Juvenile problem - straining to poop, visible hernia.

anntim

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female Veiled Chameleon, age unknown but probably less than a year 3-4" long, in our care 1 week.
Handling - We do not handle her except to clean the cage.
Feeding - Feeding Super Worms and small crickets, she has not eaten consistently since we got her, but we do try to feed her in the morning. She has a water drip for hydration.
Supplements - We are still using supplies that came as a package with the cage - Reptisafe water additive from Zoo-Med goes in the mist and drinking water. we dust both crickets and superworms with Repti-Calcium from Zoo-Med also.
Watering - We mist for 15sec x 4times a day and have water dripping down over the leaves, the Chameleon has been drinking off the leaves regularly.
Fecal Description - Fecies is brown formed into a small cigar shape regularly at least once a day, we have not tested for parasites.
History - We purchased from a PetCo. Two of the staff we spoke to keep Chameleons themselves, we spoke for some time about food not to give, also setting a regular cycle to replicate a natural day and misting to maintain humidity, etc.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage 16" x 16" x 30" high
Lighting - 13 watt 5.0 UVB Reptisun and 60w Daylight Blue Reptile Bulb on all day and turned off from approx 11:00 pm till 8:00 am
Temperature - Daytime temp 79-81 Deg F in the upper section of the cage with basking on branches beneath but not close to the lamps.
Humidity - We have not been measuring humidity, but mist for 15 seconds x 4 each day.
Plants - We have used some tree branches from our garden for structure and support, but all plants and foliage and vines are mad-made and purchased from the reptile dept.
Placement - The cage is located in the living room against a wall and near a fish tank, I wouldn't describe the location as high traffic, the cage is sat on an 18" high table taking the cage height to 4' off the floor.
Location - We are in Dallas TX.

ChameleonCage_1.jpg
ChameleonCage_2.jpg


Current Problem - The Chameleon appears to have some sort of a hernia protruding from its rectum. On fist look, I thought she was constipated and couldn't push her poop out, but my wife touched it and is convinced it's some extension of her bowel. There is some red liquid secreting also.

She has not eaten for the last two days but just shed her skin. I did some research and read that they often do not eat while shedding so I didn't think anything of it, but she has finished shedding and we just observed the problem described above.

She is quite restless tonight, presumably in pain and keeps rubbing the protrusion on the climbing vines.

I did read to keep the size of the cricket small, no longer than the width of the Chameleons head which we did, but I'm concerned that she cannot digest her food and she can no longer poop although I did find feces earlier today. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Chameleon_1.jpg
Chameleon_2.jpg
Chameleon_3.jpg
 
Since it’s late And may take a while for more members to answer,Ill give the little exp I have...that looks like a prolapse
I’m not exactly sure cause it’s never happen to my Cham but I have Come across it in my research.@jannb has a thread I think I’ll try to link it about a prolapse female veiled but make sure it does not dry out(no Vaseline use ky i think)and get to a vet ASAP.How long has it been like that?what color are the urates?she looks a little Thirsty to me

Edit I found the thread:https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/anyone-with-experience-in-female-prolapse.73088/
 
Last edited:
Since it’s late And may take a while for more members to answer,Ill give the little exp I have...that looks like a prolapse
I’m not exactly sure cause it’s never happen to my Cham but I have Come across it in my research.@jannb has a thread I think I’ll try to link it about a prolapse female veiled but make sure it does not dry out(no Vaseline use ky i think)and get to a vet ASAP.How long has it been like that?what color are the urates?she looks a little Thirsty to me

Edit I found the thread:https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/anyone-with-experience-in-female-prolapse.73088/

