veiled female lil bump on her side?

[jarvis1]

Hi guys I just wanted to talk about a lil bump I noticed behind the front leg of my cham. Is it just a rib? I notice that when she's stretching and reaching the top mesh of the enclosure, she just has that on her left side I think.

Anyway she's always moving a LOT around her cage and seems attracted by the T5 UVB linear light (bought it 7 months ago) 'cause she's walking upside-down on the top mesh of the viv for a good part of the day, and she keeps having the color you see in the pics. Is there any explaination about her attitude? another thing I notice is that every time I get close to her she runs toward me and tries to get out of the viv, she's not scared, she just wants to get out.

husbandry:
- basking spot 86F and other parts of the viv around 77F.
- daily crickets dusted with calcium, 2 times a week with calcium+D3, 2 times a month with reptivite vitamins.
- linear arcadia T5 6%uvb light.
- misting 2 times a day.
- homemade wooden vivarium bioactive, live plants, upper side with steel mesh and front side in plexiglass (however I just bought a full mesh viv for the summer period outside my city, when the summer ends I'm planning to use this mesh viv into my actual house in city by swapping it with the wooden one).

 

[Curlytails]

possibly a broken rib. stress colours are showing...

 

[jarvis1]

guys, she's walking on the ground and I found her behind the vase now, what does she have? she doesn't look gravid, she eats and poops regularly..

 

[jarvis1]

what, and what's the cure for her now? what is the vet going to do??? :S i'm so worried, I don't understand, she's walking on the branches fine..

 

[blue_cham]

How old is she? How long have you had her?

 

[jarvis1]

How old is she? How long have you had her?

she's about 1yo and I have her since november 2017

 

[jarvis1]

I don't understand, aren't animals supposed to stop eating or walk less if the got a broken rib? she's now walking on the branches. she fell down to a lower branch from a higher branch last week and it was the first time, but since then she never kept falling. I don't understand how she managed to broke that rib.. it was just a stupid fall, the viv is not so high.

 

[jarvis1]

any help guys?

 

[Curlytails]

it can just be a benign tumor with little to no effect on the animal. i know that chameleons can take very bad falls and still be ok.

 

[jarvis1]

... now I'm scared af, could she die? what do I have to do? does she need surgery? I know it costs a lot.... I will take her to the vet for a visit tomorrow or monday.. Hope it's nothing serious (

 

[blue_cham]

Hard to say. A vet visit will answer questions especially if an x-ray is done, they can check her bone density too. Good that she hasn't fallen again, but is odd that she did at all, their grip on a branch is usually pretty secure. Did you see her fall? If she has been hanging on the screen, maybe that's how she fell? Keep us posted on vet visit, hope she's okay

 

[jarvis1]

it can just be a benign tumor with little to no effect on the animal. i know that chameleons can take very bad falls and still be ok.

After a deep observation today I think that's not a tumor, because the lil bump is only showed when the cham is stretching her body, a tumor mass should be visible also when she's relaxed, this thing doesn't happen. I think it's just a rib, could be broken but as far as I know broken ribs in reptiles like chameleons are usually nothing serious, they can heal pretty well, but however I just don't think it's broken, the cham is keep moving a lot without any problem.

Hard to say. A vet visit will answer questions especially if an x-ray is done, they can check her bone density too. Good that she hasn't fallen again, but is odd that she did at all, their grip on a branch is usually pretty secure. Did you see her fall? If she has been hanging on the screen, maybe that's how she fell? Keep us posted on vet visit, hope she's okay

She fell because she was hanging kinda upside-down on the screen, then she was going on the nearest branch but she fell to the lower one. Anyway yeah I will go to the vet, it's expensive here, I didn't know they were so expensive.. especially an X-ray, which is out of my budget at the moment.. but I'll try to take her anyway to the doc .
Today I spent the day reading medical articles about chams, lots of informations about their bone structure, their organs, and their illnesses. I checked for signs on my cham but she's only showing brown color, she looks fine. no sunken eyes, strong grip, perfect mouth, etc.. .


Could it be because of the cage? I see her trying to climb on me whenever I get close to the viv, and she keeps walking upside down on the mesh and today she walked again on the ground (2nd time today) and behind the vase. The cage is homemade with wood and metallic mesh, the measurements are H24" x W31,5" x D18". the front doors are made out of plexiglass. Anyway I'll have a new full mesh cage in 2 days with H40" x W20" x D20" which is much better.

 

[andrearamirezo91]

Hard to say. A vet visit will answer questions especially if an x-ray is done, they can check her bone density too. Good that she hasn't fallen again, but is odd that she did at all, their grip on a branch is usually pretty secure. Did you see her fall? If she has been hanging on the screen, maybe that's how she fell? Keep us posted on vet visit, hope she's okay

I’m far from a chameleon expert but wouldn’t something like MBD weaken their grip?

@jarvis1 what’s her supplement schedule like?

 

[jarvis1]

She can't have MBD, I always make sure she gets calcium everyday on crickets, 2 times a day calcium with D3 and 2 times a month reptivite.
her grip is fine, I checked that. she just fell once. it happens at least one time, she never fell before.


I'm trying to see if with more air, light and a higher plant she turns green again, I want to understand if the cage is the problem.

 

[andrearamirezo91]

She can't have MBD, I always make sure she gets calcium everyday on crickets, 2 times a day calcium with D3 and 2 times a month reptivite.
her grip is fine, I checked that. she just fell once. it happens at least one time, she never fell before.


I'm trying to see if with more air, light and a higher plant she turns green again, I want to understand if the cage is the problem.

You meant to say the D3 twice a month right?

Maybe she did hurt herself with that one fall, who knows keep us updated and I’d definitely take her to the vet asap. I really hope she gets better soon <3

 

[blue_cham]

She fell because she was hanging kinda upside-down on the screen, then she was going on the nearest branch but she fell to the lower one.

Gottchya. Was worried she had a loose grip and fell from a branch, which would be concerning. But a chameleon who is getting larger and is determined to climb on the screen, that is more understandable. My Nosey did the same thing for a while, trying to climb his screen.

You meant to say the D3 twice a month right?

Agreed. Could you reiterate how often you use D3. Just to be sure

Maybe she did hurt herself with that one fall, who knows

Yeah, it's definitely possible. Maybe she landed just wrong enough to break one. But hard to say. Hopefully the vet can palpate and maybe even be able to recommend no need for xrays.


From what you have said about her husbandry... it's hard to see anything that could be causing restlessness. She is not due to lay a clutch right? Hopefully a bigger cage like you have planned will help. She may just be a free spirit that wants to roam more than the average female veiled, they are all individuals after all, maybe you have a dreamer, ha! Keep us posted though, I'm curious to know, and hopefully its nothing worrisome.

 

[andrearamirezo91]

Any updates?

 

[jarvis1]

hey guys thank you all for the answers, and yeah I give her calcium with D3 twice a month sorry for the typo anyway she's doing better I assume, finally today I have the appointment with the vet and the reptibreeze cage in delivery. I'll let you know as soon as I get more info

 

[Brodybreaux25]

linear arcadia T5 6%uvb light.

How old is your UVB light?

 

[jarvis1]

How old is your UVB light?

I bought it 6-7 months ago