Sick/Pregnant Female : Help

[CGFlyer]

Hello,

We are distraught. Our girl BB Ambilobe is not doing well right now. She is always perky and an active hunter. Right now she is very week and her tongue is hanging out a bit. We are looking into a reputable vet now.

A little background worth noting. We bred her with my male on the 15th of August. Everything was fine until this past Thursday when we had to evacuate for Hurricane Irene. We ended up moving out in the middle of the night...she was not happy and obviously stressed. I'm sure being 2 weeks pregnant didn't help. Since then, she has been lethargic and the tip of her tongue is exposed. She tries to eat...but seems completely out of energy. She is back home as of yesterday, and nothing has changed yet. We do have an egg laying bin in her cage..but she is uninterested as of yet. When placed in the vermiculite...she crawled out. We are very concerned. I included the "request for help" info. Any advice is very much appreciated. I am already planning on taking her to the vet.

Oh, also, she is making herself very flat....not sideways flat...but more of a pushing ribs outwards and spine down.

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Female BB Ambilobe, approx. 12 months old We've had her for 8 mo.
Handling - Not often, though she has a good demeanor ad will let you hold her.
Feeding - Crickets, mealworms, wax worms, dubia roaches....she's a great eater. We dust them with calcium supplements and gut load them with a food I made....lots of good stuff in it.
Supplements - RepCal w and without D3...we also have Sticky Tongue Minerall. We dust every feeding with regular rep cal and usually every other week we alternate D3 and Minerall.
Watering - I'm using an automatic mister and manually spray as well. The mister goes off 4 time a day for 30 seconds. I spray a couple times for a minute or two....she loves the water. Drinks plenty.
Fecal Description - Regular looking...though she hasn't pooped in about a week.
History - We just mated her....see above story.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - 4X2X2 Screen
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0
Temperature - Varies throughout cage. Hotter higher...not higher than 85, or lower than 70-75
Humidity - 50-60% RH
Plants - All sorts of fake plants...lot of cover.
Placement - In the corner of my "jungle" room. Lots of plants all around. About 32" off the ground.
Location - Northeastern North Carolina

 

[CGFlyer]

Well..no responses yet...we are on our way to the vet. Hopefully they can help.

 

[BrandyJ]

Sorry your girl is ill. I don't have advice, but would like to hear what your vet says and also of her progress.

Good luck, I hope she's feeling better soon,
Brandy

 

[suzi]

It could very well be dehydration, and or vitamin deficiency. I would give her a very long shower when you get back from the vet ( bouncing the warm water off the wall and onto a plant, having the plant 1/2 in the water so she can move in and out of the water at will) please keep us posted on the vet visit. I wish you all the best

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."When placed in the vermiculite"...vermiculite is used for incubating the eggs in not for laying them in. I would recommend washed playsand for laying them in.

Did she have the bin since the day you mated her...or since when?

 

[CGFlyer]

We had the container filled with sand and had vermiculite on stand-by for the eggs. The vermiculite seemed like it was easier to dig in...I will go back to sand. She has only had the egg laying bin for the last couple days.

I couldn't attend the vet visit because I'm at work. The vet said she's suffering from a nutritional/calcium deficiency and that the egg production is exacerbating the condition. He's saying that we've more or less neglected her and that she's been malnourished for a long time...I know he's the expert, but I don't agree. I'm actually offended and very dissappointed I wasn't there to give him all of her info and explain our husbandry routine...instead my wife just listened to him and passed that info to me. I'm sure his deduction is the easiest prognosis to give...but she has always been a healthy eater. I know exactly what goes in...gut loaded insects that are dusted appropriately. And up until 3-4 days ago...she looked awesome and was eating and acting like her normal energetic self.

He gave her a calcium shot with electrolytes and told my wife to try to force feed her pinheads...which I find odd...how can you "force feed" LIVE insects...he's talking actually inserting them in her mouth...not just hand feeding. I will trust him and do as prescribed though. We go back on Thursday. Oh, he also said we should be dosing Calcium with D3 daily???? I found that recommendation very odd...I can see an increase...but daily seems incorrect.

Does anyone have any tips on "force feeding"? I was thinking about trying to use a syringe with a liquid calcium supplement....I figure calcium and water have got to be the most important things for her right now.

 

[CGFlyer]

Also, for what it's worth, my male is on the same diet/schedule and he is gorgeous and very healthy.

 

[BocaJan]

That is indeed strange. He should have given you liquid calcium to give her. Pins just don't have enough nutrition for a grown cham. When I hand feed my cham I use a reptile tweezer, pick up the cricket or worm and help it into the chams mouth. Generally it isn't a good idea unless the cham is so weak it can't eat on it's own. I would cup feed if it is actively eating.

Is this vet a known herp vet?

 

[camimom]

I dunno if it will work for you, but I find with my guy that he will open his mouth if i touch him between his eyes. I did this once to get something off his head and he opened, when i tried again later to do a mouth check, he opened agian, now he will do it everytime i touch him there, just a thought.
hope your girl turns out ok

 

[CGFlyer]

Yeah...strange. I'm happy she got the shot of calcium and electrolytes...and that alone was worth the $150 I guess...but overall I am unhappy with the visit. I don't know if I should stick with this guy or go with another vet.

Can I buy liquid calcium drops?

 

[jannb]

How close are you to Charlotte? There's a good chameleon vet there. Dr. Matthew Wheelock.

 

[CGFlyer]

Charlotte is around 4.5 hours away. She is looking very poor right now...feeling hopeless. I pray she gets better.

 

[Elizadolots]

I hope she bounces back. She's obviously under a lot of stress.

You can buy liquid calcium supplements for humans. I'm unsure whether they are okay for chameleons and what sort of dosing would be appropriate.

However, a pregnant chameleon probably needs lots of calcium and they tend to vent excess calcium (as opposed to turning it into kidney stones) so maybe it's worth a shot.