Julie the Chameleon
Julie the Yemen chameleon was brought in because she had stopped eating and the owner thought she was “egg bound”. Julie had a conscious x ray which showed lots of round objects filling the abdomen. These round objects could be eggs or a problem with ovaries. Julie was having problems with breathing because of the problems and surgery was needed quickly. |
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Julie was given a general anaesthetic and attached to a ventilator. A clear sterile plastic covers Julie. A cut was made between two ribs and into Julie’s abdomen. |
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| The yellow objects that you can see are lots of egg yolks still
in the ovaries making the ovaries ten times the normal size. The ovary is very
delicate and sterile cotton buds are used to handle the tissues |
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| A special instrument has been placed to keep the operation site
open. This is all one ovary that you can see in the photograph. |
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| A titanium clip is placed on the blood vessels to the ovary so
it can be removed. |
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| The first ovary has now been removed and the other one will now
be removed. |
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| A fresh sterile cloth has been placed on Julie, this time it is
a blue fabric rather than plastic... The layers of the abdomen are brought
together using synthetic absorbable stitches. |
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| The skin is closed with stitches that will be removed in 4 to 6
weeks. |
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| This picture shows the ultrasound machine used to monitor
Julies heart during the operation. Julie still has the anesthetic tube in her
airway but this will be removed in a short while. |
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