Please help! Redness coming out of male

[Razzledazzlebee]

Hello! I have had my peacock (Peretti- that I got from ChameleoPatrick) for a few weeks now and everything has been going well. He eats a lot of variety, and is well hydrated (though tonight he just drank A LOT). On Wednesday we brought home a female and put her in the tank with him. There were some initial signs of stress on both sides (black on her, dark on him) but we decided to see how it went and by the next day they're both pretty normal looking (bright green usually with some occasional stripes of black on her or some occasional darkness on him). They're both eating and stay away from each other but have no signs of hostility.

Tonight when I got home I noticed she had a purple & black crest (usually is green) and he has a dark red thing sticking out of his butt! I was concerned so I gently touched it and it is hard. I am attaching pictures. Please advise on what this may be and what (if anything) I should do about it.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Razzledazzlebee]

From the side...

 

[qdude46]

Not entirely sure, try a shower if in case it's impaction or something. Your not housing them together 24/7, right?
Edit: it may be a prolapse so try a vet, I'm not great in this particular area of chameleon health.

 

[Razzledazzlebee]

What would a shower entail? Taking him out or spraying him inside the tank?

Yes, they're together 24/7. Patrick said to do this since they've a very docile species and the tank is so large for them- it's a large tank (36" tall x 18" deep x 36" wide) and this is a small species (~4"). I only have the one habitat and am considering dividing it if necessary but we decided to give it a few days and everyone seems to be doing well.

I've been researching more- could this be a prolapse or a view of the hemipenes???

 

[ChameleonRave]

It looks like a prolapse. I would contact a vet.

 

[ChamMan7]

Well the most likely thing is that they got a little intimate and he is having trouble tucking things away. The best thing to do would be to contact a vet. Sometimes things like that go away in a few hours though as everything is rearranged afterwards. In the meantime keep them separate and be sure to keep him a little more humid than you would otherwise.

 

[ChameleonRave]

For the time being, if it's still out and what not, get a hold of some KY jelly and apply it to his hemipene. It will keep it moist until a vet can further assist you.

 

[carol5208]

I would not house them together. Separate the cage. You are going to cause undo stress on the female if she does not want to mate and if they do and she is gravid, she will not want to mate then but the male will.

 

[werecat]

I agree with chameleonrave. If it's prolapsed hemipenes (which it looks like) or any other organ, you must keep it moist and get him to a vet asap! If not kept moist, he could lose his hemipenes or die. The vet should be able to work it back in.

Also, this is what the shower method entails. It is literally a shower in the bathroom. Just make sure the shower water is not hitting him directly:
http://https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ataraxia/594-shower-chamber-treatment.html

Some people have also given their cham a soak in a container with very SHALLOW warm water to keep the organ moist. Sometimes this helps it retract on its own. If not > vet. Good luck!

 

[Razzledazzlebee]

Thanks for the helpful advice! It looked about the same this morning (a tiny bit better) and I put Vaseline on it. He has an appointment with the vet this afternoon. I will keep you guys posted!

 

[carol5208]

I agree with chameleonrave. If it's prolapsed hemipenes (which it looks like) or any other organ, you must keep it moist and get him to a vet asap! If not kept moist, he could lose his hemipenes or die. The vet should be able to work it back in.

Also, this is what the shower method entails. It is literally a shower in the bathroom. Just make sure the shower water is not hitting him directly:
http://https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ataraxia/594-shower-chamber-treatment.html

Some people have also given their cham a soak in a container with very SHALLOW warm water to keep the organ moist. Sometimes this helps it retract on its own. If not > vet. Good luck!

From what I have read on here, the water should be cold to try and get it to go back in. Ya know, heat expands, cold contracts.

 

[Razzledazzlebee]

Okay, so it was a prolapse. He was tested via fecal matter for parasites and it came back negative. So, most likely there was a mating attempt yesterday and since it had been so long for him, his hemipenes got stuck outside. So, they put him in a luke warm soak and were able to get it back inside. They saw a little bit of dead flesh there and removed what they could see and sent me home with some antiobiotic injectables in case there is more toxic flesh inside him. I am to give him an injection every 3 days and a daily soak and give him calcium dusted food every day. I am to have them separated for I'm not sure how long to give him time to recuperate...

I put him back in the tank tonight and he ate and drank a lot. I did lights out but he made his way over to Aura while I was fashioning a cardboard (temporary) divider. When I came back to the tank he was on her side and she had crawled down to meet up with him and evidently show off her black color scheme (that hadn't been there before). I got the divider up and put Marcus on the other side. Aura is still black...

Does this mean she is gravid? Do gravid females show gravid coloration all the time or only when the male is in sight?? Is black the gravid coloration for this species (I know it means stressed but does it mean gravid sometimes too?)

Thank you!

 

[rshewfel]

Okay, so it was a prolapse. He was tested via fecal matter for parasites and it came back negative. So, most likely there was a mating attempt yesterday and since it had been so long for him, his hemipenes got stuck outside. So, they put him in a luke warm soak and were able to get it back inside. They saw a little bit of dead flesh there and removed what they could see and sent me home with some antiobiotic injectables in case there is more toxic flesh inside him. I am to give him an injection every 3 days and a daily soak and give him calcium dusted food every day. I am to have them separated for I'm not sure how long to give him time to recuperate...

I put him back in the tank tonight and he ate and drank a lot. I did lights out but he made his way over to Aura while I was fashioning a cardboard (temporary) divider. When I came back to the tank he was on her side and she had crawled down to meet up with him and evidently show off her black color scheme (that hadn't been there before). I got the divider up and put Marcus on the other side. Aura is still black...

Does this mean she is gravid? Do gravid females show gravid coloration all the time or only when the male is in sight?? Is black the gravid coloration for this species (I know it means stressed but does it mean gravid sometimes too?)

Thank you!

Sounds like she could be gravid to me. I would ask Patrick, if at all possible. Very few people on this forum have experience with keeping this species, let alone breeding them. Probably any advice you get would be based upon experiences with other species. My deremensis female has been black since she mated and both my sternfeldi, that I witnessed mating, turn black when a male is in view.