Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My male anole has developed a large soft lump behind his right tympanum. Can anyone tell me what this is and how it may be treated? He eats and moves well, sheds his skin regularly, and changes color frequently. He shares a 15 gallon terrarium with a healthy female. I have UVB and basking light on a timer and mist a couple times a day. The bottom of the tank is soil and it has plants growing in it as well as a section of tree limb for climbing. There is a flat rock at the bottom for basking. They eat calcium dusted crickets and the lights rest on a screen cover over the aquarium. I am willing to try anything that gives him a decent chance of survival, but I am in a better position to give him an inexpensive funeral than I am to pay for expensive veterinary care.

If you can't pay the vet, don't get the pet.

I'd prefer not to recieve banal and useless platitudes from people who have no context for why I am caring for this pet or my financial circumstances. Please do not reply unless you know what you are talking about and can provide practical advice.

Yes, I understand the frustration you are experiencing with people who just say, "Well why'd you get the pet if you couldn't pay for a veterinary visit?" I know firsthand that all vets are is a place where they charge you for a bad report.

I thought about this for a while, about the lump on your anole, and I might have a solution for it. Have you ever heard about calcium bentonite clay? This is a therapeutic clay that draws toxins from animals and people.

My female green anole developed an infection over her right eye, and it was getting really bad. She was really lethargic and wouldn't eat anything. I thought I was going to lose her until I decided to try to put the clay over her eye. The infection disappeared. Unfortunately, she lost her eye in the process, but she has returned to good health and appetite albeit a missing eye.

I would recommend to search the internet for places to buy calcium bentonite clay. The thing works on animals and people and can be used orally and topically. Just mix the powder in water and smear a coat over the bump a few times a week. If the mass is harmful, it should go away in a matter of a few weeks. Or even less if you apply enough. Note: There is no such thing as adding too much of this. He won't die of clay poisoning because it is all natural and contains no chemicals.

I hope this helps.

Sorry, but that was not a good thing to do to your anole. Bentonite clay absorbs water exponentially. Your anole lost her eye, because the bentonite clay absorbed all of the moisture out of her eye - pus, tears, mucus, moisture in the eyeball itself, etc. Shriveled it up like a grape (sorry, but that's what bentonite does!) All of that bentonite clay info on the internet is mostly "holistic health" type info and NONE of it has been regulated or even examined in detail by medical science - human or veterinary. So use at your own (or your animal's) risk.

BEST thing to do with an eye infection is to use an optical 'boric acid' ointment often proscribed for people by opthomalogists. If you don't already have that on hand (I did at one point, and it worked) you can use regular anti-biotic ointment like neosporin or polysporin, etc. It will say on the package not to use it on the eyeball itself (and I'd probably not do it for people) but it worked for several reptiles I've had with eyelids - lizards and turtles. I haven't needed to use it for a snake yet...

Lisa

>>Have you ever heard about calcium bentonite clay? This is a therapeutic clay that draws toxins from animals and people.
>>
>>My female green anole developed an infection over her right eye, and it was getting really bad. She was really lethargic and wouldn't eat anything. I thought I was going to lose her until I decided to try to put the clay over her eye. The infection disappeared. Unfortunately, she lost her eye in the process, but she has returned to good health and appetite albeit a missing eye.
>>
>>I would recommend to search the internet for places to buy calcium bentonite clay. The thing works on animals and people and can be used orally and topically. Just mix the powder in water and smear a coat over the bump a few times a week. If the mass is harmful, it should go away in a matter of a few weeks. Or even less if you apply enough. Note: There is no such thing as adding too much of this. He won't die of clay poisoning because it is all natural and contains no chemicals.
>>
>>I hope this helps.
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Lisa
Living Earth Environmental Education
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These animals can get stressed out very easily. The best thing to do is to do nothing. If the Anole is eating normally, and not showing any signs of unusual behavior the simplest course of action would be to keep an eyeful watch over it.

Hopefully it will disappear as quickly as it appeared. It may also be something that is well beyond your control as an internal problem such as a tumor.. Give her the benefit of living the best she be afforded..

Please keep us informed. But I would stay away from any type of salve or other ointment as we do not know for sure what the problem is, and secondly, unless she is bleeding externally, I would just let nature take its course... JERRY

Looks like a possible fly larva wound where the fly layed eggs on an abcess or it could be a tumor. Unfourntally there is not much you can do for a anole of this size if you take it to the vet. Why you may ask b/c of blood loss if an operation is done.