Ribs look kind of broken.

[WacklieCacklie]

So I work at petsmart and we got a female veiled chameleon in a couple days ago. She's acting normal but her ribs look a tad broken. When she breathes in or stretched her body they bend inwards. Does this look normal? I've heard of females becoming gravid but have never seen it since I've got a male. Can someone help me out here? I'm a bit worried about her :/

(Also sorry if the pics don't upload right I've never done it before)

 

[jannb]

Poor baby. That is not normal. I’d get a vet to check her out and make sure she has an X-ray.

 

[WacklieCacklie]

Poor baby. That is not normal. I’d get a vet to check her out and make sure she has an X-ray.

Oh no I'm not sure if I'll be able to take her to get x-rayed since she's owned by the store. And the in-store vet doesn't deal with reptiles. Is there anything else I could do for her? My boss said if it's something that'll affect her we'd adopt her out. I'm guessing this fits that criteria.

 

[jannb]

I believe that she needs a vet. I would adopt her to someone that can get her to a vet. I know a couple of good rescues for chameleons if you need one. They would get her the medical treatment that she needs.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

I am so sorry about that. Hopefully a vet can get it checked out. I wonder how something like that happens . . ?

 

[WacklieCacklie]

I believe that she needs a vet. I would adopt her to someone that can get her to a vet. I know a couple of good rescues for chameleons if you need one. They would get her the medical treatment that she needs.

Thanks but I know of a couple places that would be good for her. Plus I'm not sure if the rescues you know of would be in my area

 

[WacklieCacklie]

I am so sorry about that. Hopefully a vet can get it checked out. I wonder how something like that happens . . ?

Yeah it's only on one side so maybe she had some sort of fall? She isn't scared of people so hopefully it wasn't from anyone grabbing her. I feel so bad for her though it looks like it was painful.

 

[Carlton]

I am so sorry about that. Hopefully a vet can get it checked out. I wonder how something like that happens . . ?

Hard to say. If she has some MBD going on because of poor care her ribs could be quite fragile or even deformed. She looks quite thin and depleted. BTW, their ribs are not completely bony, more a combination of cartilage and bone. There is a natural flexible "bend" in the ribcage (the ribs are normally shaped in a horizontal "V"). The fractures could have already healed so you are seeing the callus instead of the normal shapes.