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Swollen Toes

whitiespets Jul 07, 2006 07:23 PM

Two of my jJackson's chameleons have swolllen toes. Does anybody know what this may be caused from. When I first saw them I thought that they must have injured themselves on something but upon further inspection I saw that there was no redness or other discoloration, just an increase in size. The swelling is at the very tip of the toe, the toe is not fat in general it just has a very bolbous end.
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"You can take the snake out of nature, but you can't take the nature out of the snake."
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Replies (2)

kinyonga Jul 07, 2006 09:02 PM

Generally toes swollen the way you describe are due to infections..but I'm not a vet so I can't be sure.

If that is what the problem is, you need to take them to a vet. They need to be treated by removing all the pus (which is like cottage cheese in texture). The pus needs to be cultured to find out what bacteria is involved and the chameleon should be put on an antibiotic that kills that bacteria.

Gout can cause swellings, but in my experience, they are usually at the joints, not at the ends of the toes.

javajuls Jul 24, 2006 12:41 PM

My Jackson's toe and foot infections seemed to just get worse no matter what I did on my own, so I do recomend a fast trip to the vet. If infection and bacteria set in it then becomes a whole system problem, instead of an isolated area problem. Since their little immune systems are nearly non existing, it is better to be safe then to risk it.
Remember, in some cases they will not show signs of illness until the illness has escalated. It is part of their defense mechanisms for when in the wild (the weaker animals are easier prey, etc).
I hope this helps,
Julie

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