Syringe Feeding - Getting Veiled's Mouth Open - Page 5

Trace · 07-13-03, 10:17 PM

J-meister!

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The vet called me back but it turns out they DON'T do reptiles and, very oddly enough, they couldn't give me the number of a place that did... I always thought that vets knew of vets with different expertise in the area. So that sucks pretty bad.

Yeah, that does suck! I guess I should consider myself lucky that I've got a good vet so close to me, and J-man, if we did live closer I'd take Duke to my vet for you. I'm really rooting for your little guy. I have sent off a few emails asking for some vet recommendations in the Pittsburgh area for you, so hopefully I'll come up with something within the next few days. (hopefully sooner!)

I also got to thinking... you are a member of the chameleonresearch forum group right? Maybe posting an abbreviated thread about Duke's problems there will get you some help and/or a list of vets in your area. Again, it not that I don't want to help... it's just difficult over the internet, know what I mean. So far I've just given you short term ways of dealing with him until you are able to determine what his problem truly is.

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I went to my very first reptile show today!

They are fun eh! I really got to get around to posting pics of all the chams I picked up at the show last weekend. Did you see anything else interesting there?

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So I talked with him for a little while and ended up getting Duke a little baby sister! And I'm planning on breeding them later on down the road so I guess that could be incest.

That's awesome! Congrats on the new addition! I know you know this already, but wait until she is about a year old before you breed them... egg laying just takes sssooo much out of the females so it's best not to rob them of the calcium supply as they are growing. Do you have 2 females now? I thought I read on another thread here that you had one already? Maybe I'm just dreaming that. :/

GO DUKE!

There are some who call me... Trace

eyespy · 07-14-03, 08:04 AM

Trace PMed me cuz I'm a Philly gal and maybe I'd know of a vet. I don't know any of these folks personally but the Pittsburgh Herp Society thinks enough of them to list them on a public web page so it's worth calling around:

http://trfn.clpgh.org/phs/links.html#part-5

Man, I sure hope you can find somebody qualified to help this poor guy, reading this thread breaks my heart.

Trace · 07-14-03, 08:13 AM

Eyespy... I just wanted to thank you publically for the link you supplied. I know you are terribly busy with the rescue work that you do with Beardies and I appreciate you taking the time to look up some information for me.

Thanks again!

Trace

J-Man · 07-14-03, 08:41 AM

Yeah thank you very much for that link. I'm sure it will help. And thank you trace for your replies.

I tried the new bug juice and I already fed him today... about 15 cc's or so, though some spills out as you probably have experienced. Yeah I'm definitely going to wait a while before breeding them. The guy I bought it from said that females are able to breed at 3 months old?? That really didn't sound right to me.

Thanks for all the help.

choriona · 07-14-03, 01:06 PM

Hey, I've just popped in here and read the threads. When you say you cham is getting skinny....what does he look like when he's sleeping? I know that my cham is really plump when she is sleeping or just balled up with her tail curled under her, BUT when she is walking around, or threatening me or trying to look like a leaf, she looks sooo skinny. Almost like it's impossible for her to even have intestines or a stomach or anything in there! She can do this even when she is full of eggs.

J-Man · 07-14-03, 02:39 PM

He looks a little skinny when sleeping... but more skinny during the day. When he's sleeping, you can see his ribs a little but other than that he seems to be sized right.

choriona · 07-14-03, 02:52 PM

has he always been skinny, or is this coming on gradually? How old is he now? And how long has he had his eye problem? Sorry for asking questions if you've got it all sorted out now...I'm new here and I know quite a bit about chams.

J-Man · 07-14-03, 03:17 PM

Don't worry at all about the questions... I'm glad to answer any and all questions.

He hasn't always been SKINNY but I've always been able to see his ribs a little. He's roughly 4 months. and he has had this eye problem for a few weeks I think.. though he recently opened his eyes.

Trace · 07-14-03, 05:02 PM

Hey Jeremy!

Just thought I'd pop into the thread and say NI.

How skinny is skinny? Seeing a little bit of his ribs is ok... I've got fat chameleons here because I'm guilty of overfeeding mine, I'll admit. Can you see other bones? Like do his hips really stand out? Or does he still have fatty deposits around that area and at the base of his tail? Does his vertebrae stand out?

