Bleeding foot Jackson's Cham. Help please!

[Shenron]

Hi, new to the forum. My 8 mo.( Approx) Jackson's Cham (Shenron) has had a swollen toe since I got him, I have been treating twice daily with triple antibiotic ointment and the swelling had mostly subsided. However, I went in to find blood on one of his perches this afternoon. The wound on his foot had opened and is bleeding. He often climbs the screen and I believe this is what aggrivated the wound. His other feet have been getting scraped and he is missing a few nails on one of his back feet (got him that way, presumably lost climbing the screen). Any recommendations on how to stop the bleeding and keep the wound protected for enough time to heal? I have the health form filled out but it is on my laptop, I will post it soon. In the mean time, help? I will also try posting pictures. Shenron thanks you in advance!

 

[Shenron]

Here is a photo of the foot, sorry for the blur, he dislikes being handled at all.

 

[Shenron]

Cham info

I'm back at my computer, here is Shenron's info;


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Jackson's, I have had him for about 2 months.
Handling - only when I have too which is about once or twice a day for a minute to apply antibacterial ointment.
Feeding - Crickets, superworms, and waxworms. He eats 5-10 crickets and 2 or 3 other food items per day. He will cup feed on his own, hunt free range insects, and, until recently, eat out of my hand. I gut load with the dry Flukers garbage along with fresh greens (Kale, and dandelion) and carrots.
Supplements - daily calcium with crix, cal+D3 every 2 weeks, multivitamin every 2 weeks.
Watering - I have a drip system on during the day, and mist 3-4 times daily. I see him drink at least once a day, sometimes he will come up to the spray bottle to drink.
Fecal Description - not tested for parasites while under my care. Small, solid, dark nuggets along with white and orange urates and a clear, colorless, semi-viscous fluid (mucous?)
History - nothing additional comes to mind.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 24x24x48 screen enclosure
Lighting - 5.0 UVb and 75 watt bask, 11 hrs on 13 hrs off
Temperature - basking spot 80-85, coolest spot about 70. NTL of about 65, measured with crappy ZooMed thermometer and a nice IR temp gun.
Humidity - 65-80% humidity. 3-4 daily mists as well as a dripper. measured with crappy ZooMed hygrometer.
Plants - Pothos and a tropical grass plant. Occasional free range on a small ficus tree (not often since I understand the sap may irritate him)
Placement - The top of the cage is about 7 feet off the ground in the corner of my upstairs bedroom near a window, no vents nearby
Location - Michigan

Current Problem - see above posts.

Excuse my spelling and grammar, proofreading is for n00bz.

Thank you.

 

[carol5208]

Is that on the underside of the foot? It is hard to tell. If so, good luck cause I had a heck of a time healing a wound on the underside of my chameleons foot. It took literally months to scab over cause he would just keep using it and irritating it. It took two vet trips. My vet put him on baytril, although there was not an infection. I had him on it for awhile but honestly it did nothing to close up the sore. I had tried wrapping it and that made matters worse so I would not suggest that. I got a topical med called muricin and it finally helped but like I said it took months and months. The sore spot never really looked the same again and was kinda pinkish looking. I noticed just the other day that it looked like it might have opened a little and I am like here we go again! Nesporin did nothing for mine but not saying it won't work for yours. If you see no improvement then you gotta get him to a vet. You don't want it getting infected.

 

[Shenron]

Thanks, Carol. I am considering changing his enclosure to a "hospital" using only smooth, easy to clean dowels for perches and removing his vines to avoid irritation while the wound closes. Any suggestions on how to keep him off of the screen? He seems very upset due to the extra handling he has gotten today and is trying to escape more than he usually does, which is making his feet even worse! Also, is continuing daily neosporin a good idea to prevent infection? I tried coating a portion one of his perches so he steps in it rather than me upsetting him by taking him out to apply it and it seems to work.

 

[carol5208]

I surely don't think it will hurt but for me it just did not heal the foot. It was very discouraging cause we tried everything!!! The main problem is how do you tell a chameleon not to use his foot?? lol My husband and I tried an elaborate system everyday of wrapping his foot so he would not irritate it and that made it swell up some and made the sore very soggy. When I spoke with my vet he told me to leave it open. As far as the climbing, that is another habit which is hard to break cause it is there right in front of him. I was using chicken wire in an outdoor enclosure and I thought that might of been the culprit on my chameleon's foot. I changed out all the wire to a coated wire just to be on the safe side. What I would do is right before my chameleon was sleeping I would gently pullhis foot off the branch and apply the medicine. Of course, it made it easy cause he would let me do this! I did it then cause any other time he would just walk away and rub the med off. It is a tricky thing with a wound on the underside of the foot for sure.

