DIY Heme Amputation !?!

[imhotep]

I have a veiled with a prolapsed heme-penis. Most likely the result of dehydration (he hates water).

I fear that it has become infected and now I'm considering amputation.

I've soaked the infection in sugar water, cleaned with saline, and lubed him up with Ky 4 times since the prolapse 3 weeks ago.

I reduced his diet in hopes that the prolapse would heal itself or at the very least pull back in. Unfortunately he has not pooped in over a week or two!

I've been researching for a few days, as well as building up the courage to attempt something myself.

Going to the vet is out of the question. I'm no surgeon but action must be taken.

If anybody has some solid advice, now's the time.

 

[imhotep]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3035398/

 

[imhotep]

these are both links that I found but neither are much help.

http://www.banfield.com/veterinary-professionals/resources/real-cases/case-study-gecko-hemipene

 

[jannb]

Please do not attempt this yourself. He should have had vet attention when this first happen. I am surprised that he hasn't already passed. If you can not afford vet visit please relinquish him to someone that will provide vet attention. If you call Elisa at Chameo, she will most likely take him. http://www.chameo.org/

 

[NHenn]

He needs to see a vet! He should have gone immediately after the prolapse didn't go back in on its own. The vet could have easily prevented it from becoming infected and now requiring amputation. The original vet bill would have been less than $100 and now you are looking well beyond that amount. Please fine a way to get him to the vet ASAP or he is going to end up losing his life!

 

[imhotep]

I understand that vets are vitally important but please WAKE UP !!!

I've had more than a dozen chameleons given to me in the last 4 years by careless breeders because they have no plan to raise any reptiles beyond juveniles.

Who can afford the vet bill every time a rescue gets ill. Especially Veileds which the pet shop sells for $50 a pair.

I'm aware that nobody here wants to give anything but "professional" advice but consider the fact that the only assistance you've provided is completely obvious.

 

[imhotep]

I'm attempting to mitigate what is most certainly a life threatening situation here.

Shoot me some links or get on the phone with me and we can try to do this!

I'm going to attempt using some fishing line to tie off just below the necrotic area to reduce blood-flow and hopefully help him poop.

I'm shooting from the hip here !!!

Please advise on steps that I CAN TAKE ON MY OWN.

Thanks.

 

[imhotep]

Castration? Orthodontic rubber bands maybe?

 

[Trace]

I've had more than a dozen chameleons given to me in the last 4 years by careless breeders because they have no plan to raise any reptiles beyond juveniles.

Who can afford the vet bill every time a rescue gets ill. Especially Veileds which the pet shop sells for $50 a pair.

Seems like a pretty easy solution to me; don’t take them in! The only thing that is paying for your and the breeders careless 'mistakes' are the animals themselves.

 

[imhotep]

A lot of help you've been.

I use to respect a lot of people on this site. Too bad really.

Clearly being pretentious and shoveling outrageous amounts of money to herp vets is all that this site has to offer.

thanks anyway.

 

[Lathis]

Please don't perform an amateur operation on this chameleon, or any animal. 1) Give the chameleon to a rescue or someone else who will take on his care, or 2) take it to a vet and have it put down.

I'm sorry if you are not getting the advice you want, but this is the advice you need.

 

[jcarlsen]

Please don't perform an amateur operation on this chameleon, or any animal. 1) Give the chameleon to a rescue or someone else who will take on his care, or 2) take it to a vet and have it put down.

I'm sorry if you are not getting the advice you want, but this is the advice you need.

Truer words couldn't be said. Trying to perform surgery of any kind when you're not a professional is only going to further harm the poor guy.

 

[imhotep]

Are you telling me that somebody will come pick this chameleon up and pay a vet to perform the work?

 

[imhotep]

Even if he is going to die? Anything I do will only contribute to immanent death ?!?

 

[Chris Anderson]

imhotep,

As has been said already, this is a situation that needs veterinary care, not one that you should attempt to deal with on your own. If you can not afford to take him to a vet, you should surrender him to a rescue who can see that he gets the veterinary care he needs. Contact Elisa at ChamEO (http://www.chameo.org). She is a non-profit chameleon rescue with 501(c)(3) status and she makes sure her rescues get the veterinary care they need.

