Help! Egg bound, calcium deficient veiled/yemen cham

[sws]

sorry for what happened and i am glad to see people who do so much for their pets.

[Chu'Wuti]

Well, we definitely did try. It makes me so angry when people don't learn enough to take care of their animals correctly. Nearly every rescue I have had has been impacted by human ignorance (at the least; one turtle was injured through sheer meanness). A few birds and squirrels suffered from natural ailments/injuries. But every animal pet that I've lost was in bad shape because previous owners used really bad husbandry or just plain neglected them.



Why don't people take the time to do some research before taking on the responsibility for an animal's LIFE? These people said they did ("We did three years of research before we got her!" but I really, really doubt it. In fact, I just plain don't believe it. I think they read one old book that said that glass tanks were fine for chams and they asked questions at the pet store where they got her and trusted that everything they were told was accurate and true. She didn't keel over immediately, so they felt sure they were doing everything right and never did any more research. Even when they discovered that "Leo" was female because she began laying eggs, they didn't do the research needed to help her lay her eggs properly or help her recuperate from the demands of egg-laying on her body . . .

Oh, enough already. I'll shut up! See you another day when I'm over it more . . .

[Chu'Wuti]

Hi, all,

If any of you are still following this thread, or for anyone in the future who might be inspired to learn more about egg binding and its association with calcium deficiency, here is what the other exotic animal vet at my friend's clinic told me today (Kerry had already left when I went to pick up my equipment, so the other vet came out to talk with me).

When they opened Lea up to see why she hadn't laid the rest of her eggs, they found two problems:

1) her uterus, which should be a reasonably thick, muscular sheet of tissue so that it can push eggs out, was extremely thin and nearly transparent, indicative of the weeks or months of deficient nutrition to which Lea was subjected.

2) her remaining eggs' shells were not fully calcified, and so, rather than being smooth and simply lying loosely inside the uterus, the eggs were literally STUCK TO the uterus. There wasn't enough shell to separate the eggs from the uterine wall.

As a result of the two conditions, Lea literally was incapable of laying all of her eggs.

The vet said she had been underfed/neglected for a long time, and that it was simply impossible to improve her condition quickly enough to save her.

The only good things to come out of this for me are 1) that I have a new relationship with local vets whom I feel I can have confidence in for herp health issues, and 2) my DH & I have learned a lot about chameleons--though we're fully aware that we don't know everything by any means!! What we have learned, though, makes us feel that someday we will get a chameleon (or a few). After all, now we have some of the appropriate equipment! We also got plants, so we'll go ahead and set things up so we can ensure that humidity, lighting, and temps are appropriate before we get one.

Thanks again to everyone for the support and encouragement you offered.

Sandy