Bump On veiled chameleon Head

Tiftif93

New Member
I just recently got a veiled chameleon almost 4 weeks ago. He is less than a year old. He just finished his peeling about 3 days ago and i started noticing a small bump on his head. Right above his eyes.

Some say its a Cricket bite, others say its an abscesses
:confused: :confused: :confused:

Im taking him to a vet tomorrow.
I just wanted some input to see if maybe im just freaking out lol

& if it is an abscesses, how much it cost to remove it?

Heres some pictures of his bump

20130317_195238.jpg 20130317_195233.jpg
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, Male, <1. In my care for 4 weeks
Handling - 1 a day
Feeding - Eats meal worms, 2-4 daily in the morning. We just put crickets last week, we put 10 small ones.
Supplements - Tuesday/Thursday on the worms Rep-Cal Herptivite & Calcium w/ Vit D3
Watering - We have a fogger, Comes on every 30 min. I also spray his cage daily until moist. I have seen him drinking.
Fecal Description - White with black
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? - Not sure, got him at pets smart
History - Just finished his peel about 3 days ago.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass with screen Top. 45x45x60 cm (18x18x24) TALL
Lighting - Zoo Med, Mini Combo Deep Dome, Day/Night Day comes on at 8am, night comes on at 8pm
Temperature - Day: 90-100 f in basking, Cool: 70-80, at night the temp is around 70 F
Humidity - Humidity 50-80%. We have a fogger and we mist daily.
Plants - Fake vines with leaves and branches
Placement - In my bedroom, Fan is in the center of the room. Air vent is move and about 4 feet to its left. about 7 feet from my door and is on top of a large night table.
Location - Miami, Fl

Current Problem - Bump On head
 
Update

So for everyone who had a similar problem as me, i took him to the vet this morning and they said it probably happened while he was peeling. At first the vet through it was part of his skeletal system but after a few rubs on it it POPPED! Super gross. But he is so much better now and active again. They have me putting peroxide on it for a week and picking the scab for a week so it wont get infected.

Cost was $53 at the vet.

:D
 
You need to find another vet.
And vet who thought that was his Skeleton or was from shedding, is not smart.

Not to mention, peroxide isn't an antibiotic. Which is what he needs to recover.

Find another vet and get real mess for that abscess.
 
I have never heard of a shed causing that. How well does your vet know chameleons? Veilds seem very prone to abcesses in that area. Just make sure it does not start growing again. Did he give you an antibiotic to put him on?? Also picking the scab sounds painful to me.
 
few days since hid abcess popped, we have been putting neosporin on it and now ive noticed he is not as active, he is sleeping, most of the day his eyes are closed. he doesnt respond to his tank door opening. we try to pick up is foot to come to the hand and we dont get a reaction. he also does this weird "inhale, exhale" movement with his body. anyone can tell me something? :( im concerned.
 
He has been sleeping a lot during the day, with his weird breathing randomly through the day and his eyes are closed, tail curled up. what do you think?
 
Concerned

after a few days he has decreased activity. he doesnt respond the the tank door opening. he also does this weird "inhale, exhale" movement which i have no idea why when his humidity levels are perfect. he sleeping or with his eyes closed most of the day. i dont know whats going on with him or what to do :(
 
he should have been given an oral antibiotic for the infection. He has infection and it is probably spreading to other parts of his body. Your cham sounds gravely ill and you need to find a vet that KNOWS chameleons asap or you are going to lose your chameleon. do not go back to that vet, as I am sorry to say they don't know what they are doing it seems.
 
We are trying

So we just cleaned out his whole tank! fresh bedding, zoo-med sent us the proper tube for the humidifier so we just put it in. We also removed the towel we had placed over the tank (recommended by the vet to keep the tank humid)

Within minutes his eyes were open and he climbed the vine to his basking spot and shut his eyes again.

We are oping he gets better :(
 
IMHO the access should have been cleaned out completely, a culture and sensitivity test been done and the chameleon put on an appropriate antibiotic.

Was the stuff that came out of the access greenish? Did it smell a bit like rotting grapes? Was it about the texture of cottage cheese?
 
Agreed, I would find a vet near you that knows chameleons well.

Unfortunately, I brought my first chameleon to a "reptile expert" who was more known for bearded dragons and other desert species, but I did not know this. He had a bump on the base of his tail which I assumed was an abscess, where the vet did the same thing -- rubbed it, touched it (cham was furious and so was I), until he uncovered the area with his fingernail and said "yep, abscess." I was petrified.

He gave me an antibiotic and sent me away with estimates to get it drained.

Did some research, went to another vet that was experienced with chameleons. It took awhile to find one. The woman took my chameleon gently, he was very stressed from the last visit. She recommended a blood test and xray, so we did that. She confirmed that the other vet had no idea what he was talking about. The bump was nothing more than an odd growth which she recommended I remove, which we did. He is healed now.

But because of the last vet and his recommendations with the antibiotics, my cham has kidney damage but is now living happily without growths.

Just my two cents..call around, make sure they know what they're talking about before taking the chameleon in!

I would have been very suspicious when the vet was being rough enough that the abscess could have ruptured...there is definitely something very wrong here.
 
Did not completely read everyones post so sorry if I am repeating, but I would suggest holding back on the every 30 minute fogger. If you are misting, and turning that fogger on every thirty minutes it is likely that the infection had something to do with extremely high humidity in that cage at all times. If you have her in glass with a screen top i can almost guarantee that is the issue. The air in their can get stagnant extremely fast, and for veileds you really dont need it that humid all the time.
 
Did not completely read everyones post so sorry if I am repeating, but I would suggest holding back on the every 30 minute fogger. If you are misting, and turning that fogger on every thirty minutes it is likely that the infection had something to do with extremely high humidity in that cage at all times. If you have her in glass with a screen top i can almost guarantee that is the issue. The air in their can get stagnant extremely fast, and for veileds you really dont need it that humid all the time.

So then when should i have the fogger running?
 
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