It is of utmost importance to know if chameleons can choke before getting them as pets. Chameleons are generally intelligent and gullible pets to keep at home. Amongst the things pet owners generally fear the most is a choking animal. So the question is can chameleons choke?
Chameleons can choke and on numerous counts, chameleon owners had not been aware of this possibility. Chameleons could choke on both water and food if the latter is given forcefully. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent that from happening.
Chameleons are quite susceptible to getting choked. It does become a worry because choking can lead to a chameleon’s death if not taken care of promptly. You must be aware of what and how to help your chameleon if it starts choking.
What Causes Chameleons to Choke?
There are a couple of major reasons that cause chameleons to choke, namely food and water. Although both food and water are important to chameleons, these are the same things that could cause chameleons to choke.
Food
Food for a chameleon regularly reminds us of insects. Imagine my shock when I found out that insects were amongst the causes for chameleons to choke.
There are 3 ways the food consumed by the chameleon could cause it to get choked… the size of the food, the angle at which the food goes in, and impaction.
1. Size of The Food
The common delicacy that we, pet owners, feed our chameleons is crickets. But were you aware that this delicacy could cause them to choke if not properly administered?
Before giving crickets or any other insects to your chameleon, the most important thing you need to watch out for is the size of it. If the food is too large, there’s a very high chance of the chameleon choking on it.
When the food is large, the chameleon will still attempt to chew and swallow it down. However, on most occasions, this food would get stuck in its throat.
Chameleons often don’t chew their food completely before shallowing them. When the food is stuck in a chameleon’s throat, at best the chameleon vomits back out the choked food.
Even then, this incident would apply undue stress to the chameleon’s body.
2. Angle From Where The Food Goes In
Sometimes our chameleons tend to consume their food from an angle. This causes the food to get stuck in their throat and cause the chameleons to choke.
When eating the food from a weird angle, it could get lodged in the chameleon’s throat, causing huge discomfort and choking.
In addition to that, when chameleons eat from a weird angle, the food could also accidentally enter the chameleon’s trachea. This would go on to block their breathing and choking them.
3. Impaction
There’s also an invisible threat known as impaction. Impaction means the ingested food has gotten caught in the digestive tracts, but it would not instantly cause the chameleon to choke.
However, it will cause some serious complications and eventually lead to death. Other than that, impacted food can apply pressure onto the spinal cord which will directly affect the nervous system.
This would cause the chameleon to enter a stage of temporary paralysis. If not immediately and rightly treated, the temporary paralysis can cause the chameleon’s body to switch off and die.
Water
Other than that, water could also choke a chameleon. If water is drunk the wrong way, it could end up in the chameleon’s lungs instead of guts which will also cause the chameleon to choke.
I’m sure we have all been feeding our chameleon food and water all this while, so what do I mean?
Chameleon’s respiratory and digestive tract entrances are very different from us humans. Instead of having both the trachea and throat very close to each other, the chameleons have it slightly different.
Their throats are at the far end of their mouth while their trachea at the middle of the bottom of the mouth. When the chameleon is consuming water, the water is pooled at the bottom of its mouth unless swallowed immediately.
This is very dangerous to the chameleon as their windpipe is also just there at the bottom of its mouth, making it easy for the pet to aspirate.
Hazardously, this construct of the chameleon’s mouth makes it vulnerable to get choked by the water flowing into its lungs. This becomes a real issue especially when the chameleon is stressed.
A stressed chameleon will begin to hiss which causes the windpipe to be open. That allows water from the bottom of the chameleon’s mouth to sip into the lungs.
How to Prevent Your Chameleon From Choking?
There are ways that we can help our chameleons to prevent them from choking. Chameleons could do very little in helping themselves from getting out of a choking situation. Therefore, it’s best to prevent it from happening in the first place.
Feed Foods of The Right Size
The most important thing we need to do is feed the chameleon foods of the right size. What is the right size? Well… any food that is smaller than the width between both their eyes is considered a safe size.
By feeding your chameleon the right size of food, you will prevent the food from going down the wrong way and choking your pet. On top of that, it will also ensure the food is not big enough to get lodged in the chameleon’s throat.
Hence, it is essential to ensure your chameleon is fed food of the appropriate size or smaller to prevent choking.
Don’t Force Water Down Wrongly
Times when we need to force some extra water into the chameleon, it’s best to feed the chameleon some food. Allow them to chew onto the food then, use this chance to slowly squeeze in some water with a syringe or spray bottle.
What happens is that while chewing on the food, the trachea would be closed and the throat would be open for the water to flow in straight away. This helps prevent the water from entering their lungs.
What to Do When Your Chameleon Chokes?
When your chameleon does choke, you can grab a pair of clippers and quickly get out the food that is stuck. This is provided you could see what is stuck and able to gain access to the stuck food without forcing your chameleon.
If you could see the food that’s stuck, wait till the chameleon opens its mouth to gasp for air or gag. Then, quickly use the clippers to remove the food that is stuck.
Although feasible, it’s not always possible to do this to save our pet chameleon. There are times when you won’t be able to see or even get access to clipper the food out.
During this time it’s best to perform a back swipe for your chameleon. Do this by grabbing your chameleon firmly between your hands and its head.
Place your chameleon’s head to face downwards. Then, give the chameleon some strong strokes downwards, towards its head. This will assist in getting any water or food that is stuck in its lungs to exit.
If the back swipes are not administered correctly, the chameleon would probably not receive the required help in time. In which case, you may cause more damage than help.
If you’re not too confident with what to do, it’s always best to take your chameleon to the vet immediately.
Will Chameleons Die From Choking?
As previously mentioned, chameleons could, in fact, die from choking. A few chameleon owners I have spoken to sadly experienced this unfortunate event before.
Even in the wild, there have been occurrences whereby chameleons have died of choking. Unfortunately, many chameleon owners aren’t aware that chameleons could choke.
Due to this, when their chameleon does choke, the owner is not entirely sure what is happening or how to help it. This ultimately leads to the demise of the chameleon.
Signs When Chameleons Are Choking
If you suspect your chameleon to be dying of choking, then there are a few signs you can look out for.
Most commonly, if a chameleon is choking or suffocating for air, it will turn white or into a very dark, black color.
Other than that, chameleons would also constantly swing their head violently in an attempt to clear the choking item. Along with the violent head swings, they would also have their mouths open.
If you do see these signs on your chameleon, then it is most probably choking. It will be advisable to take your pet chameleon to the vet urgently.
Conclusion
Chameleons can get choked and at most times, it is their own doing. However, there are times when we could cause our chameleon to choke.
At any given time a chameleon is choking, it’s best to first know what’s causing it to choke. If you could find out what’s choking your chameleon, then attempt to help it out of the choke.
Otherwise, bring your chameleon to the vet if you don’t know what to do. There are signs you can look out for to see if your chameleon is choking.
These signs include gasping for air or gagging along with the above-mentioned signs. Don’t take this lightly as choking can kill the chameleon.
I’m sure you don’t want that happening to your beloved pet chameleon, do you?
