Chameleon Medical: Impaction

Impaction is where there is a blockage of the intestines and the feces cannot get out. The feces are stuck in the body causing pain and, finally, sepsis which is fatal.

The causes of impaction are usually dehydration and/or improper temperatures that do not allow the body to function. Intestinal blockage can also occur due to nematode parasites. I have heard of masses of worms clogging the intestines, though I need to find a reliable reference to state this as fact. Though, during a necropsy on a stump-tailed chameleon, I did observe a huge nematode blocking the intestines.

Within the community it is said that mealworms, or eating soil, will cause impaction. While this can’t be discounted, it is also much more likely that there is a health issue that is the problem and the undigested mass of chiton from mealworms just happens to be present. In cases like these, it is hard to determine what is a cause and what is an effect or just a parallel event. But healthy chameleons can eat mealworms with no difficulty. They are not the most nutritious of feeders, but they are also not the dietary problem they are made out to be.

The chameleon will show internal distress by being lethargic and progressing onto eyes closing during the day and sinking in. There can be an appearance of being bloated.

This picture is of a female Furcifer pardalis in dystocia (egg binding) distress. This is where there is something preventing eggs from getting from the oviduct and out of the body to beg laid. This not intestinal impaction, but it is the same dynamic (a mass of something is not able to exit the body as intended) and the external appearance and signs of distress are the same.

Bring your chameleon to the vet to have them help the blockage pass. This is a life threatening situation.

For there to be an intestinal blockage something has gone wrong. The most likely corrections would be in hydration and/or temperature. Try giving ample misting sessions to hydrate the body. Look to behaviors to see if the chameleon needs more warmth. do they stay under the basking lamp a long time or hang upsdide down directly under the lights to absorb all the warmth they can? Other behavior clues may be helpful in determining the cause of the health decline that allowed for the impaction.

Geophagia (eating of soil) is not uncommon and is thought to be a result of lack of certain minerals in the diet. Though, there has yet to be an identification of what mineral, or minerals, is deficient. This is still a hypothesis and more work needs to be done to determine the exact cause of the behavior and the solution. Although placing large pebbles on the surface of any soil will stop geophagia, it still does not address the reason for soil ingestion in the first place.