Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a female jackson that was sold to me as wild caught. I have had her since February. When I got her she had a couple of scars on her back legs. She has never had any trouble with them until a couple days ago. On one leg the scars are on the inside of the knee joint. One above and one below. Her foot and lower leg have become swollen a little and the scars have turned black. I have been putting Neosporin on them and was able to take one of them off. It has left a small hole in her skin but no puss came out of it. She is having a hard time moving her leg and clamping down with her foot. I know I should take her to the vet but I live in NW Kansas and the vets out here only know how to take care of cows and horses.(sort of). I have asked them about treating her but they admit they know nothing. I have experience with vet care on almost every type of animal and wonder if anyone would know of a possible dosage of Penicillin that I could give her for infection.
At this time she is still eating and drinking, just having touble with that one leg. Gets plenty of calcium and sunlight, good humidity and such. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks bunchs.

Hi there,

While a picture of the "scars" would be helpful to identify a problem, we can share one experience with our jacksons.

One male had 3 bumps that suddenly appeared on his tail. The bumps looked like black warts with a bit of crusty skin on the top. I consulted a vet friend, and then took the chameleon to our vet. Our vet confirmed the diagnosis - fungal nodules. What causes these is not altogether clear. We have several jacksonii breeders and this male is the only one to have such a problem.

The treatment included removal of the nodules (scraping them off with a scalpel blade); cleaning the wounds with Betadine, and daily applications of SSD cream. While there is surely a small scar (a dent in the scalation) left behind - there seems to be no other visible damage. We also disinfected his enclosure with Nolvasan and changed his plants, just in case.

Baytril seems to be the most often prescribed antibiotic for most reptiles - as it is a wide spectrum antibiotic. If cultures are taken and bacterias resistant to this antibiotic found, then other antiobiotics may be prescribed. Baytril can be administered orally - or may be injected into feeder insects. Caution should be used - as jacksonii seems to be sensitive to some drugs and vitamin supplements.

It is always best to consult a herp vet.
Hope this helps some,
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