Black marks etc...

HarleyGirl

HarleyGirl

New Member
3 questions...
1) I noticed my cham -- blue panther chameleon (almost 4 yrs old) has developed a little dark bump on his mouth area. Also, under that blemish on his chin seems to be an area of black (like a smear on his skin). Is it anything serious?
He's been very healthy up until now. All his cage settings are up to par with what i read on this forum. He even has a mister that sprays automatically when i am not home, so I am pretty sure he is getting enough light/food/water. He eats mostly crickets (dusted with calcium), butterworms and tomato horned as treats. He gets picky with silks and waxes sometimes.
2) Other than that, I noticed he rubs his front hand/claw? (what's it called?) up against the screen. He has now filed down his nails because he does that sometimes when he wants me to open the cage so I can take him out. Will his nails ever grow back? Is there anything I can do to heal his hand? It looks a bit swollen where the nail is filed down, so I am assuming he was doing it when i wasn't home sometimes.
3) How long will my little guy live for? Some say 7 years. I have had him since he was a little over a month old and I think 7 years is too short! Any guesses as to how long a healthy captive bred panther can live?
 
At 4 he's starting to get old. I would get him a good check over by a chameleon vet. He could have an infection where his hand rubbed on the screen. He might need an antibiotic. I would recomend free ranging or lining his cage with plastic fencing. No his nails will never grow back. The vet could also do a fecal and check for parasites and check the bump on his mouth.

If you will feel out the ask for help form and post a few photos it would be easier for someone to tell what might be going on with your cham.

photo of plastic fencing:https://www.chameleonforums.com/members/beeze-albums-making-aluminum-cage.html


ask for help form:https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
 
Last edited:
ok i hope these pics work....

last time i tried, they would not upload, fingers crossed...
 

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I would get his mouth looked at. Could be mouth rot. The black on this neck under his mouth could be a bruise or burn. You could put some Silvadene creme on his hand or Zymox.
 
So as you can see it's a bit swollen. i am also buying a new cage, since the water mister rusted a part of the screen and i don't want him around that.

where can i get a nice sized cage for him? I don't want one any taller than 2.5 or 3 ft tall, since I am worried about him falling, now that his nails are filed down. But width and length can be about 2 ft by 16" at the smallest.

Any suggestions on knowledgeable vets in the Toronto area? Last time I brought him to a vet in Burlington, I'm not convinced they knew a lot about reptiles aside from basic knowledge/training
 
www.lllreptiles.com have about the best cage for the money and they have a few on sale right now. I guess they ship to Canada. Start a thread looking for vet in Toronto area. There's other Canada member here maybe they can help.
 
Is 24" L x 12" W x 26" H cage enough for a full grown or should it be the next size up...30X18X36?
I am worried about him falling from his branch.
 
I would go with the bigger cage and put plenty of branches and plants so if he does slip he'll have something to hold on to. Have you thought about free range? At his age he probably would not get off a plant or small tree.

Veileds live to be 6 or 7 but most panthers do not make it that long even in the very best of health. I know.....it's to short and so sad. The very best of luck with your guy and if you can try to get him to a chameleon vet and try to keep him healthy.
 
I don't know if this was mentioned, but the inside of his mouth looks a bit bubbly.
 
Hey, that is definitely some sort of infection and it's progressed now to the point that I would start worrying about it affecting his feeding. A vet visit is definitely needed. It's far enough down his jaw that it will hopefully be easy to treat, even for a relatively inexperienced vet. In the meantime, I'd try to remove any of that matter that's accumulating and then swab/clean it out with betadine. You can do a lot at home to slow down its spread but it may require antibiotics to totally clear it up.

As for the black marks, is it possible he rubbed on something, perhaps because of the mouth, and smeared something else onto himself?

Edit: Oh, I've had panthers live a little over 7 years.
 
Kent67 said:
Hey, that is definitely some sort of infection and it's progressed now to the point that I would start worrying about it affecting his feeding. A vet visit is definitely needed. It's far enough down his jaw that it will hopefully be easy to treat, even for a relatively inexperienced vet. In the meantime, I'd try to remove any of that matter that's accumulating and then swab/clean it out with betadine. You can do a lot at home to slow down its spread but it may require antibiotics to totally clear it up.

As for the black marks, is it possible he rubbed on something, perhaps because of the mouth, and smeared something else onto himself?

Edit: Oh, I've had panthers live a little over 7 years.
Click to expand...


Really? Oh my God! Now I'm scared. I didn't think it was that bad because his behaviour seems to be fine. His appetite is great and his fecal seems to be fine. Anyone know vets to suggest in the Toronto area? About the black...it's possible it was rubbed from something but i don't think it would have lasted that long. I sprayed water on him to clean it, because that's what I thought too. And it's not a burn b/c there is nothing in his cage to get burned on.
Where can I get betadine?

That's great to hear! I want him to live as long as possible!

How long does mouth rot take to develop into something fatal? Wouldn't his behaviour be affected if it was really serious?
 
beeze said:
I would get his mouth looked at. Could be mouth rot. The black on this neck under his mouth could be a bruise or burn. You could put some Silvadene creme on his hand or Zymox.
Click to expand...

Can i get that from any drug store? How can mouth rot be cured?
 
ok so i found that vet list in the health clinic note on vets..thanks Brad.
so now where can i get betadine or Silvadene cream in the meantime?
 
Contact Tracy she's one of our moderators here. https://www.chameleonforums.com/members/trace/
She lives in Canada and might be able to help you with a vet. Your guy is beautiful and I'd hate to see anything happen to him. I am very lucky I have an expert chameleon vet two hours away. You should also start a new thread looking for a vet as mentioned above.

Mouth rot is very serious. For those meds mentioned do a google search and see where you can buy them. I'm pretty sure Zymox in an over the counter drug.
 
The toe looks swollen and needs to be cleaned out and the infected areas of the mouth too. A culture and sensitivity test would tell what antibiotic would kill the bacteria involved. If you don't have the areas cleaned out and put the chameleon on antibiotics, the infection might spread.
 
kinyonga said:
The toe looks swollen and needs to be cleaned out and the infected areas of the mouth too. A culture and sensitivity test would tell what antibiotic would kill the bacteria involved. If you don't have the areas cleaned out and put the chameleon on antibiotics, the infection might spread.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't the vet know how to do all that? i hope so....
 
Hre is the one I would use in the GTA:

Google The links road animal clinic

I haven't need it myself, but they have been highly recommended by other herpers I know.

Check your PM HarleyGirl, I sent you the link to their site.
 
chameleoholic said:
Hre is the one I would use in the GTA:

Google The links road animal clinic

I haven't need it myself, but they have been highly recommended by other herpers I know.

Check your PM HarleyGirl, I sent you the link to their site.
Click to expand...


Thanks to everyone!!!! That's where I went. They were fantastic! My little guy's mouth turned out to not have mouth rot. There was a bunch of residue but the vet picked that off and his mouth is fine! She believes he is rubbing his mouth against something in the cage, and that if I left that build up for a long time it could have developed into an infection and mouth rot. The black marks under his neck were leftover skin from shedding. The cage may not have been humid enough at the time. I try to keep humidity as much between 60 to 80 per cent but outside factors in the home tend to effect that...like opening a window to get fresh air in the adjacent room, etc... It's so hard to keep the humidity constantly high. I even have a mister to help with that and fountain. Any other suggestions?
So..... Picasso is now on Novotrimel for his swollen hand and he will be getting x-rays next week to make sure the bones on the hand are not damaged; but other than that he seems to be fine. YAY!!!
Thanks again to everyone here. Without this forum I would not have a clue who to ask about these things!
 
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