Okay my 8.5 month old female panther has 2 missing toenails. They are on her right front foot, on the two toed side of that foot. Both are gone! Not sure how it happened, she does like trying to climb on her screen and is getting to big for that, perhaps they yanked out then? Will they grow back? I guess the real fear I have is that I noticed the missing toenails about a week ago, but today I noticed that the skin around the toenails is turning white about 1/4 inch up her foot and the top layer of skin appears to be peeling off. I also noticed one of the toenail stubs are black in color. I have a fear it may be getting infected, though I see no signs of swelling and she does not favor the foot at all when she walks. I would really like to apply some sort of topical antiseptic on that area but does anyone know what would be safe? Really would like to address this to prevent a full blown infection. Would really like some input on it. I would highly appreciate no one suggesting I take her to the vet...the "reptile vets" in my area are all quacks and I know more than they do about chameleons. I have taken 2 Chams to these vets in the past and they all died within a day of coming home. Even the Cham breeder in my state recommends no vets to treat Chams, that right there tells me all I need to know.
Missing toenails?!
- Thread starter lojack13
- Start date
Alexl
Avid Member
The missing nails will not grow back. Would be interesting to see a picture of the foot. An open wound which was not treated at all and begins to turn black now could even mean this toe is going to necrotize. If this was the case, you'll need to see a vet with your chameleon, no matter what it takes. But noone will be able to say whether it's just a dried wound healing or not without pictures. In my opinion, there's unfortunately a high chance that the toes are already infected with pathogenic bacteria.
Thanks for the reply, but upon further inspection I think I jumped the gun on the possible infection diagnosis.The peeling skin is just the start of a shed
Makes me feel a ton better. She has also waned in her eating but I just found out that was due to the fact that I put a new feeder cup in her enclosure and she apparently does not like it because I just free ranged 4 crickets and she ate them all within 2 minutes.
