Molly choked

[justjumpit621]

So i was misting Molly and she was drinking straight from the nozzle and she started salivating profusely. Then she started gasping for air with her head up and so I grabbed her and when she was upside-down a whole bunch of saliva came pouring out of her mouth. I still did a few downward motions while holding her upsidown to make sure her air ways were clear and she went back to basking like nothing happened. This has happened one other time but luckily she was sideways that time and the drool just poured out of her mouth. Anyone have this happen? What is it from?

 

[pssh]

Did she breathe in the water/saliva?

 

[justjumpit621]

I am guessing so. Her mouth was full of it. Plus she started freaking out so I am pretty sure she was choking, she looked scared, kind of like an OMG HELP kind of look with her mouth wide open.

 

[pssh]

What do you mean by downward thrusts? If you mean what I'm thinking then it was fine, but who knows what anyone means on the Internet...

 

[justjumpit621]

To answer another question I was spraying her and she was sticking her tongue out for it, I wasn't spraying directly in her mouth. I am also more concerned about the salivating while she is drinking rather than the water itself since she seemed to be choking on that. Also, I mean that I did what someone had posted to do when this happens and held her upsidown in my hand and made downward motions to have gravity remove anything that was in her airways.

 

[justjumpit621]

What do you mean by downward thrusts? If you mean what I'm thinking then it was fine, but who knows what anyone means on the Internet...

HAHAHAHA well after rereading it it was kind of vague and thought prevoking but it's what you are thinking.

 

[pssh]

Ahh, well I'm glad we were on the same page. I have no idea why she would salivate and choke on it... I've never even noticed my guys get extra drool-ey, though I've felt the nasty stickyness when Pan grabbed two feeders and one was crushed but fell out of his mouth.

 

[VerteX]

Downward thrusts

 

[justjumpit621]

Fixed the wording lol

 

[jannb]

Fixed the wording lol

It this where you read it? Is Molly ok now?

https://www.chameleonforums.com/cpr-chameleons-31759/

 

[justjumpit621]

It this where you read it? Is Molly ok now?

https://www.chameleonforums.com/cpr-chameleons-31759/

Yup that is it. Yes she is fine now, she is hiding behind a leaf and was basking right after her ordeal. I just don't know why she keeps hyper-salivating.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

It can sometimes be an indication of illness, but if she is otherwise fine ... probably not.

It is possible to over water. I prefer to get everything pretty wet and have water dripping from the top screen. If they are thirsty enough they will drink from the misting nozzle, but that can create a situation of too much water too fast.

-Brad

 

[justjumpit621]

It can sometimes be an indication of illness, but if she is otherwise fine ... probably not.

It is possible to over water. I prefer to get everything pretty wet and have water dripping from the top screen. If they are thirsty enough they will drink from the misting nozzle, but that can create a situation of too much water too fast.

-Brad

Well she does have eye infections, which may be a lending factor to it. Also will do about the watering, it she wants it that bad she can get it herself

 

[Elizadolots]

Talk to your vet about it.

I do think that's it would be easy to overwhelm a chameleon with water if that chameleon could not see (so, couldn't go find the water). I've watched mine and both seem to need a lot more "swallow" time than I do. I can actually chug a pint of beer--at least I could when I was in college--but my chameleons seem to need to take some "swallow time" every so often. I suspect that tongue is part of the explanation.

Maybe if she moves toward the nozzle you should back off. Wait until you can, again, spray so it drips on her "nose".

That's just a thought...working with a blind chameleon seems like a fairly unique experience so you might well be "writing the book" on how to do it.

 

[justjumpit621]

Talk to your vet about it.

I do think that's it would be easy to overwhelm a chameleon with water if that chameleon could not see (so, couldn't go find the water). I've watched mine and both seem to need a lot more "swallow" time than I do. I can actually chug a pint of beer--at least I could when I was in college--but my chameleons seem to need to take some "swallow time" every so often. I suspect that tongue is part of the explanation.

Maybe if she moves toward the nozzle you should back off. Wait until you can, again, spray so it drips on her "nose".

That's just a thought...working with a blind chameleon seems like a fairly unique experience so you might well be "writing the book" on how to do it.

Sounds good to me. She is always nice and hydrated even though I have only seen her actually drink off of a leaf once. I have heard that baby bearded dragons can absorb moisture through their skin, is it the same with chameleons? I have heard some debate on the subject. But even though I am not sure I tend to give her a mini bath while I am misting anyway just in case and she seems to stay very nicely hydrated. I should instead probably give her water from a dropper as well as spraying.

 

[Elizadolots]

I think just about every animal absorbs oxygen and hydrogen from the atmosphere. In one Bond movie the girl was killed by being painted with a non-breathable gold paint. And, that's true. A human who's skin is completely sealed up with no exposure to air will die.

I'd just suggest you don't go beyond what she is willing to drink "dripping off her nose" or off the plants. The fact that she has drunk water off a plant is really amazing!

 

[justjumpit621]

I think just about every animal absorbs oxygen and hydrogen from the atmosphere. In one Bond movie the girl was killed by being painted with a non-breathable gold paint. And, that's true. A human who's skin is completely sealed up with no exposure to air will die.

I'd just suggest you don't go beyond what she is willing to drink "dripping off her nose" or off the plants. The fact that she has drunk water off a plant is really amazing!

Yeah she happened to touch it with her nose and realized it was wet so she started licking.

 

[Carlton]

So i was misting Molly and she was drinking straight from the nozzle and she started salivating profusely. Then she started gasping for air with her head up and so I grabbed her and when she was upside-down a whole bunch of saliva came pouring out of her mouth. I still did a few downward motions while holding her upsidown to make sure her air ways were clear and she went back to basking like nothing happened. This has happened one other time but luckily she was sideways that time and the drool just poured out of her mouth. Anyone have this happen? What is it from?

I've had a couple of rescue chams who always salivated heavily when they drank. They both had other problems and were always teetering on dehydration (possible kidney damage from previous poor care making them less stable). As they drank the saliva formed long clear strings hanging off the lower jaw. Even when they drank enough to be full every time. When a cham is "full" they tend to tip their heads up higher and higher and eventually turn away from the water with mouth shut.

You definitely can overwhelm a cham with too much water too fast. They don't have a sphincter between their stomach and their esophagus and their stomach is small. Once the stomach is full the liquid can back up into their throat. They can regurgitate the water, aspirate it, and choke on it.

 

[justjumpit621]

I've had a couple of rescue chams who always salivated heavily when they drank. They both had other problems and were always teetering on dehydration (possible kidney damage from previous poor care making them less stable). As they drank the saliva formed long clear strings hanging off the lower jaw. Even when they drank enough to be full every time. When a cham is "full" they tend to tip their heads up higher and higher and eventually turn away from the water with mouth shut.

You definitely can overwhelm a cham with too much water too fast. They don't have a sphincter between their stomach and their esophagus and their stomach is small. Once the stomach is full the liquid can back up into their throat. They can regurgitate the water, aspirate it, and choke on it.

Good to know =)

 

[lavinm1]

I am sorry to hear about the frightening experience with Molly the Cham.

I have my male baby veiled arriving tomorrow, I will be a first-time cham owner. I have some small pebbles in the vase that holds the bamboo plant in the enclosure. Could a chameleon eat and choke on those pebbles? I just now realized that, while decorative, they may be hazardous. Please advise.

Melissa