Stuff Growing out of chams butt! Not Poop!

[Marc10edora]

Went to check on my cham today and I found these weird things growing out of his butt. It might be some dried up poop, butt I have never seen anything like this, even with my other chams. Any idea of what it could be? I tried to pull it off gently, but it is really dry and stuck in there. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know what I can do. If this is a job I can handle myself, I would love to save a trip to the vet. I really can't afford another trip this month. I just shelled out $1,000 bucks for my dog's visit last week. If I do have to take my cham, I would have to wait until next month! Here are some pics of the problem:

 

[Lizardlover]

Went to check on my cham today and I found these weird things growing out of his butt. It might be some dried up poop, butt I have never seen anything like this, even with my other chams. Any idea of what it could be? I tried to pull it off gently, but it is really dry and stuck in there. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know what I can do. If this is a job I can handle myself, I would love to save a trip to the vet. I really can't afford another trip this month. I just shelled out $1,000 bucks for my dog's visit last week. If I do have to take my cham, I would have to wait until next month! Here are some pics of the problem:

Sperm plugs. Just mist them with some warm water ( and the whole vent area ) grab a pair of tweezers or gloves, and gently, gradually pull them out. Sometimes as you pull them out, their hemipenes with come out a little, but they will pull them back in.

will come out looking like this (or in your case there will be two that come out looking like that)

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Just confirming that these are sperm plugs, nothing to worry about.
You can try soaking him in a shallow bath to loosen the material if misting isn't enough.
Don't be afraid to tug a little harder ... you won't hurt him removing these.

-Brad

 

[LVmama]

OMG! That is why I love this forum, did not know that happens, haven't seen it yet. Now prepared for the day I am faced with sperm plugs, I assume that happens with all boy chams??

 

[gpmo]

Our boy did this the other day too, these aren't the best pics but here ya go, another 2 reference pics. By the way, pulling this out made my day! had a smile on my face the whole time

Stacy

 

[Lizardlover]

OMG! That is why I love this forum, did not know that happens, haven't seen it yet. Now prepared for the day I am faced with sperm plugs, I assume that happens with all boy chams??

Yes, all male chameleons pass sperm plugs, but normally they pass out easily, however, sometimes they will be too large to pass and will need to be pulled out. All of my other male chameleons have not had this problem before, it was just my male Pardalis.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

OMG! That is why I love this forum, did not know that happens, haven't seen it yet. Now prepared for the day I am faced with sperm plugs, I assume that happens with all boy chams??

In my experience , it seems to happen more often to older males. Maybe because the lazy old males sit around and don't move as much as younger chams , their junk just seizes up....LOL

I read many years ago that plugs are also attributed to a diet lacking some vitamin or mineral. Has anyone read anything to this affect??

 

[Matt1851]

and im assuming this also happens if they dont mate?

 

[reptoman]

Does this happen more or less often after they breed? My male ambilobe is 1 1/2 years old and I have yet to experience sperm plugs stuck to him or even seen them after falling off. I put him with my female back in October and she laid 2 fertile clutches so far.

 

[froggybrib]

Thank you so much for these posts... my 1 year old cham had sperm plugs and even after soaking it wasn't going away. I was so worried. All I did was tug a little and phew all gone. Really disgusting though Thanks again!

 

[laurie]

Thank you so much for these posts... my 1 year old cham had sperm plugs and even after soaking it wasn't going away. I was so worried. All I did was tug a little and phew all gone. Really disgusting though Thanks again!

Hey glad to see you, just jump in and you can learn lots of wonderful thinks to do. But we really do have some knowledgeable, helpful members. Welcome & glad your guy is ok.

 

[gwilliams]

Sperm Plug

Wow - great topic - I've got 2 full grown males - and haven't seen this happen yet.... but so good to know if I see this, I think now I'll know what to do!

Another reason I love this place!

Glenna

 

[Dakk]

I think I have this going on with my male veiled. I wish the photos from the original post were still there so I could compare. He is about 5 months old. I already had him to the vet as he was not evacuating. We made it through that problem and I am hoping to avoid another trip out there as she is pretty far away. Now, she did tell me males will masturbate, so it may be what he has. I did soak him today for about 10 minutes and made sure the water was warm, not hot. The vet told me to do that if I thought he was having problems evacuating again. I thought the he had dried fecal matter sticking out. It is 3am here right now, and he is sleeping like a baby, but if he still has it tomorrow, I will take photos and post them here. Thank you, in advance, for having this wonderful forum and website! I am so glad I found you.

Dakk

 

[kinyonga]

Dakk...can you post a photo please?

If anything pink/reddish is sticking out of the chameleon's butt and stays out for longer than a few minutes, it needs to be kept moist so it won't become necrotic....and it should be taken to the vet right away.

If your chameleon is constipated it may be part of the reason there is something there in the first place. It could be that the chameleon has ingested something it shouldn't and its becoming impacted or it could be a parasite issue or even something like MBD.

 

[Dakk]

. I hope that came out OK. I am going to put something on it to keep it from drying out. And also today he looks like he has lost weight. He does eat and he has pooed - but no poo since that thing appeared. I am starting to worry.

Grr the Flickr photo did not show up. Here is the link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dakk/6916865971/

 

[kinyonga]

Does it look like there are two dried ends on it? Maybe its hemipene plugs?

 

[Dakk]

I did try to pull it out but got scared because I thought it was his peni. So I had him in my room and he wiggled himself under the covers. When I went to take him to check again and put him back in his habitat, there was a moist thing that looked like wood. I would have taken a photo but my daughter cleaned off the table. He still had some wood and mucussie looking stuff there so I tried to remove it but it was very moist and I could only remove a small amount because the tweezers were getting too close to the sides of his peni. The protrusion is still there but less than it was and I am keeping it moist.

 

[taz_s_824]

Hi all, I just discovered this in my chameleons rectum today. Not sure what it is but I have a vet appointment in 2 weeks. Please help!

 

[kinyonga]

If that tissue continues to be visible you're going to have to keep it moist.

 

[taz_s_824]

I did try to keep it most this morning and it looks like a bit of it came out. Will try to keep it most. Thanks!