Stuck Digging!!!!

JoeG

New Member
I came home from work at lunch & she was digging. I came home from work & she was stuck in the hole , tail limp , couple of eggs nearby. I thought she was dead so I gently got her out to find her barely alive. Cleaned her up a little & put her under her light to warm up. She had slight movement of her forelimbs & head but not her rear legs or tail. I think her neck is broken because it is curved behind her head. I'll post pics . I need someone with experience who might have had a similar situation.
 
sorry for your chameleon. Worst case the eggs are still good if she doesnt make it. You can do a at home c cection if the female dies, but get her to a vet asap and go from there.
 
Yes. Its the same girl. She must have been stuck for a long time.She was in there at almost the same depth at 12 oclock & when I got back home at 6, she was still facing down,her tail was sticking out but limp, & there were a couple of eggs near the top like maybe she got stuck turning around & maybe started laying when she realized she couldn't get out. I don't know if it fell in on her but she layed 7 & still has more in her belly . I don't know if she could even lay the rest if she recovers.
 
She does not look very good in the photos of her in this thread....my opinion still stands....I would get her to the vets now.
 
She does not look very good in the photos of her in this thread....my opinion still stands....I would get her to the vets now.

I really value your opinion kinyonga, I read your threads often & realize & acknowledge that you & a select few others have a lot of knowledge about chams & that's why a novice keeper like myself asks for opinions & help on this forum, but, its not realistic to bring a cham to a vet without an appointment at night. So trying to be as humane as possible, I was asking if someone on here could give any useful feedback other than , get to a vet.
I just checked on her , she seems to have recovered a little ; enough to start laying more eggs. I tried to make her as comfortable as possible in a container on a towel under a low heat source & she has resumed laying right there on the towel. I'm still hopeful she will pull through....peace.
 
It might be worth a call to a few vets offices, many will have a number for afterhours veterinary care on their voicemails. If that doesn't pan out and she does survive the night, she really does need to goto the vet tomorrow.

I had a tunnel collapse on a female. She had already finished laying and was covering the hole in my situation though. She was unattended for about 4 hours, I'm unsure how long she stuck though. After I pulled her out she seemed to be in shock for about an hour and a half, she barely moved. After awhile though she did come to. I took her to the vet the following day and had an xray taken to make sure they were all out. She had laid them all, prior to the collapse, and recovered from the incident fine. Funny thing is that female HATED me with a passion until that day :rolleyes:.

I hope the same happens for your girl.
 
Keep us posted on what happens. Hopefully by her laying some remaining eggs, her condition will get better. Evaluate the situation in the morning as it is very late your time and you are keeping her comfortable and safe right now.
 
Update

Absolute Miracle! With some TLC we stayed with her last night while she finished laying her eggs on the towel. 40 total . She regained the use of her rear legs & tail & she's walking around again. I'm going to see if she will drink & eat today. I have liquid calcium but I don't want to stress her by opening her mouth. I think she's on her way to a full recovery. I can't believe the resiliency these animals have. She came back from near death.....
 
Absolute Miracle! With some TLC we stayed with her last night while she finished laying her eggs on the towel. 40 total . She regained the use of her rear legs & tail & she's walking around again. I'm going to see if she will drink & eat today. I have liquid calcium but I don't want to stress her by opening her mouth. I think she's on her way to a full recovery. I can't believe the resiliency these animals have. She came back from near death.....

Beautiful!!! I was hoping to hear some good news!! If she will take food you can always inject the calcium into a feeder so you dont have to stress her out. Keep us updated.
 
Hope she makes it through! I had to take my female veiled to the vet this morning as she is egg bound. They are keeping her there for the next 1-3 days till she has laid the eggs so I am hoping that she is going to be ok.
 
I would just try and get as much water into her as possible for the next cpl of days. Then worry about the calcium later. How is her grip? If she's got a decent grip then you know she's getting her strength back. If you have any silks or horns I would give her some today. And mist the hell out of that lucky girl.

On a side note. How much do you feed normally? The reason I ask is 40 is a really large clutch for a panther. After recovery I would try and control her feeding and get those future clutches down into the 20's. I feed every other day as do most other keepers on here.

If this is her first clutch, she will lay a retained clutch in about 6 weeks time. So try to let her recover. Then start her on a controlled diet. You should see a reduction in numbers. If your already feeding every other day then I would check my temps at her basking site. You may need to reduce the wattage on her basking bulb. Jmo...
 
Hope she makes it through! I had to take my female veiled to the vet this morning as she is egg bound. They are keeping her there for the next 1-3 days till she has laid the eggs so I am hoping that she is going to be ok.

Thank you , & I wish you good fortune for your girl. I was afraid of binding also ; I hope she pulls through for you !
 
I would just try and get as much water into her as possible for the next cpl of days. Then worry about the calcium later. How is her grip? If she's got a decent grip then you know she's getting her strength back. If you have any silks or horns I would give her some today. And mist the hell out of that lucky girl.

On a side note. How much do you feed normally? The reason I ask is 40 is a really large clutch for a panther. After recovery I would try and control her feeding and get those future clutches down into the 20's. I feed every other day as do most other keepers on here.

If this is her first clutch, she will lay a retained clutch in about 6 weeks time. So try to let her recover. Then start her on a controlled diet. You should see a reduction in numbers. If your already feeding every other day then I would check my temps at her basking site. You may need to reduce the wattage on her basking bulb. Jmo...

Thanks Tex. I didn't know to look for a retained clutch. she's 13 months now & up until she mated 1 month ago she was my best eater so she was fed daily & then became fussy until she stopped a couple of days ago. I will definately moderate her food from now on to limit her clutch size. I am very impressed how she got her grip back overnight after being almost lifeless. not 100% but close. Thanks for sharing your experience. That's what makes this forum so great. I would like to help someone in the future also as my experience grows.......
 
IMHO the idea is to feed her well for a couple of days and then cut her back in the hopes that she will not lay a big clutch. (I'm not an authority...its just my opinion that this may limit the number of follicles that will ovulate.)

However...once she is working on the new clutch you need to make sure she gets enough food to produce a healthy batch of eggs.

Glad to hear that she laid them all...I had my doubts because of how bad she looked in the last photos.
 
Thanks Tex. I didn't know to look for a retained clutch. she's 13 months now & up until she mated 1 month ago she was my best eater so she was fed daily & then became fussy until she stopped a couple of days ago. I will definately moderate her food from now on to limit her clutch size. I am very impressed how she got her grip back overnight after being almost lifeless. not 100% but close. Thanks for sharing your experience. That's what makes this forum so great. I would like to help someone in the future also as my experience grows.......

Yeah as I said I'd let her recover. I still feed every other day during recovery and I feed normal amts. If she eats all her feeders I may give one or two extra. Then after that first week I'd stay on the every other day schedule. Im glad she made it. Some like to give them unlimited feeders during recovery. I feel that its more important to get them rehydrated after ovipositing. Jmo.
 
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