Hi. It’s been 6 days now since my veiled chameleon started digging. I’ve had a bucket at the bottom of her enclosure since I’ve had her. She’s about 6 months now (vet thinks). I’ve had her for two.
She started digging last week the 16th. Before I only had organic soil in there and I read that playsand should be used in order to hold its form. So the next day I went out and mixed it with mostly playsand and some soil left in there. I know you should not disturb her but the soil wasn’t holding shape and I didn’t want anything to cave in on her. She continued digging. My boyfriend and I did handle her a few times (we just didn’t know any better at the time) since she was covered in dirt and we wanted to help her clear the soil and sand from her eyes. We are aware now we should not disturb her for nothing, but she continued digging anyway. She’s been drinking water almost every night.
It’s been almost a week now of nothing but digging. She continues to do it. She’s in the hole right now. I have a pet cam set up. She climbs up momentarily throughout the day and goes back to digging for a majority of the day. She is visibly weak. She looks very bloated. I’m getting very worried. I spoke to my vet today but they do not hospitalize exotic animals and referred me to one a very long distance from where I live.
I don’t know what to do. I’m thinking maybe her bucket is too small, so I bought a much bigger container filled with play sand today. But I haven’t gone in to replace it because I’m worried it will really mess with her process and she won’t lay at all.
This has been happening for a week now and she looks worse every day and I’m very concerned. I feel like if I keep waiting and waiting and doing nothing then I’m making it worse but I don’t know what to do without disturbing her.
She started digging last week the 16th. Before I only had organic soil in there and I read that playsand should be used in order to hold its form. So the next day I went out and mixed it with mostly playsand and some soil left in there. I know you should not disturb her but the soil wasn’t holding shape and I didn’t want anything to cave in on her. She continued digging. My boyfriend and I did handle her a few times (we just didn’t know any better at the time) since she was covered in dirt and we wanted to help her clear the soil and sand from her eyes. We are aware now we should not disturb her for nothing, but she continued digging anyway. She’s been drinking water almost every night.
It’s been almost a week now of nothing but digging. She continues to do it. She’s in the hole right now. I have a pet cam set up. She climbs up momentarily throughout the day and goes back to digging for a majority of the day. She is visibly weak. She looks very bloated. I’m getting very worried. I spoke to my vet today but they do not hospitalize exotic animals and referred me to one a very long distance from where I live.
I don’t know what to do. I’m thinking maybe her bucket is too small, so I bought a much bigger container filled with play sand today. But I haven’t gone in to replace it because I’m worried it will really mess with her process and she won’t lay at all.
This has been happening for a week now and she looks worse every day and I’m very concerned. I feel like if I keep waiting and waiting and doing nothing then I’m making it worse but I don’t know what to do without disturbing her.
