Took Cricket to the Vet

[Troubledluna80]

I have a female panther chameleon her name is cricket and she is approximately 8 to 10 months old. She’s had a change in behavior going to sleep about an hour before her lights turn off and also her poop has changed. About three weeks before this change she was crawling all over her cage trying to get out constantly which is not something typical for her. Her poop either looks dried out or Looks like it has mucus around it. I took her to the U of I exotic animal hospital it’s an hour and a half away from my house but they claimEd to have a lot of experience with chameleons and could get her in quickly. They did blood work And a full body x-ray. The x-ray does show that she has several follicles forming although they do not have the hard shell yet. The vet said it’s possible she could reabsorb them or she should be laying in 3 to 6 weeks. The only thing so far with her bloodwork let’s come back was a high calcium level which the vet said could be Because she’s getting ready to make eggs. She hasn’t been eating as much and isn't as interested in food as before but the vet said it could be bc she has several follicles making her stomach feel full. She also said that the change of poop could be because of this also. She genuinely seemed pretty knowledgeable except she told me to not use the multivitamin with the D3 on the first and the 15th because the linear UVB bulb should be enough so that made me question if she is as knowledgeable as she claims. does anyone else’s female chameleons have a change in poop when they are about to lay? I brought a fecal sample but It was from 2 days ago and the vet said we need a fresher sample so I have to take one back to test for parasites. Does anyone have any ideas or feedback? I have had a husbandry review and then fixed the problems.

 

[MissSkittles]

I can’t answer if my girls have any change in their poops prior to laying as they haven’t laid more than a couple of times each. I didn’t notice any change to their appetites prior to laying except for a little hesitancy a day or two prior. They are veileds though, so little to nothing seems to interfere with their eating.
For the D3 and uvb…we can pretty much only hope that the lights will be able to provide the uvb that they need. It’s been said that we supplement with D3 as a sort of insurance that they don’t have any lack of it. However, the D3 that we use as dietary supplement works differently in the body than what is given off by uvb. We can very easily overdose our animals with too much dietary D3. When it comes from a light source or the sun, it is impossible to overdose on it. In essence, we can’t always be absolutely positive that they will be getting the amount that they need from the uvb light alone, so we add dietary supplement in small quantity. At least this is my understanding of it. As for using multivitamins, I’m not aware of other sources that we are able to provide that will give their bodies all of the vitamins and minerals that they need and would get in the wild. There is no light source for that.

 

[Troubledluna80]

I can’t answer if my girls have any change in their poops prior to laying as they haven’t laid more than a couple of times each. I didn’t notice any change to their appetites prior to laying except for a little hesitancy a day or two prior. They are veileds though, so little to nothing seems to interfere with their eating.
For the D3 and uvb…we can pretty much only hope that the lights will be able to provide the uvb that they need. It’s been said that we supplement with D3 as a sort of insurance that they don’t have any lack of it. However, the D3 that we use as dietary supplement works differently in the body than what is given off by uvb. We can very easily overdose our animals with too much dietary D3. When it comes from a light source or the sun, it is impossible to overdose on it. In essence, we can’t always be absolutely positive that they will be getting the amount that they need from the uvb light alone, so we add dietary supplement in small quantity. At least this is my understanding of it. As for using multivitamins, I’m not aware of other sources that we are able to provide that will give their bodies all of the vitamins and minerals that they need and would get in the wild. There is no light source for that.

That makes more sense now. I got the Reptivite multivitamin with D3 and give it on the first and the 15th. I give plain calcium at every feeding 3 or 4 times a week. it makes me feel better to get the D3 because I’m scared of her getting metabolic bone disease so as long as it’s not gonna hurt her I’m gonna continue. Oh when I take her back to the vet I’ll make sure I bring in fresh fecal sample to test for parasites just in case hopefully this all goes either or if she’s able to leave them without issue. I’m gonna put up the fake plants on the outside to give her more privacy and then in 2 weeks I'll put up a sheet. The vet said if they don't get reabsorbed she should lay in 3-6weeks so that will give her extra privacy just in case. Of course if anything looks funny before than I'll take her back in. Thanks

 

[kinyonga]

Do you have a laybin in her cage now?

Post a recent photo of her please.

 

[Troubledluna80]

Do you have a laybin in her cage now?

Post a recent photo of her please.

She is puffing up and getting warmed up which is typical for her at this time of day. Her cage is bioactive and there's a very large deep plant bag at the bottom with terrafirma substrate from the biodude. It holds a tunnel and I made one for her to test the soil.

 

[Troubledluna80]

Update they got the rest of the blood back Renee said that she is slightly anemic but she isn’t concerned because that can happen when they are using all those red bloods cells to make eggs. She did move a little today around today but she just got in her sleeping position about 1.5 hours before lights turned out. I can't see any new poop but I had black solider flies hatch in the enclosure so I can't look in the back of the enclosure where poop gets stuck on the leafs. She did eat 2 flies but there's still 3 in her cage. The vet said at this point in time no treatment is needed and she wouldn’t even call it a problematic cycle yet she wants to wait to see what happens in three weeks when we have a recheck. It does make me nervous that there's signs she is having problems and we are just waiting to see what happens.

 

[Charlottethechameleon]

I have a female panther chameleon her name is cricket and she is approximately 8 to 10 months old. She’s had a change in behavior going to sleep about an hour before her lights turn off and also her poop has changed. About three weeks before this change she was crawling all over her cage trying to get out constantly which is not something typical for her. Her poop either looks dried out or Looks like it has mucus around it. I took her to the U of I exotic animal hospital it’s an hour and a half away from my house but they claimEd to have a lot of experience with chameleons and could get her in quickly. They did blood work And a full body x-ray. The x-ray does show that she has several follicles forming although they do not have the hard shell yet. The vet said it’s possible she could reabsorb them or she should be laying in 3 to 6 weeks. The only thing so far with her bloodwork let’s come back was a high calcium level which the vet said could be Because she’s getting ready to make eggs. She hasn’t been eating as much and isn't as interested in food as before but the vet said it could be bc she has several follicles making her stomach feel full. She also said that the change of poop could be because of this also. She genuinely seemed pretty knowledgeable except she told me to not use the multivitamin with the D3 on the first and the 15th because the linear UVB bulb should be enough so that made me question if she is as knowledgeable as she claims. does anyone else’s female chameleons have a change in poop when they are about to lay? I brought a fecal sample but It was from 2 days ago and the vet said we need a fresher sample so I have to take one back to test for parasites. Does anyone have any ideas or feedback? I have had a husbandry review and then fixed the problems.

Did you see dr macko sangetta i just took my veiled to her and she right away wants to spay her i too questioned if she was knowledgeable my girls poop didnt change when she laid her eggs it was always the same until a week ago when she could barely pass a poop which the vet said was due to to much follicles yet this is time she would be preparing a new clutch