Veiled vomited?

[Lenny the veild]

Our 6 month old veiled has just had 2 vet visits for an injury to his leg. We had to "cage rest" him and switch him to a smaller cage. He did not tolerate it well at all. He has not eaten any crickets, and drinks even less water than before. He only eats wax worms and superworms.

He was just cleared by the vet for his leg, and he has been doing better. But this morning he wretched and vomited all his food from this morning. He had a superworm and wax worms, and for the first time in weeks he had some crickets too. We are wondering what caused him to vomit.

He has just recently been introduced to superworms. We are thinking its either being new to superworms, or that he ate crickets for the first time in a few weeks. Any experience/advice on this?!

 

[kinyonga]

What did the vet. Say About the leg? Did he give you meds for the chameleon? Can you post a recent photo of him please? Can you also answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread at the top of the health forum so we can help you better. It's never a good sign when a chameleon is vomiting.

 

[Lenny the veild]

the vet said to keep him in a smaller cage so he can rest is leg. the doc said it wasnt broken and didnt need a splint or anything just gave him moloxicam witch is like advil for a chameleon. i been trying to post pic on this website but dont know how.

 

[Lenny the veild]

he is not eating for 3 days now, not even force feeding him he spits it out

 

[kinyonga]

In your first post you said he had loud breathing...in the second you said one eye closed...in the third you said it was always in perfect health but you were questioning its leg being broken...now its vomiting. You didn't post photos or answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread...so I don't know what to say except take ASAP to a proper reptile vet. It's not good when a chameleon is vomiting.

 

[doctorrich]

As a veterinarian, my advice is to discontinue the meloxicam if the reptile is not eating. This can cause gastric irritation (think taking Advil on an empty stomach for a human)... make sure you notify your veterinarian that your patient is vomiting and inappetant and you have discontinued the NSAID.

 

[kinyonga]

Missed that possibility for the vomiting. I hope it's as simple as that. Not a vet so sometimes I miss things. Welcome to the forum doctorrich! It's good to have another vet on the forum!

 

[doctorrich]

Nice to meet you too!!!!

 

[Lenny the veild]

hey kinyonga,

All those other issues resolved on their own, and im pretty sure that i posted that, so people wouldn't still post about it. Second of all, I have tried to post pics many times but i cant quite figure out how to do it, and i did mention that in the last comment i sent to you. Third of all, you can see how much older the previous posts are, so those are not part of my current issue. Your conclusion about our care for our chameleon isn't accurate, because we have taken him to the vet twice in the last month.

The most current issue is that he vomited x1 yesterday, it was partially digested, containing wax worms, a superworm, and crickets. He is new to superworms, and since injuring his leg has not/will not eat any crickets in 3-4 weeks.

Since this episode of vomiting, he has hardly eaten anything at all. We attempted to force-feed him this AM and he spit out the wax worm. He did have some mango for us after that. We have been keeping him well hydrated with water since he has not been eating.


And to doctorrich,

We were giving him maloxicam for 2 weeks by mouth, and his last dose was this past tuesday. It would make sense that he would have vomited from the med, but it has been nearly a week. Do you know of any other reason chameleons can spontaneously vomit like this? Maybe just stress from changing cages while he was on cage rest? Maybe the new introduction of superworms, or the reintroduction of crickets?

 

[jamjam]

i really cannot see changing food items, or housing locations causing vomiting, although i am new to chams i could be wrong. however your asking for other possible solutions as too why but still have yet to provide photos of fill out the ask for help form as kinyonga as mentioned. I spend lots and lots of time on this forums tab is always opened and i read almost every thread that seems interesting and I have noticed that kinyonga gives nothing but positive and good advice I actually thought they were a vet. And i think his post about your last threads were because at one point you said he has been in good health. but how is that true when you have on numerous times posted about problems. but anywho onto the problem at hand fill out the form so people can have a better understanding and get a perspective of how he lives.

 

[kinyonga]

I made no conclusions about the care of your chameleon. The fact that your chameleon vomited and is spitting out food you are giving him is not a good sign (if it's not due to irritation from the meds.) When chameleons do this there is usually something serious wrong with them. Just my opinion....from my experience and what I've read/learned from others.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Vomiting is a somewhat unusual symptom in chameleons and reptiles in general. Poor digestion could be caused by inadequate basking temperatures, dehydration, intestinal parasites or bacterial overgrowth. Make sure prey items are the correct size (no longer than the space between your chameleon's eyes) and that basking temperatures are appropriate to encourage good digestion. If the vomiting continues despite this, submit a fecal sample to your reptile vet for testing. Other diagnostics like blood work or x-rays may be needed.

In my own veiled's case it was due to intestinal parasites and once treated he never vomited again.