something wrong with his lip & a swollen eye

[LBonawitz]

pokey ate a cricket just fine this morning but i just noticed this afternoon his lip is all messed up and his eye is swollen. he's getting around fine right now but i need to know whats wrong. Monday is the first day of school, but i will skip to take him to the vet. i don't care.


please let me know if you have an idea of whats wrong with my boy.
it looks like a horrible infection. but what? what is it caused from? it came so fast. when i got him to open his mouth that side has green pus/scabing. what the hell is going on

 

[Julirs]

That certainly look like mouthrot-and the problem is that it easily spreads to the eye. You need to get him in ASAP and get him on antibiotics. I recently lost a Panther with the same thing despite treatment.

 

[LBonawitz]

okay

 

[LBonawitz]

i'm leaving right now taking him to the emergency vet in lake city. wish me luck! i'm almost in tears already.

 

[Montium]

It could be mouth rot but it could also be a fracture. Good luck with the vet, let us know the outcome.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Laura,

I wonder if the Vet will diagnose the ailment as a Temporal Gland infection?

See this article - about halfway down: http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=103

 

[LBonawitz]

Abcess

she said its an abcess. i got baytril for it. 3 doses, and i'll set up an appointment with his regular vet later this week. she also mentioned septicemia because he shows black on one eye and not the other. i told her that spot changes color, its one of his pigmentations, but what would cause septicemia in a chameleon, and is it even treatable? i know we get people quite often at the funeral home who are septic

over all she said he looks good, keep an eye on his eating and drinking. he's still very active, she thinks the infections was cause early enough.

and only $102! awesome!

 

[Julirs]

I am hoping the best for you! I am thinking you will need more than 3 doses to clear it up, but your regular Vet can let you know about that.

 

[LBonawitz]

Howdy Laura,

I wonder if the Vet will diagnose the ailment as a Temporal Gland infection?

See this article - about halfway down: http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=103

wow! i certainly hope its not. seems like they had one hell of a time getting rid of that problem. I really hope Pokey makes a full recovery from this "abcess"

 

[LBonawitz]

I am hoping the best for you! I am thinking you will need more than 3 doses to clear it up, but your regular Vet can let you know about that.

yeah, the emergency vet thought it would take more since his eye is also swollen from it. i will be following up with his vet later this week

 

[kinyonga]

Was the area cleaned out and a culture and sensitvity test run? If not, I doubt that the treatment with the antibiotics will be enough. Any chameleons I've had put on antibiotics for something like that have been on it for several weeks.

As for it being septic, whatever bacteria is in there could have spread.

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

Wish you best of luck. Ask LizardLover on here about mouthrot. He has some good experiencing and how to get rid of it.

 

[Lizardlover]

That does appear to be infectious stomatitus (mouth rot) I have had incredible results using Rot Guard which you can get from lllreptile.com

 

[LBonawitz]

Was the area cleaned out and a culture and sensitvity test run? If not, I doubt that the treatment with the antibiotics will be enough. Any chameleons I've had put on antibiotics for something like that have been on it for several weeks.

As for it being septic, whatever bacteria is in there could have spread.

no, she said it would open on its own, and since he has had a pseudomonas over growth before she said "thats probably what it is then"

i'm going to follow up with his regular vet during the week. and she actually knows what shes talking about. she's worked with alot of chameleons. but right now i feel a little better having the baytril to give him. its something anyway. i know i'm not neglecting him

 

[Chris Anderson]

This definitely looks like a temporal gland infection to me. I would suspect that the area behind his eye just above the junction of the upper and lower jaw is puffy as well? You can probably expel some puss from the temporal gland by applying some gentle pressure to the puffy area above the jaw junction when he has his mouth open. Just be gentle and don't apply too much pressure. You might mention temporal gland infection to your regular vet when you go to see her.

Chris

 

[LBonawitz]

This definitely looks like a temporal gland infection to me. I would suspect that the area behind his eye just above the junction of the upper and lower jaw is puffy as well? You can probably expel some puss from the temporal gland by applying some gentle pressure to the puffy area above the jaw junction when he has his mouth open. Just be gentle and don't apply too much pressure. You might mention temporal gland infection to your regular vet when you go to see her.

Chris

are those infections hard to get rid of? what causes an infection there? will he survive?

 

[LBonawitz]

his temple is a little swollen, you were right. i tried putting pressure on it with his mouth open (even had a Q-tip in there to catch any pus) but nothing came out. you can see a spot where it looks like it wants to bleed. ...the baytril is not going to help is it?

that damn emergency vet should do refunds

 

[Chris Anderson]

Laura,

Unfortunately temporal gland infections can be very serious and they aren't very well understood. As a result, individual cases can be very different and as with most ailments, its always best to talk to an experienced vet about the disorder in general and your own chameleon's case and weight out what the best treatment options are for your case.

The temporal gland excretes an odorous secretion that we hypothesize is used to either mark territory or attract insects. When chameleons gape, you can also see the temporal gland so it may have some sort of use during displays. Unfortunately, we don't really know for sure what it is for which doesn't help when you go to treat it.

Infections of the temporal glad can be caused by a number of reasons but at the end of the day, I do not have a good answer for you about what likely caused it. Possible causes include scratches, irritation, clogging/buildup, etc. Its possible the infection started elsewhere and the temporal gland infection is secondary.

Treatments typically include a course of antibiotics but can even be as extreme as surgery. A lot will depend on how bad the infection is and how the surrounding tissue looks. Its something your vet will really need to take a look at and determine what he thinks is the best treatment.

I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, unfortunately the temporal gland infection, although surprisingly common, is not well understood.

Best of luck.

Chris

 

[LBonawitz]

Laura,

Unfortunately temporal gland infections can be very serious and they aren't very well understood. As a result, individual cases can be very different and as with most ailments, its always best to talk to an experienced vet about the disorder in general and your own chameleon's case and weight out what the best treatment options are for your case.

The temporal gland excretes an odorous secretion that we hypothesize is used to either mark territory or attract insects. When chameleons gape, you can also see the temporal gland so it may have some sort of use during displays. Unfortunately, we don't really know for sure what it is for which doesn't help when you go to treat it.

Infections of the temporal glad can be caused by a number of reasons but at the end of the day, I do not have a good answer for you about what likely caused it. Possible causes include scratches, irritation, clogging/buildup, etc. Its possible the infection started elsewhere and the temporal gland infection is secondary.

Treatments typically include a course of antibiotics but can even be as extreme as surgery. A lot will depend on how bad the infection is and how the surrounding tissue looks. Its something your vet will really need to take a look at and determine what he thinks is the best treatment.

I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, unfortunately the temporal gland infection, although surprisingly common, is not well understood.

Best of luck.

Chris

okay. thank you very much chris for taking the time to share all of that information. i will be skipping the first day of class tomorrow to take him to the vet