Fat crest

[faye]

My 5 year old Veiled Chameleon has a VERY fat crest, why I ask? My vet, who I might add appears to have endless knowledge about reptiles has tried draining it but nothing has come out, we have visited since, Houdinis head even bigger and the vet did'nt want to try and drain it again due to possible infection in the needle site. Conclusion was he just has a fat head. His crest is squishy to the touch not hard, he appears well in himself, good eye movment, is eating well and active. His crest is now almost the width of his head, i wanted some advice before we visit the vet again, has anyone got any ideas or experience with the same problem, I am concerned his crest can only stretch so far!! Help please anyone, much appreciated!!! Cheers very much, Faye x

 

[tdotcham]

by crest are you referring to casque? pictures may help assist others in providing insight.

 

[faye]

Sorry, new to this, thanx !! Will post picture in a short while...

 

[tdotcham]

no worries, theres also a help form listed in the stickied section in the health subsection. It's a couple questions for people to understand how you are supplementing/keeping your cham to get some background information

 

[gerhartrx]

no worries, theres also a help form listed in the stickied section in the health subsection. It's a couple questions for people to understand how you are supplementing/keeping your cham to get some background information

Here is the link: https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Add a picture or two. I am sure there is someone who has some good suggestions. I know one specifically that I will alert if she doesn't see it on her own. She is pretty well versed on veilds.

 

[faye]

crazy i know, can't work out how to add pictures, there is no paper clip and the mountain pic wants U munber, what is that?

 

[gerhartrx]

hit the quote button and you will get the paper clip to add a pic.

 

[faye]

Thankyou!!

Thankyou for tip! This is Houdini, 1 pic of him possing on his favourite ornament (on the windowseal, the other 2 pic were taken when he really wasnt happy about it, from the 2 shots you can see the swelling to the sides and the rear.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Here is my theory...His casque is shorter than it should be, possibly from malnutrition when younger, or perhaps trauma or a burn that altered its growth. If you look at wild veileds the casque is much taller, and much more vertical. It's also very thin, as I'm sure you've noticed. But wild chams don't have an abundance of food they don't really need. The tissue you are concerned about is fat. Chams store fat in their head pads, so fat panthers have bulging head pads too. I don't think there is anything wrong with your Cham, which is why your vet can't get anything out. My veiled looks the same, and he did have some poor growth when he was young from his previous owners. I put him on a weight loss plan but his casque didn't change even though he's pretty trim now. Unless he is deprived of food so he has to mobilize his fat stores I don't think it will change. And I don't recommend doing that!

 

[tdotcham]

if you look at this back, hes looks like hes recovered from burn damages. It also sort of looks like it affected the casque region as well. Why would your vet try and drain his casque??? it doesnt look nearly as extreme as you described

 

[sandrachameleon]

He looks like he's had a bit of a rough life, but the fat pads on his head only indicate he is eating lots, perhaps too many fatty feeders.

How much and what type of prey do you offer?

I'd be looking for a new vet if I were you.

 

[faye]

Thankyou so much for the advice, you saying you had a cham with a fat head too makes me feel a lot better. You saying about fat, i guess that all makes sence, when i first got them i was told from the guy in the shop you cant over feed, feed them every other day, anything they dont need they wont digest. I dont have a strict feeding plan for him, cause hey, in the wild they wouldnt know when their next plate of food will arive.

When he and Q Vic were really young, Q Vic had a bit of a firery temper, hence the name, one morning Houdinis head looked like it hade been chomped on a bit, his head was never the same shape after that. Several years ago they got some kind of skin infection, it effeced Houdinis head and spread down both of their beautiful spine teeth, a different vet i saw then, apparently pro at reptiles sent away tests coming back with nothing, they wernt prescribed antibiotics till i pestered him saying how quick it was spreading. He now has a bit of a bobbly looking spine from scare tissue, his head for a long time looked blackish and crusty.

The reason the vet tried to drain his head bump was incase it was infected and in which case a liquid would have come out, this wasnt the case... Houdini now has a rather unique look about him but in himself he appears fine, he came away with a full bill of health after our last trip to the vets. What with Q Vic hurting his head, the severe skin disorder and him nearly dieing on me once, at five years old hes not doing to bad...

THANKYOU FOR ALL THE HELP AND ADVICE, much appreciated!!!

Maybe the vet was right, it really is a FAT head... xxxx

 

[faye]

I did give a nice reply to these messages only i dont know where it went, poss to tdotcham ? x

 

[faye]

look at that i press post and the other one appears, how peculia!