Sweet Lotus

I got the news yesterday that Lotus, a chameleon I rescued, had died. :(

She was the most expensive chameleon rescue I've ever had, spending well over $1,000 trying to keep her well. Poor baby. Fly high, pretty girl.

The Girls made it!

Check out the stink eye they are giving! 

They got to their new home quickly and were put on their new free roaming areas. 

Lotus-- 

Akime has a "handicapped" one while she builds up strength. 

Akime immediately ate. She's never turned down food. Ever. 

I can't tell how amazing their new home is. They will live in Chameleon Paradise for the rest of their lives. 

Special Shipping

Akime & Lotus are headed to a chameleon sanctuary in California tonight. I made specialized travel cups for them. 

House of Chameleons took Newt last year and adopted my two baby tortoises this past summer. I trust them completely and these two girls will be so happy there. 

Big Trip to the Vet

Yesterday I took 5 reptiles to the vet. 5! 

And I didn't take a *single* picture. 

Elvira, a very sick Dumerils boa, got added in last minute. She's been on antibiotics for almost two months with no improvement. Sunday night, she regurgitated her meal from Tuesday. Monday morning, she started writhing around. We took blood and let the vet examine her. This morning, she is dying. 

I'm so sad. I'm sad that we couldn't save her. I'm sad that she's been sick so long. I'm sad because she may have a IBD (a horrible, contagious snake disease). I'm sad that her previous owner let her be sick for 8 months and thought her "crackling" lung noises were "cute," like she was talking to them. Ugh. 

So sorry, sweet girl. 

< Deep Breath> 

Hermy, my desert tortoise, was seen because her eyes are swollen. She got anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drops for her eyes. 

Tiger, my daughter's bearded dragon, checked out okay, but is still breathing noisy. I'll continue antibiotics on him for a week. 

Lotus, the chameleon, got her stitches removed from being spayed last month. 

Akime, the chameleon, got a new arm wrap to protect the wound on her arm which is healing nicely. She should have the bandage off totally in two weeks. 

The whole bill came to just under $500. Ay yi yi. Gratefully, I have a good credit card to use for vet bills. I'm hopeful that this holiday season will help me make enough money on Etsy that I can pay it all off. 

Today I'm feeling like Eeyore and can't generate much enthusiasm or energy. I hope to be back up to speed tomorrow. 

Lotus' Last Shot

Lotus had her last antibiotic shot today and, as an extra bonus, I forcefed her some Critical Care. Her stitches come out on Monday. 

She didn't seem to hate me as badly today as she has in the past. Weird, huh?

 

I'm not sure if she'll ever get any bigger, but at least we won't ever worry about her being egg bound. 

Chameleon Love

Um.... So my two rescue chameleons don't actually love me at all. Especially Lotus. 

Here is her "I will kill you in your sleep for this" look today because I had to give her an antibiotic shot and I tube-fed her some Critical Care so she has extra calories. 

But I *do* absolutely love chameleon tails. See how cute? 

Lotus and Akime are both eating great and doing well. They have a vet appointment in two weeks for stitches and bandage removal. 

Until then, I spend lots of time keeping their foggers & drippers going and filling them with tasty worms & crickets. 

And Lotus continues to plan my death. Akime doesn't mind me if I don't touch her, but I suspect that Lotus can be very persuasive. 

And yes, I'm keeping her far away from Junie. Those two would take over my house if I let them. ;) 

Lotus & Akime *back* to the Vet

Akime pulled the wrapping off her arm and Lotus has been hiding at the bottom of her cage (always a bad sign) so they went back to the vet today.

Akime got a new wrapping, and she pretty much hates it. But it's the only way to help her arm heal.

Lotus had a small growth in her mouth that the vet removed only to discover a pocket of pus building under her gums. So he scraped all of it out and found another infected spot on the other side of her mouth. Oy vay! This girl can't seem to get a break.

Now in addition to her antibiotic shots every 3 days, I will be force feeding her Critical Care twice a day and putting an antibiotic drop in her mouth twice a day. Poor girl. She already hates everyone and this won't help. Luckily, when she starts to lunge for me, I can put drops or stick a tube down her throat. Makes it easier for me!

Overall, her surgery incision looks great and her colors are good. The vet just suspects she's not eating because her mouth hurts.

Lotus this Morning

I found a sick Lotus on the bottom of her cage this morning very dehydrated. I tried getting her to drink some sugar water from a syringe but she wouldn't have it. She spit most of it back out. She *hates* when I touch her! 

I got her fogger going and let her dripper run fully too. She did drink a little off the leaves, but not enough. 

