a small cut of some sort on my panther's chin.... someone help?

[trickedoutbiker]

Okay so a few days after Thanksgiving, I noticed my panther chameleon Kyú had a small scratch/cut of some sort on his chin. I'm not 100% sure how this happened, but I have a general idea. Right before Thanksgiving, he shed his skin. My first idea: he might of got the cut sometime during that shedding while rubbing around on everything in his cage. I'm not sure how that might have caused a cut, as I ran my finger over pretty much every surface of the cage and found no sharp edges.

The second idea I have, is that, I had to bring him with me during Thanksgiving, because I was going to be gone for 4 days, and had nobody here at my house to look after him for me (I am new to Indianapolis, IN as of a year ago, and have nobody I trust enough to come to my house while I'm not home) He is about 5 months old (about 5 at Thanksgiving, he is about 6 months old now) and I didn't trust leaving him with my neighbor either, as my neighbor is a heavy smoker and that kind of air is bad for chameleons. Anyways, the drive to where I was going is a two hour drive. I put Kyú in a small box, lined with a shirt as to cushion him from bouncing around and to absorb a bit of vehicle vibrations. The box was a small cardboard shoe box, completely dark inside as well (minus the few holes here and there in the lid for air). There was also a couple small sticks for him to grab onto if he wanted. I also put a small paper towel in there which was half-soaked with hot water before the trip to kind of give the box some warmth as well as humidity. Monitored the temps on the drive with a digital thermometer inside the box, and everything seemed fine.

Now the reason I transported like this is because I talked to a lady on the forums here once who told me she drives 5 hours ONE WAY to go to a reptile vet a few times a year. That's a 5 hour drive there, and a 5 hour drive back. And she explained to me that, how she transports her chams, is that she puts them in a small, dark container with a cloth of some sort to absorb some car vibrations and to cushion the cham if s/he was to fall over, a stick or two to hold onto, and a wet paper towel for humidity. She told me that the chams typically tend to fall asleep in pure darkness and are usually asleep when she goes to get them out after her drive.

ANYWAYS >>> My second idea is that, somehow during that two hour drive for me, he might of rubbed up against that stick I had in the box for him somehow and cut himself.

Okay... fast forward to today.... I didn't think much of it around Thanksgiving, as I figured the cut would heal on its own like 99.9% of animal cells do in most animals. But the cut hasn't really healed a whole lot. It doesn't look worse at all.... It just basically looks the same. No better, no worse.

I was wondering if there is anything I can do for him? I've heard about using Polysporin on it, but I don't have any of that. I've also heard about Neosporin without the pain additive Lidocaine ------ I have some Triple Antibiotic Ointment which is pretty much the same thing as Neosporin, just without the fancy name. Could I rub a tad of that on his chin and see if it helps or would that harm him?

What should I do? I mean I know that nature will heal it up eventually, but if there is ANYTHING I can do for the little guy then I'd love to help him. I kinda feel like it isn't healing because he keeps rubbing it open but I can't tell if he is or not. I mean it looks a little red, but it isn't bleeding down his face or anything.

Any pointers? I attached a few pics of him here. He didnt like my camera all up in his space but I love the little guy and just wanna help him.

 

[Carlton]

I think the best thing to do is dab some Polysporin (no pain relief ingredients) on the cut to help protect against secondary infection. Chams heal slowly and he may well be opening it up again by rubbing. See if you can figure out where or when he might be rubbing on something. If he's pacing his current cage he could end up rubbing it, though typically a snout rub isn't in quite this spot. Maybe he needs a larger cage?

 

[trickedoutbiker]

His current cage is 16 x 16 x 30. I have a 24 x 24 x 48 cage coming to me in March or April for him. I've watched him quite a bit when I am home: some days he just chills and basks and other days he crawls all over the cage more often. Hard to keep a keen eye on him when I work 9 hours a day though.

Where might I be able to find Polysporin? I've never heard of that before. It's not vet-prescribed only is it?

 

[carol5208]

No, you should be able to get it at any drugstore.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I've never seen a cut or rub on a chameleon that was red, but that's not to say it isn't possible. My gut feeling is that it is his pigment.

Sometimes a mark from an injury won't show up until after the chameleon has shed and everything is all healed up or well on the way to being healed. They heal very slowly. I wonder if he gave himself a small injury under his previous skin that he has now shed and that injury is only now showing up as different pigmentation.

