Hello everyone,
yesterday, my male veiled chameleon of 6 years passed away.
Over the course of the past year, he started growing lumps on his tongue, making it hard for him to catch his live feed. I took him to the vet when I realized the lumps weren't going away, and he had additionally grown a large bump between his eyes. The vet drained the bump and did blood work, and he told me that my chameleon was very healthy and just had a minor abscess and infection that would go away on its own with time. Months passed and the bump was still there. Two months ago, the lumps on his tongue spread around to the roof of his mouth, growing into a tumor that was large enough to not let him close his mouth at all. I helped him drink water and eat for weeks but he he was very rapidly losing energy . Eventually, the tumor started turning black and splitting open, I cleaned the scabs when needed but he never had puss. Two days ago, he climbed down to the bottom of his enclosure and stayed there until he passed. I am very upset about his passing, but I am at peace knowing he lived a long life.
My question is, was this cancer?
I am having a difficult time finding posts from people who had something similar happen to their chameleon.
yesterday, my male veiled chameleon of 6 years passed away.
Over the course of the past year, he started growing lumps on his tongue, making it hard for him to catch his live feed. I took him to the vet when I realized the lumps weren't going away, and he had additionally grown a large bump between his eyes. The vet drained the bump and did blood work, and he told me that my chameleon was very healthy and just had a minor abscess and infection that would go away on its own with time. Months passed and the bump was still there. Two months ago, the lumps on his tongue spread around to the roof of his mouth, growing into a tumor that was large enough to not let him close his mouth at all. I helped him drink water and eat for weeks but he he was very rapidly losing energy . Eventually, the tumor started turning black and splitting open, I cleaned the scabs when needed but he never had puss. Two days ago, he climbed down to the bottom of his enclosure and stayed there until he passed. I am very upset about his passing, but I am at peace knowing he lived a long life.
My question is, was this cancer?
I am having a difficult time finding posts from people who had something similar happen to their chameleon.
))) It’s impossible for anyone to say what exactly your guy had. Your vet would need to do a biopsy of one of the bumps. I am curious what the bumps looked like. Do you happen to have any pics of them? I haven’t seen anyone here with a similar issue.
Looks like he definitely had something going on in his head…what part I can’t tell. His casque shouldn’t have that almost split appearance. Those sides and tip should be much closer together.
it’s always hard no matter if we know it’s coming or not. You also never know who may come across a situation like this and even if it helps someone else a little bit, it’s worth it to me. This is nothing I’ve seen on the forum, I haven’t been around too long but have reviewed many of old threads so thank you so much for sharing.
He was gorgeous. Wishing you strength and healing. 
