I’m hoping that someone here may be able to help figure out what is going on with my chameleon. She’s had a long history of issues and right now even her vet is unsure of what is wrong with her.
The basics:
Female Veiled Chameleon, 3.5 years
Heat Source: 50W bulb heat lamp
UVB: Repti Glo 10.0 (26W)
Temperature: 90-95 degrees (basking light), 70-75 degrees (side w/o light)
Lights on 12 hour on/off cycle
Humidity: 40-50%
Water: Water dripper, daily
Environment: Sticks, pothos plant, a few fake plants, laying bin with 50% plantation soil/50% sand
Cage: Wire mesh, 2’x 2’x 3’
Diet: Currently she is being force fed wax worms, but her normal diet is crickets (gut loaded w/ greens) and occasionally phoenix worms or silk worms, all dusted with calcium powder (w/o vit D)
In October of 2010, I brought Naadhira into the vet because she wasn’t eating. Her WBC count was high, which indicated an infection, and she was put on antibiotics. Her calcium was quite high, which might have been an indicator of reproductive activity. About two months later, I was doing a fecal float on her since she still wasn’t doing very well, and I found the source of her problem: she had passed three small rocks. After three trips to the vet and the pain of passing those rocks, she was never the same again. She had also had some fluid build up and swelling in her eye and elevated phosphorous levels. The fluid was looked at microscopically, but nothing was found. The same eye still tends to get off every once in a while and the fleshy part inside her eye socket is exposed, but it pops back into place (not sure if I'm explaining that well).
In May of 2011, I brought Naadhira back to the vet because of ongoing aggression, reduced appetite and mild lethargy. Since her last visit she had gained 22 grams and radiographs showed follicular development in her abdomen.
For the next few months I offered her two different laying bins with different mixtures of sand/soil, approx 12 inches deep. She never showed any signs of egg-laying behavior and was not eating well. She stopped eating crickets entirely and would not eat worms out of her dish. She ate a few worms from my hand or from on a leaf, but then eventually stopped eating entirely. She looked terrible, had sunken eyes and then one day I noticed her tail was black and not curled properly. I took her back to the vet and radiographs confirmed that the follicles had not progressed, most likely follicular stasis, and that her tail was not broken. She had lost about 20 grams. My vet also thought another possibility was liver disease or septicemia. There were small hemorrhages in her oral cavity and small amounts of bloody fluid in her glottis. She was tube fed carnivore care, given fluids and started on antibiotics. Her chemistry results were all normal (except CK which was sky high due to stress). I have been having her soak in warm water for 30 minutes daily and force-feeding her with tongs. She is extremely aggressive, hissing and striking at me whenever I go near her and attempt to feed her. I have most of her cage covered with fabric so that my coming and going from the room don’t disturb her.
I’m just not sure what kind of quality of life she has right now. Has anyone been in a similar situation or know what might be wrong? Is it all just complications from the follicular stasis? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
The basics:
Female Veiled Chameleon, 3.5 years
Heat Source: 50W bulb heat lamp
UVB: Repti Glo 10.0 (26W)
Temperature: 90-95 degrees (basking light), 70-75 degrees (side w/o light)
Lights on 12 hour on/off cycle
Humidity: 40-50%
Water: Water dripper, daily
Environment: Sticks, pothos plant, a few fake plants, laying bin with 50% plantation soil/50% sand
Cage: Wire mesh, 2’x 2’x 3’
Diet: Currently she is being force fed wax worms, but her normal diet is crickets (gut loaded w/ greens) and occasionally phoenix worms or silk worms, all dusted with calcium powder (w/o vit D)
In October of 2010, I brought Naadhira into the vet because she wasn’t eating. Her WBC count was high, which indicated an infection, and she was put on antibiotics. Her calcium was quite high, which might have been an indicator of reproductive activity. About two months later, I was doing a fecal float on her since she still wasn’t doing very well, and I found the source of her problem: she had passed three small rocks. After three trips to the vet and the pain of passing those rocks, she was never the same again. She had also had some fluid build up and swelling in her eye and elevated phosphorous levels. The fluid was looked at microscopically, but nothing was found. The same eye still tends to get off every once in a while and the fleshy part inside her eye socket is exposed, but it pops back into place (not sure if I'm explaining that well).
In May of 2011, I brought Naadhira back to the vet because of ongoing aggression, reduced appetite and mild lethargy. Since her last visit she had gained 22 grams and radiographs showed follicular development in her abdomen.
For the next few months I offered her two different laying bins with different mixtures of sand/soil, approx 12 inches deep. She never showed any signs of egg-laying behavior and was not eating well. She stopped eating crickets entirely and would not eat worms out of her dish. She ate a few worms from my hand or from on a leaf, but then eventually stopped eating entirely. She looked terrible, had sunken eyes and then one day I noticed her tail was black and not curled properly. I took her back to the vet and radiographs confirmed that the follicles had not progressed, most likely follicular stasis, and that her tail was not broken. She had lost about 20 grams. My vet also thought another possibility was liver disease or septicemia. There were small hemorrhages in her oral cavity and small amounts of bloody fluid in her glottis. She was tube fed carnivore care, given fluids and started on antibiotics. Her chemistry results were all normal (except CK which was sky high due to stress). I have been having her soak in warm water for 30 minutes daily and force-feeding her with tongs. She is extremely aggressive, hissing and striking at me whenever I go near her and attempt to feed her. I have most of her cage covered with fabric so that my coming and going from the room don’t disturb her.
I’m just not sure what kind of quality of life she has right now. Has anyone been in a similar situation or know what might be wrong? Is it all just complications from the follicular stasis? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
