Does this look like swelling around her neck?

[Frigga]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - female vieled chameleon. Approx 11-12 months. I've had her for about 4 months.
• Handling - I have literally only held her twice. Once when she got her new cage set up and I had to move her, and once when I took her to the vet.
• Feeding - mainly crickets, sometimes dubias and the occasional horn worm. When I first brought her home I was feeding her daily, but now she usually gets 6-10 crickets every 2-3 days, I got load with fruits and veggies and well as bug burger.
• Supplements - I dust every feeding with repti calcium, no d3. Once every 3 weeks its calcium with d3.
• Watering - I currently hand mist, minimum of 3-4 times a day, once in the morning for about 4-5 minutes, couple times in the after noon. And again at night about 20 minutes before lights out. I dont see her drinking unless I spray her directly. I really want to get her an auto mister set up, but just haven't been able to yet, I work from home though so it's not urgent cause I have a good routine.
• Fecal Description - I took her to the vet immediately after getting her, she was cleared of parasites. Her poops are normal, white urates and solid fecal.
• History - Oh where do I begin?! Hela was a rescue. She was kept in some pretty poor conditions before I got her. She lived in a travel carrier, no heat, no lights, wild caught crickets from a tweaker hotel room. The list goes on, see this post for more on how I got her https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/sometimes-i-really-hate-people.164828/

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - reptibreeze, 18x18x36
• Lighting - basking light is a dome 60watt agro light. Uvb is a t8. 12 hours on 12 hours off.
• Temperature - basking spot is around 85-90. Bottom of the cage is low 70s. At night it drops to 70s-60s, depending on the time of year. I have a laser temp gun.
• Humidity - typically humidity stays around 50-60% but there are drops in between mistings, I live in Arizona, it's very dry here and hard to keep the humidity up. I have a shower curtain around her cage to help keep in some humidity.
• Plants - I have used live plants, but I have a brown thumb and cant keep the suckers alive to save my life. She had a hibiscus and a ficus. I just removed the ficus today to try to nurse it back to health. So currently only fake plants.
• Placement - he cage is nestled into a corner in my formal dining room, no traffic in the area, out of the line of vents and no ceiling fan in there. Her cage sits on a small table, so top of the cage is probably 4 feet from the ground.
• Location - Arizona

Current Problem - she hasn't been really eating this week, and it appears to me she has some swelling around her neck. She seems to be more lethargic as well. I took the low appetite as a sign of her getting ready to lay eggs, as I heard that was common. But then I noticed what looks like swelling today, but I could simply be over reacting and imagining it. I tend to stress over her more then I ever have with my male, she had a rough beginning and I just dont know what underlying issues she might have in the future. Yesterday she hardly moved in her cage at all and didn't touch the crickets I offered. Today was cleaning day, then I take her cage outside and let her get some sunshine. She hissed at me like normal, and moved around a little while outside, but still she just doesn't seem like herself. I offered crickets again after bringing her back inside, and she hasn't even moved since coming back inside.
I'm thinking I'm going to take to her to the vet this week, for my piece of mind, but I wanted to ask here if anyone has any ideas for me or if I'm doing something wrong. Or tell me if I'm just being ridiculous and way over thinking things, that's certainly possible.
I just want to give her the best life she can have.

 

[Frigga]

Let me add, I think she's getting ready to shed soon. Not sure if that has any impact on her behavior, it never has with my male. But thought I'd include that.

 

[ERKleRose]

She needs calcium with D3 every two weeks, along with a multivitamin without D3 every two weeks (or combine both and use a multivitamin with D3- like Zoo Med Reptivite with D3- every two weeks instead). I would take her to the vet sooner rather than later

 

[ERKleRose]

And add some more branches and vines, mostly horizontal, everywhere in her enclosure. Good luck!

