Chameleon Troubles

A couple of days ago I noticed a problem with my veiled chameleon. I really wasn't sure what compaction looked like from the outside, so as best I could figure, I thought maybe this could have been the issue. It didn't really seem like it, so I waited until the weekend to see what happened... if he could ever pass what was obstructing his tract or not.... and it's not like I could really handle it during the week, what with the new job and all. O_O Tried to soak the poor creature a bit in water to soften things up. It seemed that it would help, if I could keep him in for 15 minutes or more, but this just wasn't possible. He had something hopelessly lodged, stucked, or something, coming out of his butt. It wouldn't budge and it appeared to be ... well, like, fused to his skin.

Nothing had changed by the time I got up today, so I decided to actually take him in to a vet today. Clearly he could not excrete any waste and if it kept up any longer I knew he wouldn't make it. He started to become very restless in his tank today, so I knew things were probably getting to a really uncomfortable point for him. I could not just watch him suffer and die, and I sure as heck could not put him down.

Of course I had to do a bit of calling around to see who had any training/experience in dealing with reptiles at all. I thankfully found a vet VERY nearby (that I didn't even know existed, lol) with a doctor who was in!, who was able to treat him. I must admit, I ended up paying more for the trip than I did for the chameleon himself (not too much more though, thankfully; I bought him for a little over $70 at a reptile show, and the bill was $85 ::ouch::). But they were able to remove his blockage pretty easily, and sent me home with some mineral oil and a syringe to give him water through. Apparently they had to get a needle and use it to slowly cut his skin away from the hopelessly dried up turd of doom.

Naturally they said that his area would be a bit inflammed for a few days. So I'm to put a bit of Neosporin on it a couple times a day.
I was very pleased that they commented on how nice and healthy he is, and that his weight is good. They said most people who get one of these for pets don't manage to keep them too long. They certainly aren't easy pets to keep. Exotic indeed! I had decided that if I lost him I wasn't going to buy a replacement for a while. He's not hard to tend to at all and I enjoy him, but it just wouldn't have been the same. I'm glad that he should now be with me for hopefully a good while longer. ^_^