Jackson's Chamelon - Pan what is this bump?

Pan has a bump that came up on his side near the spine ....do you guys know anything about chamelons? He's never had anything like this before and we've had him over a year. I'll have to check on that can't remember if it's 1 or 2 years. He lost a gram from last week to this week. He's eating and drinking, pooping and everything else like normal. I mist 3 x day, he has a dripper going all the time, it's usually around 80 at his warm spot with a range of 70's, cool at the bottom, warmer as he climbs, the temp gets down to about 72 at night. He's in a Reptarium with a live plant and vines to climb on. Reptile UV 60 watt low MVB about 12 inches from the high point and the warm spot. Low wattage bright white halogen for additional heat and light - usually turned off around 1 pm when the heat starts building up. I'm thinking abcess but it feels really hard. The vet here hasn't had a lot of experience with Chamelons so I want to research it so I can know what's going on when we go to the vet. He weighs 32 grams tonight.






Any input is very much appreciated. Thanks for looking! Angie

Looks like either an abscess or an encysted parasite. A vet visit would be recommended, because either waym it needs removed.

Is the bump moveable?

Hi...thanks for the response. I lanced the bump yesterday evening and it appeared to be an abcess...I cleaned it with Novalsan and packed it with triple antibiotic ointment...I also gave him a dose of SMZ-TMP antibiotic. I checked it today, cleaned and repacked it and it looks good. I'll keep and eye on the progress and we'll go to the vet if it's not healing. Appreciate the response thank you very much.

No problem! Hope he heals without any complications. Abscesses are usually walled off from the body(encapsulated), so generally lancing them, cleaning out the caseous materia inside, and flushing with chlorhexidine(not chlorhexidine diacetate, you want the c. gluconate) will be all it needs to heal up.

Good job packing it with the antibiotic ointment, I do that as well(works wonders in rats).

Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

...flushing with chlorhexidine(not chlorhexidine diacetate, you want the c. gluconate) will be all it needs to heal up...

Howdy Becky,

Ok, you've peaked my curiosity . What are your thoughts on the two chemicals? I have both c. diacetate and c. gluconate. C. diacetate is most commonly (only?) sold as Nolvasan and c. gluconate is most commonly sold almost like a "generic" under many company brands. Both seem to be used interchangeably (and likely in error) by vets for everything from wound washes to examining room surface disinfectants. Their anti-microorganism lists seem to be almost identical except c. diacetate has various types of salmonella listed while c. gluconate doesn't .

I found that just because something is labeled "Nolvasan" from the mfgr doesn't mean that it contains c. diacetate which makes it really tough to figure out what is what. Some Nolvasan products are c. acetate (and that wasn't a misspelling!) Even going to the mfgr's website provides very little info on anything other than the gallon Nolvasan product.

Example of Nolvasan (c. diacetate) sold as a surgical scrub:
http://www.discounthorse.com/product...rub-16-oz.html
Yet the MSDS lists c. acetate (???)
https://www.accessbutler.com/msdsimages/A0000561.pdf

Nolvasan ointment:
http://www.bullwrinkle.com/ShoppingP...n_ointment.htm
MSDS lists c. acetate
https://www.accessbutler.com/msdsimages/A0000556.pdf


Nolvasan Gallon:
(Note the heavy duty warnings)
http://www.allivet.com/ProductDetail...1&Show=ExtInfo
MSDS No. 30-0625

Funny how the MSDS calls out Acetate and not Diacetate even for the gallon Nolvasan (???) (The "S" for Nolvasan-S is for Scented.)

I wouldn't think that they would be wrong on an MSDS! What the heck is going on...
https://www.accessbutler.com/msdsimages/A0000558.pdf

Hi...thanks for the information...interesting about the Novalsan and the MSDS.

Pan's wound kept draining so I suspected a tunnel....I probed and found that there was one....I opened it and flushed it and packed with the triple antibiotic yesterday....today there has not been anymore drainage and I've got pink granulation tissue all around the tunnel opening...so the surface wound (the bump) is healing nicely. The tunnel looks to be clean at this point. I'll continue the wound care and I think that he'll heal nicely. He's gained a few grams and is eating, drinking and pooping and he seems to feel better. He's got a strong grip and he's struggling more when I get him out for wound care. Maybe he'll hiss at me again soon!

Thanks for the help.

Angie

Hello Angie,
I know we talked about this via email, but I did not even see your post here so I could see the picture! Sorry!
So it has gotten better now? I am glad he hasn't had any infection or any complications from it.
Has he hissed at you yet? LOL


Tracie

Hey Tracie,
Pan is doing very well....the wound appears to be healed on the surface. He's losing some of his surface skin around the wound due to trauma, I suspect but it's all healing with granulation tissue and the tunnel is closing. He hasn't actually hissed yet but he's opening his mouth like he's going to when I pick him up. I think he's going to heal up fine. Thanks for asking. Angie

Hello Angie,

GREAT that Pan is doing better now. It takes time for tissue to fill in with infection such as that. At least he is getting feisty now! Maybe he will start hissing at you yet! LOL
Good job with him.
Tracie