Can anyone tell us if this is something we should worry about??

[tianniccari]

Hi there, we noticed a marking on the underside of Thor's stomach about a month ago. We though that it was just a bruise (we thought maybe he had fallen through out the day). We thought that it was going away because it was getting lighter in color but today we noticed that it was dark again. Does anyone have any idea what this is/what it was caused by? Any information at all is appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

The first 2 pictures were taken on February 17th, which is when we thought it was going away because how light it is. The last picture was taken 15 minutes ago.

Should we be worried about the spot on his stomach??

• tianniccari
• Mar 4, 2016

picture taken on 2/17/16

Should we be worried about the spot on his stomach??

• tianniccari
• Mar 4, 2016
• 6

picture taken on 2/17/16

Should we be worried about the spot on his stomach??

• tianniccari
• Mar 4, 2016

picture taken on 3/4/16

 

[Virgil1972]

It might be a fungus. I would take him to a vet to get checked out. It does not look normal to me.

 

[JGuinan007]

does it move?

 

[alphakenc]

It might be a mark since he was a baby.when did u start notice it?only a month ago??

 

[kinyonga]

Looks fungal to me too.

 

[kinyonga]

I'd get it checked out.

 

[tianniccari]

@Virgil1972, @kinyonga - Thanks for the input. We will try and find a vet around us.

@JGuinan007 - No, it has not moved since we first noticed it. It has just changed colors (light/dark).

@alphakenc - We first noticed it about a month or two ago. We can't seem to find any pictures of it from when he was younger.

Does anyone happen to know of a good vet in the Delaware County area in PA? Does anyone know what the vet is going to recommend doing for him?

Thanks for the advice & help!

 

[JGuinan007]

Hey your near me I'm in north east philly bucks county.
I've had a very hard time finding a good vet for Chameleons in our area there is Dr.Dennis 215-333-8888 he is good.University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine is excellent from what I hear but I have never gone Karen Rosenthal, DVM Small Animal Hospital (215) 898-4680
And the Philadelphia Herp Society (the oldest herp society in the nation) highly recommends this guy Jeffrey Gevanthor, DVM he only does house calls (484) 326-1349 wich is better for Chams but I'm not sure if he would venture into DelCO

 

[jajeanpierre]

Hi there, we noticed a marking on the underside of Thor's stomach about a month ago. We though that it was just a bruise (we thought maybe he had fallen through out the day). We thought that it was going away because it was getting lighter in color but today we noticed that it was dark again. Does anyone have any idea what this is/what it was caused by? Any information at all is appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

The first 2 pictures were taken on February 17th, which is when we thought it was going away because how light it is. The last picture was taken 15 minutes ago.

Should we be worried about the spot on his stomach??

• tianniccari
• Mar 4, 2016

picture taken on 2/17/16

Should we be worried about the spot on his stomach??

• tianniccari
• Mar 4, 2016
• 6

picture taken on 2/17/16

Should we be worried about the spot on his stomach??

• tianniccari
• Mar 4, 2016

picture taken on 3/4/16

Has it changed in size or shape? Is it a lesion? Is the surface raised or ulcerated? If it looks like normal skin with no swelling or edges to the mark and hasn't changed size or shape, I personally wouldn't take him to the vet and would just watch it. You can map the mark with your photos and decide whether the mark has actually increased in size while taking into account the animal's normal growth, body posture, state of shed and how the cells are coloring up.

The skin over the mark looks pretty normal and healthy, so to get a skin scraping a vet will have to take a scalpel and literally scrape the skin off down to living (bleeding) tissue leaving a wound. Or the vet might cut out a piece of skin and send it off.

This might be something that has always been there and you are now only noticing it.

My opinion only; I'm not a vet.

 

[tianniccari]

@JGuinan007 - Thanks for the information! It is something we will definitely look into! We did a little research last night and found 2 vets in the West Chester area that might examine chameleons, but we haven't heard back from either of them yet.

@jajeanpierre - It hasn't changed shape or size at all. We thought it might of been a bruise at first, but now were not sure. The skin is not raised or ulcerated. It looks pretty much normal, besides the fact its a different color and it gets darker and lighter. He seems like his normal self. He is eating fine, drinking fine, and shedding fine. Thank you for your advice, any advice right now is extremely helpful.

 

[gotwqqd]

Sounds like the cells are rather normal add the changes to it occur.... Maybe it's palette of pigments is simply reduced

 

[tianniccari]

@gotwqqd - Thanks for the advice! Do you know if it is his palette of pigment that is reduced, if there is anything we should worry about or maybe anything supplemental we could give him to help it?

 

[tianniccari]

Hi guys, Thor was very eager to come out of his cage today. He kept climbing on the screen doors, which is normally his way of saying he would like to come out and he didn't hesitate to climb on my hand as soon as I put it in his cage. We currently have a little ladder set up by one of our windows to allow Thor to sit there and bask in the sun. I noticed that while he's sitting there, the black spot on his stomach became lighter in color. I tried to get a picture of it, but the sun outside is too bright that it just makes the picture come out really dark.

Does anyone know why this might happen or what this could really be?
Does anyone know of anyone else on here who might be able to help me with this?

Thor enjoying the sun light

Thor hanging by the window

• tianniccari
• Mar 7, 2016

3/7/16

 

[JGuinan007]

Any updates find out what it is? Also did you find a good vet it's always good to know of one that is really good for Chameleons a lot vets are good with herps just not good with chameleons I have found in the Philadelphia area

 

[tianniccari]

@JGuinan007 - Unfortunately, no updates on what it is. We're still trying to find a good Chameleon vet in our area. The 2 that I reached out to over the weekend, have yet to respond. We're still researching into to. Hoping to come across someone soon so we can get him checked out!

 

[JGuinan007]

Ok that was fast ty

 

[mrfixit01]

Have you checked the ARAV locator site? http://arav.org/find-a-vet/

 

[tianniccari]

@mrfixit01 - Yes, I was actually just on there looking. I just called the office of Dr. Wilbur Amand in West Chester and left a message, I'm hoping someone gets back to me soon.

 

[tianniccari]

Hi guys, we just wanted to give you an update. We just finished up at the vet with Thor. The vet said that he doesnt believe its anything to worry about and that we should just keep on the spot to make sure that it doesnt change shape or size. He said that Thor was in amazing shape (other than the spot on his stomach) which is awesome news. We also got to weigh him for the first time and he weighs 128g (with his tail hanging off the scale a little).

So for now, we will just keep an eye on the spot and make sure it doesnt grow or change.

Thanks for all the advice!!

 

[JGuinan007]

So where did you go and did you feel the vet was very knowledgeable on chameleons?