Fungus on Flap?

[draetish]

Lola has had this for a month or so and it did not go away with her last shed. I'm wondering if it is some kind of fungus. It isn't getting bigger and it stays grayish white. I am taking her to a new vet tomorrow and I am honestly weary. I would like some opinions from more experienced melleri keepers so I will have some idea before I take her in. I also posted her poop under melleri forum and would like feed back on that as well. Thanks!

 

[prettykttkat]

That looks just like fungal lesions to me. I have a cham fighting fungal infection as we speak. You will need to get a piece of his skin sent off to be biopsied by a lab/labs when you take him in to your vet ASAP. The results will show anything your cham has(affecting his skin). When I had it done to my cham it showed 3 types of fungi and a secondary bacterial staff infection. After they figure out what type of infection it is your vet will need to try different medications on the culture to find out which one will work in treating your cham. Your vet may also want to draw blood (full blood panel) and check for anything else, particularly kidney and liver function. Antifungal meds are hard on those organs and could possibly kill your cham if they are not functioning properly. Of course you would still have to treat your cham because otherwise it will die from the fungus anyway, but at least you have a good idea what to expect. If you have other reptiles you will need to separate your cham in a different room than all the others because fungus releases spores into the air and can infect other reptiles without ever coming into physical contact with them. The treatment for fungus is very long, I've been treating mine for almost 2 months. I sincerely hope the best for you and your cham. Keep us updated and if you have any questions let me know. Kinyonga is also very knowledgeable about fungus. Particularly the deadly CANV fungus, which I hope your cham does not have.

 

[summoner12]

I have a thread similar to this just a couple of posts down

Your pics look a lot like the ones of my female. one of my other melleri have a small bit on his lobes too.

Any ideas on how this happens? how to prevent?

 

[prettykttkat]

Reptiles get fungus if they are exposed to fungal spores in the area or if they are exposed to another reptile that has it. Prevention is keeping the area where they are kept well ventilated, not too cold and not too wet. Also being kept away from other reptiles that have fungus or could have fungus. Before I got my cham that had fungus I kept new reptiles quarantined in separate cages in the same room. I always washed my hands after handling or taking care of the quarantined reptile and never let that reptile come into contact with other reptiles. With fungus that is not enough. I learned that new animals must be quarantined in a whole separate room away from all other reptiles because fungus releases spores into the air which land on a reptile infecting it.

 

[summoner12]

Reptiles get fungus if they are exposed to fungal spores in the area or if they are exposed to another reptile that has it. Prevention is keeping the area where they are kept well ventilated, not too cold and not too wet. Also being kept away from other reptiles that have fungus or could have fungus. Before I got my cham that had fungus I kept new reptiles quarantined in separate cages in the same room. I always washed my hands after handling or taking care of the quarantined reptile and never let that reptile come into contact with other reptiles. With fungus that is not enough. I learned that new animals must be quarantined in a whole separate room away from all other reptiles because fungus releases spores into the air which land on a reptile infecting it.

do the photos in the thread I liked in my post above look like a fungus?

 

[draetish]

Lola has had this for a month or so and it did not go away with her last shed. I'm wondering if it is some kind of fungus. It isn't getting bigger and it stays grayish white. I am taking her to a new vet tomorrow and I am honestly weary. I would like some opinions from more experienced melleri keepers so I will have some idea before I take her in. I also posted her poop under melleri forum and would like feed back on that as well. Thanks!

UPDATE - took Lola to the vet Saturday and she thinks she has "Systemic Bacterial Infection" and gave me Baytril Suspension to give her orally and Panolog Ointment to put on the infected area. If it is not getting better in 2 wks I need to take her back and they will do a biospy. She weighs 336 grams.

 

[prettykttkat]

Ok but I really think it is a fungus I hope it is not though. Keep us updated.

Summoner the first pic looks like fungus. If it does not go away and starts spreading over time it is fungus.

Rex had the same looking areas as both your chams. It never went away and spread. New areas would pop up too. After awhile he broke out in liquid filled blisters. He was a rescued cham when I got him and I had never dealt with a fungus before. If I would have not thought he just had a burn on his head I would have gotten skin biopsy done from the begining. Because I did not, other areas started popping up and I still didn't know it was fungus, I thought it just looked like skin that was going to shed. It wasn't until I noticed necrotic skin on his arm that serious alarm bells went off in my head. Please don't wait any longer then you have to in doing a skin biopsy. It's better to be safe than sorry. If I had only known sooner I think maybe I could have prevented Rex's skin from getting as bad as it did. Really, it's amazing Rex is still alive.

Here is the thread about Rex and his fungal infection
https://www.chameleonforums.com/fungus-29857/

Here is a video update on Rex I did today
https://www.chameleonforums.com/rex-video-update-33369/

Please check it out and maybe you can learn something from my experience with fungus. Even if your chams don't have fungus at least you will know the signs, symptoms,etc.

All the best to both of you

 

[draetish]

This is a current pic taken yesterday of the affected area on flap. She is taking her oral meds and I putting the topical ointment on. she goes back to the vet Sat (12-5) for a re-check. The vet said if not getting better they would do the biopsy. The affected area feels very hard and ridged and it's not showing on the back of the flap. I think it actually looks better than the first pic I posted 0n 11-20-09.

 

[Carlton]

This problem does show up on melleri...both my rescued wc had it. At the time my vet and I described it as a localized tissue necrosis but had a hard time figuring out just what caused it. Sampling the grey areas only revealed dead tissue but NOT the cause. The tissue was too damaged and the organism wasn't detectable. There was at one time a "melleri fungus" idea. One theory never proved was that these thin areas might have poorer circulation there might be damage by microfilarial parasites that resulted in tissue death. Because of where it showed up we considered burns as well. Melleri are notorious for burning their more delicate flap edges and their dorsal ridges. But, they can also abrade the same areas while being captured and shipped and a bacterial or fungal organism can invade. We trimmed away the grey areas (it peeled away fairly easily) and revealed healthy pink tissue at the margins. Then protected the exposed tissue with Silvadene. Nothing spread and the areas healed slowly. I am not up to date on melleri disease treatment but would suggest checking The Melleri Discovery website to see what they say about it. Sorry I can't help more, but I do know that the damaged areas tend to slough away and not spread further.