 

[Frigga]

She needs calcium with D3 every two weeks, along with a multivitamin without D3 every two weeks (or combine both and use a multivitamin with D3- like Zoo Med Reptivite with D3- every two weeks instead). I would take her to the vet sooner rather than later

I can definitely do that, I thought 3 weeks was good but doing a week earlier is easy enough, I'll change the routine with my male as well.
I'm definitely calling the vet in morning. Do you think that could be causing the swelling? Have you ever seen this before?

Also I will add more branches, there are some horizontal ones that aren't visible in the picture because of the vines.

 

[ERKleRose]

I can definitely do that, I thought 3 weeks was good but doing a week earlier is easy enough, I'll change the routine with my male as well.
I'm definitely calling the vet in morning. Do you think that could be causing the swelling? Have you ever seen this before?

Also I will add more branches, there are some horizontal ones that aren't visible in the picture because of the vines.

I’m not sure, and no, I haven’t seen something like this, but I haven’t been here awhile

 

[Jesspete]

I have no idea what would cause it, but I also see what you're describing.

 

[Frigga]

I have no idea what would cause it, but I also see what you're describing.

Well at least I'm not crazy and you see it too. It's weird, hopefully the vet will have some insight.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Well at least I'm not crazy and you see it too. It's weird, hopefully the vet will have some insight.

It’s called gullular edema, basically retained fluids. Is she gravid?

 

[Frigga]

It’s called gullular edema, basically retained fluids. Is she gravid?

Brody I was so hoping you'd comment! I almost tagged you or sent you a PM cause you're always so helpful!
I dont believe she's gravid, but I really dont know, I thought she was starting to produce egg early October, but then nothing. Now no other signs are showing that she is. And she isn't any fatter than before. I cant really get her to move to get a good picture for you to see, she's still in the same spot, I even reached in there and she doesn't move, just looks at me. I just took this picture, still in the same spot. She looks sad and didn't gape and hiss at me like she normally would.
Is that painful?
Is this normal? Should I be concerned? What causes it?

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Never hesitate to tag me!

Now that I had the time to read the whole thread where is she in the egg laying process? I definitely see receptive colors on her but that doesn’t narrow it down much.

It is common for gravid veilds to develop some edema, mine does ever time like clockwork. One day she will look like the first pick you posted with the double chin, next day perfectly normal like the last pic. It comes and goes without rhyme or reason, the only thing I can tie it to is her having eggs.

I don’t see edema as an emergency, get your D3 and multivitamin on point and give it 24-48hrs. It will likely clear on its own but if it gets worse see a vet.

I know she won’t cooperate but a good pic of her belly from the top and side would help me a lot.

 

[Frigga]

Never hesitate to tag me!

Now that I had the time to read the whole thread where is she in the egg laying process? I definitely see receptive colors on her but that doesn’t narrow it down much.

It is common for gravid veilds to develop some edema, mine does ever time like clockwork. One day she will look like the first pick you posted with the double chin, next day perfectly normal like the last pic. It comes and goes without rhyme or reason, the only thing I can tie it to is her having eggs.

I don’t see edema as an emergency, get your D3 and multivitamin on point and give it 24-48hrs. It will likely clear on its own but if it gets worse see a vet.

I know she won’t cooperate but a good pic of her belly from the top and side would help me a lot.

Ok! I just ordered reptivite with d3 off Amazon, it'll be here in Tuesday

So about where she is in the egg laying, I attempted to take pictures, but this girl is sassy beyond belief, so I'm not sure how helpful these pictures are, she was MAD. I haven't seen her that mad since her last vet appointment. But I'm going to take her sass as a good thing, she's not so lethargic that she won't gape and hiss, still got that hatred in her heart lol
Also we talked about her egg laying last week in this post, if that helps:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/is-that-an-egg.166056/#post-1442578

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Ok! I just ordered reptivite with d3 off Amazon, it'll be here in Tuesday

So about where she is in the egg laying, I attempted to take pictures, but this girl is sassy beyond belief, so I'm not sure how helpful these pictures are, she was MAD. I haven't seen her that mad since her last vet appointment. But I'm going to take her sass as a good thing, she's not so lethargic that she won't gape and hiss, still got that hatred in her heart lol
Also we talked about her egg laying last week in this post, if that helps:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/is-that-an-egg.166056/#post-1442578

Now I remember... she appears to be very early on in the process. I’d say just monitor her for now, it will likely clear on its own in the coming days. If it gets worse see a vet.