Aside from the immediate issue, I have to say that if you are not able to provide the veterinary care these animals need, you should not be taking in rescues. Anyone taking in rescues needs to have the infrastructure and resources necessary to deal with the animals they bring in. Rescuing chameleons can be extremely demanding, both in terms of space, time and financial commitments. If you are not able to provide these things, the animals are not be being moved into a situation that is any better than that which they were previously, or at the very least, not as good of a situation as they need.

Chris

 

[imhotep]

You are all being ridiculous! I care about these animals very much but still to an extent. The extent being that I wasn't going to let him or any others die unnecessarily or endure agonizing pain.

If money is your only answer to this situation then I'm not sure why you think your opinion should be worth anything. You don't have any opinion except to seek profe$$ional help.

I don't need a public forum to tell me to go to the vet. duh!

What's the purpose of this site if you're all just gonna circle-jerk each other and pretend that you're imparting some kind of knowledge when in fact not a one of you has attempted to elaborate the dangers and or risks of any action other than the vet.

When life hangs in the balance decisions need to be made.

If any of you are ready to step down from your high-horse, I'm all ears.

Does anybody have first-hand experience in the field of heme-penile amputation?

 

[jcarlsen]

You are all being ridiculous! I care about these animals very much but still to an extent. The extent being that I wasn't going to let him or any others die unnecessarily or endure agonizing pain.

If money is your only answer to this situation then I'm not sure why you think your opinion should be worth anything. You don't have any opinion except to seek profe$$ional help.

I don't need a public forum to tell me to go to the vet. duh!

What's the purpose of this site if you're all just gonna circle-jerk each other and pretend that you're imparting some kind of knowledge when in fact not a one of you has attempted to elaborate the dangers and or risks of any action other than the vet.

When life hangs in the balance decisions need to be made.

If any of you are ready to step down from your high-horse, I'm all ears.

Does anybody have first-hand experience in the field of heme-penile amputation?

Dude, even if someone on here was familiar with the procedure, I doubt they'd feel safe giving you that kind of information.

I've seen at least two people mention a rescue that's not for profit that could take the cham for vet care, so why do you still think it's about money?

 

[imhotep]

Thank you Chris,

I appreciate your opinion but ultimately you're incorrect. I wouldn't consider taking in a pet that I've had for multiple years and treated a variety of problems with as being in a comparable scenario to dying around a month old.

Guess it goes without saying that you guys know what's best and I'm just being "careless" and blah blah blah ....

 

[Chris Anderson]

You are all being ridiculous! I care about these animals very much but still to an extent. The extent being that I wasn't going to let him or any others die unnecessarily or endure agonizing pain.

If money is your only answer to this situation then I'm not sure why you think your opinion should be worth anything. You don't have any opinion except to seek profe$$ional help.

I don't need a public forum to tell me to go to the vet. duh!

What's the purpose of this site if you're all just gonna circle-jerk each other and pretend that you're imparting some kind of knowledge when in fact not a one of you has attempted to elaborate the dangers and or risks of any action other than the vet.

When life hangs in the balance decisions need to be made.

If any of you are ready to step down from your high-horse, I'm all ears.

Does anybody have first-hand experience in the field of heme-penile amputation?

Speaking of a high-horse, you might want to step down from yours and think in the best interest of the animal for a bit rather than about what is in yours. We are telling you to seek professional help because this is not something that anyone can teach you on an online forum. To do this correctly you need to have the anesthetics and vaporizers needed to administer those anesthetics so that you can put the animal under for the procedure. Failing to do so will result in considerable pain, during which the animal will fight you and cause harm to it self, resulting in the animal suffering. You also need to have sterile tools, surgical area, and sterile technique, or you will cause infection and the animal will suffer. Surely I don't have to tell you that having someone cut your genitals off in their bathroom after reading on a forum how to do it is not in the patient's best interest and is just going to do more harm then good. We aren't refusing to tell you because we don't want to help, we're doing it because we don't want you to kill this animal.

Chris

 

[imhotep]

I've already reached out to her.