2 Missing Nails. Vet or not?

[GrimCamel]

Incubus my 1.5 year old panther have been in my care in about a month. In the beginning he was pretty stressed and started to climb in the screen ceiling. In the progress he lost two nails. I've been monitoring him for a while now but his foot doesn't seem to get any better, nor worse. The nails does not seem to have been pulled out of the toe, just broken in half. From my perspective as a new owner he seem to be in a bit of pain for instance when he is moving around he is always more careful with the foot or at some point when he is turning around he sometimes gasps and puffs up (I can be in the other side of the room and see this so I don't think its meant as aggression towards me)
I've been googling around and reading on this site about infections after incidents like his but the examples I found are like 3 times as bad as my chams. There is no wound and have never been, just a bit of swelling around the two nails he lost but I am as I said unsure. Does it look like infection or risk for infection in the pictures?
- If so, is there anything I can do for him or should I go straight for a vet?


I don't handle him very often so the pics posted are what you get atm. In the pic he barely uses his foot and just keeps it in the air, that's nothing he usually does. I just spotted him doing that while I had him outsode of his enclosure and thought it would be a good opportunity to take proper pictures and ask about it here

 

[MissLissa]

To me, those toes look swollen and sore. If he were my cham, I'd be taking him to the vet as I'd rather nip things in the bud than wait for them to get really bad... but I have very easy access to excellent reptile veterinary care, and not everyone does.

 

[GrimCamel]

To me, those toes look swollen and sore. If he were my cham, I'd be taking him to the vet as I'd rather nip things in the bud than wait for them to get really bad... but I have very easy access to excellent reptile veterinary care, and not everyone does.

Yeah they does! I will make a call to vets in the area ans see if anyone have specific knowledge about chams

 

[jannb]

Taking him to the vets is an excellent idea. I have a chameleon that lost some nails before I got him. One became infected and the infection moved up his leg and completely eat away his knee bones. When I got him I took him to the vets and he cleaned it all out and did a biopsy. He was given a antibiotic and I was told he may never be able to use that leg again. Luckily the muscle harder around the knee and he has been able to use the leg just fine. I hope your boy will be ok too.

I also recommend taking in a fresh poop to the vets for a fecal to check for parasites. These guys get parasites allot from the feeders that they eat.

 

[GrimCamel]

Taking him to the vets is an excellent idea. I have a chameleon that lost some nails before I got him. One became infected and the infection moved up his leg and completely eat away his knee bones. When I got him I took him to the vets and he cleaned it all out and did a biopsy. He was given a antibiotic and I was told he may never be able to use that leg again. Luckily the muscle harder around the knee and he has been able to use the leg just fine. I hope your boy will be ok too.

I also recommend taking in a fresh poop to the vets for a fecal to check for parasites. These guys get parasites allot from the feeders that they eat.

Wow I didn't know it could turn out so serious! Thanks alot for sharing!
We don't have much of a parasite problem in Sweden but you never know! I will see to it when I visit the vet

 

[GrimCamel]

On my phone today. I think its time to post a recent update. The vet told me last year that it was nothing they could do since there was no open wound but they also told me his nails were lost which means they wont grow back. For a long time I figured they were wrong since i watched his claws slowly grow back. They still arent back to what they once was but looking back at this old post there has clearly been improvements of some sort. The tissue around his claws will probably always remain scarred but at least he have been using his foot without problems for month. Cant say it looks as good as Ive hoped for but its something