Male Panther with Swollen Casque-

[LindaInFairfax]

I noticed 2 days ago that my chameleon's casque is bulging and he has developed swelling behind the top ridge of his casque. I can't go to the vet immediately--I just depleted my emergency vet savings ($300) for my cat (thyroid problem). I have liquid calcium and carnivore care (oxbow) at home if necessary. Any suggestions please?

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?

Panther chameleon, male, 2yrs old, I hatched him

• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

twice a day-- once in the morning to return him to his cage, once in the afternoon or evening (between 1 & 5pm) to bring him to his climbing branch.

• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

Fed in the morning, 5 crickets and 3 meal worms, gut load=dry cricket food, leafy greens

• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?

Zoo Med Repti Calcium w/o d3 every day, zoo med reptivite vitamins with d3 every Sunday

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

1)hand misting 3-4x day, drip during day, occasional showers 2) I don't see him drink except when I offer him water drops from the sprayer bottle

• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?

last poop was this morning good dark brown consistency, unusually long urate was orange with a small white bit at the end. No parasite tests.

• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

I have a dog and a cat that the cham can see.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?

36" screen cham cage He is in cage during 8-5 mon, wed, fri and whenever I leave the house. Also I put him into his cage the other days of the week from 8am to noon for eating and basking putting him outsid whenever possible (4x week) Otherwise he goes on his climbing branches.

• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?

reptisun 5.0, 7am to 8pm in summer, 7am to 7pm other seasons, (now with his 8 ft climbing branches he is often out of cage) outdoors in sun with shade 4 days a week for 4-6 hours

• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?

Room temp (also bottom of cage) ranges from 60 at night to 80 degrees in the daytime. In cool weather 70 degrees. 85 at basking spot. via thermometer from reptile store.

• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?

low humidity, currently no gauge, via misting and live plants

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
3 Pots of pothos ivy. Plus fake ivy

• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?

on top of a dresser, fans only when too hot, high traffic area (very small apartment), 6 ft up

• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Fairfax, California

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
Swollen casque (the two bulges) and right behind casque--soft and squishy to the touch. It seems that it came on suddenly. Also his legs seem fat.

 

[Lathis]

Photos would be needed to give us a real idea of what's going on.

If it's an overall puffiness that came on suddenly, my first thought would be some sort of edema. My typical suggestion for that is to stop with D3 and multivitamin supplements for a bit (keep using plain calcium as normal) to see if it could be related to supplementation. Your multivitamin schedule is a little heavy, generally I see people recommend every other week, but depending on the product and how heavy you dust, it might not be the cause of the swelling.

Another issue could be liver or kidney disease. Both this could cause swelling but you would need to go to a vet and likely have bloodwork done to diagnose this.

Ease up on the multivitamin, lots and lots of extra misting sessions, and maybe eliminate the dry cricket food and switch to only fresh veggies for a bit. Do those things, and you have tried everything under your control.

 

[bobcochran]

As much as it pains me to say: I agree with @Lathis, probably over supplementation, with the cricket dry food and every week supplements. The reason you're seeing it now is your panther is getting older and not growing much- doesn't need, and can't process all the vitamins a fast growing younger panther can. I vitamin supplement my mature male adult panthers once a month, relying on excellent gut load more. Pictures are worth a thousand words, let's see some of your panther.

 

[Decadancin]

As much as it pains me to say: I agree with @Lathis

He he, we'll done sir!

I would tend to agree as well, with both of you. (Now I am depressed.)

 

[Lathis]

As much as it pains me to say: I agree with @Lathis,

I'm feeling the love

 

[LindaInFairfax]

Photos would be needed to give us a real idea of what's going on.

If it's an overall puffiness that came on suddenly, my first thought would be some sort of edema. My typical suggestion for that is to stop with D3 and multivitamin supplements for a bit (keep using plain calcium as normal) to see if it could be related to supplementation. Your multivitamin schedule is a little heavy, generally I see people recommend every other week, but depending on the product and how heavy you dust, it might not be the cause of the swelling.

Another issue could be liver or kidney disease. Both this could cause swelling but you would need to go to a vet and likely have bloodwork done to diagnose this.

Ease up on the multivitamin, lots and lots of extra misting sessions, and maybe eliminate the dry cricket food and switch to only fresh veggies for a bit. Do those things, and you have tried everything under your control.

Thanks for the reply, I see that many of you use vitamins every other week instead of once a week. I think that I dust lightly on the vitamins because they don't seem to stick well. I could lighten up on this for a while though--going 2x month. Will the crickets eat only veggies? Unfortunately, no photos coming. I don't have a smartphone nor a camera. Misting extra and offering water more often
Update: he also has swelling now on both sides of his head. The swelling is in a small defined area behind each eye. His appetite has decreased to 0-2 crickets a day and a couple of mealworms. I forgot if I mentioned this before, but I have critical care food and calcium if necessary.