Nala escaped!!!

[Amanda S]

Her cage is 3 or 4 feet in the air above hard kitchen tile flooring. I only hooked the bottom latch after I fed her about 30minutes ago and 10 minutes later I realize the door is completely open and she is gone. I looked all over and justttt found her. She went all the way from the kitchen into the family room and was hanging on the curtains. All her legs are moving but she fell pretty far. She is very small. Should I take her to a vet to be safe? Could there be internal damage? Poor baby!!!

 

[sandrachameleon]

I've had one "fall" that far (Im sure it was intentional, so I think of it as suicide jumping rather than falling) and he was fine; in fact he repeated the performance a few days later. Watch for bad bruises, trouble walking or breathing. If you are concerned, a vet could xray for broken bones.

 

[Amanda S]

I will. She seems fine but kind of shocked. I agree, she definitely jumped, haha. I only found her because I was sitting in absolute silence listening and heard this little tiny scraping noise and followed it. I've got a guinea pig too. I swear she knew the chameleon was loose she has been sitting in her cage whining until I found the cham. My crickets always end up in my guinea pigs cage. They are so freakin smart. I hate them!!

 

[Amanda S]

She has a HUGE bruise on her left side and a smaller one on her right side. The one on her left is half the length of her side and horrible looking, it instantly bruised. What do I do? The one on her left is probably the size of a quarter and the one on her right is about the size of a dime. They are on her lower half, above her legs, on her side/belly. Could she be internally bleeding? What do I do? Let it heal? She is moving and looking around actively but the bruises are horrible. They are a salmon like color and look so painful.

 

[Amanda S]

It is the female carpet chameleon in my avatar picture. She was recently wild caught. I don't want to stress her out but I am afraid to leave her alone. Should I keep away for awhile? She is hanging onto a branch, her breathing is slightly labored, and she is leaning to her side...it obviously hurts her. Even if I took her to a vet, can they treat internal damage that would be low on her ribs?

 

[Jam]

If you can get her to a knowledgeable vet GO. I don't know how advanced cham medicine is but it sounds like she is suffering from internal injuries and could be bleeding internally.

 

[Amanda S]

We just moved to the area and there is an animal hospital a few miles away that is certified for reptiles but I can't get her in until tomorrow. I hope she makes it until then. Does anyone else know what a vet can do? Can they stop the bleeding, if she is bleeding, or heal bones inside her?

 

[sandrachameleon]

Oh dear, hope she's going to be okay. Hopefully there is something a vet can do (but I dont know what). Could there be another vet in the area that could see you sooner? http://www.herpvetconnection.com

 

[Jam]

If she were larger (say dog or cat) they could go in to do surgery and find what's bleeding and stop it. But on a cham ... I would think that if she is having problems breathing they could try and support her with oxygen in an oxygen cage, they could take an xray/ultrasound to see if they can see where it's coming from. But there's not nearly as many things that they can do.

And at the very least if it was hopeless they could stop her from suffering.

Most likely by tomorrow you'll be out of the critical phase bc by then she'll have either bled out or not. (sorry to be so bluntly)

Do you have emergency centers that are open on the weekends for critical animals? For some reason I feel like I remember that you're in pennsylvania ... are you near University of Pennsylvania where they have the veterinary college and hospital? They should take in afterhours/weekend emergencies.

 

[Amanda S]

At home we live right by UPenn but now I'm at Penn State. She has been basking and as usual screen climbing so I guess we will just see how the night goes. I talked to a friend who works with reptiles and she says that the advice they give is that a vet cannot do much for that and that if the bruise doesn't get better in a week to take her in. She thinks that because she is wild she might be more prepared for a fall like that. I will keep you guys updated, thank you for your thoughts

 

[Roni013]

aw! poor Nala, I love how clumsy chams can be. I hope she feels better!