Panther Cham has bloody nose

[ndugan7]

hello i'd just like to add some more info to this discussion.

I am the one who sold this chameleon to xim. She was bought from the Chameleon Company and raised by me. I can't say I ever had a problem raising tahiri and she most certainly never had any nose bleeds or bulging nostrils...I dont ever recall seeing salt build-up.

I don't know ANYTHING about cancer in chameleons but I just find it hard to accept the vet's opinion that it might be cancer...She never had a single problem while in my care and was in great health when she left it.

My biggest concern is that she is still stressed from her move! She lived in the same room only switching cages once. I also NEVER handled her....probably about a dozen times in her lifetime...and she always hated the camera...I cringed looking at her in that photo at the doctors (couldnt look at the bloody one..)...I tried a free range for her but she hated it or would try to escape preferring a cage with lots of perches and visual cover. Could the nosebleeds be from her rubbing her nose trying to escape her cage?

Again I am no expert but i think this is all stress related. She lived a mostly contact free life in my care and never had a single health problem up to this point.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Sorry Ndugan, but here is the third vet to say that stress alone does not cause nose bleeds in reptiles. It just doesn't happen. No one is blaming you for anything. Cancer is insidious and can pop up one day when the animal was perfectly fine the day before. And cancer in animals is more common than you'd like to think. Rubbing her nose on the cage would cause bleeding from the tip of the nose, not from the inside. You would be able to see marks on the tip from being scratched by siding. She does not have any evidence of that. The very first thing I thought when reading this thread was "not stress, probably cancer". A mass like that could also be a fungal granuloma, but I'd think she would be sicker overall if that was the case. Then again maybe not, but cancer still seems more likely to me.

I'm sorry Xim for her condition. It's so sad to see animals with cancer. My young dog has cancer so I know how that feels. I hope she continues to live happily and comfortably for a good while with you though! If it is a slow growing mass it might not affect her quality of life for a long time.

 

[ndugan7]

ugh cancer.........so scary and sad.

I hate to hear this, it is hard to believe that if i kept her a little longer my healthy chameleon would be experiencing this in my care. I have never experienced anything wrong with her so it is a hard idea to swallow that the second she leaves me care she starts dying from cancer...

Xim was the perfect new home for her as well..before purchase asking all the right questions and having a cage pre-setup and already being a forum member...

Is there anyone out there who has cancer stories??

 

[Dr O]

Is there anyone out there who has cancer stories??

Yes, myself and probably the other vets on this board who have already posted. They all read cancer into the case, and I think I wrote a relatively good discourse on why I thought it was cancer to begin with.

We're the ones who wind up seeing the cases when they've gotten to this point, and as was just stated, cancer is terribly common in virtually any animal species that Ive ever worked with, which is quite a few. And I believe in Xim's post he mentioned that the vet was even able to visualize a swelling over the sinus. A biopsy would confirm, but unless Xim has many thousands of dollars to spend on chemo and radiation, or he just has to have an answer to be able to sleep better at night, it's a fairly moot point.

I am breeding pardalis and lateralis myself, and they will soon be for sale on the forums as well. I'm very happy and proud of the husbandry that I'm giving my chams, but even I know there will eventually be lizards who come down with things that are not preventable at this time no matter what I do, and various cancers are certainly one of those diseases.

Absolutely no one is blaming you. It's a terrible, bad luck and bad timing situation. But that's all it is, nothing more. Don't dwell on this or it will drive you crazy and there will still be nothing that you could have done.

dr. o-

 

[Xim]

We will not be biopsying the mass. I think it would be too much stress for too little answers. And would not help. Surgery is out of the question for its location. But she is being spoiled with all sorts of goodies. Hornworms wax worms fresh molt dubias. And hand droppering filtered water direct to her lips. Tomorrow her free range should be all set.

 

[Dr O]

We will not be biopsying the mass. I think it would be too much stress for too little answers. And would not help. Surgery is out of the question for its location. But she is being spoiled with all sorts of goodies. Hornworms wax worms fresh molt dubias. And hand droppering filtered water direct to her lips. Tomorrow her free range should be all set.

And that's exactly how it should be!!!


I wish her a long, and somwhat bumpy-headed life.

o-

 

[Xim]

Rofl. Thank u for your help. I see many happy days months maybe hopefully years. I lost my sister to cancer it's a horrible desease but everything happens for a reason. We have rescued many senior dogs and I believe sometimes angels come into our lives when we need them the most and leave when someone else needs them more.

 

[Dr O]

(smiles...............FLap Flap flap flap flap.......)



Oh? You meant the lizard! Of course....

btw, WHAT IS HER NAME?

 

[Xim]

Her name is Taheri

 

[Jupiterannette]

Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm taheris mommy. Xim's wife. He decided I should have my own name. As I was using his for this post

HI

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Hello there!

 

[Jupiterannette]

RIP taheri. You were a great Cham even if it was only for a few short weeks. :'(

 

[Elizadolots]

I'm so sorry.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

So sorry to hear that. Cancer is terrible. I'm glad she had such loving owners in her last few weeks. May she rest in peace.

 

[justjumpit621]

I'm sorry to hear that, what vet do you go to? Dr. Mertz? Also if you decide you would like to get another chameleon just know they are actually illegal to own in mass strange but true. Also I suggest using dr. Gregory Mertz at the odd pet vet in south weymouth if you don't already.

 

[Dr O]

I'm so sorry to hear of her passing. Thank you so much for doing all that you could, taking her to a veterinarian, and giving her the best last weeks of life that I'm sure any chameleon could ask for.

dr. o—

 

[Jupiterannette]

Thanks all. And we do have permits. Also I have a good Cham vet at abbot in Worcester. Her eye bulged. Dr said probably rapid growth pushed on her brain.