Injury? Infection? Mouth rot?

[snitz427]

poor guy!! That sounds awful! Young silkworms are squishy and easy to chew... also supposedly have healing properties. I'd stock up on some, and some hornworms, as it sounds like eating will be painful for the poor guy. Surprised he doesn't want you to syringe feed.

 

[Lennoncham]

poor guy!! That sounds awful! Young silkworms are squishy and easy to chew... also supposedly have healing properties. I'd stock up on some, and some hornworms, as it sounds like eating will be painful for the poor guy. Surprised he doesn't want you to syringe feed.

I just went and got hornworms, butterworms, and wax worms, gotta go get silks downtown when I go to pick him up. Ya I’m not sure how bad or even exactly where the break is (he kind explained it) but I’ll see once I get there. I’ll try worms but if he has trouble I will have to syringe feed. But the problem there is making him open his mouth to do it that’s why he’s getting me to inject the feeders with the pain meds instead of forcing them down his throat.

 

[snitz427]

makes sense! careful with the butter worms - some people have reported their chameleons adverse /allergic reactions to them.

 

[Lennoncham]

makes sense! careful with the butter worms - some people have reported their chameleons adverse /allergic reactions to them.

Ya Lennon is fine with butter worms. The carpet Cham I had was alergic to them though so I always watch when I feed them.

 

[AnamCara]

Ya Lennon is fine with butter worms. The carpet Cham I had was alergic to them though so I always watch when I feed them.

May I ask how the allergy presented?

 

[Lennoncham]

May I ask how the allergy presented?

She had 2 black spots on her face around her nostrils. At first I thought they were burns so I checked her temps and they were good. Then I looked closer at them and It was a black spot around each nostril so no way she would have identical burns on either side of her face and not her whole head. She may have had other spots that I didn’t notice since she was fairly new to me.

I’m not 100% sure it was the butter worms but I fed her some the a day or 2 before. The spots took a few weeks or so to go away.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Just talked to the vet. Lennon is awake but still woozy from the drugs. The mass removal went good but there was a bit of a problem at the end.

He didn’t fully put him out cause the drugs are hard on chams. He had a soft gag kinda holding open his mouth and when he was finishing cutting the mass out Lennon bit down really hard and ended up breaking his jaw. He said it was kinda a jagged break so he was able to fit it back together easily. He had to drill a hole in either side of the bone and use a wire to hold it together. He said it should hopefully heal up fine with the way it broke.

He’s going to give me some pain meds to inject into worms to feed him. He said he should be ok eating but to feed soft feeders and really watch him eat.

I have to call them in a couple hours to see if he’s awake enough to come home. I’m sure he will explain it better once I get there and once I can see what he’s talking about.

Breaks are a real risk with reptiles and oral procedures, especially if you're not intubating (which vets avoid as much as possible with reptiles). I've had a leopard gecko break her jaw while the vet was cleaning out her mouth (severe mouth rot), and a beardie give himself a hairline fracture when he chomped down on a syringe. It heals up well, depending on the location and type of fracture - just need to encourage Lennon to eat soft things and take it easy! I'm glad that the procedure otherwise went well.

Let us know when you hear more!

 

[AnamCara]

Just talked to the vet. Lennon is awake but still woozy from the drugs. The mass removal went good but there was a bit of a problem at the end.

He didn’t fully put him out cause the drugs are hard on chams. He had a soft gag kinda holding open his mouth and when he was finishing cutting the mass out Lennon bit down really hard and ended up breaking his jaw. He said it was kinda a jagged break so he was able to fit it back together easily. He had to drill a hole in either side of the bone and use a wire to hold it together. He said it should hopefully heal up fine with the way it broke.

He’s going to give me some pain meds to inject into worms to feed him. He said he should be ok eating but to feed soft feeders and really watch him eat.

I have to call them in a couple hours to see if he’s awake enough to come home. I’m sure he will explain it better once I get there and once I can see what he’s talking about.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

 

[Lennoncham]

Breaks are a real risk with reptiles and oral procedures, especially if you're not intubating (which vets avoid as much as possible with reptiles). I've had a leopard gecko break her jaw while the vet was cleaning out her mouth (severe mouth rot), and a beardie give himself a hairline fracture when he chomped down on a syringe. It heals up well, depending on the location and type of fracture - just need to encourage Lennon to eat soft things and take it easy! I'm glad that the procedure otherwise went well.

Let us know when you hear more!

