Brown Anole is ill - not sure what it is or what to do...

Question
I have a brown anole who is very ill and I am unsure what to do to help her.

I first noticed her behaving differently about three weeks ago but the condition may have been going on longer. At first her head was shedding (it looked like a whitish cap) but the shedding seemed like it was taking a long time to complete, far longer than she had done in the past. Eventually, the rest of her body started to shed but it too has been very slow. And that's what she is now, very slow. Three weeks later and her head still hasn't finished shedding and there's still skin attached to her in bits all over. She hasn't opened her eyes and hasn't eaten in at least three weeks either. I have no idea if that's because of the shedding and the "cap" or something else. Can she open her eyes but she doesn't want to or are her eyes glued shut and she can't open them? All I know is she looks very thin and she hardly moves and never eats, drinks or even opens her mouth except for the two times she drank from a swab of water I gently rubbed against her face.

When the heat's up in her terrarium, during the day, she moves around a little. She goes to the light, especially sunlight, when it's available but it's like she's sleep-walking; eyes closed and slow. Like I said, I used a swab soaked in distilled H2O and got her to take a drink a couple times, but mostly she doesn't react at all when you touch her. The exception is she doesn't like it when I try to clean the dried skin/poop away from her butt - ladies typically don't like that and she's no exception.

I have been misting more and I turned the temp up in her terrarium a bit, but I have no idea if it's helping or not - in fact I may be making it worse.

She in a 10 gallon terrarium with the usual stuff - basking UVB light, little water dish, heat lamp, etc - she's lived there for two years. I haven't changed a thing in her environment, food, care or schedule. During the day the temps in her tank climb (there's even a bit of real sunlight for awhile) but at night it was getting down in the mid to low 60's although I now keep it up in the 68-70 range. It's possible there were a couple colder nights in her tank but it's in the house, so nothing extraordinary.

I already contacted my vet who said she couldn't do anything for me and referred me to someone else for advice. That person was stumped too and thought maybe the anole was impacted and misting and warmer temps were the best thing. The anole did look like she wanted to poop (she assumed the position several times and even strained) but a few days ago, she pooped and now it's stuck on her shedding skin near her butt. And she's still sick.

I also contacted a herp specialist vet who said it didn't sound like anything that he knew and I should have my own vet xray her. My own vet says she can't xray her, she's too small. So, I get referred around and around and I still don't know what to do. In the meantime Annie is getting very thin and all I do is mist, keep it a bit warmer, and try to get her to drink a couple times a day.

Maybe I shouldn't be swabbing her with water - maybe that's making it worse - maybe *that's* gluing her eyes shut. Maybe she need *more* water. Maybe she needs to get cold and warm up. Maybe she needs to be warmer? I think she's two years old, but really, who knows? How do you tell if she'd old? She looked great until this happened and in the beginning she looked good under the shedding, but now she's so thin and her ribs and tail scare me.

She moves a little and she moves to the sun. She really likes it when the sun comes in her cage for an hour in the am and sometimes tries to get her tummy up on the side of the glass.

So, I need advice. What do I do to help her?

Answer
Hello Jeff,

Hm, that is too bad Annie is not doing well.  
What type & brand of UVB are you using?  Is it a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?  How old is the UVB light?  What type of basking light do you use, & what are the temperatures in the tank?
Do you use a stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?  
Do you use calcium on a regular basis when feeding her?  What do you feed her?
What type of substrate are you using, sand, tiles, paper towels?
If she is not eating on her own right now, I would get some chicken or turkey babyfood & mix some powdered calcium in with the babyfood.  Use a plastic syringe or a plastic dropper to get some food into her.  Assist feeding her will greatly help her & put some weight back on her.  
If she is having problems going to the bathroom, she could either be impacted, or be hypocalemic which causes constipation.  Can you soak her in some water to try & help her go to the bathroom & get the stuck shed off too.  
It is very difficult to determine the age of them.  How long have you had her for?

Tracie