Where do I stand?

[Eddiedwards]

I've just bought a panther chameleon and after a week of having him I noticed a lump on his jaw. I took him to the vets and they said that his jaw was rotting away. So we've booked him in to have an opp next week to cut away the rotten bit and after that he should be fine. Where do I stand with pet shop that sold him. Should he have informed me about this when I bought him? can make him pay some of the vets bill? Or last thing which I don't want to do can I give him back and ask for my money back? I'm in england

 

[kuskye25]

very bad situation... im sure the pet store will not help you out a bit... yes you could prolly return him but as they didnt even know it had an issue he will likely die in their care...

id bite the bullet and do everything i could to save him and give him a long full life...

sure they should have informed you but i bet they didnt know cause they never know anything about animals generally, they just sell them...

 

[carol5208]

you could try and see what they say. If you give him back he will surely die. Are you sure your vet knows chameleons? Is there anyway you can post a pic of your chameleons mouth?

 

[kuskye25]

you could try and see what they say. If you give him back he will surely die. Are you sure your vet knows chameleons? Is there anyway you can post a pic of your chameleons mouth?

+1 post up some pics... cutting it out seems extreme, and as carol said make sure its a true and good herpvet your taking him to...

 

[Eddiedwards]

Yeah it seems a bit extreme, that's what I thought. The vet said if we don't get the infected bone cut out his jaw will rot and he won't be able to eat them die. I've looked the vet up on the tintanet and he seems like a very good vet. I might pop in to the pet shop one last time. I'm not going to give him back I will definitely keep him.

 

[Olimpia]

I would do a couple things- first, let the pet shop know that you should be refunded for selling a sick animal. Whether they do anything or not is up to them, but stomatitis/mouth rot is not something that pops up overnight, so they should have noticed it a while ago. And second, post up some photos and see if you can shoot a message to either Ferretinmyshoes or Dr. O, both vets and both members here. They might be willing to take a look at the photos and see if they think (with the limited info a photo gives them, unfortunately) if it's severe enough where it needs surgery or whether it's something that could be treated with meds first.

I'm sorry that you find yourself in this spot! One of mine has mouth rot as well, but her's is mild enough that it's being treated with meds. It's still not fun to get a new chameleons that comes with issues.

 

[Eddiedwards]

I have only these picture which my girlfriend took

Near the front on the mouth line the top jaw and bottom do not meet like they should and it was looking rounded and sticking out. We took him to the vet and they scraped away the green puss from the inside of his mouth. It doesn't look to bad now but the vet said it will just keep coming back if we don't get rid of the source of the rot.

 

[Barb]

I would talk to the pet store first. Lots of them will pay for the vet bill, if the animal is given to them, to take to the vet, and them you can get him back after they have treated it. Second, I would for sure let them know, with the vets written diagnosis in, what they sold you. If they don't do something for you, then I would let them know you will turn them into an animal rights group, better business bureau if you have that, and that you will tell anyone else you can reach, about the poor care they give their animals they sell. Try the nice version first, if not results, then take it as far as you can with everyone else.
Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[Barb]

BTW, I don't know anything about this mouth rot. However, it doesn't look to ad in the pic. I would email the member vets listed in a different post and try to email them some better pics. I would venture to guess, it could be treated with meds. That's just my opinion.

 

[kuskye25]

pretty low quality picture, but i can see the issue on his chin....

im no vet but looks treatable to me... id go to a different vet for a second opinion....

borrow a half way decent digicam from someone and get some high quality pictures and post them up and contact the vets on this forum that the person listed there names in the above post and show them your thread here and see what they say...

 

[Video Master]

I hope ferret looks at this topic. She is a vet and maybe can help with some suggestions. I will send her a PM to check it out.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I believe your vet is correct, although it might not have been explained well. Based on the picture it could be an injury, or more commonly a bacterial infection of the mouth called Mouth Rot, or stomatitis. Once symptoms are present the infection is deep in the tissues and can be deep seated in the jawbone. This requires veterinary treatment with certain antibiotics and cleaning out the pus and infected tissue in the jaw, which is what I suspect your vet meant by 'cutting it out'. However it couldn't hurt to ask them to clarify first...I don't think they meant removing bone, just infection and pus. Left untreated the jawbone can actually break from weakness or the infection could spread to the rest of the body. The pus beneath the skin has to be removed in addition to antibiotics. It is a serious infection and can take weeks to months to get rid of.

 

[Eddiedwards]

Thank you ferret that's what the vet said. I've found out today that the pet shop I bought him from is going out of business and closing down at the end of April. So I probably have no hope of getting anything out of them. Thanks for all your help.