Bulge on new panther

gar732

New Member
Just got this guy in yesterday, he's a 3 month old nosy be panther. He has a small bulge kind of under his front leg on both sides. I've never seen anything like this in any of my past chams. It is more pronounced in the pic because of the position he has his leg in. It flattens out quite a bit more when he has his leg forward. Please let me now what you think, thanks.

 
Trying searching the forum for "gular edema" and see if that is what is going on with your little guy. There was a great discussion on this not too long ago.

I'm sure someone can jump in with a little more info for you, too.

Edit: Ignore me. I didn't see the pink lump. I thought you were describing a swelling condition - "man boobs" is how someone described it in another post.
 
That doesn't look like gular edema,

Edema is a swelling from the inside, like a huge liquid filled sack.
It wouldn't cause that small pink thing.

I suggest a vet, as it could be a cyst, a tumor, a small infected blister...

If you just got him- I would talk to your breeder too.
 
I have never seen gular edema that looked like that either. I too would contact the breeder first, then depending on what you decide, see a vet. sorry for the hassle with the little guy, he sure is cute!
 
I believe those swellings can develop along with the gular edema. Check the diet of your feeders and make sure everything is in order with what you are feeding the chameleon. Protein can a culprit from what I understand.
 
I believe those swellings can develop along with the gular edema. Check the diet of your feeders and make sure everything is in order with what you are feeding the chameleon. Protein can a culprit from what I understand.

This owner has only had him for a day.

It isn't anything the owner did, and gular edema would not cause that pink sack under the arm.
 
The breeder suggested that it might be a calcium pocket, sorry should have included that, but I wanted to get some other opinions. What I find odd is that he seems to have it in the same spot on both sides of his body. He's pretty skittish right now everything being new to him so he's not being too cooperative for photos of his other side. He's eating and drinking and seems healthy otherwise.
 
I have never heard of a calcium pocket either. It may just be the picture but it does look like his sternal area is protruding a little. He may have guler adema and then the cysts are caused by the swelling but I dont know. I would see a vet or if you do not want to deal with the hassle and you are not super attached yet, maybe a send back to breeder is in order. just a suggestion and what others have done in the past.
 
My guess would be that it is fluid because it seems to flatten out and go away depending on his position. I'm just going by visual observation right now because I don't want to stress him out by handling him considering he runs when he sees me. Here is another pic of him hanging upside down in his cage and there is no bulge at all. I just wanted to get some opinions on here first before going to the vet.

 
I have never heard of a calcium pocket either. It may just be the picture but it does look like his sternal area is protruding a little. He may have guler adema and then the cysts are caused by the swelling but I dont know. I would see a vet or if you do not want to deal with the hassle and you are not super attached yet, maybe a send back to breeder is in order. just a suggestion and what others have done in the past.

I'm at odds with what to do in that regard because I'd hate to put the animal through all the stress of shipping back but at the same time I expected a healthy animal with no defects. He was purchased from reputable breeder so I really didn't expect anything like this.
 
Well a couple people my wife spoke to said that it might just be excess fat and that it will go away, I sent pics to my vet to see if they feel he should be seen, and the breeder said to give it until next week and if its still a problem he will replace him.
 
No it is not excess fat. If it is on both sides is more than like is gular edema. The little pink thing might be a separate problem and looks to be some sort of growth. Chameleons do not store fat like that. Post a few more pics. I have a chameleon with gular edema. The first pic looks just like that. I call the fluid sacs man boobs. If it is indeed edema is it not fatal but it is near impossible to get rid of it. I have a chameleon for 1 1/2 years now and he had it prior to that about 2 years before I got him. There is great debate on the causes from organ failure to supplementation issues. It will come and go with intensity but there really is no "cure" for it from all I have learned on here.
 
He does look like he has some loose skin on his chest and the way it bulges only when compressed by his leg has me thinking its fluid. I tried to pick him up and see if I can feel anything but he wasn't having it so I gave up. I was afraid to stress I'm out too much or hurt him with as much as he was squirming.

I did hear back from the vet, they feel that it might be some kind of infection and want to drain it. I'm not sure I'm ready to do that. This vet was one of the better reptile vets in the area but I haven't been there in years.

Here are a couple more pics, he makes it tough to get good ones.

 
For anyone who may be interested I came across this thread that looks similar. https://www.chameleonforums.com/unusual-bumps-52369/ It's sounding more and more like an edema to me, but then again I'm really only guessing. The breeder has agreed to exchange him for another, like I said before he is reputable breeder so I expected he would. If I knew for sure that it wasn't life threatening or that it wouldn't cause problems down the road I wouldn't mind keeping him since I hate to have to ship him back.
 
Just an update on this, we got our new nosy be yesterday. I felt really bad sending the other back especially since I think he was warming up a little to us and he was really displaying some a great color when I was putting him in his box to go back. The new guy is two months older, twice the size, and super skittish. He even freaks out when I mist the cage to the point that I'm afraid he might fall and get hurt. He came in a little dehydrated but is eating and drinking well. I have a couple of other concerns but it might be nothing so I will just give it some time and observe. I really hope he wrms up soon because I can't even look into the cage without him running for cover and freaking out.

I took this pic while he was sleeping, it's the only way I could get a shot of him and at that he woke up, lol. Sadly his color is not even remotely on par with his two month younger predecessor which I don't take as a good sign. So far this experience has been disappointing.
 
Back
Top Bottom