Help - urgent

My mother in law just sent this to me. She doesn’t understand why her “FEMALE” Chameleon is doing this. Is it actually a male??? Is this something she should be worried about? I’ve never had to deal with such a thing. Does it look like the hemipenis or does it look like intestines?? ADVICE PLEASE


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It appears that she prolapsed. @mblaney has some vet background so she could help. You are 100% have to go to a reptile vet.

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@t_h_wyman is also very knowledgeable. Sorry I can’t contribute any help myself

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I agree that it is likely prolapsed. If this were a snake, I would keep the humidity high on paper towels, no loose items around (like substrate), and with a vets approval a sugar bath. A lot of the recommendations seem good here too.
I did some reading and it seems like the consensus is to bathe in a cold sugar bath and if needed apply KY jelly without added medication.

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Update: they finally got an appointment for her today in about 20 minutes with a reptile vet. Hopefully they can help her.

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Sorry to be late to the conversation, I generally do not log in on weekends.

This certainly looks to be a prolapse from what I can see. The “at home” remedy is to make a high sucrose mix and soak in that to help reduce swelling and then, not forcefully, massage it back in to place. That is not meant to be the cure in lieu of seeing a vet, it is just to hold over until a vet visit can be made.

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Another update; reptile vet says she is egg bound, is definitely prolapsed and they are going to have her “fixed” as well so that she doesn’t lay anymore eggs. Per my mother in law.

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I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully everything goes well. :crossed_fingers:

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I hope everything goes well on that surgery :+1:

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Headed home. She looks very grumpy which is completely understandable. Poor baby. Prayers please for a fast recovery!

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Will definitely be praying! I hope everything went well and she recovers soon!

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I’m glad it went well. Hoping she has a fast recovery! What did the vet say as far as special care during recovery (I’m trying to learn more, not questioning)?

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I will ask my mother in law and see what she says!

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As someone that has had to care for an animal that has had surgery, I need to emphasize the need to check the incision site after every shed, forever. Reptile skin heals differently than mammalian skin and you can get invaginations that have scaled skin inside of them that continues to grow and shed in cycle with the rest of the animal. You will often need to tease pieces of these out to keep the healed area clear

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Thank you for that information! I’ll let her know.

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She said they have an entire sheet of information on how to care for her during recovery. I’m waiting for her to send a picture.

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Glad she made it through the procedure doing well. She’s a very pretty lady.

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This is what she sent me.

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IMG_0559
Also - this is everything they did. $1,100 worth of stuff :scream: I about fell over when she told me that. Lol