Panicking, He threw up and is still gagging!

[corynnonthecob]

So I fed my Leon this morning with some dusted crickets, and I turned on a dripper of water, nothing big. then I see him with his nose to the ceiling. weird. then I hear a whole niagra of water hit the ground of the enclosure and it's dripping from his mouth. there was also some mucous in his mouth and hanging out the side. so I watched him and noticed there was a string hanging from the ceiling of the enclosure(which I promptly removed) that is now wet, right where his nose was. but he's still gagging and swallowing a lot. Is this something bigger or is it like us humans gagging on a spaghetti noodle?

he didn't throw up food, only water despite me just feeding him, and his colors aren't completely dark, just his usual dark basking colors. he was moving around just fine afterward, and his eyes look fin and so does his belly. i can fill out a husbandry chart if need be

 

[Beman]

Were the crickets too large? They can gag and point their nose up when the feeders are too large for the cham to get down.

If it was water make sure the dripper is a slow drip. He may have aspirated some water. Their airway is in the front of their mouth not the back.

If it was due to feeder size then he should calm back down once he gets the feeders down. If due to water he may continue to like spit up trying to clear the airway. Try to let him just do his thing and not add additional stress.

 

[kinyonga]

How fast was the dripper dripping? How old is your chameleon?

 

[corynnonthecob]

Were the crickets too large? They can gag and point their nose up when the feeders are too large for the cham to get down.

If it was water make sure the dripper is a slow drip. He may have aspirated some water. Their airway is in the front of their mouth not the back.

If it was due to feeder size then he should calm back down once he gets the feeders down. If due to water he may continue to like spit up trying to clear the airway. Try to let him just do his thing and not add additional stress.

he has been eating this size of crickets for months... the dripper is pretty fast, but it drips on the stick and down some leaves so he doesn't have to rush to catch it, so I thought it was fine :/ I called my local exotics vet and they have an opening, for only 120 dollars, checkup, urgent, and fecal float. should I take the opening? he's keeping his head tilted to the side, and his vent is also very swollen, I didn't notice that before.

 

[corynnonthecob]

How fast was the dripper dripping? How old is your chameleon?

the dripper was about 1.5-2 drops a second, but onto foliage and other features, that dry out between waterings. he was licking it of the stick, kinda off to the side. maybe it got into his nose holes? my chameleon's gotcha day was yesterday, and we got him at like 2 months. so a year and 2 months

 

[Beman]

he has been eating this size of crickets for months... the dripper is pretty fast, but it drips on the stick and down some leaves so he doesn't have to rush to catch it, so I thought it was fine :/ I called my local exotics vet and they have an opening, for only 120 dollars, checkup, urgent, and fecal float. should I take the opening? he's keeping his head tilted to the side, and his vent is also very swollen, I didn't notice that before.

Ok so always a slow drip for the future. They can get too much water at once and aspirate the water.

Yes, a vet is a good idea if you are seeing other issues especially with the vent area.

 

[corynnonthecob]

vet says he looks very healthy and is very impressed with his health, but could not do a fecal because I didn't have a sample and he didn't pass one while he was staying there. but she still would definitely recommend a fecal