Ya I was nervous talking to him cause he was slowly explaining what he did and he’s like I was using a gag to hold his mouth open and there was a problem. I was like oh shit did he swallow it! (In my head) then he said he broke his jaw I was like oh shit wasn’t expecting that. I hope its not that bad. Will find out in a bit and update everyone.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

Thanks. I don’t know how bad it is yet but I’ll keep everyone posted.

 

[Beman]

Just talked to the vet. Lennon is awake but still woozy from the drugs. The mass removal went good but there was a bit of a problem at the end.

He didn’t fully put him out cause the drugs are hard on chams. He had a soft gag kinda holding open his mouth and when he was finishing cutting the mass out Lennon bit down really hard and ended up breaking his jaw. He said it was kinda a jagged break so he was able to fit it back together easily. He had to drill a hole in either side of the bone and use a wire to hold it together. He said it should hopefully heal up fine with the way it broke.

He’s going to give me some pain meds to inject into worms to feed him. He said he should be ok eating but to feed soft feeders and really watch him eat.

I have to call them in a couple hours to see if he’s awake enough to come home. I’m sure he will explain it better once I get there and once I can see what he’s talking about.

OMG that is absolutely crazy... I am soooo sorry!

 

[kinyonga]

@Lennoncham said..."if he has trouble I will have to syringe feed. But the problem there is making him open his mouth"... Try dripping water on the end of his nose to make him start to drink and when the mouth is opening and shutting to drink slide the syringe in between his teeth...but don't squirt the content in all at once...ease it in.

You could also use the recipe in this thread for bug juice to feed him for a few days using the method above. You're going to want to be careful since his jaw is broken though...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/rescue-advice-help.18677/

Hope he's ok soon!

 

[Lennoncham]

OMG that is absolutely crazy... I am soooo sorry!

Thanks. I have no hard feelings about it. Ya it freaking sucks but shit happens especially with chams. I think the vet was more mad about it then me.

@Lennoncham said..."if he has trouble I will have to syringe feed. But the problem there is making him open his mouth"... Try dripping water on the end of his nose to make him start to drink and when the mouth is opening and shutting to drink slide the syringe in between his teeth...but don't squirt the content in all at once...ease it in.

You could also use the recipe in this thread for bug juice to feed him for a few days using the method above. You're going to want to be careful since his jaw is broken though...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/rescue-advice-help.18677/

Hope he's ok soon!

Thanks! It doesn’t look like a big break so I will try the worms first and see how he does. They gave me metacam for the pain. Anything I should know about this? Extra hydration?

He’s sleeping in his travel tote for the night. He was hard asleep and didn’t want to get up.

You can see his new braces in this pic. And if you zoom right in you can kinda see where they took the mass out. He may have to keep it forever or they may take it out. Gotta bring him back in a few weeks.

Hard to see but he has some bruising on his bottom lip in this pic.

 

[AnamCara]

Poor dude

 

[kinyonga]

I don't recall ever being given metacam but I would keep him hydrated well just in case it's hard on the system. I'm not surprised that he's bruised or sleeping. They don't recovery really quickly from being put under...guess it's their rather slow metabolism that's responsible for that.

The braces look good. Hopefully it will heal well and quickly. I had a WC female Parsons chameleon that had an infection in her upper jaw when I got her....when they did the surgery to clean it out...the whole dental arcade in that quarter of the mouth/jaw fell out in the vets hands...she was horrified. The chameleon learned to eat without it and it caused her no problems. Kind of amazing creatures...resilient.

 

[MissSkittles]

Poor guy. When will you learn what exactly the growth was?

 

[Lennoncham]

Poor guy. When will you learn what exactly the growth was?

I think they said a couple weeks. They have to send it to a lab so depends when they get to it I guess.

 

[kinyonga]

Metacam when used in cats is hard on the kidneys so I can only assume it might be with chameleons too...so hydrate, hydrate.

Good luck!

 

[GoodKarma19]

Metacam/meloxicam is, indeed, tough on the kidneys. Great for inflammation, though, and will really help with that jaw! Make sure Lennon gets lots of water and it'll be fine. Did he have pre-surgery bloodwork performed by any chance?

 

[Lennoncham]

Metacam/meloxicam is, indeed, tough on the kidneys. Great for inflammation, though, and will really help with that jaw! Make sure Lennon gets lots of water and it'll be fine. Did he have pre-surgery bloodwork performed by any chance?

No bloodwork done

 

[Beman]

Hey how is Lennon doing today?