Thanks for that response, We'll get her to a vet in the morning. It's just so sad to see any creature suffering especially when we've done everything we thought was necessary to build a comfortable home with us. Thanks again.
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female Veiled Chameleon, age unknown but probably less than a year 3-4" long, in our care 1 week.
Handling - We do not handle her except to clean the cage.
Feeding - Feeding Super Worms and small crickets, she has not eaten consistently since we got her, but we do try to feed her in the morning. She has a water drip for hydration.
Supplements - We are still using supplies that came as a package with the cage - Reptisafe water additive from Zoo-Med goes in the mist and drinking water. we dust both crickets and superworms with Repti-Calcium from Zoo-Med also.
Watering - We mist for 15sec x 4times a day and have water dripping down over the leaves, the Chameleon has been drinking off the leaves regularly.
Fecal Description - Fecies is brown formed into a small cigar shape regularly at least once a day, we have not tested for parasites.
History - We purchased from a PetCo. Two of the staff we spoke to keep Chameleons themselves, we spoke for some time about food not to give, also setting a regular cycle to replicate a natural day and misting to maintain humidity, etc.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage 16" x 16" x 30" high
Lighting - 13 watt 5.0 UVB Reptisun and 60w Daylight Blue Reptile Bulb on all day and turned off from approx 11:00 pm till 8:00 am
Temperature - Daytime temp 79-81 Deg F in the upper section of the cage with basking on branches beneath but not close to the lamps.
Humidity - We have not been measuring humidity, but mist for 15 seconds x 4 each day.
Plants - We have used some tree branches from our garden for structure and support, but all plants and foliage and vines are mad-made and purchased from the reptile dept.
Placement - The cage is located in the living room against a wall and near a fish tank, I wouldn't describe the location as high traffic, the cage is sat on an 18" high table taking the cage height to 4' off the floor.
Location - We are in Dallas TX.

View attachment 217338 View attachment 217339

Current Problem - The Chameleon appears to have some sort of a hernia protruding from its rectum. On fist look, I thought she was constipated and couldn't push her poop out, but my wife touched it and is convinced it's some extension of her bowel. There is some red liquid secreting also.

She has not eaten for the last two days but just shed her skin. I did some research and read that they often do not eat while shedding so I didn't think anything of it, but she has finished shedding and we just observed the problem described above.

She is quite restless tonight, presumably in pain and keeps rubbing the protrusion on the climbing vines.

I did read to keep the size of the cricket small, no longer than the width of the Chameleons head which we did, but I'm concerned that she cannot digest her food and she can no longer poop although I did find feces earlier today. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

View attachment 217340 View attachment 217341 View attachment 217342
Definitely vet ASAP! Make sure to bring a fresh fecal or have them collect one as well, if possible! Show him/her the care info and pictures you posted here. As for husbandry, there’s some things that could be better. Are your feeders gutloaded with either organic fresh fruits and veggies (there’s a gutloading list in the food and nutrition tab in resources) and/or a quality commercial gutload, like Pangea, Cricket Crack, Mazuri, Repashy. Don’t feed supers too often because they can cause constipation. Add some variety to her diet, like silkworms (super healthy), hornworms (great for hydration, which she needs), butterworms, waxworms (will help her add some weight on), black soldier fly larvae and flies (super healthy-too many larvae can cause constipation), and roaches (red runners, dubias, ivory-headed, and orange-headed roaches are all super healthy and can’t climb or fly-too many dubias can cause gout, though). Variety is key! She needs either phosphorous-free calcium without D3 every feeding, phosphorous-free calcium with D3 twice monthly (every two weeks), and a multivitamin without D3 twice monthly (every two weeks) or phosphorous-free calcium without D3 every feeding and a multivitamin with D3 (ZooMed Reptivite with D3) twice monthly (every two weeks). Make the misting sessions at least 2 minutes long, but preferably more. Make sure to mist down the entire enclosure and gently mist your chameleon so she can drink off the leaves and clean out her eyes. Invest in an automated mister (Exo Terra Monsoon Multi or a MistKing-better option) and either a t5HO or T8 linear uvb bulb and fixture (uvb bulb strength depends on the size of the cage and the density of plants). Go to the hardware store and pick up a timer for the lights (chams need 12 hours of basking and uvb and 12 hours of complete darkness), a digital temp gun to measure basking temps, a digital thermometer/hygrometer combo for ambient temp and humidity, and a regular white light heat incandescent bulb for basking (blue lights are not natural, replace now). The veiled care sheet here has proper humidity levels and temps, along with other great info. She’ll need a bigger cage, if not already, and it needs to be a minimum of 18” by 18” by 36” tall, but preferably at least 2’ by 2’ by 4’ tall. You need more branches and vines, mostly horizontal, everywhere. Add some cham-safe live plants as well: here’s a list of them https://flchams.com/chameleon-safe-plant-list/ Make sure to get her a lay bin, as well. Lowe’s has a planter the perfect size: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Garden-Treasures-17-75-in-W-x-17-75-in-H-Black-Plastic-Planter/3878879 and play sand: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sakrete-50-lb-Play-Sand-Sand/3055675 Make sure to thoroughly rinse out the play sand. The veiled care sheet here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/ also has more egg laying info. Good luck at the vet! Here’s a screenshot of the gutload list
 

Attachments

  • 26A74E80-55B4-4C41-946D-81D6792D1952.png
    26A74E80-55B4-4C41-946D-81D6792D1952.png
    808.3 KB · Views: 139
Definitely vet ASAP! Make sure to bring a fresh fecal or have them collect one as well, if possible! Show him/her the care info and pictures you posted here. As for husbandry, there’s some things that could be better. Are your feeders gutloaded with either organic fresh fruits and veggies (there’s a gutloading list in the food and ...........

