Please help me my chemeleon has two big open wounds right down to the bone on his top tail end there is one big one and a small one the big one is really bad you can see the bone of his tail it's bloody but it looks clean I think the crickets are eating him alive I keep finding crickets on him so I keep knocking them off him. Iv put a big lump of vasaline on the big wound to keep it covered and keep the crickets off him. Should I take him to a vet. Is it the crickets that have caused this. Please help me I'm so worried about my baby Charlie I don't want him to die he's my baby. X
Urgent help my chemeleon has two big open wounds on his tail.
- Thread starter Sarahjb
- Start date
Hi Sarah, welcome to the forums! Yes, he needs to go to the vet because that wound will need to be looked at and most likely he'll need to be on antibiotics. And yes, it was most likely caused by the crickets. It is very important to only feed as much as they can eat and remove any left overs so they don't do exactly this. They will be especially drawn to wounds and can really delay healing or cause additional damage while the wound is trying to heal. I would cup feed him from now on - where he eats his bugs out of a container they can't escape from - that way no crickets are running around at night where they can hurt him in the future.
AnvilsHammer
New Member
Take him to a vet right away. Also how many crickets are you giving at a time? Are you feeding your crickets? You shouldn't leave crickets in the cage over night, (im just assuming this is when they are attacking him/her, since chameleons seem really Laissez faire when they sleep).
Hi thankyou so much for replying so quickly. We went away for a few days and my husband the dope put a full tub of crickets in and we got back and this has happened I'm mortified my poor baby. I will get on phone now to vets and get him down there we have hovered the crickets out so there's no more in there. I have also covered his wound with a big dollop of vasaline will this do him anymore harm. Xxx thankyou so much for your replies. It's really helped. I'm smitten with my Charlie and the thought that we've caused this well my hubby has is making me feel sick. Xxxthankyou again. Xx
How do I put a picture of it on. Xx
How do I put a picture of it on. Xx
Mystic
New Member
Sorry to hear your little guy is hurt. Hopefully the vet will be able to fix him up well. If you go to www.photobucket.com you can register for free and upload pictures there. After you have them uploaded, you can click on a picture then to the right bottom of the page. You will see different links. Image is the one you want to click. It will copy it. Paste it to your post. It should show up. Hope he gets better soon. hugs 
AbooLovesYOU
New Member
Try to get to the vet ASAP. Even though the wound looks clean, chams are prone to infections and this can spread quickly. As everyone already mentioned, try cup feeding from now on, and remove any crickets that were not eaten before bedtime.
The vasaline shouldn't hurt your cham - but for future reference, try not to put things in big open wounds that you arent 100% sure is safe for your cham.
Take a picture
Go to www.tinypic.com
Browse for your pic through tinypic and hit upload.
Copy the tag and paste it here if you want to show us a pic.
I hope you can get him to the vet ASAP, and prevent any more damage! I wish you and your cham the best of luck!
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
Chams are no more prone to infections than other herps if they are basically healthy to begin with. I would not put Vaseline on anything. It might create a protective barrier, but it won't do anything for an infection. It's a petroleum based product and isn't really for this purpose. You don't want to prevent air from reaching an open wound. Use an antibiotic ointment such as Polysporin. It is dense enough to protect the tissue, it will prevent and start treating for bacterial infection, and it is much more suitable for herp's skin.
