New Owner

[dodolah]

The only vet i trust with reptiles wont be back until wednesday so until then does anyone have any suggestions on what to do if she is impacted or if she is just malnurished? And what would she be acting like if she was impacted? Anything you can think of would be helpful she is getting more active everyday so i thought that she was doing better

More warm misting sessions will help, (if it is in fact a case of impaction..)
A hunger strike is also a possibility... but, i am not sure.
Try feeding her a new insect such as house flies, silkworm, hornworms, etc

 

[mlmedlen]

Ok well i will hunt out some different food options for her... benefits of working at a zoo Should I shower her and if so how do you do that? And I dont think she really likes being misted. Also do you think the season changing could upset her eating... I live in Texas and winter just started this week. At least what we call winter low of 25 tonight with a of 68 on Saturday Thanks so much for all your help.

 

[dodolah]

showering her might be out of the option.
Do you know how old is she? I'm afraid that she might be too young to have one.

Seeing her pelvic definition really worries me..
Is there nobody in the zoo that can help you?
a week waiting time is a bit risky..

 

[mlmedlen]

Due to zoonotic diseases we arent allowed to bring our pets to the zoo and none of our reptile keepers have a whole lot of experience with chameleons. I have no idea how old she is I am thinking between 4 and 6 months but really its just a guess. I will ask around to see if there is another decent vet but from what i understand there is really only one good one around here. She didnt hesitate eating when the crickets were presented ate them very quick and then just was done with them. Most animals i have ever worked with refused to eat at all when impacted are chameleons still inclined to eat? So stressful my tarantula was much easier. Oh do you leave your dripper on at night?

 

[Kevin1873]

Nah, there's no need to run the dripper during sleeping hours.

 

[DarkRapture]

a lot of times when an animal is so skinny it takes much of their remaining energy just to digest the food they try to eat. so, with knowing this, don't be worried that she isn't going bonkers about the food yet. it will be a slow process...

i know its not a great comparison but i rescued a rubber boa last year. it was barely living, i believe that it was attacked by a bird or some other small animal. i named him Hanyo. his left eye was damaged so bad he no longer has it, and he became very skinny due to mouth injuries preventing him from eating. with about 5 broken bones total (a couple ribs included) it was a very slow, and in my opinion a painful recovery. once he started eating regularly it was easier to feed larger amounts of food. he became energetic again too, and now is one of the most active little snakes i've ever seen.

so hopefully we will have a success story to hear from you as well! once your lil girl poops, put it into a baggie and take it with her to the vet. it is possible that she may have an overabundance of parasites causing multiple problems in her body so just to be sure, get it all checked out. without knowing the full extent of her problems, it is easy to just assume [we] are doing the right thing. its much better to be sure what's going on.

hope everything is ok with her! are you misting with hot water in your bottle? the water temp should be about luke warm 8-12" away and try to spray near if not right on her. the more she is drinking the better for now. silkworms also are good for hydrating. they are juicy! lol

 

[mlmedlen]

She is getting used to being misted but it just depends on her mood. She still hasn't pooped yet but she ate more crickets today and is actively searching out the cage. Does your chameleons have a certain bedtime spot? Mine sleeps in the same corner every night as soon as her lights go out.

 

[DarkRapture]

She is getting used to being misted but it just depends on her mood. She still hasn't pooped yet but she ate more crickets today and is actively searching out the cage. Does your chameleons have a certain bedtime spot? Mine sleeps in the same corner every night as soon as her lights go out.

yes he does, he goes to one side of the cage everynight when i turn the lights out. i leave the infrared spotlamp on for about 30 min extra just for the warmpth cuz it does get kinda cold in this room - about 65F at night.

do you see her "licking her chops" or drinking water off plants when you mist?

what are your temps in there? (basking, ambient) you may be offering food items that are to large for her to comfortably eat, try medium crickets (1/2"-3/4") and she may just eat a few more. i noticed that when i got Marley he wasn't eating very much. i stopped handling him and gave him smaller prey. his appetite grew very rapidly! and he had smaller poops. when i was feeding him full sized bugs, his poops were gigantic and looked like the took some effort! lol poor lil dude...

 

[mlmedlen]

She drinks pretty regularly now. Everytime I mist she comes over to drink or just to get a little wet. I giver her a mix of small to large crickets to see what she wants but she only eats the larger ones and doesnt seem to have a problem getting them down. Since its been cold lately the the night temp. has been dropping to about 64 and the day ambient is around 78 to 80 depending on outside temps. The spot is hitting about 85 at its coolest. I dont handle her at all except when i need to get something out of the cage and she is in my way. Usually though she sees my hand go in and she just moves out of the way.

 

[mlmedlen]

Good news apparently sometime last night or early this morning she finally pooped. I never thought I would be excited about such an occurance. Also she ate really well today so maybe she just had a full belly. Thank you all for helping me out I would have been lost on what to do with out you.

 

[dodolah]

Good news apparently sometime last night or early this morning she finally pooped. I never thought I would be excited about such an occurance. Also she ate really well today so maybe she just had a full belly. Thank you all for helping me out I would have been lost on what to do with out you.

that certainly a great news
Please still keep an eye on her.
Especially, since she is still malnourished.

I will PM you some care tips.