I finally chose to give her a saline injection to help rehydrate her. A cc of warm saline on each side above her arms. She had little "shoulder pads" for a little bit. I hesitated to do it for fear the stress of holding her while injecting her would kill her. So far, she seems to be okay. 

She certainly is a difficult chameleon! I have part of her cage covered to hold in the humidity better and I'll keep checking on her today. She's supposed to get her second antibiotic shot today, but I may wait until tomorrow to limit her stress. 

Lotus Update

Lotus is doing okay after her surgery. She's been eating and drinking on her own. She's on antibiotics. She still hates me and everything about me. ;) I can handle it. I have tried to limit my interactions with her so she has less stress. 

Her surgery ultimately cost me $670. The thought of spending that much on her to have her just die on me is a painful thought. I did what I had to do to save her life at the time without paying attention to the cost. My rescue credit card is back over $2,000, but it's only money-- right? ;) 

Eating! When Food is a Good Sign

Lotus chowed down on 6 large superworms today! 

Humpty Dumpty got in his water bowl and ate 8 pellets. 

Woo hoo! Glad both of them are eating again. 

Thirsty!

I put a steady stream of water in her cage and Lotus is guzzling it. Such a great sign!!! 

Lotus this Morning

She's up getting a drink. Walking pretty stiffly. She seriously lost half her body weight when they removed the mass of eggs and ovum. 

I'll give her some Critical Care today since she hasn't eaten for awhile. She'll also start pain meds and antibiotics. 

Drinking and moving are both really good signs. :) 

Poor Lotus

I picked up Lotus today. Poor baby. Her eyes are sunk in because she's stressed and in pain. 

Her belly looks ouchy! 

She's on her favorite rope perch. 

I'll start her pain meds and antibiotics in the morning and give her the night to relax. 

Lotus Surgery Update

My vet ended up doing surgery and found to a lot of undeveloped eggs that had gotten stuck in her ovaries-- they hadn't even dropped down to her oviducts. There's no way she ever could have laid them. If we had left them, they would have killed her. 

Several of them had started to decompose and so she'll be on an antibiotic for 3 weeks. I'll force feed her a couple times to build her strength back up. She weighs half of what she did before. 

There's no way to know why the eggs got stuck, but she's been spayed so she'll never have eggs again. Her first eggs were her last eggs. 

I'll go pick her up in an hour. 

Akime & Lotus back at the Vet

I took both chameleons back to the vet this morning for check ups.

Akime's arm has been wrapped for a week and looks great. Dr Folland put a specialized wrap on it that will help it stay moisturized and will heal quicker. She'll go back in for a checkup and wrap replacement (if necessary) in two to three weeks.

Lotus has not laid her eggs yet. That's not necessarily the problem though. The issue is that she isn't eating, won't dig, and is becoming more lethargic in her cage-- all signs of distress. Being egg-bound (where the eggs can't be laid) can kill a female chameleon within hours and I've been trying my best to avoid that.

We started off the visit by a physical exam (yes, the vet felt the eggs) and then an ultrasound (yes, the eggs are in there) and then an oxytocin shot to try to spur egg laying. I left her at the vet in a brooder because if the shot induced egg laying, it would have happened within a couple hours. Sadly today is the only day my favorite vet has to do surgery and so we decided to try the oxytocin and then do surgery if that didn't work.

Yeah- a $40 shot or a $500 surgery.

I hadn't heard anything yet, so I just called. No eggs.

Ugh.

I'll keep you posted.

Laying Lotus

Female chameleons frequently lay infertile eggs. The last Cham* I rescued laid eggs in one of my plants a couple days after I got her. 

Lotus is obviously filled with eggs. You can see the egg-shaped bulges in her belly. But she hasn't touched the lay box in her cage. 

Time to be more creative. 

I drug in the houseplant that the last Cham* laid her eggs in, set the mercury vapor bulb above it, and am letting Lotus 

free roam in it. Hopefully, she'll find the big pot of dirt and go crazy! 

It's not a very pretty houseplant, but it's got nice, sturdy limbs that are perfect for Cham feet. 

Here she is-- not sure if she's okay with her new digs or not. 

Eggs can be tricky with female chameleons. If they don't lay them, they will die. If they lay too many, they can die. They don't even have to be with a male Cham. They just lay eggs. It can be very nerve wracking. . . Okay, at least for me it is. 

I'll give Lotus a couple days to lay her eggs in the dirt. If she doesn't, she'll get an oxytocin shot on Monday to induce her laying. 

*Note-- I cannot remember what that girl's name was! That's why I keep a blog. It's part educational and part an external memory for me. :) I'll look it up. 

Akime & Lotus- rescues 150 & 151

These two beautiful chameleons came to me Thursday night. 

Akime-- 

Lotus-- 

Vet appointment on Monday. :)