paralyzed veiled help

ataraxia

Avid Member
i had a friend call me up today asking for some advice about whats going on with her chameleon. i am in need of a number for a vet located in central indiana PLEASE. ill give a little info about whats happening. 8 month old female veiled

The Bad:
has not had a bowel movement in a week
laying at the bottom of the cage with legs spread out
seems to not be able to move the rear extremities
kneck looks swollen as well as her abdomen and legs

The good:
she is still drinking and eatting.

I can think of a few possibilities but she needs to get her to a vet asap. 1.egg bound 3. unfortunate fall 4. impacted but from what?? she does not have substrate at the bottom of the cage. no leaves from the fake vines gone. she feed crickets, waxworms and superworms.
 
from what i understand one leg moves a bit but it moves out of sort like she has lost control of it. she just called me and said she has a puddle of clear liquid under her. she also mention just now that the cham has bubbles around her mouth when it opens. so she possibly has a uri also.
 
She needs a vet asap. Gular edema and with her abdomen swollen and clear liquid coming out sounds egg bound. Get her to a vet like now and get xrays done. Ask your friend to palate her and feel for eggs not so hard to crush the eggs but gently. You super need to get her to a vet. Try look on your herp society forum.
 
these pics dont give her much justice at all. she is atleast three times the size she was 3 weeks ago. she is swollen from head to toe. she cant stand or move. she 100% has edema and a uri.
 

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It might not be a RI...it could be something like organ failure. Definitely MBD...elbows, legs show it. It could be that she is impacted too...I can only guess at this....she really needs to see a vet ASAP...no time to waste.

Good luck with her.
 
my friend admitted to me last night she does not have the money for a vet visit :( i told her i will try my best with her. this morning i wake up and she was a few inches from the bottom on the side of the cage. i watched her open her mouth and a bubble came out. i turned on the lights and she didnt do it gracefully but she did make it to the top of the cage. i watched her for a bit just to watch her motor skills. she does seem to have sign of mbd. one of her arms has a slight bend at the elbow. i did give her some reptaid this morning. does anyone have any experience with reptaid and edema? does it make any worst or better? reptaid at this point is strictly for the ri but want to make sure im not messing with the edema.
 
The edema can be cuase by over supplementing or in gravid females a slight case of edema happens on occasion. I would keep her on the repaid but of she's got mbd a vet might need to give her shot to help stop the process and get her bones strong again and if she's egg bound she will need a shot to help her lay. Did you ever palpate her and feel for eggs? I hate to say but with out a vet visit by a experienced she might not make it. Your friend should have done her research. Shame on her
 
update: the past few days i have been soaking her in warm water and massaging her abdomen. today i woke up and i still see no progress. so i called my vet and ask for a xray. she is loaded to the gills literally with eggs. now my vet has no idea about reptiles. so we called a vet that is located in washington and asked what course of action we should go..... he said basically the only options are surgery or if the eggs are not dried and can still pass to give her alot of calcium. anyone have any other suggestions on helping them pass?
 
After the calcium treatment the vet can give her a shot to hopefully start contractions for her to lay the eggs. The shot is called oxytocin. (that could be spelled way wrong)
 
That poor thing doesn't even have enough calcium or uvb to make straight limbs, let alone enough to form those eggs and be healthy. Poor baby. Keep us posted. She needs a vet that can give her shots for her mbd and to get those eggs out.:c
 
from what the vet says oxytocin is mainly for dogs and cats? does anyone have a dosage of oxytocin for a 89g chameleon?
 
Oxytocin is often used for chameleons but I don't know the dose. The thing is that it will usually work within a certain time frame...the time when the chameleon should be laying the eggs. If she's past that it won't likely work.

Also...usually a shot of calcium is given before the oxytocin.
 
Without enough calcium she won't be able to fully contract her muscles to push and just get exhausted. Also the eggs may be overcalcified if they've been in too long because the body's natural response to having eggs is coat them with calcium until they're laid, which will exacerabte the poor condition of her bones because eggs trump bones.

Anyway, even if the oxytocin were to work if she doesn't have enough calcium it won't do any good because her muscles won't be able to contract enough to do anything and it will exhaust her even more. Considering her poor activity level and edema it sounds like it may be too late for her to lay them at all. I hope not, but if it is too late she will die unless they're removed. She probably needs them surgically removed, which is risky even for reptile vets so your current vet probably can't help you. I'll PM you the dose of oxytocin.
 
ive been loading her up with liquid calcium :p the owner made a appointment with a vet in indy monday morning!! i wish this little girl the best of luck!
 
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