Healthy weight for female veiled?

[PenelopeLove]

Hi everyone

I have posted recently and filled the form twice.. Nothing has changed too much with Penelope as far as the form goes...

She is still recovering from her RI, but each day she seems to be getting more energetic and looking happier and stronger.. Still sleeping a bit in the day but she's still on antibiotics for the next few days..

The vet asked me to monitor her weight each day and I weigh her twice a day before I give her her meds and feed her juice (she's still not interested in any bugs)... The last few days she's been around 45g (1.6oz).. Could someone let me know what a healthy weight for a veiled could be?

She is 5 months old - would be great to know so I can keep an eye on this while she continues to recover in the next few weeks.

Thanks

 

[jannb]

How's Penelope doing? My female veiled Sadie weighed 67 grams at 5 months old and now at 10 months old she's 134 grams.

 

[PenelopeLove]

Hi Jann!

Thank you so much for the info.. now that I have a better idea of what she needs to be at, I will be able to help her get there.

She seems to be getting a little better each day... this morning she was 48g and this is the most she has weighed since she has been with me, although her weight seems to stay around 44-46g. Her colours are not as dark and her strength is starting to come back in her arms.. this morning she even tried to hold on to me with one of her little hands! There still isn't much of a grip there, which is stopping her from climbing up to her favourite spot, but to see and feel her little hand try to close around my finger was such a lovely start to my day!

This morning I force fed one cricket to her, along with her juice. I am picking up some more crickets this afternoon so will have plenty to feed her and I was told that they are nice and small for her. The gentleman who supplies the feeders to the store has been in contact with me and picked out the smaller ones especially for her so that her tummy can break them down easily.

Hong long should I continue to force feed her if she does not eat by herself? I don't want to continue to put her in a stressful situation each day if it is not necessary. When I do force feed - how much should I be making her eat? I would like to stop the juice and continue with crickets now that she is getting stronger, but I'm just not too sure how many I should get her to eat.

Also, one of my mealworms has turned into a bug with wings :/ should I feed this to her or will it be to hard for her to digest.. I haven't had a proper poop from her since she's been on her medicines as she's mainly had juice. I don't want to over do it and then she gets all clogged up again!

My poor little darling! She knows her morning and evening routine so well now she just climbs onto my hands when I reach in to take her out!

 

[Alexl]

The last few days she's been around 45g (1.6oz).. Could someone let me know what a healthy weight for a veiled could be?

Your chameleon isn't healthy or let's say she was ill before, so you shouldn't try to get her into a "healthy" weight. She might grow slower and less than others, but that's nothing to worry about. Let her grow her way and assure she's not losing weight. (By the way, I can't find anything bad about this weight...)

My female veiled Sadie weighed 67 grams at 5 months old

Honestly, that's quite a lot for such a young chameleon.

 

[PenelopeLove]

Your chameleon isn't healthy or let's say she was ill before, so you shouldn't try to get her into a "healthy" weight. She might grow slower and less than others, but that's nothing to worry about. Let her grow her way and assure she's not losing weight. (By the way, I can't find anything bad about this weight...)



Honestly, that's quite a lot for such a young chameleon.

Thank you very much for your advice

What would your suggestion be on the amount I should force feed until she is ready to catch them herself? She has been really good considering all that she has had to have in the last few weeks and although I don't really like "making" her eat.. I don't want her to not eat and lose the bit of weigh she has gained just because she can't be bothered.

My main concern is with her energy levels to be honest.. she is not using her front feet and arms properly and sleeping a fair amount through the day.. on the plus side, she has started moving positions again, so I'm guessing this means her health is starting to improve.

Unfortunately, I got her in a very bad way and am now doing my best to help her get better.

I would appreciate any help you can offer!

 

[Alexl]

Does she eat anything on her own? Does she drink from pipette or anything you offer near to her mouth?

 

[Olimpia]

I will say that my veiled, Charlotte, weighed about what Penelope does when she was around that age. It's been a long time since I lost her weight info (she died last year) but she never got very big and then she needed surgery to amputate a damaged tongue and never really grew after that. I think that by about a year she was still at perhaps 70g? I don't think she broke 100g by age 1.

