Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When i had my tamatave out the other day i noticed it barely has any claws, one was missing, and it looked alil black wehre the nub was. i have noticed him sliding at tiems having trouble climbing, or gripping the cage, i assumed he was too fat, any ideas? also, when looking at my cham whene it has it stress colors up, which is doesnt seem to do too much more(guess he's used to me a little more), but i notice the stripes on it back are not symetrical, will they grow into being symetrical? or is is a genetic defect?, thanks

Screen cages rip out claws.
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Sounds like your screen mesh is too small for your cham's toes. Claws do get pulled out fairly easily. If your cham spends a lot of time climbing the screen he probably needs a larger cage or more climbing foliage instead. This will help, but most often missing claws don't re grow if the nail bed is injured. For the black toe you will probably need antibiotics to treat the infection, especially if the toe feels hard, swollen or stiff. Keep it clean and have a vet check it, as a topical antibiotic may not clear it up. Don't immediately choose Baytril...a gentler broad spectrum antibiotic such as amoxicillin will be safer. Toes take a long time to heal so don't ignore it. As for stripe symmetry...no such thing. It is probably just normal genetic variation and there are hardly any really symmmetric markings in animals. The variations in markings help in camoflage whereas a very regular symmetrical pattern actually stands out instead. I've never seen regular symmetrical patterns in a cham. Don't worry about it.

yeah im gonna build aa bigger cage this weekend with some of the pvc coated mesh,i will take my cham to vet, i tjust so happens my friend works at a vet with 3 diff doctors, and i used to work there too, so it shouldnt be too spendy, thanks for the help.