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The guy I bought it from said that females are able to breed at 3 months old?? That really didn't sound right to me.

3 MONTHS! EEEP! That's far too young in my opinion. The females are sexually mature at about 6 months of age, but just for their general health, most good breeders will wait until they are a little older to mate them. The sooner you start breeding the females the sooner they are going to die, egg laying and production just takes up so many valuable resources in the female.

Any luck with that list of vets that Eyespy provided?

GO DUKE!

There are some who call me... Trace

J-Man · 07-18-03, 12:06 PM

Hey!

I'm so sorry about being late. For some reason ssnakess.com wasn't working for me... occasionally I could get to the home page but never to the forums. Did you have the same problem?

I called a few of the 412 #'s seeing as how that's my area code... I got some answers but not many. They were saying things like it might be an eye infection but they don't know why there's no swelling or anything like that. The consensus is that it was stress. Especially since he's doing wonderful now! He's much more active, his eyes are always open and much more responsive to me putting my hand in his cage or me grabbing his casque to feed him.

Yeah 3 months is a little "Holy crap" to me! Is it even possible for her to breed at 3 months?

Again, sorry for being late... and as always thanks so much for the help to Trace and eyespy!

Trace · 07-18-03, 12:42 PM

Hey Jeremy!

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For some reason ssnakess.com wasn't working for me... occasionally I could get to the home page but never to the forums. Did you have the same problem?

No, I personally haven't, but I do know of others who have. Jeff is aware of the problem, but I'll definately mention it to him again, so he can get any of the last few bugs sorted out.

Well I don't know what to say about Duke... beyond I'm completely ecstatic that he's feeling better. This bit of news has totally made my day! For me, I know you put a lot of research into Veiled Chameleons before you went and bought him and I didn't want his health problems to sour you from owning a chameleon, or other chameleons in the future. Know what I mean? They are really hard to care for, but they do have marvelous personalities that make up for that. I guess your little guy is more sensitive than other males! I also admire your dedication to him... not many people would be making bug juice every day and doing force feedings like you have. Keep up the good work.

Here's to his continued recovery! I hope he starts eating on his own for you soon. Post some pics when you get the chance.

Cheers!

Trace

CDN-Cresties · 07-18-03, 02:38 PM

Well im a little late in this thread, it took me a while to read but im glad to hear that your cham is improving. This thread is a testament to the great help you can get on ssnakess.com.

I owned a veiled cham before but i traded him away for a ball python, so i do have some knowledge on the care of chameleons. I've read that you are having a difficult time in finding a good herp vet, hopefully this link we'll help you out.

http://www.arav.com/USMembers.htm

Keep on working hard for your Cham and good look, i hope he eats soon on his own.

-Steve-

J-Man · 07-20-03, 08:47 PM

Thanks everybody... yeah this post is definitely an example of how useful this site is.

Trace, he's getting better still... getting bigger. I was using the calcium ensure but I switched to the "gain or maintain a healthy weight" ensure. Also for the bug juice I used more bugs and less juice and now it's like a paste... when before it was like watery... what is it supposed to be like?

Trace · 07-20-03, 10:57 PM

Hi Jeremy!

He's getting bigger! That's awesome! Congrats again!

As for the bug juice, I think I mentioned somewhere on this long thread, that everytime I made the recipe, it would turn out a little different than the last time I made it. :/ I would always aim for more of a pastey consistency though, as I wanted more bugs to be ingested than the liquid ingredients.

I agree, this thread has been most interesting!

Go Duke!

Trace

J-Man · 07-22-03, 12:44 PM

Hi trace.

I'm worried that I'm feeding him too much. It seems like he's gonna regurgitate sometimes. If he does, would that be a bad sing of illness or just that I am feeding him too much? I'm just trying to get a sense of how much I should feed him.

Also Trace, I have an idea and I'd like your input on it. I'm thinking of putting Duke in a smaller cage (65 gallon reptarium) with a few vines and bend-branches for a day or 2 with more than enough crickets in it. To see if he's ready to eat on his own... because his enclosure is pretty big right now and so the only way I've offered him to eat on his own is hand feeding and a dish (which he's never eaten out of). Any input or criticism is more than welcome.