jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
My young wc female T. q. quadricornis got into trouble laying her current clutch.
She hadn't gotten down to digging, but was really unhappy/restless for a few days and had stopped eating around November 30th, maybe the day before. I blocked off her cage many days ago to give her privacy. When I checked on her early evening December 1, I found an egg that had dropped into the steel bowl under the mister. The whole floor of the enclosure is a laying bin and I have a bowl under the mister so the laying bin doesn't get too wet. The vet's office was closed and I didn't want to risk an emergency clinic visit with a cat/dog vet. She looked like she was starting to get dehydrated so I gave her .6 mls fluids. She perked up and settled in her tree for the night.
I brought her to my vet the next morning, yesterday, in a tote set up for her to lay and left her at the vet's until late this morning when the vet's office called to pick her up.
The vet gave her subcutaneous fluids with dextrose and calcium yesterday morning hoping that would kick start her to dig and lay. I think she gave her oral calcium yesterday as well. She then gave her Oxytocin late in the day and she started to lay. I believe she only had one injection of Ocytocin. She covered up her eggs although she didn't pack them down very tightly. She's not in great shape.
When I picked her up, there was an egg on the surface and I asked the staff if she had laid it this morning and was met with blank looks. I love my vet, but sometimes the staff make me crazy. The eggs were just under the surface, so it is possible that it was unearthed by her moving around on top of them and the box being tilted as they brought it out to me from the back.
This is her third clutch. Her first clutch was 12 eggs laid June 27th. Her second clutch was 20 eggs laid September 13th. This is her third clutch and there are 29 eggs, which is a huge number for a quad. The eggs are not properly calcified and a variety of sizes. The vet explained that the eggs might not be properly calcified simply because there are just too many eggs. She also might be calcium deficient for the same reason.
When I got her home, I just had this gut feeling I should leave her laying bin in the bottom of her cage. I turned the misters on for 5 or 10 minutes and I think she drank a bit. I hand fedd her a couple of banana roaches. She wasn't at all eager to eat, but ate two. I sorted out the eggs and went back to give her some more roaches and found her in a hole in the corner. I've blocked off her cage again so she won't be disturbed.
The vet sent home some liquid calcium (Neocalglu Liquid) with instructions of one drop orally morning and night for seven days.
I'm really concerned about her calcium levels. She weighed 21g in February when I bought her and has grown very quickly, producing her first clutch in June. Other breeders have said that quads are slow growing but mine don't seem to be, which of course, only makes for a weaker skeleton.
I still haven't talked to the vet today. I've called back and left a message about what is going on since I got her home.
I would really appreciate some advice on how to manage this female. She's not in good shape right now.
As far as her care, I dust everything with plain calcium at every feeding and I'm pretty liberal with it. I rarely feed any vitamins, especially D3, because I've just found they seem to develop edemas so easily. I have Arcadia lights, 12%. I've had her out in natural light, but not as often as I would like because my weather is usually too hot.
Suggestions please. Thanks.
She hadn't gotten down to digging, but was really unhappy/restless for a few days and had stopped eating around November 30th, maybe the day before. I blocked off her cage many days ago to give her privacy. When I checked on her early evening December 1, I found an egg that had dropped into the steel bowl under the mister. The whole floor of the enclosure is a laying bin and I have a bowl under the mister so the laying bin doesn't get too wet. The vet's office was closed and I didn't want to risk an emergency clinic visit with a cat/dog vet. She looked like she was starting to get dehydrated so I gave her .6 mls fluids. She perked up and settled in her tree for the night.
I brought her to my vet the next morning, yesterday, in a tote set up for her to lay and left her at the vet's until late this morning when the vet's office called to pick her up.
The vet gave her subcutaneous fluids with dextrose and calcium yesterday morning hoping that would kick start her to dig and lay. I think she gave her oral calcium yesterday as well. She then gave her Oxytocin late in the day and she started to lay. I believe she only had one injection of Ocytocin. She covered up her eggs although she didn't pack them down very tightly. She's not in great shape.
When I picked her up, there was an egg on the surface and I asked the staff if she had laid it this morning and was met with blank looks. I love my vet, but sometimes the staff make me crazy. The eggs were just under the surface, so it is possible that it was unearthed by her moving around on top of them and the box being tilted as they brought it out to me from the back.
This is her third clutch. Her first clutch was 12 eggs laid June 27th. Her second clutch was 20 eggs laid September 13th. This is her third clutch and there are 29 eggs, which is a huge number for a quad. The eggs are not properly calcified and a variety of sizes. The vet explained that the eggs might not be properly calcified simply because there are just too many eggs. She also might be calcium deficient for the same reason.
When I got her home, I just had this gut feeling I should leave her laying bin in the bottom of her cage. I turned the misters on for 5 or 10 minutes and I think she drank a bit. I hand fedd her a couple of banana roaches. She wasn't at all eager to eat, but ate two. I sorted out the eggs and went back to give her some more roaches and found her in a hole in the corner. I've blocked off her cage again so she won't be disturbed.
The vet sent home some liquid calcium (Neocalglu Liquid) with instructions of one drop orally morning and night for seven days.
I'm really concerned about her calcium levels. She weighed 21g in February when I bought her and has grown very quickly, producing her first clutch in June. Other breeders have said that quads are slow growing but mine don't seem to be, which of course, only makes for a weaker skeleton.
I still haven't talked to the vet today. I've called back and left a message about what is going on since I got her home.
I would really appreciate some advice on how to manage this female. She's not in good shape right now.
As far as her care, I dust everything with plain calcium at every feeding and I'm pretty liberal with it. I rarely feed any vitamins, especially D3, because I've just found they seem to develop edemas so easily. I have Arcadia lights, 12%. I've had her out in natural light, but not as often as I would like because my weather is usually too hot.
Suggestions please. Thanks.
