in the long run. With all that hopefully there will be no further trouble with it healing from now on.
Once again thank you everyone for the help!
 
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