Big problem with Furcifer pardalis

[Movski]

Hello, I'm from Serbia and I need your help badly....
My Panther chameleon has problem with his eyes and mouth!
In start, he would close his eyes and just stand at one place some time, and when I put food in terrarium (crickets, worms....) he would open his eyes and eat... but now he doesn't want to open his eyes. It's like this long time... one month. I tried everything... with some ointment for the eyes. I sprinkle him with water every day. I feed him (forcefeeding) and hi stands at one place all day. When i sprinkle him, hi start to move but with closed eyes. He has something on his mouth, i can't describe, but i will post some pictures here...

 

[Olimpia]

Welcome to the forum! I am sorry to hear your panther is sick, he's very beautiful.

Have you gone to a vet about this yet? If I had to guess, it looks as if he has a mouth infection (commonly called "mouth rot") that perhaps has spread to his sinuses and is making him close his eyes, or he doesn't feel well from the infection and is closing his eyes.

I would definitely go to a vet if possible (I know exotic vets can get very uncommon depending on your country). If not, we'll try to think of something but he needs treatment immediately. I would tell you to put him outside for some sun during the day but the weather in Serbia right now is pretty cold, so unfortunately we can't.

 

[Movski]

Situation with vets in Serbia is very bad... Here in my town (4th bigest in Serbia) there is no vet who knows anything about exotic animals... ):
Because of thet I'm here.
Thanks Olimpia. He has very nice colour but I don't know what to do... Vitam A meybe?

 

[Olimpia]

We have two vets on the forum that perhaps can give you some advice. But I think something like vitamin A is not going to do much at this point. I will send them a message, hopefully they get back to you today!

 

[chameleonkev]

I've bee to the vets today with one of my chams that had a small infection of the mouth witch also had started to affect one eye, what you have will be the same but it's clearly been left untreated for a while. My Cham has had some antibiotics and germicidal cream to apply to the gums daily. You will need the same kind of thing but on a bigger scale

 

[Dr O]

I have been asked to chime in-

From some of the photographs it is very evident that the gums of your chamaeleon are massively swollen. Without being able to see inside, I can only assume he has some very serious mouthrot\oral stomatitis, which has led to many other secondary infections. It could have started as a mouth infection, or it may be the results of improper lighting, vitamins, supplements, etc.

Sadly, I do believe you when you say the veterinary situation in Serbia is not very good. However, if there are veterinarians that focus primarily on dogs and cats and perhaps even birds they still can be of some help. I would not bother if the veterinarian is there mainly for horses, cattle or swine. I say this because a veterinarian that is treating dogs and cats still probably has the antibiotic on a shelf that you would need, and would also probably surprise himself at what he can treat by looking at that mouth. And I am also willing to help in any way that I can, which means that if you do start a rapport with a veterinarian there, if he wants to contact me and describe what he is seeing or show me some photographs, I will do as much as I can to help him through it. Unfortunately he will not be able to do any blood work as I doubt very highly that any laboratories in Serbia process reptile blood. And the forum members here can and will be very responsive to your needs in terms of figuring out the best cage, nutrition, lighting, heat, etc. so you don't need to worry if your veterinarian has absolutely no clue about how they live. We can help with that part.

So the bottom line is I can virtually guarantee just from the photographs that he is in major need of some specific antibiotics. Tell me if you think any of this is possible at all and i certainly would understand if it is not. But your poor guy looks pretty sick, and I would say time is becoming extremely critical at this stage.

dr. o—

 

[Movski]

I think it's because of bad ventilation.... I'm sure. Is there any hope for him?

 

[Dr O]

probably not if you don't do anything.

 

[weeman]

What type of antibiotic is used for mouthrot in chameleons I had a veiled with a eye infection and the vet prescibed baytril. Unfortunately the chameleon died

 

[Olimpia]

What type of antibiotic is used for mouthrot in chameleons I had a veiled with a eye infection and the vet prescibed baytril. Unfortunately the chameleon died

Baytril is the antibiotic most commonly prescribed for most infections. A vet may prescribe an oral ointment as well/instead of, depending on the case. Baytril is great except that it's tough on kidneys, so you just have to make sure that you water, water, and water some more.

 

[weeman]

Hope it works out for this chameleon. Hate to see them just hanging on