Abscess on foot (lost a toenail)

[romulan]

Hi everybody,

Today I noticed an abscess on my 6 month old panther. It is on his back left foot, the inner part, where his claw should be. The nail is missing and it is a bit swollen (a few millimeters) and filled with pus. I think he lost it from climbing on his screen cage. It does not seem to bother him, he is using his foot just fine and able to grip well with it.

I know his nail won't come back but am worried about an infection.

My plan was to poke it gently with a needle, drain it, and then soak his foot in a betadine solution for 15 minutes then put neosporin on it and repeat the process every day until it heals.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I think a vet would do the exact same thing, only charge me and arm and a leg to do it. I also would not want to put him on oral antibiotics. He is still rather small and I don't know how he would handle it.

I don't have a good enough camera to take a closeup of it, sorry

 

[ataraxia]

Your course of treatment is ok for a home treatment. Instead of making a new wound, possibly doing it wrong and causing more problems. I would try to drain the wound from the source. If there is pus visually you should be able to drain and flush it from there. Providone iodine with distilled or bottled water would be my choice to clean. Id only use polysporin if flushing and soaking does not seem to cure it in a time frame i feel is ok.

A vet is your best option and will do the job right the first time. This would be my recommendation.

 

[romulan]

Thanks for the response. I have decided it would be in his best interest to take him to a vet. I found a local pet hospital that has worked with chameleons before. I setup an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, after I am off work. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[ataraxia]

Good deal! Keep us posted.

 

[Chuck G]

Keeping it clean is a good idea but it sounds like it is infected.
Your vet will put him on antibiotics. Trust me, you don't want it to spread.
Good luck and glad you are inspecting him enough to find the problem.

 

[romulan]

Just got back from the vet. He said reptile abscesses are hard and not liquid so we did not attempt to open a new wound. Instead he prescribed Tribrissen syrup for the next two weeks and to keep him clean (I spray down his cage with a hose everyday and my mistking is set for 4x mistings a day). He gave the first dose right into his mouth (only .03ml). For future dosings I am just going to put the syrup on a hornworm.

Other than that he is acting completely normal and has white urate. Would the antibiotics change the color of his urate? If it starts becoming orange I don't want to be alarmed.

 

[kinyonga]

If the vet is wrong and it is an infection it will likely need to be cleaned out. Chameleon pus is thick and the antibiotic won't penetrate it to kill the bacterial.

 

[ataraxia]

Course of treatment with antibiotics is generally to up the water intake as these meds do dehydrate. It is great that you have a auto misting system. I dont think you will see a change in the urates.

Not all puss/infection in chameleons is thick like cottage cheese. However, I believe the vet should have drained this no matter what type. If the correct med was prescribed. Healing is generally much, much faster this way.