My girls colors dulled ever since vet procedure? why??

[greenbean2424]

My female veiled, estimated to be 4 years old, going on 5 in 2022, had to have a procedure done in May of this year. She had two round growths on either side of her mouth. They were drained at an earlier vet visit but began to grow back so in May she had both lazered off as well as a deworming shot. Ever since the day she woke up from that procedure her colors have never been anywhere near the same. She is a generally happy chameleon always showing off bright greens blues and yellows but her body is not so vibrant anymore. She is never grey or anything like that she just does not have the vibrancy she used to. If it matters I still have the paperwork saved from the vet. Listed is exotic general inhalant for the surgery, lazer surgery, metronidazole, ceftazidime injection day of surgery and about 5 injections given after surgery, tamiflu.
Could the surgery of taken that big of a toll on her body? Is it anything the medications could've done? I don't understand why she became so dull.

Two pics attached for comparison. First pic with her little chef hat on. Before surgery. you can see one of the growths on the side of her mouth actually.
Second pic is her vibrancy since the day she woke up from the procedure. I am so sad about it. She's never been the same again.

 

[MzLaurie11]

Give her time. She needs to get over a traumatic experience. The drugs may have taken a toll too and she may stay duller until she molts again. all you can do is work to reestablish trust.

 

[kinyonga]

Did the vet say why she was given tamiflu?

Did the vet test for parasites or just decide to give her the shot?

The growth looks like it could be a papilloma. They're a virus and it can be transferred to other reptiles...so be careful not to cross contaminate if you have more reptiles.

Have you had her the whole four years?

As for the color changing...I have seen a drug or two cause the chameleon to change colors but it's usually not for long.

 

[greenbean2424]

Did the vet say why she was given tamiflu?

Did the vet test for parasites or just decide to give her the shot?

The growth looks like it could be a papilloma. They're a virus and it can be transferred to other reptiles...so be careful not to cross contaminate if you have more reptiles.

Have you had her the whole four years?

As for the color changing...I have seen a drug or two cause the chameleon to change colors but it's usually not for long.

The vet said Tamiflu was to treat an infection. He said the growths were likely result of a mouth infection. He never tested for parasites. He told me he would deworm her but looking back at the paperwork I don't see that listed.. so looks like that never even happened. I didn't really understand the tamiflu part either but I have no other exotic vet to go to. I want to trust him but he continuously called her a boy even after I said she's a female. I feel like if he knows anything about chameleons at all he should at least know the difference between males and female veileds? He was amazing with my toads back in the day but maybe he isn't as knowledgable about chameleons...
I do not have any other reptiles. Thank you.
No. She was bought off craigslist for me in September of 2018. She was neglected and lived in a garage. I can't get in contact with her previous owner but I guessed she was about 1 yr old at the time.
She has laid eggs 2 times in her life. Last time I believe was in 2020.
Do you think her color can ever come back the way it used to be? She's shed multiple times since the procedure in May and still no change. : (

I have never heard of papilloma. Could you tell me more about it? Symptoms/causes/effects etc?

I will post some more photos of her in a minute however Im going to post some in a new thread as well today. I want to make a separate post about her current issues and my husbandry to see if I need to change anything. I need to bring her to the vet asap but I don't know how much I should even trust him so I wanted to come here first. Last week she had some crust randomly in both eyes. Eye infection?? I put her on her tree in the corner of my shower till the crust became a goop and slipped out her eye. She was normal since. Today she has crust coming out one eye. She's closing it every now and then and trying to clean it out. She's on her tree in my shower again right now and im waiting for the crust to turn to goop and slip out. I let her rub her eye on a Q tip but the goop is stubborn today. I feel so bad for my girl

 

[kinyonga]

you said..."The vet said Tamiflu was to treat an infection"...tamiflu fights viral infection symptoms...so it might make sense if the growth is a papilloma. A papilloma is caused by a wart type virus.
https://wagwalking.com/reptile/condition/papilloma-in-lizards
https://www.reddit.com/r/Chameleons/comments/2s9e72/papilloma_virus_in_chameleons_deforming_disease/

You said..."He said the growths were likely result of a mouth infection"... There is a mouth "infection" hat I think looks similar to that... I'll try to find the articles about that too...again tag name if I forget.

You said..."He never tested for parasites. He told me he would deworm her but looking back at the paperwork I don't see that listed.. so looks like that never even happened"...that might not be a bad thing. I hate it when vets "shotgun" for parasites.

You said..."I want to trust him but he continuously called her a boy even after I said she's a female"...he should be able to sex such an easy chameleon as a veiled.

You said...He was amazing with my toads back in the day but maybe he isn't as knowledgable about chameleons"... It would be better if he said he didn't know.

You said..." I do not have any other reptiles"....so you don't have to worry about transferring it.

You said..."She has laid eggs 2 times in her life. Last time I believe was in 2020"... That's good.
Do you think her color can ever come back the way it used to be? She's shed multiple times since the procedure in May and still no change. : (

You said..."I have never heard of papilloma. Could you tell me more about it? Symptoms/causes/effects etc?"...again, tag me if I forget.

You said..."I will post some more photos of her in a minute however Im going to post some in a new thread as well today. I want to make a separate post about her current issues and my husbandry to see if I need to change anything. I need to bring her to the vet asap but I don't know how much I should even trust him so I wanted to come here first. Last week she had some crust randomly in both eyes. Eye infection?? I put her on her tree in the corner of my shower till the crust became a goop and slipped out her eye. She was normal since. Today she has crust coming out one eye. She's closing it every now and then and trying to clean it out. She's on her tree in my shower again right now and im waiting for the crust to turn to goop and slip out. I let her rub her eye on a Q tip but the goop is stubborn today. I feel so bad for my girl"...I hope she can be brought back into good health.

