Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The pics kind of speak for themselves...

http://www.nyxie.com/lj/cham/000_0017.JPG[/img]

This showed up two-three days ago. At first it was just a little swelling, and today it's getting slightly red colored.

IM extremly worried as I dont know what/how/where/when/why caused his toe to swell up. Its just one of the two inside toes.

He still uses it a little, but it looks like it really hurts...

Ive had this chameleon for 5-6 months now with no health problems until now. Nothing in his setup has changed, I pretty much leave him alone except for the occasional shower.

Any suggestions/help? I tried reading up online about this.. but really didnt find much of anything to help.

Thanks in advance!

-Randilyn
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Randilyn -;,-
Desolate Gray: Reptiles

Well, I hope I can help, or at least be some consolation to you. Both my father and myself have been bitten by the Chameleon bug...he has a male Jackson's that he, against my advice, "saved" from a local pet store. (He was in with three females who were beating him up) Anyway, a few days after he got him home, his toe swelled up EXACTLY like your cham's is. We took him to the vet, and he suspected MBD...BUT he said to just be sure to keep dusting ("shaking and baking" the crix and to bring him back in a week. Well, we did...and it started getting better...slowly, but surely. He had thought he could have also lost a toenail from being pulled off of the branches by the store employees, but once the swelling went down, all toenails were still there. It was very strange since he pretty much healed on his own. Now, it is totally back to normal except there is a teeny tiny black spot in between his toes. I wonder if this were an injury that couldn't be seen because it was so swollen. He uses it like normal and is doing great.

So, I would be sure to dust plenty of crix (don't overdo it though), make sure he stays well hydrated and continues eating. He managed to get around extremely well despite the fact that he could not grasp with that one foot.

Good luck and keep us posted!!!
Kristen
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0.2 pygmy leaf

Looks like there's no toenail there...there SHOULD be one. If one is missing, there's a good chance an infection resulted in the "removal" process.

Besides, MBD usually swells at the middle of the feet, and his limbs ook nice and strong, I don't think that's MBD. Besides, GO easy with supplementations and jacksonii, they're very vitamin sensative.

It looks likea toenail was torn off, and the foot is infected, turnng red is a bad sign. It will proably need to be lanced, adn he'll proably need silver sulfadide cream and an oral antibiotic. If not, they tend to spread. A foot infection is treatable, but once in the leg, there's little hope.

Catch these things early! Inspect your chameleons feet allthe time, especially with screen cages. Is he in a screen cage??

I thought I saw the toenail still there in the two pic's that you would be able to see it.

Is it still there???

Kristen
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0.2 pygmy leaf

No.. his toenail is still there, all of it.

But yes... I use screen cages (a repatrium). But I havent seen him on the walls of his cage in months now. It seemed to have been a phase he went through when I first got him.

Its getting more swollen as the day goes on... I'm going to have to try what you and some others suggested. Cleaning it and giving him more vitamens and the such.

Thanks for the help
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Randilyn -;,-
Desolate Gray: Reptiles

You're not using a screen cage are you? By that I mean screen as opposed to mesh. I had the same problem with my first cham and it turned out to be the fine screen ripping out the claws. Reptariums will do the same thing.

E
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Warning: this product may contain traces of nuts!

Hi Randilyn,

We are currently treating a friend's jackson with the same problem. I know this is going to sound harsh and cruel - but it is how our vet instructed us to treat infected toes.

If the toenail is there - good... all the better.
You need to soak the foot in warm water... You can do this by either giving him a foot bath (tub with shallow water), or a cup-soak (fill small cup with warm water and dunk the foot in it). You can do the cup-soak if he hangs the foot off a branch. The water temp should not be HOT, but warm - test with your pinkie finger - it should be very warm - but not so as you can't leave your finger in it. Keep changing the water.. keep it warm. You can use antibacterial soap too. The soak should last 20-30 minutes.

Then... you need to squeeze the end of the foot... gently, but firmly between two fingers - press towards the toe tip. Sorta like getting toothpaste from a tube... but gently. If sucessful, you should see green fluid coming out close to the toenail. Wash the foot with betadine, chlorahexidrine flush, hydrogen peroxide - or soapy water. Squeeze again... and wash again. You need to help get the infection (the pus) out of the foot. Clean and dry the foot, apply a lavish amount of triple antibiotic ointment (or SSD cream) and let him rest.

If you can - this needs to be done twice a day... until the toe is normal sized again. Then keep soaking it for a few days after... to keep the infection localized to that area.

We also stronly advise going to your vet - as there may be a need for Baytril - but the treatment will still include soaking and draining the infection from the foot.

We have seen some awful foot infections in some of the rescued animals... some were swollen to their elbows, and had no toenails left. But if handled correctly and soon, there is no reason not to see a full recovery.

All the best to you and your jackson friend.
Morgana - Reptayls, Ltd.

WOW, I guess we were VERY lucky that our Jax got better on his own. That also shows me that I need to find a new vet, though! He didn't recommend any of that, and it totally makes sense to me.

Thank goodness that I recently discovered that I'm not that far from Dr. Ivan...guess that means I'm in for some road trips.

Do we know what causes this? Also, I see people asking about "screen" cages...I thought that was what was recommended??? That's what all the chams were in at the show I went to...is there something else that should be used instead?

Kristen
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0.2 pygmy leaf

Kristen,

Yes... you WERE lucky. Sometimes the irritation is minor and if they are lucky - it goes away. I compare this to an infected scratch we might get...sometimes we are not lucky and it gets really goopy and swollen. And... you know it has to be drained.

The first time our vet showed me about squeezing the toes.. I felt very sorry for the chams, and worried about the pain. But after going through it a couple of times - I was able to see that it was relief for them. The soaks help bunches too.

The cause...?? Some of these chams were in aquariums (rescues), other had metal screen cages - some unknown. We use a lot of fiberglass ourselves - but we "line" our metal screen cages with the 1/2" square plastic mesh (Home Depot in the garden dept). This prevents the toes from getting caught in metal.

Not sure what is the cause... could be a number of things. The primary villian would be rough handling (with pulled toe nails) for any of the wild-caughts. After that, screen cages may cause irritations and that sets the stage. We all know the toe nails harbor bacteria galore!!!

I am sure Ivan will agree - the soaks and draining are important - as well as a visit to the vet - as medications are likely to be needed.

Morgana - Reptayls, Ltd.

A tip for Jackson keepers....

These wonderful guys can have their toes swell overnight. One fellow keeper gives her jackson a "foot bath" on a regular basis - like twice a month.

She uses a plastic shoe box, places a wash cloth in the bottom (so the cham doesn't slip) and pours in about 1" of warm soapy water. She places the jackson in there and amuses him for about 15 minutes or so. Afterwards, she give him a treat and allows him to dry off.

The reward: he hasn't has a toe infection since the first one.

Just a thought...
Morgana - Reptayls, Ltd.