Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I work for a major pet store chain, and yesterday a customer had put up some signs advertising a "Free Chameleon Cage Supplies" ad. I contaced them, and this morning went to see what shape this chameleon was in.

A little background on me: I have not kept reptiles at home, but was about to set up a dart frog tank in the spring. I've had alot of experience keeping reptiles at the chain I work for, as well as a smaller pet store I worked for. I've got about 2 years of experience in keeping reptiles in the pet trade, but I've never kept one at home. I've always wanted a Chameleon, specifically a Jackson's, but when this ad came along, I was ecstatic.

Anyway, on to the chameleon. I arrived at this person's home this morning to see what the situation was. It's a male Veiled, probably a foot to 16" long. He was very alert, eyes were clear, and his feet and toes seemed to be in good shape. NO signs of mouth rot either. He had a drip system setup, and was housed in Reptarium 65 screened cage, filled with live plants. I did not see a UV lighting setup, only a basking lamp. The cage was in front of the window, and he was getting full morning sun.

His eyes are a little sunken, and his casque is sunken as well. He has some sort of skin problem on both sides, and the ridge on his back is affected as well. Near the base of his tail, it has actually started to seperate from his body. The skin in these areas is grey, and hard to the touch. The affected skin is bumpy and bludges outward. The owner had some cream that a vet had given to him, but he said he was unable to apply it.

Pictures:

I'd really like to help this poor guy out, especially since I could get him for free. Whats wrong with him? How easy would it be to make him healthy again? I've located some reptile vets in the area, and I can take him to one if need be. How expensive are reptile vet visits? Feel free to suggest anything, it pains me to see an anmial neglected.

Thanks!

Your pictures are to blurry to tell what the skin problem is....and I'm not a vet so I can't tell you anyway.

Personally, I would take it to a vet to have it checked out. It could be a very bad burn, or an infection or a fungus. There is one particularly bad fungus called CANV that can kill a chameleon.

You said...the cage is filled with live plants...are any of them toxic?

You said...."I did not see a UV lighting setup, only a basking lamp. The cage was in front of the window, and he was getting full morning sun"...sunlight is virtually useless when it passes through glass. Exposure to UVB light either from direct sunlight or UVB tube lights (also not passing through glass or plastic) is important for the production of D3 which in turn allows the chameleon to use its calcium. I don't see any apparent signs of MBD in the arms and legs.

You said..."His eyes are a little sunken"....this could be from dehydration but you said he had a drip system on his cage. I'm wondering if its due to dehydration or illness?

You said..."He has some sort of skin problem on both sides, and the ridge on his back is affected as well. Near the base of his tail, it has actually started to seperate from his body. The skin in these areas is grey, and hard to the touch. The affected skin is bumpy and bludges outward. The owner had some cream that a vet had given to him, but he said he was unable to apply it"...do you know what the vet said the problem was? Do you know what the cream was?

Do you know about gutloading insects or supplementing them before they are fed to the chameleon?

I hope you can help this poor chameleon!

The drip system was empty when I saw him. Not sure what kind of plants they were. I also did not get the name of the cream. The owner said he was feeding a dozen crickets every 3-4 days. Pretty sure they were not gut-loaded, or dusted with calcium, and just dumped in the cage. I may be able to get some better pictures tonight or tomorrow.

I'm thinking he is partly dehydrated, and that contributed to the skin condiditon. I'm not sure I could afford a major vet visit ( I'm thinking surgery here) but I could get him checked out.

Forgot to add one thing, this chameleon is not in my possesion right now. The owner is giving him away with cage and all supplies, should I take him in and try to save him?

UPDATE!

I went back and took some more pictures, and found out a few more things.

He HAS been to see a vet, who diagnosed it as burns, and game them some cream, Silvertone I beleive. Date on the cream was January 2nd. They also say he has been improving, but they have not been applying the cream because he gets very pissed. I applied some to him before I left, and he got VERY angry. Lots of hissing, and attempts to bite me, but I got it on all of the burns.

The burns range from the top of his casque along his back to the base of his tail, and some on either side of the body. They used a high wattage bulb during a cold snap, it burned a hole in the screen.

Pictures:

You asked if you should rescue him....its something you will have to decide for yourself. He may very well require more trips to the vet...so you would have to be prepared for that. I have no idea how old he is so I have no idea how much longer he could live if you do save him. I'm not sure how much damage the burn could have done to him internally and I'm not sure if he should be on antibiotics....only a vet can answer these questions for you.

You said..."He HAS been to see a vet, who diagnosed it as burns, and game them some cream, Silvertone I beleive. Date on the cream was January 2nd. They also say he has been improving, but they have not been applying the cream because he gets very pissed. I applied some to him before I left, and he got VERY angry. Lots of hissing, and attempts to bite me, but I got it on all of the burns"...I think the name of the cream would be silvadene. Its a good one for burns. Burns (human and animal) often pick up the germ pseudamonas (sp?) and that cream should kill it too.

You said..."The burns range from the top of his casque along his back to the base of his tail, and some on either side of the body. They used a high wattage bulb during a cold snap, it burned a hole in the screen"...I have never seen as bad a burn as that on a chameleon. Its a real shame that it has had to go through this.

I hope the poor chameleon will get the help it needs and recover in the end.

Let me say right off the bat, I'm new to chams and new to this forum, but, having said that... Kinyonga seems to be very knowledgable and helpful so I would recommend you take his advise to heart. Now for my 2 cents, although I am not very experienced with chams, speaking from reptiles in general, that is a very serious burn. The silverdine (sp) is a well known cream and that is a good thing, I tend to lean toward Kinyonga's opinion that antibiotics may be needed, I would really think, are definately needed to stop any secondary infection from occuring. Me being me, I know, would take the poor thing in, just because thats me. But just from those pictures you need to know that this is going to incur some serious vet bills. Reptiles are not easy animals to cure and burns can take a long time to heal, let alone any internal damage from burns that bad. I would also venture to guess that he is dehydrated as well, he just looks like it to me. He probably needs some fluids injected as its difficult to drink enough to rehydrate once its that bad. And I would also be willing to bet thats just the tip of the iceburg. This little guy looks in real bad shape. Whatever your decision, I wish the poor thing the best. And, just to speak my mind, if these people cant do whats needed to help him heal, they should at least be willing to humanely euthanize him so he doesn't suffer. That really upsets me, but at least they are looking for someone to step up and take over THEIR responsibility, so I guess I'll give them some credit for that. Whew, my 2 cents is long isn't it?!

I want to thank everyone for their input. I took him to a vet specializing in reptiles on April 7th, and he gave me antibiotics, some pain medication, as well as liquied food. I faithfully gave him his medicine and food daily, but he just kept wasting away. He passed on 22nd. I guess he was just too far gone to save. The vet weighed him, and he tipped the scales at 7 grams. If he had been taken to a reptile vet by his previous owners right after the inital burn, he might have lived. They also neglected to apply silvadene from the beginning. I tried my best, but he was just too far gone. I've found another healthy veiled for sale locally, and I might be picking him up today.