Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings there, I'm in desperate need of help or advice or anything!

I adopted an anole a few days ago from a guy who didn't want her anymore. The poor thing had a nasty looking lump on her side, white-ish and bulging and sticking out a half cm from her waist. Apparently it was like that for a few weeks. I'm still gonna take her to the vet Wed (unfortunately he's not a reptile specialist), but yesterday she started shedding, and this morning when I went to check the lump was stuck in a piece of shed skin and there's a big hole on her flank. It’s really nasty looking; there’s no skin there at all, just raw flesh, and about the size of a dime. It wasn’t really bleeding, just pussing a bit this morning. So what can I do for the poor thing? Anything I could put on the wound, anyway I could bandage it? She does have a cage-mate, a male green anole in a 10 gal tank, but I don’t have anyplace else to keep her.

I dissected the lump a bit, it looks like an egg? The other thing is, she hasn’t eaten a thing since I got her except for a small mealworm and I don’t think she ate anything when the guy had her either, yet she looks really fat just in front of her legs. I know she was kept with other anoles, male and female. I think she may be eggbound? Anyway I can help her out with that?

Thanks in advanced for any help.

Hello,

A bit of antibiotic ointment, like Neosporin, on the open wound might help. I would try to clean it a bit with some very diluted peroxide first. What kind of anole is it and how big? If it is another male, keeping it with your male may not be helping matters. Perhaps you could get one of those large plastic critter cages, try a Wal-Mart - should be cheaper than a pet shop, to quarantine it in. Use a plastic plant or two for decoration and hiding and paper towel on the bottom. Feed it in a dish so that you can keep track of what it eats, if anything, and make sure it is drinking plenty (frequent misting). Those types of containers are difficult to heat because of the plastic top and it might not actually be that much more expensive to get another ten gallon tank and a screen top, the Wal-Marts in my area sell them as well. If it still refuses to eat, I would try a product called Jump-Start, made by ESU (I think I've seen it for sale a Pet Smart - I know, I know, but sometimes they do have things that I need) to force feed so that it doesn't starve. Unfortunately, if it is an egg-bound female, I don't know what your options will be. The vet bill would be quite a bit I think. Hope I've helped some.

Chuck H.

Sorry for the stupid questions about what kind of anole (Bahama - Duh) and comment about if it is a male, I guess I should pay more attention to posts BEFORE I reply. It's late here, sorry.

Chuck H.

It could be a growth a tumor or an old bite would that turned into a cyst or a large amount of scare tissue. I have an anole with some tumors on its face. Try hand feeding and hand watering misting a injured lizard can some times stress it and then it will get worse. (I have been working with anoles for 23 years we have them all over here in florida) keep the wound filled with that "neo" stuff seprate if you can> I keep my sick lizards on a curtain and keep an eye on them, but you may not be able to do well with that.. i wouldnt suggest it if you havent had alot of experince. Make sure there are no maggots in the wound...I know this sounds crazy. I find anoles at least 2 a year that have a large to medium sized hole in them the inside of the hole looks black and it goes usually behind the ribs or on the ribs, everytime i find one you look into the hole and fetch tweezers theres maggots inside the anole eating it from the inside... I have only saved about 3 of these..only after digging the maggots (yuck) out and packing it with ointment. Be sure to look and see if you see any wriggles and make sure theres NO baby flys in the cage with her open wound. Dont be upset if she dies.. they are hard to fix up sometimes. Good luck and let us know how she does.