A few days ago I noticed a rather good size swelling on Jimmy's neck just a few inches away from his "ear". At first I thought I was seeing things and I picked him up, I never do any such handiling unless its absolutely neccessary, to examine the lump closer I gently touched it and its a bit soft and he didn't seem to react to it. The local vets here are of no help. Any idea on what it could be? Is this a sign of illness/stress/both?Any treatments?
RE: Lump on Anoles It is either a tumor or a cyst. Contact a REPTILE veterinarian. Some only specialize in treating mammals or birds. For now, try putting some neosporin.
RE: Lump on Anoles This definately sounds like an abcess. It will need to be drained by a reptile vet. You'll want to get there before it gets any bigger. Good luck, let us know how it goes. For a reptile vet near you, go to www.herpvetconnection.com.
RE: Lump on Anoles hey thanx for that link I found a herp vet closer to me then I thought! Gonna contact them first thing in the morning,its sunday so there closed. What exactly is an abcess?
RE: Lump on Anoles I have been eying this problem for a decade, since my own green anoles succumbed to it. Here is my experience: The abcesses were drained, and the animal was given antibiotics. All appeared well for a week or two, then the abcesses returned. They were drained again, the animal was put back on antibiotics, the cycle repeated itself one more time, and then it died. I should note--these abcesses were filled with a clear, viscous fluid, almost mucous-like, but not cloudy. They continued to grow until they would interfere with the animal's movements. Draining these abcesses severely stressed the animals, which appeared more ill for several days afterward than they had beforehand. I have never seen these abcesses on wild green anoles. Have you? Time and again we hear of owners reporting these swellings--always in the same places, and the prognosis is usually not good. WE ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG. That must be the explanation, and we really do have to figure out what it is. goldanole, although it may be more expensive, I ask you, if you can, to have your vet culture the abcess, rather than simply draining it and treating with broad-spectrum antibiotics. See if you can find out what organism (if any!) is causing the abcesses. What is there in our husbandry that is leading to this pervasive issue, and how can it be prevented? Considering how habitat reduction, competition with introduced brown and bark anoles, and predation are leading to lower and lower wild populations of green anoles, we urgently need to solve this problem. I say green anoles, because unless I am missing something, this problem isn't being reported in other anolis species. Has anyone successfully treated this problem in the long-term, and if so, how did you do it? I'm interested in hearing about the husbandry techniques of anyone who has kept any individual green anoles for longer than 1 year, and also their age/size when they were acquired, and whether or not they were captive bred.
RE: Lump on Anoles I am 100% with you on this one. I have researched a lot on this, and found next to nothing where evidence of what is causing this. I think it's about time this substance was tested. It's shocking that this is becoming common, but has not been checked out, or not officially anyway. I have seen many cases of this, and although i have not experienced this directly, it's becoming far too common to keep re-occurring in captivity. I have not seen enough figures to sugest that this is happening moreso to captive animals, than to wild ones, or seen so myself, so we cannot comment on this. Until we have some idea of what is in this substance that is effecting these tumours, or cysts, we will not know what it is as far as husbandry is concerned as to what we are doing wrong. In i'd say around 75% of cases i've come accross, the abcesses have grown back after being removed, and the anoles finally die, from what i imagine to be the stress caused from the removal of these abcesses. One of my current anoles is around 2 years old, and although i have never experienced this type of problem before, here's how he's been kept; 20 gallon tank (housed singly) Lots of foilage, hiding places Constant humidity levels Basking spot, plus additional UV lighting Coco-fiber / organic potting soil mix for substrate This is generally how all anole keepers (apart from the tank size) keep their anoles, but as i have said, up until now i have yet to experience this type of problem with my anoles.
I feed gutloaded crickets supplemented with d3 once a month, multivits twice a month, and pure calcium two to four times a week. Water if offered in a small bowl, although i never see him drinking out of it, but it helps humidity, so water is provided within droplets on the leaves of the foliage in my enclosure.
I was feeding cal/D3 twice a week, and multivitamins once a week. I wonder if excessive supplementation could be responsible? It's difficult to understand how...what brands are you using?
It could be, the thing that i don't like with the calcium w/ d3 brands are that too much D3 is not beneficial at all. In fact in some cases it can have quite the reverse effect. For pure calcium i use calypso but you've probably never heard of it as i'm from the UK and we have some weird and wonderful products over here lol
Is the calcium fortified cricket food enough or should I also be dusting my crickets before I feed them to my anoles? My husband says because of the food they don't need to be dusted.
