szpond
New Member
Hello all, thought I'd share Max's story. He is a Jackson's Chameleon on what I figure a bit over a year old by now.
I brought him home (he was my first chameleon) after doing as much research as I could. This was at the end of April. As a month or so went by, I noticed that the base of his tail was discolored. Him being my first chameleon, I thought not much of it -- I didn't know any better! As another month went by, I could notice that his skin was being raised where the discoloring was. I was finally able to get him into an appointment with the "reptile expert" nearby (about 20 miles). By the time he could squeeze Max in, another small bump was formed above his right shoulder. I was very worrisome.
I brought Max in at 8:00 AM, as early as he could be seen. He was weighed, we waited, and the doctor came in. He walked over and ripped Max from my arm (hurting my arm where his nails were, and I'm sure it hurt Max as well). He took a second turning Max around, hissing and all. He uncovered the growth on the base of his tail with his FINGERNAIL. 60 seconds after him walking into the room, he said "Yep, they're abscesses." and left. He prescribed a small dosage of antibiotics nightly for 2 weeks and sent me on my way. I was in tears at the way he treated my chameleon.
I never called the place back. The visit cost me $52.00.
Immediately when I got home, I did more research on clinics nearby. I found one about 7 miles from my house that has no reptile expert, but I spoke with the doctor and she was ready to do as much research as she needed in order to properly care for Max. I brought Max into her office as soon as we could. She inspected him (very carefully, gently), and insisted that we do an x-ray and a blood test to determine our next move. Here is the X-ray:
Also here is a picture of Max while he was at the vet. You can see the small growth above his shoulder -- spot the redness:
We spoke in-depth on what we could do next. She said that she was more concerned about the growth near the base of his tail - although it was not resting on the bone yet, but it was close to being there. Using the blood she took from Max she figured out which kind of anesthesia to use for him.
This visit cost about $180.
We scheduled a date to which he would go into surgery. I dropped him off at 8 AM. I received a call at about 2 PM that I could come get him at about 6 PM, given he was awake and well. I was so nervous. Finally the time came, and I went to pick him up. He was very loopy and had a gaping hole on the base of his tail where the growth was, but he was a healthy shade of green. She then told me that the growth above his arm was more of a skin hardness, and (she was very honest) she was not sure what these growths were. She saved them in a liquid just in case I wanted to have them tested, but I am a college student and the costs were really racking up.
This visit cost about $250.
He was misdiagnosed the first time -- they were NOT ABSCESSES! I was furious at the first doctor.
Anyway - if you've made it this far into my story, I just wanted to let everyone know, after all this stress, all this time - - Max is in recovery! He had to withstand weeks of oral antibiotics and days of painkillers. All orally. Poor baby went through so much, but he is HEALING! His appetite is greater than I have EVER seen it! He's quick to drink and eat from my hands. Because he has gone through so much stress, I'm sure he's very happy being alone all day, every day.
I am so happy my boy is healthy, finally.
To this day I don't know what the growth was...what caused it, or why he had the beginning of it when I first bought him.
Pictures to come!
I brought him home (he was my first chameleon) after doing as much research as I could. This was at the end of April. As a month or so went by, I noticed that the base of his tail was discolored. Him being my first chameleon, I thought not much of it -- I didn't know any better! As another month went by, I could notice that his skin was being raised where the discoloring was. I was finally able to get him into an appointment with the "reptile expert" nearby (about 20 miles). By the time he could squeeze Max in, another small bump was formed above his right shoulder. I was very worrisome.
I brought Max in at 8:00 AM, as early as he could be seen. He was weighed, we waited, and the doctor came in. He walked over and ripped Max from my arm (hurting my arm where his nails were, and I'm sure it hurt Max as well). He took a second turning Max around, hissing and all. He uncovered the growth on the base of his tail with his FINGERNAIL. 60 seconds after him walking into the room, he said "Yep, they're abscesses." and left. He prescribed a small dosage of antibiotics nightly for 2 weeks and sent me on my way. I was in tears at the way he treated my chameleon.
I never called the place back. The visit cost me $52.00.
Immediately when I got home, I did more research on clinics nearby. I found one about 7 miles from my house that has no reptile expert, but I spoke with the doctor and she was ready to do as much research as she needed in order to properly care for Max. I brought Max into her office as soon as we could. She inspected him (very carefully, gently), and insisted that we do an x-ray and a blood test to determine our next move. Here is the X-ray:
Also here is a picture of Max while he was at the vet. You can see the small growth above his shoulder -- spot the redness:
We spoke in-depth on what we could do next. She said that she was more concerned about the growth near the base of his tail - although it was not resting on the bone yet, but it was close to being there. Using the blood she took from Max she figured out which kind of anesthesia to use for him.
This visit cost about $180.
We scheduled a date to which he would go into surgery. I dropped him off at 8 AM. I received a call at about 2 PM that I could come get him at about 6 PM, given he was awake and well. I was so nervous. Finally the time came, and I went to pick him up. He was very loopy and had a gaping hole on the base of his tail where the growth was, but he was a healthy shade of green. She then told me that the growth above his arm was more of a skin hardness, and (she was very honest) she was not sure what these growths were. She saved them in a liquid just in case I wanted to have them tested, but I am a college student and the costs were really racking up.
This visit cost about $250.
He was misdiagnosed the first time -- they were NOT ABSCESSES! I was furious at the first doctor.
Anyway - if you've made it this far into my story, I just wanted to let everyone know, after all this stress, all this time - - Max is in recovery! He had to withstand weeks of oral antibiotics and days of painkillers. All orally. Poor baby went through so much, but he is HEALING! His appetite is greater than I have EVER seen it! He's quick to drink and eat from my hands. Because he has gone through so much stress, I'm sure he's very happy being alone all day, every day.
I am so happy my boy is healthy, finally.
To this day I don't know what the growth was...what caused it, or why he had the beginning of it when I first bought him.
Pictures to come!
