Female Veiled forgot to wipe?

J-Man · 10-06-03, 10:55 AM

Hey, sorry about the crude subject... but I recently noticed some feces on and around my female veiled's vent. In addition to it just being lightly coated, there was also a small clump so I removed that by soaking her and moistening it and then pulling it off (not painful.... no sking breakage or any significant struggling) But there is still some around her vent I'm wondering if this is normal for them to have feces stuck to them or if it's something I should worry about? It's also hard to monitor her poopings because of how dense her foliage is.... any help I can get is appreciated. Thanks

choriona · 10-06-03, 11:13 AM

yikes, i dunno what to say here. I haven't heard or seen this. Is she lacking fibre in her diet? lol.
What is you foilage like in her house - if there are potted plants, you could put tin foil around the plants so the feces dosen't get lost in the dirt. Do you notice if she seems to go to the bathroom in only one spot? You could clear that area away.

J-Man · 10-06-03, 11:26 AM

Foliage is one pothos plant in the middle with a bunch of fake plants. I should actually have a pic in a few days.

J-Man · 10-06-03, 11:35 AM

Also, it's not so much a matter of it getting lost in the dirt... but in all the leaves. It's a jungle in there.

Thanks so much for the reply.

Collide · 10-06-03, 01:36 PM

Humm depends this could be nothin or could be somethin bad, I see some of my chams whiping them selves on branches some times after they have finnished there buisness. but keep an eye on her and yes make sure that trud looks normal. Hope everything is OK

Trace · 10-06-03, 05:44 PM

Well you got me stumped too!

Collide is right, they do wipe their bums on a stick when they've finished pooping. Could it be something as simple as the poop didn't drop and she wiped against that and it got stuck? I know you are the busiest teenager on the planet, so you might not catch her in the process of pooping, but try to watch her for the next day or two.

If she is a bit constipated, try an increase her water intake daily, that usually gets things moving. Maybe cut down on the amount of mealies she gets too. The hard exoskeleton on those bugs sometimes doesn't quite pass as well as it should. Just some thoughts.

Keep us posted on little Clover.

Cheers!

Trace

J-Man · 10-07-03, 08:51 AM

It could be the hydration issue... I've never really been satisfied by how much I water her. I'll have to turn it up a notch.

Thanks a lot everyone.

J-Man · 10-07-03, 09:32 AM

Also, I re-arranged her and thoroughly cleaned her cage last night. I took out the giant pothos and now I just have bend-a-branches and fake vines. Before it was more like a bush now it's more like a tree. So hopefully I'll be able to monitor her poopings now.

choriona · 10-07-03, 09:42 AM

yea - keep us posted.

(I can't believe I am eager to find out when clover next "does her business". LOL)

Trace · 10-07-03, 09:42 AM

That's a good idea Jeremy. At least for a few days anyways, just to see if she is pooping/how she is pooping. I'm sure she enjoys the cover of the Pothos, but for a little while it's not going to hurt.

I'm hoping this just a one-time event for you and something that is not going to be a problem.

Keep me posted.

Trace

Trace · 10-07-03, 09:45 AM

Quote:

I can't believe I am eager to find out when clover next "does her business". LOL

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!

I know! The only thing wierder than worrying about your own chameleons "business" is worrying about other people's chameleons "business"! I'm guilty of this.

Cheers!

Trace

J-Man · 10-07-03, 05:42 PM

Hmmm... she's a little bit lathargic (I'm sure I didn't spell that right). But that could be because I just recently went on vacation and someone was supposed to come in and work the lights but I think that got a little screwed up. Is it possible that she's just tired? She's just basically laying on a branch with her eyes closed or almost closed.

J-Man · 10-07-03, 05:43 PM

by the way... yes you two are completely sick for caring about Clover's feces. But who's the one who had to use baby oil to rub it off of her?

Trace · 10-07-03, 08:20 PM

Hey J-Man!

Quote:

She's just basically laying on a branch with her eyes closed or almost closed.

That's not news I wanted to hear! I did notice the time stamp of your post and I've noticed that this time of year my chameleons are "tired" by 7:42pm. Mine are very in-tune with the rising and setting of the sun even with the fact that they are inside full-time now, they can still see the sun (or lack of) through my windows. They know that when the sun goes down, it's time for bed. I'm hoping Clover is just the same way today. I'm going to ask the standard issue questions as I always do... is she eating, are her temps good, what are her colours like etc etc.

Quote:

yes you two are completely sick for caring about Clover's feces

Thanks!

Trace

J-Man · 10-07-03, 08:53 PM

I'm a wee bit confused. At first you said it was bad news and you went on to say how it's normal for your chameleons.

Yes, she's eating. Seems to only want crickets right now... though she ate some silkies a few days ago.

Her temps seem to be good. Ambient temp of around 70's to maybe 80's. With a basking spot of 90's. Her colors are a bit iffy. They're either a great perfect green or she's dark green or brown. Basically the only time she is dark green or brown is when she is high up in the cage but just outside the basking spot. Basically anywhere else she's a perfect green (and starting to show some colors).

Watering is pretty good but not great. I think she might be a little dehydrated (her eyes are a bit sunken) could this be the problem? I've been meaning to somehow get her a way to drink a ton on her own time but my shower head can't be pointed towards the wall. But tomorrow I'm going to take a metal pan and point the water on the pan so it bounces off of it and onto the plant.

But you don't think it could be that her light schedule got screwed up and she was either up too late or slept too much during the day? And now she's just tired.

Sorry for the long post! It sured does bring back memories, eh trace?

Thanks for any help I can get!!

J-man