Veiled Chameleon: Eye Infection?

[Dirk Danger]

I have a veiled Chameleon named Rufus. He is a male approx 1 year - 1 1/2 years old. We have had him since January-February of this year. Over the last few weeks he had developed this bump on his head and then today I noticed that he has some swelling around his left eye.

His cage is an exo-terra starter terrarium. It has some fake plants, and things to climb on. The substrate is a reptile friendly carpet material. We mist him through out the day and try to keep the temp around 75. Does any one have any thoughts on what may be wrong?

 

[PedroANDAshley]

I would suggest taking him to a vet,
theres no home remedey that will get rid of something like that,
it looks pretty bad.

 

[sandrachameleon]

possibly an abscess
vet appointment would be appropriate

 

[Dirk Danger]

Hey guys - thanks for you suggestions. My wife took Rufus to the vet on Monday and it turns out that he has cancer. There is not much we can do at this point - the vet gave him a steroid shot to help stimulate his appetite and help boost his immunities as there is a slim chance this may help. The swelling in his eye is causing some balance issues so at point so right now all we can do is wait and see if the shot helps. Unfortunately we may have to euthanize him. I will update his condition after his next appointment.

 

[Debbie61]

Sorry to hear that

 

[jannb]

Such sad news. How did the vet know it was cancer? Did they do bloodwork or biopsy?

 

[Gensen]

Very sorry to hear the diagnosis. But good luck with him and keep us posted. I too would be curious how they diagnosed the cancer?

 

[Dirk Danger]

I am not sure what was done - I was not there for the examination. When I speak with my wife tonight I will see if I can get more details for you.

 

[Dirk Danger]

Sorry it has taken me so long to update. The vet did not do any blood work or biopsy. My vet has had alot of experiance with veiled chameleons. Based in the size, firmness and rate of the growth he was confident it was cancerous and not an abscess. He said it was not because of something we had done or could have prevented. He did a thorough physical exam - he stated if we wanted he could do the biopsy however I trust my vet as he has taken care of several of our pets.

As mentioned he was given a steroid to help stimulate his appetite and possible his immune system but it did not help. He stopped eating all together and his demeanor started changing (very aggressive to people where as he was very friendly). Unfortunately we decided it would be best to put him down before his condition became worse.

 

[Jamelon]

Aw! Im sorry you had to put him down

 

[Gensen]

Thanx for updating...

Sorry to hear that... I know when you posted it looked pretty bad then and if he took a turn for the worse... boy, that is too bad... I'm sorry...

 

[kinyonga]

Did you get a necropsy done to see what it really was?
Most of the times that I've seen a bump like that with eye swelling, its been an infection...not cancer.

 

[Sharka]

thats awful... i'm so sorry.

 

[Dirk Danger]

Did you get a necropsy done to see what it really was?
Most of the times that I've seen a bump like that with eye swelling, its been an infection...not cancer.

I unfortunantely away while all this happened so it it hard for me to articulate the vets reasoning on the diagnosis however it was said there were no signs of an infection. There was no necropsy done - my wife had a hard enough time taking him in for the injection - I don't think she would have been able to handle it if they had done any additional procedures after the fact.

It ultimately came down to I trusted in the experiance and the counsel from my vet.

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

I am sorry to hear that... I had to do the same when I was younger, because of unfortunately bad advice from a petstore. Though, seems like you took great care of him. RIP.