Help! Got my Cham back and now this. :(

[BulletProofBambi]

Hey all,

So back story, I had to leave the UK and head back to SA for my grans funeral. Being one of the few men in my family I had to help with arrangements and be there to support my family. I was only planning on going for a month but ended up having to take a sebatical from work and was away for nearly three months.

During this time I entrusted a friend to look after my pride and joy, Gadget. She assured me that she had done her research and it came across when ever I was speaking to her about chams.

So I moved my little dude in with her. The full set up including, lights, spray bottle, Vic, vines etc. Say my goodbyes and shed a little tear.

When I got back the first thing I did was get my little dude home. Only to my horror, I find a huge scar like patch on his right hand side and a host of small patches all over his legs.

When I saw this, the first thing I did was demand to know what has happened. Obviously she was none the wiser and insists that she followed my care instructions to the letter. I have checked the lights, viv and water source and this is what I found( see pictures )

The spray bottle was covered on the inside with some type of slimy black mold. The UV light had blown when he was with them and instead of buying another reptile UV bulb, she was using just a normal household strip light. The heat lamp had been replaced with an 80watt halogen spot/floodlight bulb.

I am sorry for the long email and I'll get to the point. I am desperately needing any advice you guys can offer on how I can help my little guy, I know that the vet is the obvious answer here and I'm not looking for a diagnosis from anyone. I am just trying to find out what can be done and if I am in danger of loosing my Cham.

Since I have taken him back, I have put him in a new viv with proper lighting, heating and clean water and he seems to be ok in terms of eating and drinking but he doesn't ever want to come out anymore and when he is out he sits scratching his patch very hard and seems to pick at it.

Please understand that since my return home my funds are a little low and I'm down to having to choose between the vet and paying my rent. I am feeling so guilty for this having happened to him and I would always put my Cham before myself. I would never have gotten one if I didn't have the means to properly care for it. But I find my self caught between a rock and a hard place.

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this. I truly am grateful for any feedback and suggestions. Just want to do what I can until I can get the money together to take him to see the vet.

 

[Theveiled]

To me (And I could be wrong) it looks like a burn, that is now shedding.

 

[BulletProofBambi]

To me (And I could be wrong) it looks like a burn, that is now shedding.

Thank you for taking the time to get back to me. The skin around the main white/grey area looks really tight, so could suggest that it may be that. Is there anything I can do to help him? He has scratched at it soo much that he seems to have scarred a very big lump onto himself. Do chams come back from this sort of thing? In your experience.

 

[Theveiled]

My cham burned his casque (top of the head) and that happened over a year ago. his casque will never be the same shape or height (it sort of looks like a females casque) but he dosent have any problems with it. I know that there is a cream you can get (probably from the vet) that if it is a burn will help it heal.

There is another possibility of what it is though and it could be fungal related. I really dont have much experience or help to share with them but some more experienced members could help.

personally Im leaning more towards a burn but am not 100% positive.

@jajeanpierre @jannb @Andee @Remkon

 

[jajeanpierre]

It looks like a burn that is shedding. The lesions are in spots that suggest he overheated when basking--top of his knees and forearm. Usually they burn their casques and back, but maybe he was lying on his side basking and got burned. There might be a bacterial infection going on, too, but I can't tell.

Sometimes when they do something like this, the injury is not apparent until they shed the skin and the damage that was under the skin is now visible. The old skin can hide injuries, so it is possible that your friend really didn't notice. The initial injury might be healed. The black might or might not be of any significance. Any damage to the skin will show up as black marks. You can even get big ugly black marks from the pressure of just restraining the animal. A skin infection could show up as a black patch. Scars will often show up as black. Sometimes the black marks never go away.

Is the spot on his sides raised? What are the edges of it like?

My gut feeling is this is a healing injury and nothing needs to be done but I'm not there, not a vet and pictures can be deceiving.

Can you get hold of some silver sulfadiazine cream? It's an antimicrobial cream that would be good for this. I need a prescription to get it but maybe in the UK it is over the counter.

When skin is damaged, it often has trouble shedding in the scarred area so they retain shed there. Which can be a problem since retained shed creates an environment where a skin infection could get in. Part of the treatment for retained shed is increasing the humidity, which can cause you problems with the porous dead skin wicking in water and keeping the area too wet... It's a Catch 22.

 

[Andee]

It's very likely it was the 80 watt halogen bulb. If it's a burn. That's a very high halogen and I have had burns from much smaller wattages.

 

[ridgebax1]

I agree with the others in that it looks like a burn. Silvadene cream is the other name for the cream that was suggested above. It is used on human burn victims as well but I have no experience treating severe burns cham or human but I know that is the cream that is used but don't really know what it does. My thought is that it chemically debrides the wound but I could be wrong. As long as he is eating and behaving normally I would leave it alone and just watch that it continues to heal. I would get rid of the mist bottle and not even attempt to clean it. That looks like black mold, aspergillus comes to mind. It is ubiquitous in the environment. You could for a time use a humidifier to increase the humidity in the cage. Good luck with your guy!

 

[Nursemaia]

Silvadene cream helps prevent infection in wounds.

