Cruel Joke

[jajeanpierre]

On Monday a new import came in from Madagascar so I picked up a nice group of Calumma malthe on Tuesday. Yesterday night I was looking at them and saw a disgusting, slimy blob of what I thought could only be mucus-y stool hanging from a branch. I reached and tried to pull it off and it was stuck. In fact, it had been wrapped around the branch with a long thin strand wrapped around more branches....

A poor gravid female had tangled her tongue on the branch and ripped it off.

I couldn't believe that such a cruel joke had been played on her! She seems gravid so making it to the importers alive is in itself a miracle. She had been in my care less than 24 hours, so still needed a lot of hydration. She wasn't in the best of shape when I bought her to begin with. I just couldn't believe it.

We set her up in a tub with a fogger running on her all the time. She was a mess--pale, yellowish, eyes sunken and in a lot of pain with her mouth open. And gravid. The timing of everything couldn't have been worse if it were planned.

She looks a lot better this morning. Her color is better, her eyes are fuller, her mouth is closed and she's lost that panicky look in her eyes. I've seen some pretty awful injuries they come in with and know they must be feeling a lot of pain, but the look on her face was more--it just broke my heart.

Time will tell if she'll survive. She has so much stacked against her besides just losing her tongue--new import that was not in the greatest shape, not fully hydrated, gravid....what more could be stacked against her? I'm sooooooo thankful @jpowell86 was here to help and tell me what to do. I sure hope she managed to eat a lot of crickets before the accident because I can't feed her for some time. I just hope the bone in her tongue is covered in flesh and she didn't deglove that. I need to take a couple in to the vet and I'll talk to him about her. I won't take her in--she's under enough stress.

Poor, poor thing! How cruel--to survive the Hell she did to get her alive and then this.

Picture from this morning:

Picture from last night:

 

[Decadancin]

Best of luck with her. She does look better in the top pic, so hopefully that is a good sign. Praying for success!

 

[Nursemaia]

Oh god that's heartbreaking. You have some of the saddest and some of the most amazing recovery stories about the hell your imports go through. I feel for this little girl and hope she gets better soon, she's in good hands.

 

[leedragon]

thats just f'ck up

 

[WAMBO]

She is beautiful. I hope she gets well. Good luck!

 

[Extensionofgreen]

That's awful! I'm crossing my fingers for her continued survival and viable eggs contributed to the world.

 

[JacksJill]

Heart breaking news.
Best of luck with her. She's in good hands.

 

[Link]

I don't think I can handle seeing that. Good luck

 

[Peachypink]

Poor girl!! That is heartbreaking.

 

[carol5208]

I hate that they import animals of any kind. What the poor things go through. I have seen some real horrors on the internet that I wish I hadn't.

 

[Andee]

I wish you and her good luck. I know you have been in some horrible situations but this is a pretty hard one even for you. So my thoughts will be with you two. Here's hoping for the best.

 

[GCash]

That's horrible! It looks like she's a blue eye, too. Have you noticed this trait in many of the other imports you've looked through? My smallest male just started showing it and it blew me away. Do any other of yours have blue eyes?

 

[kinyonga]

I hope her tongue tore at a good spot and covers the bone but didn't leave so much that it's uncomfortable in her throat. As long as she is watered with a dripper in case she can't lap water and she figures out that she must chase the insects down now atvleast that should be OK. Inhope she's strong enough to get through all that she's been handed to deal with. Good luck with her. She's in good hands.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I wish you and her good luck. I know you have been in some horrible situations but this is a pretty hard one even for you. So my thoughts will be with you two. Here's hoping for the best.

Thanks, I'm so glad Joel was visiting when it happened and could help me with her. She's not looking good at all. Joel warned me it would be a roller coaster with her, but she might, just might, pull through.

 

[Peachypink]

Thanks, I'm so glad Joel was visiting when it happened and could help me with her. She's not looking good at all. Joel warned me it would be a roller coaster with her, but she might, just might, pull through.

Really hoping she pulls through for you. Praying for more ups on that rollercoaster than downs.

 

[jajeanpierre]

That's horrible! It looks like she's a blue eye, too. Have you noticed this trait in many of the other imports you've looked through? My smallest male just started showing it and it blew me away. Do any other of yours have blue eyes?View attachment 176156

Oh, he's really pretty! I have a few with blue eyes, but not quite a dramatic as your boy.

 

[Motherlode Chameleon]

Janet

I would recommend putting a bowl in her enclosure for her to feed out of similar to a Bearded Dragon. I have had tongue problems happen to a couple of my chameleons in the past. Chameleons are capable of learning how to go to a bowl and bowl feed with out use of their tongue.

Calumma malthe eyes are normally blueish however they can even become a purple color.

Best Regards
Jeremy A. Rich

 

[jajeanpierre]

Update: She's still alive and I think doing pretty good considering everything.

Yesterday I was going to euthanize her--she was dark, eyes sunk in and looking miserable but when I picked her up I realized she was in not too bad condition. I sent pictures to Joel and he agreed, she didn't look too bad. (The sunken eyes are because of pain.) I'm sure she is still dehydrated, but not as badly as when she first did the injury.

I leave a fogger running on low, dripping fog down onto her plant. This morning I found her on the plant with her nose up in the air into the stream of fog with it condensing on her face. She seemed to be drinking a tiny bit.

I went to the vet this morning with a couple of graciliors and discussed her. He looked at the pictures and agrees with me that it seems that she has some flesh covering the bone. He gave me some curved syringes and recommended one of those critical care carnivore care foods.

It is almost a week so @jpowell86 is tentatively optimistic. Here's a picture from yesterday. She was puffed out and brightly colored from pain after I had fed her, but I still think she looks better. Her casque is a little fuller and the skin over her hips/tail/spine is a little fuller and not as tight.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

She looks like she has a fighting chance, for sure! I've never looked into what is actually in carnivore care, but I can't imagine it is suitable for chameleons for more than an occasional emergency. I hear of people using it often, but I've always wondered what the benefit is, versus feeding whole prey, even if it has to be done manually. I'm your case, not having insects irritating the healing area and keeping the mouth as free from contaminates as possible, could be a benifit, if the product is syringe fed, down the throat.

 

[Andee]

Carnivore Care I have used regularly with my severely critical rescues. I use it and then switch to pureed bugs when they start putting on better weight. I would likely go with Carnivore Care with her, though the pureed bug mixture often seems to be more palatable for those chameleons/reptiles I give it to because they seem to fight less when eating it. I would think she would need more time bulking up etc. I have experienced with Carnivore Care and chameleons who aren't able to drink well on their own you may want to make it relatively liquidy because if you make it toward the thicker end it can cause constipation.

Edit: I do agree in that picture, she doesn't look her best, but she has that more bright eyed look that a meal can give.