Pfefferi Subcu parasite?

[Chameleons Northwest]

We are headed to the vet for this one. I have been keeping an eye on this area. Initially it presented as individually raised bumps that lined up with the natural scalation. The area just looked a little "odd". I thought it may be rib bumps from ribs perhaps broken in transit. You know how the ribs heal sometimes with the nodules on them? Well, now the area is taking on a distinctly linear appearance and I am guessing perhaps a subcutaneous worm parasite. In fact, I feel badly (and pretty stupid) because suddenly it is looking quite large. I've been distracted with other things and although I water and feed her and peek in the cage to be sure I see her I hadn't taken her out for an exam for over a week.

This would be our first such case. I know they can be removed by the keeper but I don't think we're up to that. Below are the photos. I may be wrong in the diagnosis. Perhaps it is a rib anomaly but I doubt it. The fact that the area has changed over a short time tells me it probably is not. The vet will help figure it out. I did not feel the area.

This is the female that laid the 5 eggs. Other than this issue she seems to be doing just great.

Any and all experienced comments are welcome. Photos were taken late tonight. By the way- those are my husband's fingers .

 

[Nicodemayo]

Definitely looks like a subq nematode to me. The big lump looks larger than anything I have seen before, perhaps its a few lumped together. Any of the small "squggly" lumps around its body are also individual worms. They are most visible around the belly. I think I see a few other in the photos but its hard to tell for with the scalation of the cham. It seems pretty clear there are more in your 5th photo. The subq worms are pretty easy to remove, basically your vet will prick the skin with probably a 22-25 guage needle, and slide it underneath the worm, and hook up and "pry" it out. Sometimes it will pull only one end out, and the rest can be pulled out with tweezers. I suggest you and your vet be super careful with post treatment. From my experience, post treatment panacur rounds can be deadly treating these things. I found out the hard way when I lost some super amazing wc pink panthers around this time last year. Basically what happens is you pull out the worms you can, but there are most likely going to be some left behind that you don't see. If there are large numbers of worms under the skin, chances are, they're everywhere inside, and a regular panacur dose can kill so many worms in its body at once, all the dead and decaying worms will cause the animal to fight them like a giant infection and its just a matter of time before it kicks the bucket. The panacur kills them, and after the worms are dead inside the body, like anything, they start to rot and the rotted material reaches toxic levels. The big problem with these subq worms is that if the panacur kills them, they have no way to leave the body, and basically die and rot in your chams skin. My vet told me that small subq nematodes can be reabsorbed but I haven't messed with enough to find out. I was advised that super small doses of panacur in a case like this are best to prevent huge loads of dead worms from building up in the chams body at once, and that a slow, prolonged treatment is ideal in a highly infected animal. Good luck!

 

[franklin]

for me it is a fractured ribs due to a contusion
or fall

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

for me it is a fractured ribs due to a contusion
or fall

I think we will start with an X-ray. Because that's what I thought initially. But it seems to have worsened. her cage is not tall enough for her to have sustained such a fall here. And she didn't get squeezed in a cage door. So, we'll see.

 

[drewtt]

Any update on this little guy? I'm curious to know what the diagnosis was.

Drew