 

[Twitchet]

I'm from the u.k too, when I first got my parsons one had pink foot so to prepare I asked here and silvadine cream was recommended, the vet would not by law be able to sell me it without seeing the animal but I found a cream online with the same volume of silver in it for equine skin problems, I'll find it this morning, and give you a list of ingredients and see if everyone here says its o.k .

 

[Twitchet]

O.K so I found the pot- never needed to use it as foot health improved on its own within a month,

If Janet etc can read this info that I cut and pasted and thinks it will be of use , also if it is safe for the cham to keep basking etc with it applied, I can't see it listed but I believe it was the same as silvadine but info on that doesnt seem to be listed now- I bought it in June there is no use by date on it, I researched silvadine and i couldnt find it for slae in any other preparation than this but maybe that's changed now,
Bambi- I will send it to you if you pm your address- I won't probably need it and it will just sit in a drawer- Disclaimer= don't know if it will work-any problems- not my fault..
"Biteback products- sweet relief silver"
"A really useful addition to your pet's first aid box. A superb antiseptic non-steroid cream for supporting healthy skin, Biteback Sweet Relief Silver is a multi-purpose application, formulated in a light cream. Sweet Relief Silver's active ingredients work together leading to smooth, calm, healthy skin silver sulfadiazine and sublimed flowers of sulphur as gentle but effective germicides; benzyl benzoate to soothe and moisten; liquid paraffin and waxes to moisten and form a waterproof barrier; glycerin to soften scabs; allantoin to support new growth; benzyl alcohol and iodine as gentle and safe preservatives. Apply twice a day or more frequently if necessary. Spread lightly on affected areas and massage in by hand.
A non-steroid cream for supporting dog skin, Sweet Relief Silver has all the benefits of Sweet Relief Cream with the addition of a fine silver compound which helps the skin fight infection, and encourages quick healing.

This cream is recommended if your dog has scabs and sore, broken patches of skin

• It contains: silver sulfadiazine and sublimed flowers of sulphur as gentle but effective germicides; benzyl benzoate to soothe and moisten; liquid paraffin and waxes to moisten and form a waterproof barrier; glycerin to soften scabs; allantoin to support new growth; benzyl alcohol as a mild anaesthetic; and iodine as a gentle and safe preservative
• How to apply: spread lightly on affected areas and massage in by hand, twice a day. A clear improvement should be noticed within 5 days

 

[jajeanpierre]

O.K so I found the pot- never needed to use it as foot health improved on its own within a month,

If Janet etc can read this info that I cut and pasted and thinks it will be of use , also if it is safe for the cham to keep basking etc with it applied, I can't see it listed but I believe it was the same as silvadine but info on that doesnt seem to be listed now- I bought it in June there is no use by date on it, I researched silvadine and i couldnt find it for slae in any other preparation than this but maybe that's changed now,
Bambi- I will send it to you if you pm your address- I won't probably need it and it will just sit in a drawer- Disclaimer= don't know if it will work-any problems- not my fault..
"Biteback products- sweet relief silver"
"A really useful addition to your pet's first aid box. A superb antiseptic non-steroid cream for supporting healthy skin, Biteback Sweet Relief Silver is a multi-purpose application, formulated in a light cream. Sweet Relief Silver's active ingredients work together leading to smooth, calm, healthy skin silver sulfadiazine and sublimed flowers of sulphur as gentle but effective germicides; benzyl benzoate to soothe and moisten; liquid paraffin and waxes to moisten and form a waterproof barrier; glycerin to soften scabs; allantoin to support new growth; benzyl alcohol and iodine as gentle and safe preservatives. Apply twice a day or more frequently if necessary. Spread lightly on affected areas and massage in by hand.
A non-steroid cream for supporting dog skin, Sweet Relief Silver has all the benefits of Sweet Relief Cream with the addition of a fine silver compound which helps the skin fight infection, and encourages quick healing.

This cream is recommended if your dog has scabs and sore, broken patches of skin

• It contains: silver sulfadiazine and sublimed flowers of sulphur as gentle but effective germicides; benzyl benzoate to soothe and moisten; liquid paraffin and waxes to moisten and form a waterproof barrier; glycerin to soften scabs; allantoin to support new growth; benzyl alcohol as a mild anaesthetic; and iodine as a gentle and safe preservative
• How to apply: spread lightly on affected areas and massage in by hand, twice a day. A clear improvement should be noticed within 5 days

Silver Sulfadiazine (Sulfadene) belongs in the same class of drugs as sulfa antibiotics. It is an antibiotic and a prescription drug. I would not consider an over-the-counter drug for pets to be equivalent. I suspect there is so little of the effective drug in that product to be of any value.

 

[Twitchet]

Oh O.k, Thats a shame- looks like a visit to the vet is the best option for the animal , as I say the vet had it but by law can't sell without the animal viewed which is sensible. Thanks for the reply and best wishes to poor Gadget, it is a very sad story.

 

[JacksJill]

If he was my pet and I thought he had a burn I would get some kind of antibiotic ointment on him as first aid only and schedule a vet visit asap. Maybe ask the vet office to recommend something when you call. Hope he feels better soon.
Condolences on your loss.