 

[Frigga]

Now I remember... she appears to be very early on in the process. I’d say just monitor her for now, it will likely clear on its own in the coming days. If it gets worse see a vet.

That's a relief. Thanks again @Brodybreaux25 ! As always you have been such a huge help. I'm such a basket case when it comes to her, she does so much as moves funny and I'm ready to rush her to the vet. Unfortunately for me, her vet doesn't actually help my anxiety most the time but helps to stress me out more (when it comes to Hela, I never had issues with them till I brought her in), so I'm even more thankful to have found this forum.
In the mean time, her lay bin is all set up and ready whenever she is. And this will be just another thing I'll be watching on her (she also has a weird bump on her back, the vet didn't know what it was, so I'm keeping an eye on that too). Pretty sure my chameleons give me more grey hairs than my kid lol

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Grey hairs are just an indicator of how much you care!

 

[my chams name is karma]

how is your cham doing now? just curios

 

[Frigga]

You read my mind, cause I was just getting ready to post on here

how is your cham doing now? just curios

So I still dont think things are ok with her, the gular edema seems to have gone down. But she's still not eating or moving around. I brought her cricket bowl up to her to see if maybe she would eat, she wouldn't, she just looked at it and me unimpressed. She's been in the same position since Sunday night. I'm kind of thinking (hoping) maybe the weather change is her problem, in the few days the temps have dropped 20 degrees, and a it's a bit chillier in my house now, 65 this morning when I got up. So not super cold, but colder then it has been. Today I'm going to go buy a new basking bulb for her, her basking spot doesn't seems to be getting to the temps I want it, so maybe that's the issue, it's more around the low 80s now. Although she's not basking anyways, more hiding in the shadows, if she was cold I would think she would move. The reptivite should be here today, although I dont know how I'll get it in her cause she won't eat...

So my plan now, is try a new light, I'm going to cover her cage tonight to keep it a little warmer, and hope that helps.
If I dont see any changes by Thursday, I'm calling the vet.

First pic is from yesterday, second one is from the morning. Same spot.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Having a favorite spot is not a bad thing. My female will stay in one of her favorite spots for days at a time, only moving to poop or eat.

I really don’t think staying in one spot is a big deal, but I agree the lack of appetite and edema is a bit worry some.

 

[Frigga]

Having a favorite spot is not a bad thing. My female will stay in one of her favorite spots for days at a time, only moving to poop or eat.

I really don’t think staying in one spot is a big deal, but I agree the lack of appetite and edema is a bit worry some.

Yes, she also has a favorite spot, it's actually behind the vines where she can hide. She would spend most of her time back there but she would also still make her rounds, hang out under the light, a couple laps around the cage, go back to her hiding spot when ever I'd come by unless I had food, and she has always been eager to eat, that's the only time she somewhat likes me. But she's never stayed in the same spot for even a day, and where she is now isn't in that spot, plus it's pretty much out in the open, which is uncharacteristic for her. She's not even moving around when I mist her cage, which normally pisses her off, because let's be honest, she just hates everything about me.
But these last few of days she just sits there, making me worry
But like I said, I'm going to give her till Thursday, if she's still not acting right or not eating and not moving, I'm taking her in. Even if they just tell me I'm silly and wasted $85, it'll be worth it for my piece of mind, she's worth it.

 

[my chams name is karma]

have you tried anymore kinds of food like silkworms