Pinched Nerve?

systmdamage

New Member
I want to give a little back story on our favorite pet...okay so all of them are our favorite, but she is the best. We did a lot of research before we got her back in June...following these forums and making sure that we had everything in order before we decided to get one. We started her out with a small 24"x24"x24" screened enclosure with a live rubber tree and fake vines. At that time we used her basking lamp and UVB 5.0. Of course she outgrew that enclosure very quickly and has been living in a 4 tall by 2.5' wide and 2.5' deep screened enclosure...which she has LOVED. We added several other live plants and vines to the mix (Cham safe of course). We have a dripper system as well as a misting system for the enclosures. We mist the cage often to keep the humidity up in the open enclosure. Humidity in the upper part of the cage runs between 80 and 90% with the temp in the upper being an average of about 88F. The bottom of the cage also run about 80-90% humidity but the temp stays around 70F. The funny part is she would RATHER drink from a baby bottle that has water instead of the dripper or misting system....long story short, my youngest daughter tried it and now it has become a routine for our cham.

She has been in this enclosure for about 2 or 3 months. Recently we noticed it was time for her to lay her eggs. We prepared clean play sand in a 12x12x12 box and put it in her old cage with some bamboo for her to climb on. She laid her eggs (67 of them) about 6-10 inches into the sand.

Upon taking her out of the cage we noticed she stopped using her back right foot. She bends her leg, though she keeps it straight most of the time, but she can bend it. However, she has only tried to move her foot a couple times...she can move it, but she doesn't seem to have any kind of grip with it. We also noticed that the back side of her right leg and the right side of her tail have all but stopped changing color. Now she does use her tail like normal, just no color changes.

She is still active, and doesn't act at all like it is bothering her, besides she just kind of carries her leg or drags it along.

She is eating and drinking like normal, 6-7 large crickets a day and they are dusted with repticalcium without D3 every other day. We also give her superworms as a treat once a week or so...sometimes more sometimes less.

We keep her cage clean, cleaning it about 1 a month (yes i know that sounds bad, but it really is kept clean). When we notice feces/urate we take it out. Now, since she has laid (1/28/2017) her eggs, we haven't seen anything, we could be missing it and will probably clean her cage tomorrow to look deeper to make sure.

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ny advice would be helpful, though i fear a vet visit is in our future. Please see the attached pictures for an example of the right and left side...the right side is the side that seems to be giving her a lot of issues.
 
This would seem possible that she has eggs? She has receptive colors, and if she has eggs in the right place it could be putting pressure in a bad area causing blood loss and general motor control issues.

Technically you are feeding her enough where she could be producing eggs already, and her dusting schedule sounds way off.
 
That's what I was thinking too...she is our first Chameleon and we really thought we had done everything right. She did lay and cover 67 eggs...so we really figured she was done. Would she have stopped laying if she still had more to lay? Should we put her back in the laying bin?
 
Yes she would likely have stopped laying, there is usually a day or so, possibly a few weeks, possibly a few months between clutches. It depends on how much feeding has been happening and generally what the temps are like. I don't honestly know if a laying bin would help at the moment... @jannb , maybe Jann can give you a little more information. I haven't dealt exactly with this kind of thing before. My first instinct is a vet run, but it would likely end up in a spaying. Not sure, hopefully someone else can chime in with slightly more experience with laying troubles.
 
Thanks for your help, and about the dusting and feeding...what would you guys recommend? I'm expecting a vet visit in her very near future and if thy spay her, that's fine too...we aren't breeding her.
 
For my dusting schedule I tend to go for an all-in-one multivitamin like Repashy LoD, I usually use it for veileds/panthers about 3 times a week and then cut it with plain calcium (no D3) whenever I don't use it. Feeding for females you usually only do the amount you are feeding every other day unless about, 4 or 5 days after laying. With her temps, I would also lower them to about 85 degrees, it will also help with the larger clutches.
 
You said..."Recently we noticed it was time for her to lay her eggs. We prepared clean play sand in a 12x12x12 box and put it in her old cage with some bamboo for her to climb on. She laid her eggs (67 of them) about 6-10 inches into the sand"...it would seem kind of odd to me if a retained egg or a few retained eggs could cause this....but I'm not a vet. Could she have fallen?.
 
Idk I have seen stuff like constipation and impaction cause loss of feeling in hind legs/quarters. Falling though is definitely a possible cause. In my opinion some sort of xray? or something similar would be the best course of action. But xrays don't show soft tissue damage so if it is caused by falling, spinal injuries, etc. You may have to find something else to pin point it. And I have not heard of MRIs for chameleons, though that doesn't mean they don't exist? Just would assume it was quite pricey. @kinyonga have you heard of MRIs for chameleons? (just wondering this in general)
 
Yes, she laid these eggs Saturday. Normally I would say yes, it would be possible for her to fall because the cage she is in now is pretty large, though there is a lot of vegetation for her to catch herself. But falling in the enclosure with her laying bin might have been more difficult. It would have been next to nothing for her to reach and grab the screen from the box and the bamboo that was also in there with her, but I guess it would be possible...her leg and foot look, in size and shape just as they always have, so I really don't think they are broken, and she doesn't seem to mind them being touched. As for her back, there are no obvious signs of injury, but that is not to say that there isn't an injury.
 
Since we haven't found any feces in her cage since laying, that is also one of our thoughts...impaction. As of last night, we put her in a shower with warm water, not hot by any means, for about 30 minutes with the water not hitting her...just bouncing off the wall and misting her. That didn't help either. I will probably put her in another shower before I go to bed this evening.
 
Pretty sure it was an MRI one of my panther chameleons had to show his eye.he had eye cancer and they couldn't tell if the mass was behind the eye or in the eye.
 
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Do you have any silkworms? You also might want to try some fruit? Certain fruit can cause bowel movements to happen.
 
I do not have silkworms, and to be honest I'm not sure where to get them. We haven't given her any fruit in awhile, I will try that tomorrow. I'm hoping to get time by Friday to get her to a vet...the nearest one that will look at her is about 50 miles away....eh!
 
ugh I hate driving that far but it is so necessary sometimes, and this time I would definitely say a vet trip is necessary. Silkworms or hornworms are really great for adding hydration for chameleons in diet. You can usually buy them online especially if you are located in the US? If you are I can give you several places you can buy either.
 
First, I want to thank @Andee for talking this out with me...it meant a lot just to have someone give their insight on this. I have already started changing her diet up...and she isn't happy about it...she is a piglet. When I got off work this evening, first thing I did was check on her and give her some water from the bottle, figuring she didn't drink from the dripper or the misting system...as always she freaked out and ran to the bottle...Still can't figure out why she loves that thing. Anyway she drank a lot, just as she always does. I step away from about 5 minutes come back near her cage and she has started using her foot and color has returned to her tail. So within that 5 minute time span, something either pop into place, finally pooped or IDK what...regardless she seems great now. I'm going to give her a few hours to relax then im going to give her another shower. Fingers crossed that she stays good :)
 
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