SKIN IRRITATION/INFECTION/FUNGAL/BURN??

[Kels]

Hi there,

I currently own a 7-8 month old chameleon. He has been very healthy up until a month ago, he developed a strange skin irritation. I immediately took him to a reptile vet in Chicago and unfortunately they are stumped. They did a biopsy on him (you can see the stitches in the attached photos) and the results came back inconclusive. Even though the vet said said the biopsy came back negative/inconclusive for fungal, He is currently being treated for a fungal infection with oral antibiotics and insulin injections which only seem to be stressing him out more. The grey inflamed skin around his arms has spread, it is moving beyond his arm area and moving down towards his belly. I took him to another vet for a second opinion last weekend and they said they were stumped and had never seen anything like this. I am trying to gather as many second opinions on this issue as I can.
I was wondering if anyone has seen or had any experience with any reptiles that developed the same skin issue? Its hard for me to believe my chameleon is the first one to ever have this skin problem and I feel hopeless that I cant help my little guy. He is eating normal and other then the gruesome looking skin, he seems to be in good spirits so I dont think he is in pain. Please let me know if you have any ideas? I would really appreciate your feedback. I included pictures of the medicine as well.

 

[Extensionofgreen]

I do not see a fungal problem or bacterial infection and I would be anxious to get him off of the antifungal medication. Fortaz is a gentler antibiotic and although I don’t see it being useful in this case, I think you should use it until the course is finished, to avoid creating resistant bacteria.
I see the possibility of a papilloma virus, possible edema ( edema is fluid accumulation in the tissues ), and possibly other scenarios.
Do you have the pathology findings report? Often, even inconclusive results will give some information about the appearance of the cells.

I’m sorry you are going through this. Can you please tell me what live plants are in the enclosure, what your supplements are and the amount and frequency you are using them, and what his UVB source is? I just want to rule out oversupplementation, uvb burns, or irritating plant types.

I had a similar issue with my parsons and similarly inconclusive biopsies. The problem I encountered was not spreading or swollen, but irregular and blotchy. My issue seems to have resolved without medication, but since the cause and actual problem are unknown, all I have are theories and I am fairly experience and utilizing a vet at the top of reptile expertise. Things happen and we can only do our best and it really sounds like you are. Hopefully we can can things figured out and get him better and more comfortable.

 

[kinyonga]

@Kels ...please don't make multiple posts for the same problem with the same chameleon. It's against the rules and makes it hard for us to follow.