 

[PenelopeLove]

@Olympia - I'm so sorry to hear that thank you for your info though.. it certainly is helpful

Does she eat anything on her own? Does she drink from pipette or anything you offer near to her mouth?

@Alexl - no, she is not eating or drinking anything on her own at the moment. Today was her last day of Baytrill and Saline injections. She knows where her dripper is and I've seen her use it before, but since she started the medicines, she has completely lost interest.
Do you think she will pick up in the next day or so now that she doesn't have to get jabbed and drink the yucky Baytrill? I can tell that she hates it.. she knows the smell of it and jerks her head away!
Although she has begun to move her positions more, she hasn't really climbed anything.. not even up to her favourite basking spot... she mainly hangs around the bottom... her strength is just coming back and she is so much more lively now that I'm thinking she will start to climb again soon?

Any advice would be great.. I'm just feeling so lost..

 

[jannb]

Honestly, that's quite a lot for such a young chameleon.

Alex, this is Sadie at 10 months old. Please give me you honest opinion. Do you think she looks over weight? I want to make sure I am doing everything correct for her because she is VERY special to me.

 

[PenelopeLove]

Alex, this is Sadie at 10 months old. Please give me you honest opinion. Do you think she looks over weight? I want to make sure I am doing everything correct for her because she is VERY special to me.

She looks really happy to me! I hope that Pennie will soon be as happy looking as Sadie!

I will take her out for another outdoor adventure on Friday after a few more days rest and try to get a picture for you on her tree.. She really loves it there Maybe if I can show you a picture this might help see if there is anything more that I could be doing to help her?

 

[jannb]

Alex, this is Sadie at 10 months old. Please give me you honest opinion. Do you think she looks over weight? I want to make sure I am doing everything correct for her because she is VERY special to me.

She looks really happy to me! I hope that Pennie will soon be as happy looking as Sadie!

I will take her out for another outdoor adventure on Friday after a few more days rest and try to get a picture for you on her tree.. She really loves it there Maybe if I can show you a picture this might help see if there is anything more that I could be doing to help her?

I'll be happy to look at your picture. Post it up here. I'm hoping the best for Penelope.

 

[PenelopeLove]

Thanks Jann I'll definitely put it up as soon as I can.. if I can get home a little earlier in the afternoon and she is looking happy I might be able to take her out a little earlier than Friday..

Do you have any suggestions on how many crickets I should be force-feeding? I would like to get her back on crickets as soon as possible.. after being force fed one this morning, she had a little sparkle in her eye lol! I'm hoping this will get her excited for a few more tomorrow!

 

[jannb]

Thanks Jann I'll definitely put it up as soon as I can.. if I can get home a little earlier in the afternoon and she is looking happy I might be able to take her out a little earlier than Friday..

Do you have any suggestions on how many crickets I should be force-feeding? I would like to get her back on crickets as soon as possible.. after being force fed one this morning, she had a little sparkle in her eye lol! I'm hoping this will get her excited for a few more tomorrow!

I'd say 4 to 6 depending on the size. Can you find silkworms there?

 

[PenelopeLove]

I'd say 4 to 6 depending on the size. Can you find silkworms there?

Unfortunately, we can only get mealworms and crickets here it's illegal to import live insects to the UAE.. I have some lovely small crickets, so I'll see if I can get her to have 6 in the morning.. I'll keep you posted!

 

[Alexl]

- no, she is not eating or drinking anything on her own at the moment.

Mmh, then forcefeeding is an option. As long as chameleons do still drink, I'd try to give them a mash of feeders (I kill the feeders and put them with the normal amount of supplements into a kitchen blender) via pipette. Now that your girl isn't on medication anymore, I would forcfeed only once few feeders and then wait some days to see whether she's going to eat on her own again. I always avoid forcefeeding as long as possible due to additional stress.

