pamnsam94
Established Member
Fortunately, until recently, I've never really had to deal with an intestinal prolapse. I've read a lot about them, but now, I have the misfortune to try to figure out possible causes. From what I've read, the cause/causes of intestinal prolapses are still pretty much a mystery, but I thought I would share what happened to me just in case my particular experience might be of benefit to someone.
A couple of weeks ago, to my horror, I found one of my 11 month old male quads with a prolapse. I have a friend, Rob, who's a vet, and after he managed to work the prolapsed section of the intestine back inside, he used a purse string suture to prevent the prolapse from reoccuring. The chameleon seemed to do well for a few days but then took a turn for the worse and eventually died. Although I considered some possible causes, I figured the prolapse was just a freak accident, that is, until yesterday.
Just yesterday, upon finding another of the 11 1/2 month old quads (this time a female) with the same condition, I concluded the cause must be environmental.
Overfeeding has often been a suggested cause of intestinal prolapse, but I didn't think this was an issue in these instances. However, I did make some changes to their husbandry lately that I suspect may have definitely contributed to their condition. When they were approaching 11 months old, I moved a group of 7 quads to my basement to make room for younger clutches of quads I'm raising. My basement definitely has a cooler ambient temperature than where the youngsters were kept before. Plus, I also decreased the misting frequency and duration.
My hypothesis? I'm thinking that because I'm offering at least as much food as they were receiving before the move, and because the temps are cooler, food is not moving through their guts as fast as it was before, resulting in more "back-up". This, in combination with less misting, might result in them having to strain causing the prolapses. Does any of this sound reasonable?
In any case, I'll be trying to increase the ambient temps, and I'll be increasing the misting times and frequencies back to what they were before. Hopefully, those measures will help prevent any other occurrences.
Perry
A couple of weeks ago, to my horror, I found one of my 11 month old male quads with a prolapse. I have a friend, Rob, who's a vet, and after he managed to work the prolapsed section of the intestine back inside, he used a purse string suture to prevent the prolapse from reoccuring. The chameleon seemed to do well for a few days but then took a turn for the worse and eventually died. Although I considered some possible causes, I figured the prolapse was just a freak accident, that is, until yesterday.
Just yesterday, upon finding another of the 11 1/2 month old quads (this time a female) with the same condition, I concluded the cause must be environmental.
Overfeeding has often been a suggested cause of intestinal prolapse, but I didn't think this was an issue in these instances. However, I did make some changes to their husbandry lately that I suspect may have definitely contributed to their condition. When they were approaching 11 months old, I moved a group of 7 quads to my basement to make room for younger clutches of quads I'm raising. My basement definitely has a cooler ambient temperature than where the youngsters were kept before. Plus, I also decreased the misting frequency and duration.
My hypothesis? I'm thinking that because I'm offering at least as much food as they were receiving before the move, and because the temps are cooler, food is not moving through their guts as fast as it was before, resulting in more "back-up". This, in combination with less misting, might result in them having to strain causing the prolapses. Does any of this sound reasonable?
In any case, I'll be trying to increase the ambient temps, and I'll be increasing the misting times and frequencies back to what they were before. Hopefully, those measures will help prevent any other occurrences.
Perry
