starvedgirl
New Member
I have a year old female Veiled Chameleon. On Wednesday I noticed she wouldn't close her mouth. I thought she was dehydrated so I checked on the misting and sprayed her a few times, she drank just fine. On Thursday the gumline around was swollen outwards. I immediately made a vet appointment.
On Friday morning we went to the vet and she said there was no infection, just swelling and it was due to not getting enough calcium. Other than the swelling, the vet said she was in great health and looked good. She wasn't dehydrated either. I just need to up the calcium intake.
She was given a vitamin shot and I have antibiotic drops to give her once a day. (Baytril is the name of the drops.) Before the vet visit the ONLY problem was the gumline swelling. She had great strength and was acting, otherwise, fine Now her tongue was in her mouth but sticking out a little bit due to the swelling...as shown in the pictures.
Today unfortunately she has gone down hill!! The gumline is still swollen, but now she's dropping her tongue out! And she has very little strength. She dropped from one branch to another in her cage.
Is this due to stress from the vet visit or is something worse going on? The tongue was just hanging and she was able to pull it back into her mouth, very slowly. The entire tongue has been dropping out though, not just that one bit in the pics.
I already left a message for our vet and am waiting for a call back, but I'd appreciate any insight. I don't want to lose my little girl. I tried to get pictures from various angles...
Edited to add: Will update missing info when home to check exact types/models.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screened 2ft wide/deep, 3ft high.
Lighting - repti sun 5.0, Exo Terra bulb for basking area
Temperature - Basking up top roughly 80-85, cooler at bottom around 75. Lights on 9:30am until about 8pm. Night temp around 70.
Plants - No live plants.
Placement - Located in the window of an unused guest room, cage is on a table about 3ft high. Little traffic.
Location - Metro Atlanta, GA
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, Female, about 1 year. I've had her since she was 2 1/2 months.
Handling - Average 3 times a week.
Feeding - Crickets (gutloaded), Silkworms. Dusted crickets.
Supplements - I use mineral and calcium supplements, I'm not at home to check the types, will update with that info.
Watering - Misting system, plus I use a spray bottle which she likes to drink directly from.
Fecal Description - Black / white - looks normal, no discoloring/yellow.
History - Very calm, healthy Veiled. Never had a problem until now.
Current Problem - See beginning of post. (Swollen gumline, weak, tongue hanging out)
On Friday morning we went to the vet and she said there was no infection, just swelling and it was due to not getting enough calcium. Other than the swelling, the vet said she was in great health and looked good. She wasn't dehydrated either. I just need to up the calcium intake.
She was given a vitamin shot and I have antibiotic drops to give her once a day. (Baytril is the name of the drops.) Before the vet visit the ONLY problem was the gumline swelling. She had great strength and was acting, otherwise, fine Now her tongue was in her mouth but sticking out a little bit due to the swelling...as shown in the pictures.
Today unfortunately she has gone down hill!! The gumline is still swollen, but now she's dropping her tongue out! And she has very little strength. She dropped from one branch to another in her cage.
Is this due to stress from the vet visit or is something worse going on? The tongue was just hanging and she was able to pull it back into her mouth, very slowly. The entire tongue has been dropping out though, not just that one bit in the pics.I already left a message for our vet and am waiting for a call back, but I'd appreciate any insight. I don't want to lose my little girl.
I tried to get pictures from various angles...
Edited to add: Will update missing info when home to check exact types/models.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screened 2ft wide/deep, 3ft high.
Lighting - repti sun 5.0, Exo Terra bulb for basking area
Temperature - Basking up top roughly 80-85, cooler at bottom around 75. Lights on 9:30am until about 8pm. Night temp around 70.
Plants - No live plants.
Placement - Located in the window of an unused guest room, cage is on a table about 3ft high. Little traffic.
Location - Metro Atlanta, GA
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, Female, about 1 year. I've had her since she was 2 1/2 months.
Handling - Average 3 times a week.
Feeding - Crickets (gutloaded), Silkworms. Dusted crickets.
Supplements - I use mineral and calcium supplements, I'm not at home to check the types, will update with that info.
Watering - Misting system, plus I use a spray bottle which she likes to drink directly from.
Fecal Description - Black / white - looks normal, no discoloring/yellow.
History - Very calm, healthy Veiled. Never had a problem until now.
Current Problem - See beginning of post. (Swollen gumline, weak, tongue hanging out)
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