 

[kinyonga]

It's quite likely that the toe infection will need to be cleaned out and the chameleon given antibiotics after a culture and sensitivity test is done in order to get rid of the infection.

Not sure how to stop the bleeding since it's hard to stop the chameleon from moving around and climbing on the screen.

 

[Silkyslim]

My cham has a foot issue similar to Carols. Currently he is towards the end of his treatment/healing process but it also took me months of applying an antibiotic ointment on the wound 2x times a day min.

The stuff I bought is a Silver Sulfadiazine cream called Kendall Thermazene. It is a slow process but it's not like this situation is magically going to get better....because it won't.

 

[mjhough]

Just a thought someone with more knowledge please shoot this idea down but I was wondering if the stuff they make for dogs toe nails when they bleed from clipping to short also have something very similar for birds. Maybe that'll help stop the bleeding?

 

[carol5208]

My cham has a foot issue similar to Carols. Currently he is towards the end of his treatment/healing process but it also took me months of applying an antibiotic ointment on the wound 2x times a day min.

The stuff I bought is a Silver Sulfadiazine cream called Kendall Thermazene. It is a slow process but it's not like this situation is magically going to get better....because it won't.

Hey Kyle! Where you been??? Yeah, yeah, I know the Pack beat the Bears once again! Not like it was a surprise!!! lol
I tried Silver Sulfadine, some wound care spray that I got from another member, neo sporin, poly sporin and then the muricin. I guess we can all agree that foot wounds do not heal overnight and I think alot of it has to do with them constantly using the foot and reinjuring it.

 

[laurie]

You would want to ask a vet before trying this. There is some stuff called "New Skin" it is used in humans to seal skin until new skin grows. It might work but I don't know. Ferrettinmyshoe, or Dr O are vets. You could ask one of them.

 

[Dr O]

feet can be tough, particularly when they don't want to do a fast heal and it might be more serious (infection getting into the bone/joint/resistant bacteria).

if i were doing a (relatively) full work up, we would take an x-ray of the foot to see the bone, a fine needle aspirate of the foot itself for cytology and culture & sensitivity, systemic and topical meds (a variety), and a ball bandage that i would teach you how to reapply.

other than that, it's a crap shoot and has potential to get better or much worse.

 

[Shenron]

Thank you for your response Dr. O. Although I will see a vet if the condition worsens, I want to attempt treatment on my own first. What is your opinion on using super glue (100% cyanoacrylate) to close and protect the wound? If that is not an option I plan on twice daily applications of silver sulfadiazine. What systemic drugs do you recommend? I have limited lab access and can culture if need be, but what organisms commonly put reptiles at risk? Also, how is a ball bandage applied?

Thanks again.

 

[Dr O]

Thank you for your response Dr. O. Although I will see a vet if the condition worsens, I want to attempt treatment on my own first. What is your opinion on using super glue (100% cyanoacrylate) to close and protect the wound? If that is not an option I plan on twice daily applications of silver sulfadiazine. What systemic drugs do you recommend? I have limited lab access and can culture if need be, but what organisms commonly put reptiles at risk? Also, how is a ball bandage applied?

Thanks again.

i'm sorry, but we're treading on dangerous turf here. i cannot give you advice to practice veterinary medicine without a license, which is illegal and a felony for someone to do in every state that i know of. however, i will say-

-i would never put glue on and trap the bacteria inside. that seems like a terrible idea. if the bacteria haven't already damaged the bone, they certainly will at that point with no where else to go. otherwise they will just start draining out of another hole anyway.

-the systemic drugs would be based on what the C&S shows.

-hundreds, if not thousands of organisms put them at risk. if you work in a lab you should know that.

-i have no way of writing in text how to make and apply a ball bandage; it would need graphics at the very least. of course, i was taught hands on.


don't get me wrong, i don't think anyone's going to come knocking on your door, but you're trying to work in a gray area that i cannot help you with. let a vet do the work that is correct and don't experiment is my advice.