 

[greenbean2424]

Give her time. She needs to get over a traumatic experience. The drugs may have taken a toll too and she may stay duller until she molts again. all you can do is work to reestablish trust.

She has shed a good couple of times since the procedure and no change : ( But thank you I'll continue to do what I can to make her feel safe and okay

 

[greenbean2424]

you said..."The vet said Tamiflu was to treat an infection"...tamiflu fights viral infection symptoms...so it might make sense if the growth is a papilloma. A papilloma is caused by a wart type virus.
https://wagwalking.com/reptile/condition/papilloma-in-lizards
https://www.reddit.com/r/Chameleons/comments/2s9e72/papilloma_virus_in_chameleons_deforming_disease/

You said..."He said the growths were likely result of a mouth infection"... There is a mouth "infection" hat I think looks similar to that... I'll try to find the articles about that too...again tag name if I forget.

You said..."He never tested for parasites. He told me he would deworm her but looking back at the paperwork I don't see that listed.. so looks like that never even happened"...that might not be a bad thing. I hate it when vets "shotgun" for parasites.

You said..."I want to trust him but he continuously called her a boy even after I said she's a female"...he should be able to sex such an easy chameleon as a veiled.

You said...He was amazing with my toads back in the day but maybe he isn't as knowledgable about chameleons"... It would be better if he said he didn't know.

You said..." I do not have any other reptiles"....so you don't have to worry about transferring it.

You said..."She has laid eggs 2 times in her life. Last time I believe was in 2020"... That's good.
Do you think her color can ever come back the way it used to be? She's shed multiple times since the procedure in May and still no change. : (

You said..."I have never heard of papilloma. Could you tell me more about it? Symptoms/causes/effects etc?"...again, tag me if I forget.

You said..."I will post some more photos of her in a minute however Im going to post some in a new thread as well today. I want to make a separate post about her current issues and my husbandry to see if I need to change anything. I need to bring her to the vet asap but I don't know how much I should even trust him so I wanted to come here first. Last week she had some crust randomly in both eyes. Eye infection?? I put her on her tree in the corner of my shower till the crust became a goop and slipped out her eye. She was normal since. Today she has crust coming out one eye. She's closing it every now and then and trying to clean it out. She's on her tree in my shower again right now and im waiting for the crust to turn to goop and slip out. I let her rub her eye on a Q tip but the goop is stubborn today. I feel so bad for my girl"...I hope she can be brought back into good health.

Okay sounds good, thank you SO much. Heres a few recent pictures of her (past 3ish months)

 

[greenbean2424]

you said..."The vet said Tamiflu was to treat an infection"...tamiflu fights viral infection symptoms...so it might make sense if the growth is a papilloma. A papilloma is caused by a wart type virus.
https://wagwalking.com/reptile/condition/papilloma-in-lizards
https://www.reddit.com/r/Chameleons/comments/2s9e72/papilloma_virus_in_chameleons_deforming_disease/

You said..."He said the growths were likely result of a mouth infection"... There is a mouth "infection" hat I think looks similar to that... I'll try to find the articles about that too...again tag name if I forget.

You said..."He never tested for parasites. He told me he would deworm her but looking back at the paperwork I don't see that listed.. so looks like that never even happened"...that might not be a bad thing. I hate it when vets "shotgun" for parasites.

You said..."I want to trust him but he continuously called her a boy even after I said she's a female"...he should be able to sex such an easy chameleon as a veiled.

You said...He was amazing with my toads back in the day but maybe he isn't as knowledgable about chameleons"... It would be better if he said he didn't know.

You said..." I do not have any other reptiles"....so you don't have to worry about transferring it.

You said..."She has laid eggs 2 times in her life. Last time I believe was in 2020"... That's good.
Do you think her color can ever come back the way it used to be? She's shed multiple times since the procedure in May and still no change. : (

You said..."I have never heard of papilloma. Could you tell me more about it? Symptoms/causes/effects etc?"...again, tag me if I forget.

You said..."I will post some more photos of her in a minute however Im going to post some in a new thread as well today. I want to make a separate post about her current issues and my husbandry to see if I need to change anything. I need to bring her to the vet asap but I don't know how much I should even trust him so I wanted to come here first. Last week she had some crust randomly in both eyes. Eye infection?? I put her on her tree in the corner of my shower till the crust became a goop and slipped out her eye. She was normal since. Today she has crust coming out one eye. She's closing it every now and then and trying to clean it out. She's on her tree in my shower again right now and im waiting for the crust to turn to goop and slip out. I let her rub her eye on a Q tip but the goop is stubborn today. I feel so bad for my girl"...I hope she can be brought back into good health.

Just checked out your link for papilloma. Honestly the only symptom that matches up is the fact she had those two wart-like growths. She never even seemed to know they were present. They started out very small but never grew or affected her, then one day later in her life they just started to grow out of nowhere

 

[kinyonga]

Did the vet test the growths to see what they were?

 

[greenbean2424]

Did the vet test the growths to see what they were?

Truly I have a very poor memory and I don't remember being told if he did ever test them. don't Think he did.. but im going to call when they open today, request records and get back to you on that.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Truly I have a very poor memory and I don't remember being told if he did ever test them. don't Think he did.. but im going to call when they open today, request records and get back to you on that.

that sounds like a good idea, then you’ll have a record of what was done. I do hope she will get better and get her color back.

 

[greenbean2424]

Did the vet test the growths to see what they were?

Hello, I just wanted to let you know I am waiting still for my vets office to open. They've been closed for holidays and open tomorrow so I will be calling and setting up an appointment. I made a post tonight about her recent issues and if you could check it out and give your two sense it'd be greatly appreciated.. if I should or can tag you in it let me know please