Any cuts/rubs/injury to the skin that I've ever seen have been black. I have wild caughts that have been in captivity for over a year and they still have ugly black marks and what looks like scabs after numerous sheds and a lot of growth. I have baby chameleons that are housed separately and they STILL manage to bang and scratch themselves up on the branches in the cage leaving them with little black marks.

I had my vet open up and clean out an abscess on one of my wild caughts which left an open wound that was at least a quarter inch long. After the bleeding finally stopped and it scabbed over (minutes) it was black.

I'm including pictures of that particular chameleon's wounds. You can see what look like scabs on every spine along his back. Those are rub injuries from capture/import/export over a year ago. It will give you a reference since you have luckily probably never seen a beat up and battered chameleon. The only wound on his back that was treated was the one we eventually drained. You can see the incision mark at the base of the abscess (at the top of the white patch) in the second picture. This particular animal came in at 36g and weight about three times that now. He is not the picture of health--my vet and I refer to him as "He Who Will Not Die," which is testament to his--chameleons'--toughness.

I wouldn't be concerned even if what you are seeing is a wound.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

I've never seen a cut or rub on a chameleon that was red, but that's not to say it isn't possible. My gut feeling is that it is his pigment.

Sometimes a mark from an injury won't show up until after the chameleon has shed and everything is all healed up or well on the way to being healed. They heal very slowly. I wonder if he gave himself a small injury under his previous skin that he has now shed and that injury is only now showing up as different pigmentation.

Any cuts/rubs/injury to the skin that I've ever seen have been black. I have wild caughts that have been in captivity for over a year and they still have ugly black marks and what looks like scabs after numerous sheds and a lot of growth. I have baby chameleons that are housed separately and they STILL manage to bang and scratch themselves up on the branches in the cage leaving them with little black marks.

I had my vet open up and clean out an abscess on one of my wild caughts which left an open wound that was at least a quarter inch long. After the bleeding finally stopped and it scabbed over (minutes) it was black.

I'm including pictures of that particular chameleon's wounds. You can see what look like scabs on every spine along his back. Those are rub injuries from capture/import/export over a year ago. It will give you a reference since you have luckily probably never seen a beat up and battered chameleon. The only wound on his back that was treated was the one we eventually drained. You can see the incision mark at the base of the abscess (at the top of the white patch) in the second picture. This particular animal came in at 36g and weight about three times that now. He is not the picture of health--my vet and I refer to him as "He Who Will Not Die," which is testament to his--chameleons'--toughness.

I wouldn't be concerned even if what you are seeing is a wound.

I never thought of it that way, that maybe it was a small injury and I never saw it before because it was under his skin. Good call on that one. Never even really crossed my mind. I mean I've never seen it bleed and never tried to dab it with a Q-tip to see if it was red..... it just LOOKS like a cut of some sort. and I noticed it right after he shed near Thanksgiving. I just ASSUMED it was from him shedding or rubbing on something, because I never saw it until then. It could very well be his pigmentation on a new layer of skin. I guess I won't worry too much and let it all heal up / go away / whatever on its own. I will keep a keen eye on it to make sure he isn't rubbing on it or anything though, just in case it is a cut, so that way he doesn't rip it open again.

as for the pics you attached.... WOW. that cham is one hell of a fighter. looks like it's been through some rough days, that's for sure. glad to know it's all taken care of and has a caring owner I love this community

 

[jajeanpierre]

His current cage is 16 x 16 x 30. I have a 24 x 24 x 48 cage coming to me in March or April for him. I've watched him quite a bit when I am home: some days he just chills and basks and other days he crawls all over the cage more often. Hard to keep a keen eye on him when I work 9 hours a day though.

Where might I be able to find Polysporin? I've never heard of that before. It's not vet-prescribed only is it?

Polysporin or Neosporin are fine but make sure it is the original formula WITHOUT any sort of pain relief medication in it. It is found in the drug store.

