my panther ingested perlite!!

[kandyman]

hello all, first off i'd like to say i've been trawling through this forum over the past month or so and have found fantastic help and info which has so far been of great value to me, thank you!!

however, this is my first post here and i have a rather worrying problem!! my 6 month old ambilobe ingested some small perlite granules.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Ambilobe panther, 6 months old, had it for 2 weeks.
* Handling – once a week if possible
* Feeding - Crickets, about 8 small – medium a day, in the morning, gut loading with veggies, mainly lettuce and carrot
* Supplements – nekton msa calcium with d3 once a week, nekton rep multivitamin once every 2 weeks, very light dustings
* Watering – mist with spray bottle 3 times a day for a couple minutes, dripper for maybe 30 mins a day in morning, I do see him drink
* Fecal Description – looks ok, but last couple days a bit yellowish
* History - none

Cage Info:

* Cage Type – mainly glass, all screen top, screen vent at front, 80cm tall, 60 wide, 60 deep
* Lighting – 5.0 uvb in fluorescent fitting, regular 40watt house lamp
* Temperature - Ambient day 75-78, basking 80-83, ambient night 65-68, measure with digital thermometer
* Humidity – don’t measure humidity, but levels here in Tokyo are quite high, 70-80
* Plants – pothos and ficus
* Placement – corner of room, can see out window but not close to window.
* Location – Tokyo japan

i read from care sheets that plants should be cleaned thoroughly before introducing them into a chameleon enclosure, i of course did this, and i checked the soil, at that time there didn't seem to be any perlite... obviously i was wrong. i've read that perlite will expand and appear on the top of soil after much watering, which is what must have happened. how stupid of me, should've just re-potted to make sure!!

so, i have of course removed the plants and will completely re-pot them with clean soil to prevent this... but my main concern is impaction or dehydration caused by the perlite he has already ingested.

what can i do to help? should i just make sure he is passing his food everyday? up until now he has been very regular, pooping every morning, and he has a great appetite!!

is there anything else i should be keeping an eye out for? any other problems perlite could cause in a chameleon? this happened today and for now he seems ok, eating and drinking ok, hunting and is active.

any suggestions would be much appreciated!!

 

[MWheelock]

For the most part, there is nothing that you are going to do. (We are not going to get the cham to vomit, and we wouldn't do surgery...) Since it is not really a toxic component, we just wait for it to pass. Yes, you want to make sure he is eating and getting well hydrated. These little ones guts are pretty fast, so it will probably be defecated out quickly.

Was he actually eating the soil, or did he just get a bit when zapping a bug? If it was the later, there is likely not enough to cause any problem.

 

[carol5208]

After you change out the soil COVER it with some large river rocks! He still may eat the dirt which could make him sick also. I don't really thing there is anything you can do other than watch him and see if he starts to show ill effects. Maybe I am wrong here, and someone can tell you differently.

 

[panther67]

My Nosy did the same thing once. The only thing you can do is keep him fed and well hydrated. What I did was feed him hornworms and silkworms and after few days of him not passing it I put him in the shower and he passed it. The shower always seems to make these guys go #2. Good luck I hope he passes it for you. I know the stress.

 

[Hoj]

best of luck, i second the shower my guys always poop in shower...

 

[Monzon]

My experience is that these are not ingested accidentally. Some chameleons will shoot these purposely. There was evidence in a previous thread that showed them to resemble snail eggs. Whatever the cue, I have seen one of my animals get two or three in rapid succession before I could intervene. (My bad - I was photographing him on a house plant that was not a part of his usual habitat). They are inert and non-toxic. Keep checking his feces. They will not be obvious. Impaction is a possibility, but more-than-likely, he will pass them. Keep feeding to keep things moving and increase the hydration as advised.

Before you put down a barrier (I like a disc of screen and river rock), you should try to pick out the loose, obvious bits. They have a way of resurfacing over time through watering.

 

[kandyman]

hey thanks everyone for the input!!

an update, he seems ok today, pooped in the morning as usual, urate was yellowish but i suppose thats to be expected.

he acted as usual, ate normally and i saw him drink directly from the dripper.

his eyes appear a bit sunken so i am misting a little more than usual and doubling his dripper time to make sure he gets water if he needs it.

oh and fyi, he did not eat these grains of perlite by accident, he shot for them!! so it was lucky i witnessed it otherwise he could've been munching on them for weeks without me knowing!!

i took out any remaining perlite i could see in the soil and put a really thick layer of moss on top of the soil, i dont think any perlite could rise up through that, but i may put some river rocks on top of the moss to be sure!!

thanks again, fingers crossed.

 

[carol5208]

Hate to say this but moss is not the best alternative to covering up the soil! Use some large riverrocks(if you can buy them where you are). the reason is this. He still may eat that too! Accidentally or intentionally. Accidentally meaning if he shoots at a loose insect or something he cold take some moss with it in his mouth. I have seen an instance of that happening on here. We have to think about everything we put in their cages that could be a potential hazard when they shoot their tongues or get hungry.

 

[Chamguy89]

Help please):

My 2 month old veiled Chameleon ate a piece of perlite. Is it dangerouse I tried to stop him but I couldn't get to him in time. Is there anyone that can help?