Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been keeping Dwarf Caiman for many years now and half never had any serious health problems. I recently noticed that my caiman had some white discolored skin on one of his legs. Under closer observation the scales are flaking off in that particular spot and looks very serious. My usual vet is out of town until next friday and I am currently trying to find a local vet that treats reptiles. Has anyone ever seen this or ever treated this. Please help I need a cure or treatment. Thanks

just on the leg?

any other marks ... Blistering, puss bubbles, reddish color dots on the belly??

Yes, It seems to isolated to just the leg. There is no blistering and no red dots on the abdomen. It looks like some kind of fungal infection.

is the animal active and alert? is it feeding?

also, I see gold fish in the tank, those are not very good for your animal

are there any abraisive rocks or stones in the tank that the animal may have injured its leg on?

He has always been a shy feeder so he is not really any different in that respect. The fish in the aquarium are not goldfish. They are feeder Rosies. I do not think that it is an infected cut it looks more like a fungal infection.

ok, sorry ... looked a bit like a goldfish in the picture

the picture is not very clear and I cant really see the infected area very well.

I had similar problem with some animals last year, but with my animals the fungal infection spread very very quickly, developed openings (almost like puss blisters), the animals developed red dots on the belly and quickly died .... these animals stopped feeding as soon as the fungal infection appeared and I was forced to force feed them.

But since your animal is still feeding, the fungal infection in only in the one area and doesnt seem to be spreading ... I really dont know what to tell you, I dont think your animal is in any imediate life threating danger but still yes you need to figure out what the problem is and take care of it.

You could try to use some betadine (which is similar to iodine), if you use this you could put some water in a tub or bucket (just enough so the water level will reach the infected area) squirt in some betadine not a lot just enough so that you can tell it is in the water, then soak the animal in the tub/bucket for about 10-15 minutes .... this would normally be done every day for 2 weeks.

other than that, other options would be medication by injection, such as amikacin or baytil ... but I think these would be a last resort!

oh one other option would be a daily soaking in potassium permanganate, this is used quit often to clear up fungal infection, with this again small amount of water in a tub/bucket enough so the water will reach the infected area, add in a small amount of potassium permanganate just enough so that the water turns a light pink, soak the animal 10-15 minutes a day for up to 14 days.

So you know, I am not a VET and I highly suggest you get the animal to a vet and not opt treatment on your own, but if you are forced to treat the animal on your own ... the options I listed above are the normal for treating a fungal infection

Good luck with your animal!!

Thanks so much. I appreciate all the great advice.

no problem I hope I was able to help in some way!

If you need betadine or potassium permanganate I could send you some, I also have amikacin & baytil but those are prescription meds and I couldnt send those

whiteness because scales were falling off. my dwarf had worms. i bought some deworming stuff from the pet store and gave it some. it killed the worms and its skin is now fine. i figured it was malnutrition because the worms were depriving it from the vitamins and stuff it needed.

He has already had a dose of dewormer just a month ago.