Alex, this is Sadie at 10 months old. Please give me you honest opinion. Do you think she looks over weight?

She doesn't look like a fat liver candidate . But in fact, we can't see it from the outside. She doesn't have a bulged casque or those "chubby cheeks" (as far as I can see it from the sideview), but these signs stay for a really obese stage. We can't see nearly anything in between. Due to this, I'm up to date trying to create a table about proper weights in Furcifer pardalis and Chamaeleo calyptratus, oriented to size of the abdominal fat pads and organ conditions (in relation to age and chameleon size). But it's hard to differentiate and it's only a little beginning, it may take some years for results (if there will be some at all). Actually I advice people to feed only few days a week and only few feeders (adults) to avoid fatty animals. But you can see the results not until you do an x-ray, ultrasound or an operation due to other problems. That's our big problem in reptiles and the necessary amount of food...

 

[PenelopeLove]

Mmh, then forcefeeding is an option. As long as chameleons do still drink, I'd try to give them a mash of feeders (I kill the feeders and put them with the normal amount of supplements into a kitchen blender) via pipette. Now that your girl isn't on medication anymore, I would forcfeed only once few feeders and then wait some days to see whether she's going to eat on her own again. I always avoid forcefeeding as long as possible due to additional stress.



She doesn't look like a fat liver candidate . But in fact, we can't see it from the outside. She doesn't have a bulged casque or those "chubby cheeks" (as far as I can see it from the sideview), but these signs stay for a really obese stage. We can't see nearly anything in between. Due to this, I'm up to date trying to create a table about proper weights in Furcifer pardalis and Chamaeleo calyptratus, oriented to size of the abdominal fat pads and organ conditions (in relation to age and chameleon size). But it's hard to differentiate and it's only a little beginning, it may take some years for results (if there will be some at all). Actually I advice people to feed only few days a week and only few feeders (adults) to avoid fatty animals. But you can see the results not until you do an x-ray, ultrasound or an operation due to other problems. That's our big problem in reptiles and the necessary amount of food...

Ok... seems my problems are never ending... this morning she has 6 small-med crickets force-fed. Then, within 15mins she pooped them all out!!! They pretty much came out whole (or the way they looked when she swallowed them) along with one "juice poo" which was actuall pretty damn nice if you ask me! lol!
Not too sure if maybe she had needed to poop before I fed her and that's why it all came out so quickly? Should I try again tomorrow morning and see what happens?

 

[Alexl]

Not too sure if maybe she had needed to poop before I fed her and that's why it all came out so quickly? Should I try again tomorrow morning and see what happens?

That's it... a reptile will never have a digestion time of 15 minutes. I wouldn't forcefeed every day. How should she become hungry if the stomach's already full?

 

[PenelopeLove]

That's it... a reptile will never have a digestion time of 15 minutes. I wouldn't forcefeed every day. How should she become hungry if the stomach's already full?

haha ok! I guess I'm just getting paranoid! lol

After hearing that she should eat 15-20 crickets a day I've been really stressing out! I'll just weigh her and her the oral vitamins tonight and put a few crickets in her cage tomorrow morning and see what happens during the day.

Thanks again

 

[mcbdz]

Since she has been so weak and not strong enough to eat by herself you may want to try hand feeding first to see if she will try to shoot for it or take it from you. Hold it where it is really wiggly to stimulate her . Also have you tried to drip water on her nose slowly to get her to drink on her own. She could still be to weak to go get it herself but, get it close by. Just suggestions, you may already be doing this.

 

[PenelopeLove]

Since she has been so weak and not strong enough to eat by herself you may want to try hand feeding first to see if she will try to shoot for it or take it from you. Hold it where it is really wiggly to stimulate her . Also have you tried to drip water on her nose slowly to get her to drink on her own. She could still be to weak to go get it herself but, get it close by. Just suggestions, you may already be doing this.

Yeah I have tried these, but she's just not interested, but I'm going to try move the dripper closer and see if that helps her a little
I think I might stop force feeding for a few days and see if her appetite picks up.. Do you think this could help?