URGENT ADVICE NEEDED-Dehydration and poss egg bound Panther Chameleon

[doris]

Hi, Wondered if anyone could help me,
My chameleon is dehydrated - she has sunken eyes and they are closed, she's still gripping but seems very weak, she has eggs in her tummy and was in her laying bucket yesterday digging, not sure if she layed any, i have done some research on the net and they say about a injection to make her contract.
We have managed to get her to drink by pipette a water solution with some vitamins in and calcium, she drank about 4mm, she still didn't open her eyes.
We have now layed her on the top of her laying bucket so she doesn't have to cling onto her branches.
Has anyone had some personal experience of this before and in your opinion is the vet option likely to be very successful?
Should I try getting her to drink every so often through the night?
Any comments/advice appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[stucoady]

Sorry I can not help you, just wanted to welcome you to this site. People will help you out very shortly.

 

[mcghee26]

You can try giving her a shower. To do this place her on a plant and have the shower hit the wall and bounce back onto the plant and her, I would leave her in there for at least 20-30 minutes. Hopefully this will help. Is she still eating? If she is then you can give her some silkworms, I have even injected some pedialyte into the silkworms to help with dehydration. Hope this info helps you out. Good luck!

 

[ChromaChameleons]

As a quick , at home , solution , you can try giving her liquid calcium, administered orally. It should be available as an over the counter item at the pharmacy. My vet gave me a prescription of liquid calcium once and it was raspberry flavoured , which indicates that it was definitely a commercial human grade liquid calcium.

The calcium is necessary for her to contract and pass the eggs.

If you visit a vet , they will inject the calcium , as opposed to orally syringing it and also most likely administering Oxytocin. Its success is about 50/50 in my own personal experience.

A vet visit sounds as though it is in order or try to rehydrate her , give her liquid calcium and try her in her bucket again within a day.

Good Luck

 

[Brad Ramsey]

You can try giving her a shower. To do this place her on a plant and have the shower hit the wall and bounce back onto the plant and her, I would leave her in there for at least 20-30 minutes. Hopefully this will help. Is she still eating? If she is then you can give her some silkworms, I have even injected some pedialyte into the silkworms to help with dehydration. Hope this info helps you out. Good luck!

If she is having trouble holding herself on a branch, I would not recommend a shower.
A qualified vet with chameleon experience is the route to go.

-Brad

 

[Dave Weldon]

...My chameleon is dehydrated - she has sunken eyes and they are closed...she's still gripping but seems very weak

...she has eggs in her tummy and was in her laying bucket yesterday digging

...is the vet option likely to be very successful?

...Should I try getting her to drink every so often through the night?

Howdy Doris,

A dehydrated chameleon may have sunken/closed eyes but unless she hasn't been drinking for many days, it is more likely that her sunken/closed eyes are because she is in severe distress. She may be egg bound.

As ChromaChameleons said, the odds are not good but if you have an experienced Vet available, now is the time.

Unless she is truly dehydrated, skip the nighttime fluids.

 

[kinyonga]

I can't stress it enough...get her to the vets NOW.

 

[doris]

Hi all, thanks for all your advice, knew that she would need to go to the vets, and have recently returned, the vet gave her a calcium injection and a oxytocin injection.
Unfortunetly I couldn't get a appointment first thing and was unable to get an appointment with a specialist vet untill Wednesday, so opted for my local vet, who has some knowledge.
He also gave me some Glutalyte which I mixed and gave to her as soon as we returned home, she didn't seem to like this as it's a bit more like a syrup than a water. She is now under her basking lamp on her laying bucket.
Fingers crossed she pulls through.

Does anyone know how quickly the oxytocin will take to work? I forgot to ask the vet.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Oxytocin should kick in within 30 minutes to an hour.
It can be repeated 2 or 3 hours later .
Is your vet still available for a late afternoon repeat ?

 

[chamlover]

Hi Doris,

How is your little girl doing? Hopefully she has laid her eggs. Did you say you had started a hole for her? I don't remember. If not, start one for her to see if that helps. My vet says that if she hasn't delivered in 24-48 hours after starting you have a serious problem. Did you ever have an egg-laying bin in her cage? Or are you putting her in one? If she hasn't laid the eggs yet, you do have a life-threatening situation. Like the previous people have said, call the vet for a repeat shot. I had one that went to the vets 4 times for injections before she finally delivered. I never thought she would make it through but she did thanks to alot of tlc and my vet's help, without that she wouldn't have. Don't let it go or she will not make it. Stay vigilant and call the vet for another possibly stronger injection. Good luck.

Debby

 

[doris]

Bad news I'm afraid

She went downhill so fast.
i wish I had taken more notice of her drinking before and after her digging on friday and Saturday. I thought she was just resting and taking time out on her best basking spot on sunday, it wasn't untill before her lights were due to go out on Sunday that her eyes had sunk and she was barely clinging onto her branches.

This morning she seemed to pick up after some more of my water mix, but by the time I took her to the vets she wasn't, and got even weaker after the vets and later passed away

My partner asks is it worth trying to save the eggs, would they still be ok?? obsured I know but if any thing good could come of this!!

 

[ChromaChameleons]

You can't bring her back , but you could possibly hatch her eggs. That would be some consolation for you and her.

 

[chamlover]

Doris,

I am sooo sorry to hear that. Believe me i know exactly how you feel. I did have one die actually during the egg-laying process. My husband actually did retrieve the last of the eggs that she had retained and found an extra large one. We are expecting the eggs to hatch in about 2 more months. So at least in my case i will have a Tasha 2. Do you manage to get any of her eggs? I hope so. Just keep in mind the lesson you learned and the knowledge that you have gained so that hopefully you never have to go through this again. It is part of the breeding of chameleons. I hope you won't give up on chameleons.

Debby