Foot abrasion

[xeonic]

Recently I noticed an abrasion on the bottom of my Panther Chameleon Snickers front feet. Fortionally I already had a Visit to the Vet the next day. Both front feet seem to be warn, though one is worse then the other. I suspect the Large fake vines in my cage are the cause, as they are very hard and almost sand paper like. I have posted some Pictures for all to view. I know this can be caused by ripping your Chameleon off the vine, which I don't do as he will come to me. Anyway my Vet prescribed Silver Sulfadiazine in a cream to put on his abrasion. Sorry about the fuzzy picture, its hard to get your Chameleon to sit still for this.

 

[Solid Snake]

That sucks about his feet, poor Snickers.

Any news on the RI?

 

[xeonic]

He is off his Baytril which didn't seem to stop the clicking sound. I went to another Vet for a second opinion who advised me the only way to be sure is with multiple tests like my other Vet prescribed. The Culture and sensitivity Test taken by a transtracheal wash, or even X-rays to look for pneumonia. How ever Snickers has gained weight, and displays no other symptoms of pneumonia. Such as loosing weight, mucus, and loss of appetite. FYI the cost for doing the Transtracheal was $750.00. I decided to wait and see if other symptoms begin, as this is allot of money, and the process itself is risky.

 

[Solid Snake]

Forgive me for not going back and re-reading your posts but did you have a simple culture done from a mouth swab? If so what were the results?

What exactly is the "transtreachea"?

 

[xeonic]

Both my vets wont do a simple mouth swab as they say there is bacteria from feeders found in the mouth, and the culture may not be accurate.

The Transtracheal wash is where they pump a fluid into the lung of your Chameleon and suck it out, then use that sample for the culture. But they have to sedate your Chameleon to do this, which is risky. Not to mention having fluid pumped into his lungs sounds risky.

 

[carol5208]

he is very beautiful and I hope he gets better soon!!!

 

[xeonic]

Thank you Carol

 

[Solid Snake]

Both my vets wont do a simple mouth swab as they say there is bacteria from feeders found in the mouth, and the culture may not be accurate.

The Transtracheal wash is where they pump a fluid into the lung of your Chameleon and suck it out, then use that sample for the culture. But they have to sedate your Chameleon to do this, which is risky. Not to mention having fluid pumped into his lungs sounds risky.

Ridiculous! Im not saying they are wrong, but if you go in their and demand a culture done, they should do it. I had to do this for Stella, as the vet wanted to wait and see if it was the edema that had just spread to her eye. I went back and told him to do the test just to see, and they didnt have any good reason not to. Now they may not feel very comfortable prescribing meds if they feel the test is faulty, so I could see that being an issue. What if Snickers just didnt eat for a few days before the swab? You might try suggesting that.

 

[xeonic]

I guess I shouldn't say they refused. They just keep hammering this Transtracheal wash. They also went to school together and are colleagues, So I suspect one Vet isn't going to alter from the other Vet. I should have never told the second Vet about the first Vet, if that made sense. And as far what your saying about not eating, I was thinking that myself. I was thinking Wash the mouth out, and don't feed for 24 hours or so, then swab. You think the Bacteria causing the infection would grow the strongest in a culture.
Also my second Vet pointed out the fact that Snickers has already gone through Two cycles of different antibiotics, and it's odd that this didn't take care of the problem if it was a Bacterial infection. It could be fungal, and I don't know how they would test for fungal infections.

That's my uneducated guess as it were.

 

[Solid Snake]

Yes that makes sense. Damn
If the two antibiotics were not geared for killing the particular infection he has, then of course they wont work Im no expert by far though.

I would have them do the swab, if what comes back on the swab, you will then be able to ascertain if the antibiotics where appropriate for the infection, if there is one.
If they where, then he is being reinfected somehow.
If not, maybe it will sway them towards trying one that is appropriate for the infection.
Swabs arent cheap though, mine was $200 ;/ and that would only maybe narrow down the possibilities, but thats what I think I would do.

Maybe he just smokes too much?


Really though, I hope for the best for Snickers!

Oh, what brand of vine where you using?

 

[xeonic]

I forget the brand of that large vine. I will have to make a visit to the pet store and update this post.

Do you know how to wash a Chameleons mouth out? I don't so maybe not feeding him for a bit before the swab is the answer. Maybe I could try Q-tips to wash his mouth out. I don't think he would like that though, and would probably bite down on it, maybe rip some of the cotton off and swallow.

I'm going to bed now, and once again thank you.

 

[Solid Snake]

I dont see any way to clean out their mouths effectively, listerine maybe, but good luck training him to gargle

They are going to be swabbing the throat anyhow, and I think any bacteria thats in their after 24hrs of not eating, is going to be there at anytime. JMO

 

[xeonic]

So the brand of Vine is Exo Terra. And his feet are healing nicely. Though I noticed the Silver Sulfadiazine has caused areas where I used it to dull the Chameleons colours. For example I used a bit on his tail where there was a patch of skin left over from a shed. It got rid of the dry skin, but from that area of his tail all the way to the tip has gone a dull pink. My vet told me the Silver Sulfadiazine itself will turn black in UVB lighting. I didn't see it do that.

Also I found out the Exo Terra vine may not have been the cause of the abrasion. I found out the my Family may have ripped him off the vines when taking care of him while I was on vacation

 

[Texas Panther Man]

If he is kept in a screen cage. Then he could have torn the skin on his feet by sliding down the screen as they will do sometimes when they lose their footing. I have the largest exo terra vines that they make in all my cages and I thought it could have been the grape vines in that particular females cage. Since she was the only one with grape vines. Well, I realized what/how she did it, she likes to climb on the screen and that when I saw her slip and I realized how the scabs got there. I used polysporin for a week and it healed the areas nicely.

 

[xeonic]

I don't have a screen cage. And I should have stuck with the Polysporin. Oh well live and learn.