Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok here it is I'm torn on what to do about my adult male panther. For the past few months he's had what looks like a "skin tag" in his eye. When I fisrt noticed it I thought it was some left over shedding. But it's still there. I tried pulling it out on my own and found out it had fuild in it. The thing is he's still eating and moving around like a champ. So I'm not sure if I should take him in to the vet. It blocks about 1/2-3/4 of his eye. I'm just worried that the vet is going to want to cut it off which would mean putting him over for awhile not to mention possible infection??? I've heard the chameleon don't take well to being put to sleep for surgery. So shouild I just keep monitoring it or take the risk? Any advice would be great. Like I said it doesn't seem to bother him in any way shape or form.
tahanks everyone for the possible input.

hey
in my opinion,if it is blocking his eye take him to the vet..if it gets any bigger,it will soon cover his whole eye and i bet things would really start to go downhill after that..the vet might just drain it of the fluid and might not have to cut it off..you should get some pictures of it..
-----
Jonny Blaze
1.0 Nosy Be Panther
s136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/jonnyblaze_04/?sc=3

If you have a good herp vet I would take him in. The vet can examine the tag with a scope and possibly see what it is, whereas you can't really do this. You may both decide not to do anything. The vet could also aspirate some fluid from it and determine if this is an infection abscess needing treatment, a cyst that may deflate if it is drained, or something else.

If you have a decent vet, I'd go. You never know what the treatment plan might be - could be something simple.

I've had panthers who needed anesthetic who made out fine.
-----
SandraChameleon@gmail.com
BC Canada

and/or like this?

Cyrus was keeping his eye shut(long story) and eventually this yellow goopy thing showed up. He was still eating and shooting OK. Anyway, when it began to shrink (2nd pic) my vet cut it off. He has a small scar on his pupil/cornea but has adjusted quite well and his range of motion has increased considerably. He bulges it a bit more often and I give it saline once or twice a day. He had punctured his eye globe and it ripped thru his cornea. I would definitely take him to a qualified vet.

As for putting him under it was quick and he was out of it in no time. Be sure they send it out to pathology to see what it is.

here is how it looked the day of surgery and now is barely noticeable.

Good luck!

lele & Cyrus

this was when it was healthy last summer

-----
Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

but more like the 2nd pic. Only his sticks out a lot farther then that. I think I'm going to just take him in. They you find out what caused it?

the 2nd pic was taken about 5 days after the first. The goopy just seemed to dry up and become opaque which is when the vet clipped it. When it was goopy it was never runny, but when the vet wiped it away it oozed back again.

The path analysis came back that the "thing" was acellular but the base of it had corneal cells. I think I mentioned int eh other post (maybe not) that he had punctured his eye globe which tore thru the cornea

He had begun keeping it closed more and more starting way back in Oct. I figured it was dry eye (I live in NH) and upped the misting, humidity, showers etc. like every year. His other eye was fine. As time progressed there were absolutely no other signs, vet did bloodwork, etc. we could not figure anything out. Tried antibiotic drops, then steroid, then natural tears. He was rubbing and bulging his eye A LOT!! I would stick my finger b/t his eye and the branch or screen anytime I could so he wouldn't hurt it. It was so frustrating because it went on for months. He was eating and had no trouble shooting with only one eye open. The day the vet took it off his eye was open all the time It bothers him a little when I take him outside, I think the breeze dries it so I keep saline with me all the time.

Had yours been keeping it shut more than usual and rubbing a lot? Feel free to show the pics to your vet and tell him the story to see if he thinks it is the same. If you want me to email you the photos in high resolution just drop me a note via my username link above, you can really zoom in on them and see it clearly. I emailed them to my vet before I brought him in so he could get a good look.

good luck and let me know how it goes.

lele
-----
Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

I had a panther male whoes eye looked like that. I took him to my vet who specializes in snakes and exotic animals. She said it was an eye infection caused from the sap in my ficus tree. She cleaned it out with some eye cleaning fluids and sent me home with some antibiotic eye drops we administered twice a day.It cleared up just fine. I was told if I had not brought him in it would have gotten worse and he would have gone blind. Good luck. It only cost me the price of the exam and the eye drops.

whatever the reason may be - infection, punctured globe or something else I think a vet trip is in order - good luck!
-----
Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Well just got back from the vet and he said it's most likely a infection of one of his eye glands, The skin that is sticking out is dead skin. H e could only remove about a 3rd of it because everything he tried to use the foreceps on it would just take of tiny pieces so he just stop so he won't cause in truma to the eye it's self. he gave me Vetropolycin
(animal baciracin) to put on twice a day. He said if it doen't show any improvement in the next week or so to just bring him back in and he'll try to remove some more. Well hopefully this stuff works....
thanks all.