Thx for this response, we finally found a vet we can visit this morning, we clearly have a lot of adjustments, I had read through quite a lot of the materials y'all have compiled here, thx for consolidating the priority items in this response, hopefully, we can get our Chameleon sorted out, we've got a busy weekend ahead to make these changes, thank you again.
 
Thx for this response, we finally found a vet we can visit this morning, we clearly have a lot of adjustments, I had read through quite a lot of the materials y'all have compiled here, thx for consolidating the priority items in this response, hopefully, we can get our Chameleon sorted out, we've got a busy weekend ahead to make these changes, thank you again.
Good luck! If you need anything else, let us know!
 
No doubt it’s a prolapse, it’s critical you keep it moist until you see the vet. KY was mentioned above and is the preferred method of doing this. If you can don’t let her drag her butt on the branches, she is making small tears in the lining of her colon and embedding small chunks of wood in it. The only way to stop her from dragging her but is to watch her closely and interrupting her if she starts. Keeping her branches wet will help slightly. If you can’t stay on top of it move her into a hospital bin with a damp cloth in the bottom.
 
I know you have only had her for a week but, as you probably already know, her previous owner did a horrible job of tending to her. She looks dehydrated and is obviously malnourished so your defanitly starting out with a few disadvantages but if your willing, you appear to be, we will be here to help you get her back on track.

I agree with all the husbandry changes listed above. Thank you for rescuing this Cham, she surely would have died soon under the previous owner.

Also, you mentioned she is 1yo, has she laid a clutch of eggs yet?
 
Update... Busy day, don't you know it, we get to the vet and just like taking your kid to the doctors, the prolapse withdrew into her butt. The vet took a look and sumized that she may have ingested something she couldn't digest but he couldn't see any damage and told us to keep a very close eye on her. We did apply KY last night and this morning.

We have switched out the heat and lighting as instructed, got some alternative bugs; horned worms and dubias, adjusted the plants and basking areas in the cage and upped the misting. Already had a timer so the heat/light cycle will be more consistent.

Want to give her some privacy to settle down after a traumatic day or so, but we'll keep an eye on her. Still have a few things to address i.e. adding in neutriants, etc.

Thanks for all of the input and advice, were so thankful for this forum. We do care for our animals; dogs, cats, birds and fish, but exotic is new to us, so we do appreciate frank and direct advice so we don't make stupid mistakes.

Oh, almost forgot, no egg clutches observed as yet and I was a little off, she's already been with us for 2wks.

Will post an update in a few days.

Tim and Ann
 
Update... Busy day, don't you know it, we get to the vet and just like taking your kid to the doctors, the prolapse withdrew into her butt. The vet took a look and sumized that she may have ingested something she couldn't digest but he couldn't see any damage and told us to keep a very close eye on her. We did apply KY last night and this morning.

We have switched out the heat and lighting as instructed, got some alternative bugs; horned worms and dubias, adjusted the plants and basking areas in the cage and upped the misting. Already had a timer so the heat/light cycle will be more consistent.

Want to give her some privacy to settle down after a traumatic day or so, but we'll keep an eye on her. Still have a few things to address i.e. adding in neutriants, etc.

Thanks for all of the input and advice, were so thankful for this forum. We do care for our animals; dogs, cats, birds and fish, but exotic is new to us, so we do appreciate frank and direct advice so we don't make stupid mistakes.

Oh, almost forgot, no egg clutches observed as yet and I was a little off, she's already been with us for 2wks.

Will post an update in a few days.

Tim and Ann
BTW- your she is a he!
 
Final update, so after last weekends escapade everything seems to have settled down, our Veiled Cham is eating reasonably consistently, although he seems to have gone off Super Worms and Horned Worms, he tends to stick with the crickets and dubias. Damn Horned Worms have grown enormous...!!!

Thx again for all the input last week.
 
Back
Top Bottom