 

[jajeanpierre]

as for the pics you attached.... WOW. that cham is one hell of a fighter. looks like it's been through some rough days, that's for sure. glad to know it's all taken care of and has a caring owner I love this community

He's been on death's doorstep more than once. There is something going on still but we don't know what and finding out would kill him. We suspect he has an abscess in his abdomen somewhere, possibly from one of those spine rubs draining down. Or lung worms. At one point he had difficulty getting enough oxygen--something was taking up space for his lungs. The vet was positive it was not a respiratory infection or an illness. We thought of lungworms. (I had one of the imports die from respiratory failure due to lungworms, confirmed on autopsy.) Or a tumor. Or an abscess. He wasn't able to eat because he couldn't afford to stop breathing long enough to swallow, he had that compromised a respiratory system. Sometimes he would collapse from lack of oxygen.

I made an appointment to euthanize him but like magic, Laurie the quad queen sensed something and called me out of the blue. She said she had a somewhat similar situation in animal and had demanded the vet treat for a respiratory infection. Unlike some vets, my vet is quite happy to listen to the experience of keepers, and even though she was sure it wasn't an infection, we started a course of Baytril. We could always euthanize later, and we both knew we would be beside ourselves if we euthanized and opened him up to find a lung infection. He took forever to improve. I gave him much smaller feeders--he was so weak I had to hand feed him. That picture was taken today. You can see how atrophied his muscles are, but he eats on his own and bigger bugs, too. He's gained his weight back and will hunt. I don't see him having any episodes of him in respiratory distress as he was. He still seems to have soft swellings inside his abdomen. I don't expect him to live long, but he refuses to die and I really really like his soul. He just touches me in a way few do.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

something about chameleons makes owners get super attached. I can deff relate. I know it's inevitable one day that all things die.... but I try not to ever think of death. I try to focus on the good, and the good times, and the love I have for reptiles.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

I think the best thing to do is dab some Polysporin (no pain relief ingredients) on the cut to help protect against secondary infection. Chams heal slowly and he may well be opening it up again by rubbing. See if you can figure out where or when he might be rubbing on something. If he's pacing his current cage he could end up rubbing it, though typically a snout rub isn't in quite this spot. Maybe he needs a larger cage?

This.

 

[Carlton]

He's been on death's doorstep more than once. There is something going on still but we don't know what and finding out would kill him. We suspect he has an abscess in his abdomen somewhere, possibly from one of those spine rubs draining down. Or lung worms. At one point he had difficulty getting enough oxygen--something was taking up space for his lungs. The vet was positive it was not a respiratory infection or an illness. We thought of lungworms. (I had one of the imports die from respiratory failure due to lungworms, confirmed on autopsy.) Or a tumor. Or an abscess. He wasn't able to eat because he couldn't afford to stop breathing long enough to swallow, he had that compromised a respiratory system. Sometimes he would collapse from lack of oxygen.

I made an appointment to euthanize him but like magic, Laurie the quad queen sensed something and called me out of the blue. She said she had a somewhat similar situation in animal and had demanded the vet treat for a respiratory infection. Unlike some vets, my vet is quite happy to listen to the experience of keepers, and even though she was sure it wasn't an infection, we started a course of Baytril. We could always euthanize later, and we both knew we would be beside ourselves if we euthanized and opened him up to find a lung infection. He took forever to improve. I gave him much smaller feeders--he was so weak I had to hand feed him. That picture was taken today. You can see how atrophied his muscles are, but he eats on his own and bigger bugs, too. He's gained his weight back and will hunt. I don't see him having any episodes of him in respiratory distress as he was. He still seems to have soft swellings inside his abdomen. I don't expect him to live long, but he refuses to die and I really really like his soul. He just touches me in a way few do.

I had a rescue melleri like this. He was a wreck, scabbed, burned, emaciated, dehydrated, listless, but alive. It took several months for him to put any weight on and he never seemed to be able to stay hydrated. He drank almost desperately every day, producing strings of clear saliva as he drank (I felt this was yet another sign of extreme thirst). He didn't have any respiratory problems so the vet and I guessed the physical stress of his burns in addition to previous poor treatment compromised his kidneys. He had extensive burns on his dorsal crest and tail which took months to heal. Every week or so I took him in to remove dying tissue, IV fluids, and wound care. The only pictures I have of him (sorry, not digital) show him with pink vet wrap covering most of his tail. At least he had full use of his tail and he was a pretty docile boy. By comparison, the other 2 melleri in the same free range were fat, hydrated, and stable.